A company created this process as a form of anomalous copyright protection. When applied to a concept, the concept experiences a certain degree of "friction" as it moves around and is transmitted between people. The original plan was to apply it to the designs so that people could not steal its design, but it backfired and people slowly lost cognition of the product. After the company collapsed and the process became public domain, the Foundation stepped in to control spread of the information and contain it.
For example, an original document containing a concept that has been affected will be correct, but attempts to recreate, download, or remake the document will slowly degrade. Similarly, attempts to transfer the information by word of mouth will degrade the information.
The meat of the article will be the concepts which are currently affected. One or two products from the initial company to more clearly express how the anomaly works, and a single control test from the foundation form the buildup, though these will likely not be too in depth. The main point is that several humans have been affected, and subsequently have been erased from relatives' cognition and from certain documentation. These occurred after containment of the anomaly by the foundation, suggesting someone has access to the procedure.
An affected individual acts as the "original document" as previously stated. While they know accurate information about themselves, any attempts to spread this information will quickly erode it, becoming flawed or forgotten. The individual themselves is not directly affected, rather, it is the knowledge of the individual that is affected. People that associate with the subject will find that their memories involving them break down, and so forth. Similarly, documentation that involves the subject will become increasingly more inaccurate or cease to exist every time an edit is made to them.
As per the narrative focus, an early affected individual will be focused on, citing how discovery of the anomaly is possible when there is no collective memory or documentation of the person. This individual went to increasingly drastic lengths to draw attention, as they realized that the more they interacted with others the less that others could remember of them. They attempted to "stand out" by committing crimes, causing accidents, or other such actions. Incidents would have an anomalously fast resolution, and the individual would be forgotten by the end of it. The foundation would likely take notice of the anomalous behavior and step in.
The final beat of the article will likely be an interview log with the previously mentioned subject. The information contained within will be eroded such that the subject's manner of speaking will be very abstract, but the reader will be able to infer the desperation and despair he is experiencing from his situation.
"I once was me, and now, I am No One."
I appreciate any critique and comments available!
Edit: As recommended below, I rewrote the narrative concept section with help from thecritters IRC chatroom (thank you, deamonheart!).
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