Electra — An Electric Love Story
Genre: Contemporary romance with magical realism
Premise: In a coastal city powered by an experimental clean-energy grid, Electra — a brilliant but reclusive electrical engineer — invents a device that lets people briefly share emotional memories through electrical pulses. When she tests it on herself to heal from a past heartbreak, she unexpectedly connects with Jonah, a street musician whose memories are full of warmth, loss, and songs she never knew existed. Their repeated, intimate exchanges blur the line between memory and identity, forcing both to confront who they really are and what they want from love.
Main characters
- Electra Vega: Mid-30s, meticulous, emotionally guarded. Devoted to her research as a way to control pain. Wears practical clothes with subtle vintage touches.
- Jonah Reyes: Early 30s, charismatic street musician with a nomadic spirit. Intuitive, tender, carries emotional scars from family abandonment.
- Dr. Mara Lin: Electra’s mentor — pragmatic neuroscientist who cautions about ethics and unintended consequences.
- Rina Ortega: Electra’s best friend and a community organizer who grounds Electra in real-world stakes.
Key themes
- Memory and identity: How shared memories reshape selfhood.
- Consent and ethics of intimacy: The moral cost of accessing another’s inner life.
- Healing through connection: Love as a collaborative, reparative process.
- Technology vs. humanity: When innovation amplifies vulnerability rather than efficiency.
Plot outline (compact)
- Setup: Electra completes her prototype (the Lumen Interface) and struggles with insomnia and recurring grief from a past relationship.
- Inciting incident: A chance encounter leads Jonah to help her fix a street-side power issue; she impulsively uses the device and connects with his memories.
- Deepening: They exchange memories repeatedly, each session revealing past wounds and joys — Jonah’s childhood songs, Electra’s suppressed loss. Their emotional bond intensifies faster than a normal relationship.
- Conflict: Dr. Mara uncovers neural side effects in test subjects; Rina warns of public misuse. Electra faces pressure to commercialize. Jonah fears losing his autonomy and begins withholding memories.
- Climax: A public leak shows intimate memory clips; Electra must decide whether to destroy the device or defend its potential to heal.
- Resolution: Electra and Jonah choose a fragile, consent-based path — limiting use, advocating strict ethics, and building intimacy the old-fashioned way alongside the device as a tool, not a replacement.
Tone & Style
- Lyrical, sensory prose with electric metaphors.
- Interleaves technical descriptions of circuitry with vivid memory vignettes (song fragments, childhood smells).
- Intimate third-person perspective alternating between Electra and Jonah.
Hooks for readers
- Fresh take on romance through the sensory fusion of memory sharing.
- Ethical dilemmas that provoke discussion about intimacy and tech.
- Evocative setting blending urban grit and futuristic clean energy.
Adaptation potential
- Film/limited series: Strong visual opportunities combining neon-lit cityscapes, close-up memory sequences, and musical elements.
- Soundtrack: Folk-infused original songs tied to Jonah’s memories.
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