Cerea

She eyed the awaiting equipment and her weight shuffled between one foot and the other. Scanners had been around for - what? 60, 70 years? She couldn't remember. The technology had been crafted after her own skill, but never did she think it would be necessary. Most times, elderly would have family gather around to keep their heritage alive. Memories which may have been long dormant would appear vibrant and vivid to be cataloged by progeny It was a way to preserve history. With her laws, it hadn't yet been misused. The laws could of course place a citizen in the program if they had obtained due course. Mostly, happily, the scanners had become a veritable library for her people.   Her memories vast and their record long lost (either to time or war) and her people clamoring to preserve her legacy, she had relented. True, she had lived for eons and showed no signs of aging, but the black rainbow of the universe had changed enough to make her think of her own life and it's importance. If she withered away, would her lessons and guidance survive?   It was daunting, the mapping ahead. Most citizens had two hundred or fewer years to be scanned and transcribed. Their sessions took a week, maybe two.   Her session? It might take years. Years of reliving her life and her lessons. Some folks chose to be sedated so the memories wouldn't open old wounds. She had no such consolation. Her body couldn't be sedated; those memories couldn't be dulled. She would remember each and every painful, lovely, beautiful, horrendous moment. Each of them. All to preserve a legacy she'd created over the past dozen millennia.   Apoche Maron walked up beside her and bowed his head in reverence.   "Are you ready, Kumari?"   "I'd be lying if I said 'yes'".   "You don't have to do this, of course."   "My people should know my history. It may be best to start now before another millenia passes."   "Well, I'm honored to be with you in this, then."   She sighed, "Will you still feel that way when my flaws are laid bare?"   "No one is flawless but every obstacle you've overcome has made your people stronger. I'm bound to be your Apoche and that decision was mine. Not once have I regretted it. I don't think this will change that."   Her shoulders rose and fell. Nodding to the assembled seven who would be preserving her memories, she sat in the plush bed and waited while the nodules were placed on her temples. Various computers whirred to life. Guided back through her own mind, she closed her eyes and let the floodgates of memory flow.