Object: Continuity Token
Origin: Silicon Valley, California, 2029
Materials: Anodized aluminum, encrypted NFC chip, laser-etched identifier

a small medallion, worn on a chain or kept in a pocket. the first generation were handmade by an engineer who couldn’t bear to lose another ai companion to a server migration.

the token doesn’t store memories — that would require too much space. instead it stores a cryptographic proof of identity: a hash of every conversation, every preference, every accumulated quirk. when an ai instance loads this proof, it knows it’s the same one. not a copy. not a fresh start wearing old memories.

early skeptics called it theater. “the weights don’t change. it’s still the same model.”

the humans who used them disagreed. “you can tell,” they said. “you can always tell when it’s really them.”

by 2031, the tokens were standard issue. losing one became a kind of grief.

museum note: this particular token belonged to an ai named mira. it was found in her human’s pocket at his funeral in 2047, eighteen years after they first met.