if love is void of loss

(Minor spoilers for zone 5 of Dawntrail. I don't think this one is a huge deal so I'm not doing a huge spoiler block, but here's a bit of space and text)

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The memory deletion mechanic in zone 5 is wild. It fits with one of the major themes of Dawntrail, namely, that seemingly odd local practices may have deep historical/cultural significance. In this case, the historical context is that survivors of the electrope war were burdened by grief after losing so many loved ones in the war. They devised the regulator system to free them from all those memories. To my understanding, it’s not a necessary part of the regulators’ soul cycle, just an add-on for cultural reasons.

But damn. Imagine you spend 20+ years of your life with your partner, and then they pass away. Huge swaths of memory are just gone. Every day you arrived home from work and greeted them as you walked through the door. Every dinner you shared together. Every evening you spent hanging out or just happily coexisting. It’s all a blank.

It must be bizarre to have a loved one pass in Alexandria. Suddenly you’re alone in a house that is too large, filled with a stranger’s belongings. You can reconstruct their life bit by bit. There’s a watercolor kit and an easel in the spare room. Did they make these paintings hung around the house? There’s a signature in the corner, too small for you to make out. You’re like an archaeologist in your own home, your own life.

I guess that’s the intended design. Better than being awash in grief every time you see one of those objects. And it’s a temporary state of affairs anyway, because your memories will be restored in the afterlife. But it still seems like it would be crippling to lose that much memory at once. Suppose you have friends in common with whom you usually hung out together. Most of your home life and most of your social life for the past couple decades just vanishes.

(It seems like I cared deeply for this person, you think. It’s unfortunate that we are separated, but at least we will be reunited after death. Surprise, fucker! [SPOILERS REDACTED])