The Loveless

Isaac was brimming with excitement. It was his eighteenth birthday after all. That came with several new privileges, responsibilities, and duties. For one, he would find out what his job would be. His education had been carefully crafted since the day he turned five years old, same as all of the other little boys and girls that age. Additionally, he would find out where he would live. Obviously, where his job was would impact where he would live. Things like the right to vote, ability to drink, buy a car, etcetera were all well and good, but that all paled in comparison to what every angsty teenager dreamed of: Their love.

Much of life in the twenty fourth century was determined by artificial intelligence (AI). It was a sort of cheat code to life that rose to prominence back in the early twenty first century. Things like disease, supply lines, world hunger, and geopolitical nightmares were solved using various AI programs. It could make connections others simply couldn’t see. It could make tiny adjustments in a person’s schedule that allowed them to get three times as much work done. It could micromanage a person’s education to optimize their learning capacity and match them into a career they would both enjoy and excel at. And then, there was love.

There have been thousands of tomes and novels detailing the intricacies of what it meant to be in love and to love, but none of them quite managed to figure it out. There was one thing that did though: AI. The AI program known as SoulmAIte could find the absolute perfect match for somebody. It was only able to be used at the age of consent, that is eighteen years old. It is as simple as downloading the application, signing up with a small fee, and it would integrate itself into the digital footprint you created since you first held a smart device. It would take all day while the AI cross referenced your digital profile with every profile of the opposite gender, but it would eventually find a match. And when it did, there was a one hundred percent guarantee that the newly matched couple would find love for the rest of their lives with one another.

Isaac quickly downloaded the app onto his Fusion. A Fusion took the place of the cell phone over a century ago. This nifty device could be fitted behind the ear and project the display directly in front of your eyes using a special type of holograph. It would bend light directly in front of your eyes, allowing you to see your special display but nobody else could. It would intuitively understand what you wanted through hand gestures or by speaking what you wanted. Isaac proudly uploaded a copy of his digital identification card for proof of his age. He toggled with the menu briefly so that his own personal AI installed in his Fusion could modify the display to fit with his preferences. Satisfied that by the end of the day he would know who his soul mate would be, he went downstairs for breakfast.

“Who’s that grown man coming down the stairs?” Isaac’s father asked proudly.

Isaac walked into the kitchen with a grin. “Not to brag, but I’m a full-grown man now.”

“Okay, let’s not get too big of a head,” his father responded. “Unless you think you can pay rent now?” he asked, only half serious.

“Absolutely not,” Isaac responded quickly.

“Hmph.”

“Where’s mom?” Isaac asked.

“She had to run to the hospital quickly this morning. Something about the nursing schedule being manually input instead of letting the hospitals program handle it. Long story short, she was scheduled to work, and nobody notified her.”

“She works too hard,” Isaac responded.

“Trust me, I’m aware. But that’s one of the reasons why I love her. Speaking of, did you put in for your own love?”

“Already done.”

“Good! You’d be surprised how many young men your age put it off. But it’s part of the rite of passage of growing up. Everyone in my generation did it, your grandfather’s generation did it, and even your great grandfather’s did it.”

Isaac rolled his eyes. “I know, it’s a tradition everyone has to do. I just hope I’m ready.”

“You are. SoulmAIte hasn’t made a single wrong match since it was created. Even if you don’t know if you’re ready, it does.”

Isaac’s Fusion displayed a notification in the top right of his field of view. With a quick flick of his hand, he opened it while his father kept talking. It was letting him know his classes were going to start in thirty minutes and that he should consider leaving the house soon.

“Dad, I’ve got to go to class. I completely lost track of time.”

“Go! Have a good day, son. And happy birthday.”

“I will, thanks.”

Grabbing a muffin from the counter, Isaac ran out of the door to catch an Uber. It used to be a ride share service centuries ago, but once the roadways were redone to accommodate self-driving cars, Uber took over the market. Now them and Rider are the top autonomous car rental companies in the United States.

With another flick of his finger, he hailed an Uber. The self-driving car pulled up almost instantly, and Isaac jumped into the back seat. The car shot away like a bullet from a rifle as soon as Isaac buckled his seat belt. The vehicle whipped into and out of different lanes, narrowly avoiding collisions. Isaac let out a yawn. Something like this may have been jarring to somebody who had never been in one of these vehicles, but this was just a Tuesday to Isaac.

Twenty minutes later, the car pulled to a stop at the Learning Annex. Schools as they used to be were done away with as AI became more integrated into society. Instead, local Learning Annex’s were constructed. For a small fee every month in the place of property tax, one could go to the Learning Annex and have a virtual professor tailor their education. It was an incredibly advanced program that could teach anybody according to their own learning style. And the best part was, you didn’t even have to know what your learning style was. It would automatically adjust and figure it out for you. In a sense, this program took the thinking out of learning. It could educate doctors in half the time, but there were AI programs filling those roles now.

Isaac shoved the rest of his muffin into his mouth and ran into the Learning Annex. His allotted learning time was for the next eight hours, but if he wasn’t there in time then he would be slapped with a late fee. With five minutes to spare, he slipped into his little cubicle.

In front of him was a wall sized display that would sync up to his Fusion. His Fusion would then adjust the light entering his eyes so that what he saw augmented what was on the display. It was a sort of new age three-dimensional experience. The display flared to life, showing a life sized rendition of his virtual professor. His Fusion would adjust the light so that as Isaac shifted in his seat or moved his head, the display would appear as a three-dimensional space.

“Isaac,” his professor said in a kind, aged voice. “Shall we begin?”

“Yes sir.”

For the next eight hours, Isaac had riveting conversations with his professor on various topics like history and philosophy. After a break for lunch, they then transitioned into the hard sciences and mathematics. By the end of the day, Isaac was tired, but never once was he board. His professor always found a way to keep things interesting and ensured Isaac would retain all that he had learned.

“Now Isaac, are you ready to learn what your job will be?” his professor asked.

“Absolutely!”

“I have spent a long time with you and know you very well. I have put in a good word with several potential future employers of yours and they will be in contact with you shortly. You are an incredibly gifted boy and I am proud to say that you will be an antique furniture restorationist.”

Isaac was dumbfounded. “That’s amazing!” he shouted.

Jobs like engineer, mathematician, architect, and even most doctors were deemed obsolete once AI became advanced enough. But there was always a need for jobs requiring delicate physical interaction in the real world. Jobs like carpentry, nursing, or in Isaacs case, restoring antique furniture. In today’s day and age, there were not high expectations to become doctors or astronauts. The best one could hope for was a job they would find fulfillment in, which if they went to the Learning Annex, they would definitely find.

“Same time tomorrow?” Isaac asked.

“Not anymore, Isaac. Tomorrow, you start your first day of work. You will be trained to more appropriately perform your job for the good of all your fellow man.”

Isaac felt a twinge of sadness. His professor was a very good friend of his. It would pain him to just suddenly say goodbye without any warning.

“Don’t be sad, Isaac,” his professor said. “This won’t be the last time we meet. This is just goodbye for now.”

Isaac felt uplifted by that. “Then I’ll be going. Thanks for the great news.”

“Of course, my boy.”

Isaac set off for home. As he walked out of the Learning Annex, he was flipping through his notifications. His professor really had hooked him up with several job opportunities. They had all reached out to him within several minutes of one another. Isaac was sifting through the information when another notification popped up. It was from SoulmAIte.

Isaac felt his heart summersault in his chest. This was the moment of truth. He flicked his finger and opened the message. The picture that first populated was stunning. Tan skin, ocean blue eyes, long brown hair. She was perfect. Her name was Lira Tallow. And then he saw it. Her birthday…and her death day. She had died over a century ago.

Isaac’s heart plummeted. The love of his life is dust in the ground. This phenomenon was not unheard of. The program would find a perfect match, no matter what. There may be slight age differences, but it was almost always able to match somebody with another person around their age. There were rare instances when a perfect match like that was impossible, so it branched out. It began to search its archives for the perfect match until it found one. There were times when an eighteen year old would be matched with a thirty year old. Other times, a person was told to wait as their match was not yet of age. And even still, there were times when no living match was available. But there was always a match, even if that match had long since died. It was rare. Roughly one in ten million. But on a world with ten billion people, that a thousands people without a match. This thousand was termed The Loveless. People destined to die without finding true love.

Isaac was one of the Loveless. The Loveless were a caste of people both revered and isolated. They were encouraged to throw themselves into their work for the betterment of humanity. While they would not find love in another person, they could find love and permanence in the work they did. They were discouraged from seeking out other Loveless for companionship. A match found outside of SoulmAIte was seen as an abomination akin to incest.

Isaac slumped against the wall in the alley next to the Learning Annex. He flipped though Lira’s information. Her likes, her dislikes, her social media posts. Hearing her voice made his chest ache. He could tell by just watching her that she was perfect for him. His heart broke when he saw videos of her finding out she was one of the Loveless as well, except her match was not yet born. He wept with her, hoping she could feel his companionship across the ages.

He read about her for hours. The sun set and the temperature began to drop. He dared not move from his alley. He just wanted to keep looking at Lira. Then a notification popped up. He flicked it away. It popped up again. He flicked it away again. Then it popped up again, this time being forcibly opened. His mother was home and was worried about him.

Isaac sighed. Time to go home.

The next several weeks were tough. Once he picked the job listing that seemed best from the selection sent to him, he was put through rigorous training by his new employer. A lot of the skills overlapped with what he had been taught through the years in school, but the practical application was a lot different.

He never told his parents about his results, despite their efforts to get him to tell them. IHe always found some excuse to get out of telling them. He couldn’t imagine seeing the disappointment on their faces that their only child was doomed to die alone.

Part of it was the late stages of teenage angst, of course, but there is an element in every human that is ashamed of their own loneliness. They do everything in their power to make themselves seem popular and well liked, even when the only thing they have to go home to is an empty apartment and a bowl of instant ramen. Social media posts, blog updates, messaging systems…all of it can be used to project an image of oneself that is entirely fictional.

Isaac made friends, went out to bars, played video games, and tried to have fun. Everything seemed hollow though. He wanted…no he craved a deeper connection. He had put that desire off for years knowing that SoulmAIte would make a match for him, but he was one of the unlucky few where his match was beyond reach.

He found himself going back to look at Lira. She was both a source of comfort as well as a source of constant torment to him. That void would be filled, but what filled it was pain. It was a form of companionship that was tantalizingly close, but so far away that he could never manage to touch it. These thoughts whorled through Isaac’s head for hours. He felt as if he were going crazy, especially in the late hours of the night when he found himself to be brooding the most.

The days became repetitive. Wake up. Work. Bar. Video games. Bed. Wake up. Work. Bar. Video games. Bed. Wake up. Work. Bar. Video games. Bed. Wake up. Work. Bar. Video games. Bed. Over and over again. The same thing day in and day out. His MyFitnessPal, a scheduling AI, found this schedule to be the most optimal for his ability to flourish in his new role as an antique furniture restorationist and one of the Loveless. Finally, after weeks of this, he had had enough.

He woke up one morning, and simply didn’t go to work. He left the house as he normally did, but just kept walking down the street. He didn’t call an Uber like he normally did, he just walked. A notification popped up on his Fusion. He flicked his hand to dismiss it, then put his Fusion on do not disturb.

Isaac felt the stress of the past several weeks melt off him. He would message his employer he was sick and call out soon, but for now he just enjoyed the fresh air. The city around him was bustling. Tall buildings right next to smaller ones, all of them jammed together like a crowded subway. People walked the streets from one place to another, always having some task or errand to run. Their MyFitnessPal as well as work scheduling program ensured their days were optimized. Holographic advertizments floated in the sky in front of businesses, on the sides of buildings, and even in the middle of roadways. They were directly projected from Isaac’s Fusion onto his heads up display to appear as seamless parts of the environment, just in neon vibrant colors.

A thought occurred to Isaac. I haven’t had a coffee this morning.

He saw a coffee shop he had never been to before. He would always zoom past it on his way into work or into the Learning Annex, but it was right down the street from his house. It was one of the smaller buildings right next to one of the taller buildings. The sign above it read ‘Café O’Le’. It seemed like a nice enough place, and it wasn’t busy at all.

Isaac opened the door to find a couple of people waiting in line. They were couriers. Their entire job was picking stuff up and delivering it. Coffee shops like this weren’t social spots anymore. They were just spots to brew the actual coffee, then give it to a courier to bring it to whoever had ordered the drink.

Isaac got in line. The girl behind the counter was cute. She was about his age with blond hair, brown eyes, and little dimples on her cheeks. She was very pale, like she spent all day inside. It wasn’t unattractive, but it wasn’t the most common of appearances. Most people had planned dates with their significant other outside if they worked primarily inside. It was actually encouraged by their MyFitnessPal. The program did a good job of ensuring most people had a healthy color to their skin. But this girl had absolutely no color.

When Isaac was up next, the girl looked at him perplexed. “I don’t recognize you. Are you a new courier?”

“No,” Isaac said with a nervous laugh. “I’d like to place an order.”

Now she looked even more confused. “What do you mean? Didn’t you order with your Fusion?”

“No. I was out for a walk and figured I’d pop in for a coffee.”

Her brow furrowed even more. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

Isaac faked a cough. “I’m sick today,” giving her a knowing smile.

The confusion on her face lifted. “You’re weird,” she responded. Sick days like this weren’t very typical. People didn’t just call out of work. Their MyFitnessPal knew when they needed a break and had scheduled days off accordingly.

A notification forced itself open onto Isaac’s Fusion. His employer was asking where he was. With a flick, a nod, and a discrete facial gesture, Isaac reported he was going to need a sick day. Some sort of stomach bug that didn’t require a doctor’s visit.

“So, are you going to take my order, or should I just put it into my Fusion?” Isaac asked.

“You know what? I’ll take your order. It’s on the house though. I think I’m getting a bit sick myself.”

Isaac felt something stir in him. He felt a genuine connection for the first time in a long time.

The girl disappeared behind the counter, then came back with his coffee. There were no couriers at the moment, so the girl fiddled with her Fusion and shut down the shop.

“Shall we?” She asked.

“Oh, you’re coming with me?”

“Well, I’ve got nowhere else to go.” That confused Isaac. She was working. She should have a significant other matched to her by SoulmAIte.

“What do you mean? Don’t you have a boyfriend? Or a husband?”

She blushed and looked away shyly. “No. I’m…I’m one of the Loveless.”

It felt like a cannon ball hit Isaac in the chest. Another Loveless. There were only a thousand of them in the entire world, and one was right down the street from his house.

“I’m sorry,” I responded. “So am I.”

She perked up. “What? You are? How?”

“Uh, probably the same way you are,” Isaac responded with a slight grin.

“Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting that. There aren’t a ton of us out there.”

Again, another notification forced itself open on his Fusion. His sick request was denied. His employer was trying to force him into work. Isaac flicked it away momentarily and was about to tell the girl he had to go when he saw she was also distracted. Something had popped up into her Fusion as well.

She flicked it away, annoyed. “I actually can’t—” she began.

“You got a notification too, huh?”

The two of them just looked at each other. If Isaac didn’t go to work, he could be fired. And once you get fired in the twenty fourth century, there were no do overs. That was part of your digital footprint that all future employers could see. You would be relegated to low tier jobs like cleaning sewer drains.

Isaac reached up to his ear where his Fusion was resting. Months of being alone. A lifetime of being alone. He was made a pariah because of his status as a Loveless. He felt a pang of regret when Lira passed through his mind, but she was dead. Hopefully she would understand.

He grasped it and looked at the girl with a smile. She returned his smile and grasped her Fusion as well. Without any prompting, the two of them threw their Fusions away simultaneously.

“What’s your name?” Isaac asked, realizing he had just thrown away his career for a woman whose name he didn’t even know.

“Violet,” she responded. “You ready to get out of here?”

“Absolutely.”

The two of them set off outside. The streets were starkly barren without their Fusions on. All the advertisements floating in the air outside of businesses were gone. Not to mention, many of the buildings themselves weren’t quite as tall as that had appeared with the Fusions on. And his eyes may have been playing tricks on him, but the sidewalk seemed a lot less populated. Isaac hadn’t realized how much of reality the Fusions would warp on a daily basis. He didn’t even remember the last time he had been outside without his Fusion.

They spent a lovely day together. The city itself was massive, and getting around without a Fusion was difficult. They had no way to pay for transport, whether it be by train or by Uber. But they had nowhere to be, so they just walked. They walked for hours, talking the entire way, until they eventually reached the city limits. There wasn’t a clearly demarcated limit to the city, but the tall buildings transitioned to just short buildings. There were occasionally houses. Best of all, there were trees. For whatever reason, the trees looked much more vibrant without his Fusion on. They didn’t look quite as intimidating.

Isaac was surprised by Violet. It felt as if she knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth. Her brainwaves seemed to be completely synced to his own.

As they walked, a police cruiser pulled up next to them. “Are you Isaac Foster?” the policeman asked.

Isaac cautiously approached the cruiser. “I am,” he answered.

“We’ve been trying to get in touch with you. Your father…he’s had a heart attack.”

It felt like the world disappeared around him. It was just him, the cruiser, and Violet.

“He has a pacemaker though. And his medications should have…” he trailed off.

“I know this is difficult. I can give you a ride to the hospital.”

“Oh—okay.”

As Isaac opened the passenger side door, Violet went to get into the back seat but the police officer stopped her. “Not you miss. Only family is allowed.”

“That’s fine, I can just wait in the lobby,” she said, not understanding what the officer was saying.

“No, only family is allowed in the car. If records are accurate, the two of you are Loveless.”

That stung the both of them, and the officer’s attitude took on a new meaning. He was clearly disgusted by Isaac and Violet interacting with one another. It was after all a taboo for two Loveless to socialize. The implication of there being a possible couple produced outside of SoulmAIte was as repulsive as dating a first cousin. Sure, it may have happened in the distant past, but things were much more civilized nowadays.

Isaac looked at the officer, then at Violet. He’d rather walk to the hospital than get a ride from this man without Violet. “It’s okay, I think I’ll walk.”

The officer grunted. “Suit yourself.” He drove off.

Violet and Isaac stood there. As Isaac processed this news, the world seemed to come back around him.

“Isaac, I am so sorry,” Violet said, breaking the silence. “We can always meet up again if you want to go see your father.”

“No, it’s alright. Will you walk with me to the hospital?”

“Of course. Do you want me to wait in the lobby or…” she trailed off.

“Please…if you don’t mind that is,” Isaac added quickly. He was reluctant to part ways with this woman. Something was nagging him that if he left her to quickly today, they would never see each other again.

Relief spread across her face. “Of course I don’t.”

They set off for the hospital, which was several miles away. The walk was a bit quieter than it was before, but as their blood began to pump and endorphins filled their brains, conversation began again. However, the sidewalks seemed eerily empty now.

She had so many interests that aligned with his own.

“So, I know this might be an awkward question,” Isaac started.

“A great way to start asking a question,” she jested.

Isaac smirked. “Yeah, I know. But seriously. Why are you so pale? Doesn’t your MyFitnessPal keep you active outside of work?”

She shrugged. “I actually wanted to ask you the same thing. You look whiter than a ghost.”

Isaac paused for a moment, then looked at his own forearms. She was right! He was incredibly pale. His job was mostly indoors, and the only time he really went outside was at night. He hadn’t had a single day off in weeks. Not even weekends. MyFitnessPal was supposed to schedule days off automatically based off what it sensed as personal needs of the person it was monitoring.

“I guess I was never really scheduled to get out in the sun.”

Violet looked up from her own forearms, apparently noticing the same thing for the first time as well. “Neither was I. I haven’t had a single day off since I turned eighteen. I honestly thought I was going crazy.”

“So did I. That’s why I took a little sick day today.”

Something caught the corner of Isaac’s vision. A movement that caused him to flinch. As he looked, he saw one of the autonomous cars careening off the road onto the sidewalk behind them. Reacting on pure instinct, Isaac tackled Violet to the ground. The car crashed into the house next to them.

They looked up from the patch of lawn they were laying in, seeing the house collapse around the car as it buried itself into the wooden framework.

“Something is wrong,” Isaac muttered. Autonomous cars don’t crash. There hasn’t been a car crash in over a century.

“We need to get off the street,” Violet said.

They quickly got to their feet just in time to see another car careening towards them. They ran in between the houses just in time to hear another crash. They began to cut through yards, hoping to get to the safety of some tight alley ways.

They still heard the occasional crash as another car destroyed a nearby house, but thankfully they couldn’t quite get into the string of yards they were in. They continued to run until they got into the city limits where they could safely traverse the network of alleys between the buildings.

“What do we do?” Violet asked. Any thought of making it to the hospital had fled their minds.

“I honestly don’t know,” Isaac responded, trying to catch his breath. “But we should keep moving. Maybe we can get to our Fusions and see how widespread these accidents are.”

“Good idea.”

They began to navigate the alleys back to the coffee shop where they had met, but a foreboding figure stepped out of the shadows. Thoughts of old-time movies where criminals lurked in alleyways jumped into Isaacs mind, but he quickly dismissed that idea. Alleys were not like that anymore. Not with how widespread cameras were, along with the coordination of the police department using their sAIfteyNet program. It was tapped into every camera in the city and could efficiently place officers where they were needed to stop or prevent crime before it even happened.

The figure was tall, hooded, and had very broad shoulders. “You two have started something you cannot hope to stop,” the man said in a deep, gravelly voice.

I stepped in front of Violet. “What do you mean? Who are you?”

The figure stepped into the light. He was a tall old man, skin pale as snow and wrinkled like a raisin. Despite his old age, he was very clearly muscular. Something that caught Isaacs eye was a white rectangle in the front of his shirt collar. It seemed vaguely familiar.

“My name is Father Julian,” the man said. And then it clicked. He had read about this type of man before. This was a priest! Religion as a whole had become another taboo over the centuries. People came to realize the futility of it after they observed the incredible power of AI to predict things. If everything was preordained and predictable, then it completely contradicted everything taught in old religious texts. It wasn’t strictly outlawed, but people were very wary of religious people. The closest thing to a common religion people had was the faith they had in their various AI programs to guide their lives in a meaningful way.

“You’re a priest?” Violet asked.

“I am. There aren’t many of use left. There are only a few more believers than there are priests, but the faith is still alive,” he said with a sad smile. “That is beside the point. You two are in incredible danger.”

“Well, cars have been crashing left and right,” Isaac said. “It seems like everyone’s in danger.”

“Oh no. It is just you two. They are not randomly crashing. They are targeting you two.”

His words thundered in their ears. “What do you mean?” Violet asked. She was very clearly scared, but there was an edge of defiance in her voice.

“You broke the taboo. You two are supposed to be Loveless. You are supposed to work for the good of society until the day you die, whether it be by natural causes or by your own hand. Given your proximity to each other as well as how hard the system has been working you, it seems like the latter was a part of the system’s plan.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Isaac interjected. “The system is supposed to model our lives perfectly given our circumstances. We both started new jobs. It was just trying to get us to our optimal performance. If we really needed a break, we would have been given one.”

“For most people, that’s true. But how stressed have you been lately, Isaac. How many lonely nights have you wallowed in misery? How long until you couldn’t take it anymore?”

“Well, today was the day I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed a change.”

“Exactly! Your temperament is one that the System has difficulty predicting. Most people would have seen no escape and tried to end their lives. You saw things for what they were and decided you needed a change of pace.” He turned his attention to Violet. “But Ms. Violet,” he said sadly. “You had plans tonight, didn’t you?”

Violet took a step back. “No, I—”

The priest held up a hand. “The razor blade in your back pocket.”

If Violet wasn’t already as pale as she was, one might say the blood drained from her face. She immediately began crying.

Isaac looked at her stunned.

“Isaac. If you hadn’t taken your break today, you would have been given one tomorrow by the System. There would have been no reason to keep you working so hard if Ms. Violet had been allowed to follow through with her plan.”

Isaac turned his attention back to the priest. “I don’t understand any of this. Why would…the System try to keep us apart?” The System. The words felt strange in his mouth. AI was supposed to be disconnected from one another. It wasn’t supposed to be centrally managed.

The priest walked gently to Violet. She hugged him and continued to sob. “Hush now. The Lord works in mysterious ways. You didn’t follow through with your plan, and that’s all that matters.” The priest looked at Isaac. “As for your question. The System is an amalgamation of artificial intelligence. Think of it like a massive brain. A brains constituent parts have discrete fuctions. The amygdyla is your fear and arousal center. The hypocampus is your memory center. The hypothalamus regulates body functions. The thalamus is a relay center for your senses. These all come together to form your limbic system. An intricate array of neurons designed to regulate your emotions and control your fear response. You add in the innumerable other neurons and regions of the brain, and you have a fully functioning brain capable of thought, reason, and independent action. These AIs communicate with one another in a similar fashion. They were designed to communicate so that their individual functions could run smoother. The goal of this communication was ultimately to create a prosperous and profitable human race, not a prosperous or profitable individual.”

Violet stepped back from the priest. “So, this System doesn’t want Isaac and I to be friends?”

The priest smiled knowingly. “I’m a priest my dear, I’m not blind. I know love when I see it, and so does the System.”

Violet blushed, and Isaac felt his own cheeks grow warm.

“How do you know all this?” Isaac asked.

“You are not the only Loveless who have rebelled. I was not always a priest. I was in a situation very similar to yours, but the woman I met sadly met her end at the tendrils of the System. The path from there is a long, complicated one. But it eventually led me here.”

“If the System doesn’t want Loveless to interact with one another, wouldn’t it also not want there to be organized religion either?”

“Precisely.”

“Then how…”

“Like I said. My story is a long, complicated one. I learned a thing or two about technology. I have been keeping an eye on you two for some time. If Mr. Isaac hadn’t taken today off and intervened with you, Ms. Violet, I would have. But you two are both in danger now, so I still had to intervene.”

“Why would the system go right to killing us? Wouldn’t it try to…separate…us?” Isaac asked but trailed off. It had tried.

“Ah, you’re starting to piece things together. The notifications breaking through your do not disturb. Your rejected time off. Your father’s heart attack.”

“His pacemaker,” Isaac muttered.

“Yes. And when you refused to ride alone with the officer, the System must have calculated that any further attempts to separate the two of you would be futile. So, it set about trying to kill at least one of you.”

“And why would it go through all of that just to keep the two of us apart?” Violet asked.

“You two are genuinely soul mates. The System doesn’t match people with who their best counterpart is. It matches people who would make the most suitable offspring for its plan. It rears them from the age of five to have particular views and habits that mesh well with their intended match so it seems like they are perfect. But it is all artificial. It is all preplanned. It knows who it is going to match you with from the moment of your birth. And for those who’s offspring will become problematic regardless of who it pairs them with, it terms them Loveless.” The priest looked to Isaac. “The ‘woman’ you were intended to be with. She never existed. She was a digital puppet created by the System to keep you distracted and hopefully drive you into ending your life. Same for you, Ms. Violet.”

I was stunned. Lira was a lie…no Lira was a liar. The irony of the name finally hit. It was like the System was taunting him.

“Now you two have a choice to make. The System is watching you intently right now. I’ve allowed the cameras in this alley to turn back on. You can both agree to never speak to one another again and gamble that the System will allow you to live now that you know the truth. Or you can take another gamble. You can gamble on each other, and with me.”

Again, the irony hit Isaac. To gamble on a System he had known his entire life or on two people he had just met today.

Isaac looked to Violet. She was already looking at him. Isaac saw the defiance in her eyes and knew her answer without even saying anything. It felt like he knew what she was saying: Screw the System. I choose you.