Hall Of Adventures

WINNER - Trials Of Love Contest

The Love Watches
By- SunflowerSaga

I didn't tell them why I invited them to dinner. Then again, they didn't ask. Newlyweds will take any excuse to tell everyone the good news.

And there's a lot of them at my table tonight. My four teammates from the Love Matches have gathered around the candlelit feast with their partners. On the rooftop, the breeze is just chilly enough to bring them together, snuggling close.

I step out of the doorway with two silver platters. "Here you are! Sparkling elderflower cocktails and saffron risotto with gold leaf."

There's an oooh-ing and aah-ing as I set them down.

Colin's wife lifts the plate to her nose and inhales deeply, sighing with pleasure. "Oh, Kitty, Colin told me you were a chef, but this...!"

"It could get a girl pregnant," concludes Francis. "With twins."

Beside her, Gordon is already flush-faced from the round of strawberry champagne.

"I would've married Kitty if the system matched us," he announced. "You know she scored a 1598 on the Love Matches? That there--" he points to me with a lobster fork "--is the statistically perfect wife."

I stiffen. His new wife looks ready to cry. The rest of the table glares at him because being mean to her is like kicking a puppy.

"However!" He waves the fork, flicking a chunk of meat my way. "Love is not about the numbers. Love is about chemistry. Destiny. And Candace and I were destined to be together."

He throws a massive arm around her shoulders and drags her in for a long, noisy kiss.

There's a collective sigh of relief as my guests reach for their glasses and forks.

I'm left standing awkwardly with my empty platters. Juniper gives me a sympathetic look.

"Don't worry if it takes the government a bit longer to find you a high scorer," she says. "When they find your Mr. Right, he'll be perfect--and perfect for you."

She squeezes her husband's shoulder. He turns and smilingly brings a spoonful of risotto to her lips.

I laugh, and they do too. It's exactly like the commercials for the Love Matches.

The Ministry of Social Welfare started the Love Matches about fifty years ago during the loneliness epidemic. Back then, nine out of ten people were living alone and the suicide rate had sharply increased. The marriage and birth rates had dropped, too.

It's a voluntary program to take seven days of virtual reality tests to see what kind of companion you'd be. It's like dreaming without knowing you're in a dream--and that an AI is watching.

You're forced to make choices about chores, kids, intimacy, personal spending, alone time, and so on. The scenes fade from your mind like dreams once they wake you up.

I actually awoke with tears on my cheeks without knowing why. The rest of my team was already sitting up in their clinic beds, staring at me.

Juniper had heard the clinicians talking while they thought we were still under. I had the second highest score ever recorded.

At first I was just confused. The ministry never publicly admitted to scoring people. Juniper must have misheard.

But while my teammates got their results in a week, I never heard back. When I called the ministry's help line, I got transferred from staffer to staffer ... and then the line would go dead.