The Sword-Bearer

The middle-aged woman found it hard to imagine that she actually had a five-year-old son. But the birth certificate, data recordings, and little details of daily life, such as the children's toothbrush on the washstand, all proved it.

She really did have a son she had never met before, and this son was indeed her own child.

"So, Dad, Mom, have you lost your memories of me?" The little boy was remarkably calm as he sat on a small stool, deep in thought.

Her idle husband was still too shocked to recover, while the middle-aged woman examined the appearance of this "son." Beneath his childishness, he was actually rather handsome. Why did she like him more and more the longer she looked at him?

"As expected, the worst outcome has appeared," the little boy sighed. "I saw this news at school and was worried that you might forget me. Now it seems that both of you have forgotten me together."

The little boy stood up and patted his trouser legs and backside.

"All right, Dad, Mom, we should get going."

"Get going? Where?" The middle-aged woman suddenly understood. "Oh, right. The news said we were supposed to register with the Memory Department and have them examine us."

The little boy shook his head and said seriously, "Mom, I specifically watched the news. It said that any equipment related to memory could experience a 'disappearance phenomenon.' In other words, memory implanters, short-term memory resetters, human-brain servers—any of them could malfunction. Do you know what that means?"

"Uh, no."

"It means that in the short term, scams will spring up everywhere. They might not even require a hacker's methods. With just a few tricks, people could swindle huge sums of money from certain savings institutions. The most important thing for us now