Always Remember to Remember

The internet show staff all looked baffled, bewildered, and tense. They ran back the digital reels. They did it again. Once more.

“There’s nobody in here,” supervising editor Chuck Bilton remarked.

“There’s gotta be someone from last year…somebody!” executive producer Salinger Mock exclaimed. The men and women in the room looked about each other somewhat displeased but altogether focused at once.

“We have a bank of people. I remember from January to this final day in December that we had a segment honoring all whom we lost this year. I know it’s somewhere in here….” Allison Weeks tapped at the tablet-like keypad with intent and precision.

She was like a detective noticing DNA at a murder scene. Every clue she picked up in the digital atmosphere.

“Okay,” she said. “So, we have a problem with the system. It won’t let us go past the wall with the rest of the segments.”

“Maybe we can just do a collective remembrance for the fallen….” Townsend Danner remarked.

Allison shot a glance at him so sharp it could have cut diamond. “Would you want that for greatness? These men and women lived out their lives, gave to their careers the gifts they had nestled in their souls. To shortchange them and be so anti-individualistic would be a shame and a sham. We’ll find a way.”

Danner turned around in his seat. Mock raised his eyebrows at Allison and grinned slightly. He then frowned.

“Allison, make this make sense. You found the problem, now I’m asking if you can solve it.”

“Of course I can, Sal. We don’t have to have faith or belief. Just a functioning brain focused on a task.” She tapped with fury and found the right entry points to access the reel.

“You did it!” Mock shouted. They all applauded.