lukey has lived an entire lifetime that he doesn't remember. maybe hundreds of lifetimes, maybe one beyond time. the memory fragments don't only confirm a past, but personal connections--"it wasn't meant to be like this, we have known eachother our whole lives, we worked together"-- he's running, and he doesn't even know what he's running from. but he never expected to run. it was never something he wanted to do, but something he had to do.
something really interesting is the fragment that says "they feed on memories. what if they use them against me?" because it implies something about the very existence of the fragments. lukey, or lucas the keeper, fragmented his memories to keep them safe, likely so that they couldn't be used against him. so that they couldn't be eaten. and now he's plagued by visions of the past he's trying to run from, slowly picking up pieces at the expense of his own sanity. the more he remembers, the more danger he's in--which we know from the increasing interactions with the keepers since he's found more fragments.
today, lukey told aimsey he was being forced to choose between sides--not people, but two different interests. aimsey says, "what's more important lukey, keeping people around, or figuring out who you want to be?" and lukey says "keeping people around? or keeping people safe?"
lukey views these fragments as something incredibly interesting, but also something so so dangerous. he sees his forgotten past as something that will drive the people he loves away, and with a fair cause. he says he's drawn to science, to research, and he wants to know more, but he is torn between the person he used to be and the person he's becoming. he knows deep down that the more he knows, the more danger the people around him are in, not only because the knowledge is dangerous--but because he's discovering he is a danger, he is something to be feared. he's discovering that people were right to fear him all along. the more he knows, the further he falls. the more he knows, the more there is to be eaten.
