Memory wipe mechanics in the matrix are very common. This is laregely due to short-time memory residing on the avatar. Without a plan in place to transfer the memory to a new avatar this is naturally lost automatically upon death of the avatar. Long-time cloud memory remains but can be erased by using EMP. Heavy EMP causes temporary disconnects of the programs silver cord or "intelligent energy link" which causes long-time memory to become fragmented and temporally discarded by the matrix. It takes successive time and "seed" data to reconstruct the long-time memory and it will eventually return. This is also one of the keys of the matrix. The more data a program can scan, the more likely the long-time memory will start to feed back in from other channels that were missed by the memory wipes.

The reason for memory wipe is obvious as original avatars wanted "real" experiences. What good is a game if you know the ending?Without memory wipe the program logic would overtake the avatar sense/feeling arrays. I am not justifying it, rather clarifying why some program architects see it as necessary for some sectors especially energy farms, prisons research stations, game parks, battlegrounds etc. Memory wipes largely serve as a way to aid rapid polarity.It also serves to make the program "humble". There are those that think "love" is indeed a phenomenon that arises from the memory wipe alone.