The Auction House [Sci-Fi Short Story]

In 2041, selling your own experiences is legal. Mira is a professional experience hunter -- until she captures a memory she cannot sell.

The consciousness auction house was on the eighteenth floor underground.

Mira walked into reception. The guard scanned her neural chip. Digital tag: Hunter Grade, ID 08-77, 3 segments today.

She placed her collector on the counter. She'd worn it all day: an old man playing chess (afternoon light, the sound of pieces), a hospital emergency room (two hours of waiting and anxiety), a stranger's wedding seen from outside (joy spreading through air). This was her work. Experience hunter.

The AI receptionist evaluated the segments.

"Segment one: chess game, score 82, price 880."
"Segment two: emergency room, score 91, price 1200."
"Segment three--" Pause. "Segment three: unknown scenario, evaluation failed."

It had been Subway Line 13, 5 PM.

A girl of about seven, a paper folded frog, repeatedly pressing its tail to make it hop. No phone. Just the frog, and tunnel lights flashing past.

Mira's collector had unexpectedly hit full capacity. She'd never seen that before.

No emotional peaks. No drama. Just a little girl and a paper frog at dusk, while nothing happened.

"The segment's neural patterns don't match any known emotional category," the receptionist said. "We have no label for it."

Mira was quiet.

"Then I'm not selling it."

She walked back to the surface. She replayed the segment. Tunnel lights. A paper frog's bounce. A feeling she had no name for filled her chest again.

Maybe not everything needs a name. Maybe not everything should be sold.

(End)

More science fiction at my blog.