What if someone had the power to erase your existence entirely? They don’t just kill you, but all memories of you are gone, nobody remembers you, all your inventions/work/etc. are gone.
Surely, people with such power would need to be stopped, or others would be tempted to steal it as well. The title has two meanings:
- One is about someone with a strong grudge, who thinks the only punishment (for what someone did to them) is to erase them. (Here, “I shall erase you” is a threat.)
- One is about someone who did all the wrong things in life, screwed up, only made matters worse, and is asking for relief and a solution: to be erased. (In that context, “I shall erase you” is a kind promise.)
Alternatively, this could be …
- Something reserved to jail / the worst criminals / the government / a secret (spy) agency
- Or a general rule of the universe, and people are either looking for a way to stop it, or for a way to give their lives meaning anyway.
(I also wrote a note about this in the “Proof of Loch Ness” idea, relating it to the Owl virus. But I don’t think it really fits there. It’s better as its own story.)