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The place my date asked me to meet him wasn’t too far from my apartment. A twelve-minute and thirty-six-second walk, according to the integrated neural system. The system connected to my brain through little devices, called "Dimes," attached to my temples. I got my first pair the day I turned three, and they did everything. Connect me with my sister so we could speak if I thought of her face, play games. They also distracted me with live moments of someone else’s life when I got bored. All of it occurred in my mind, just like a daydream.

I rounded a corner, walking faster than usual. I guess I was a little on edge about meeting Aiden. Of course, we casually talked for weeks, getting to know each other, but there was nothing like meeting someone in the real world. He was a professional life streamer with an impressive following of 64M fans. He mostly hosted public conversations with unique guests. I watched one of his episodes and didn’t care too much. He streamed for an audience I wasn’t a part of. For my work, I digitally danced for people who paid to project me into their real-world parties. I had no following. My preference was to hide behind an alias. They called me Hart, and I was in demand. Or, she was. I told Aiden about my secret occupation, expecting to never see him again.

Our agreement to meet relied on the fact that we’d never work as a couple. The matching program hadn’t assigned us to our pairs yet, but statistically, it wouldn’t be each other. The chances of us being a match were one in eleven billion. It was impossible.

The matching program worked by tapping into our brain-connected Dimes. It compiled data from all of our interactions, emotions, hormone levels, and DNA to secure the one (or more) perfect matches. Everyone had someone waiting for them, but we both needed someone to pass the time. Despite personalized, curated social groups in the digital world, I got lonely. I needed more, to go deeper.

The massive building where Aiden waited for me stretched so high, at least half of it towered above the clouds. The setting sun reflected rich magenta, lava, and lavender hues. I stopped to record the image, saving it to my memory bank to revisit another time. It was the most gorgeous sunset I’d ever seen.

The directions continued their projection inside my mind.

Enter building

Ride lift to level 52

Continue down the eastward hallway to Ludus Lounge

The entire way there, I kept myself involved in moments others were living. The small Dime devices on my temples allowed me to walk as if I was on autopilot. Behind my eyes, I watched a live performance of my favorite singer. It cost a little extra than viewing a mundane life moment, but it was fine. I made plenty of money dancing at my last party.

I reached the lounge’s entrance, and my gut sank. I was nervous. I was never nervous. I had performed in private parties for famous billionaires, but meeting one man had me terrified. Sure, he was a little famous, but I got to know him before hearing about his work.

“Welcome to Ludus, Auri! Please follow the yellow diamond to your table,” an automated hostess said. She sounded in my head, connecting to my Dimes. And yes, my actual name is Auri. There was no hiding from the system itself.

A diamond popped into my mind’s vision and hovered in front of my face. I knew it wasn’t truly in the physical world, but it was so realistic. I was sure if I reached out to touch it, I’d feel its cool solid mass. It twirled before my eyes, sparkling to capture my focus, and guided me through the lounge.

I reached the table, and the diamond disappeared. What was left was Aiden’s face. He laughed at me. Probably at my trance-like state while locked in to the digital gem. We’d seen the blank faces of empty people all our lives, but they still made me laugh, so I didn’t blame him. A little embarrassing though, when I was used to being admired.

Whatever, I won’t see him after tonight, I thought, then corrected my posture.

“Au-Auri, it’s nice to meet you for real,” Aiden said. He was attractive. Medium-toned skin, just like mine. Just like almost everybody. We both had dark hair, too. Both tall, but he was taller. What caught my attention were his eyes. Those were different. Emerald green shone in the dim light, and I stared a little too long, probably.

“You too,” I replied, after a pause.

We both smiled, and he gestured to the spot next to him in the booth. As soon as both cheeks hit the bench, an alert popped into my mind asking for my order. The lounge’s specialty drinks scrolled by and synthesized a corresponding taste sample. It was as if I had a drop of each enter my mouth. The menu wasn’t limited to house cocktails, and I could order any drink that had ever been created. I craved wine all day and pushed forward the thought, Merlot. Ten seconds later, our drinks rose from a circular opening in the center of the table. Two glasses of red wine. I snapped a look at him, surprised.

“What? I love wine! It’s timeless. Classic,” he said.

We pinched our glasses from the stems and tapped them together before taking the first sips.

“How’s the—streaming going today? Any interesting guests?” I don’t know why I asked such a stupid question. Anxiety urged me to make sounds.

Aiden leaned in, “It’s fine. Nothing different from any other day. How about we go deeper?”

“Deeper? Okay, sounds good,” I laughed and took a too large gulp of wine. “What do you have in mind?”

“What do you think is the origin of our existence?”

“Wow. Yeah. That’s as deep as we could get,” I raised my eyebrows, intrigued. “Well—we all know how we got here. Grown in the genesis center, raised by professional Keepers until we were three, and then placed into mentor families,” I said.

“Yeah-yeah-yeah, we all know that,” Aiden replied, waving his hand.

“I wasn’t finished!” I said.

He sat back and smiled, “Please continue. I apologize for interrupting.”

“But—I don’t know. I’ve thought about it before. I think we—well, not we, but life has always existed. We don’t have much information about the past. Especially before people started using these.” I gestured to the Dimes.

“Fascinating,” he said, resting his chin in his hand. “What if I told you that programs run and manipulate everything we do? That they have for centuries.”

“Like what?” I playfully rolled my eyes but persuaded him to continue.

“Everything. What our DNA is, how long we live, who we interact with, the jobs we do.”

“You believe we don’t control our lives?” I challenged.

“Probably not.”

I scoffed. Not at his claim, but if the idea was true, how it affected me.

“And how do you get to these preposterous ideas?”

“It’s one perk of being kinda famous. It’s actually the best perk. I have knowledge most never will. But, the awareness of this allows us to break free—I think,” the pitch of his voice lifted.

“You’re saying there is free will, then?”

“I don’t know! I’m playing with the ideas.”

“Why wouldn’t the programs you mentioned suppress our ability to do that? Hmm?” I finished my glass of Merlot and ordered another. The conversation was stimulating, and the wine helped.

We continued talking about everything you’re not supposed to bring up on a first date. We admitted how many partners we’d been with and who was our favorite. I told him the most embarrassing moment of my life, the time my Dimes malfunctioned, and I tripped down an entire flight of stairs, breaking my arm and nose. He told me about a humiliating fantasy he had of his own mother mentor. I told him I didn’t want to be a mother mentor, that I wanted to live freely until I died. I sensed that he never judged me for what I disclosed, and I never judged him.

After he transferred money to pay for our bill, we walked around outside on the ground level. Aiden gently grasped my hand. Physical touch was rare and would typically make me uncomfortable, but with him, it felt right.

Aiden lived in a wealthy area of the city. His fame came with decent wealth. Not an outrageous amount, but he was well off. Perfectly manicured mini parks displayed cubed bushes and trees. Engineered flowers twisted in unreal shapes and struck my retinas with vibrant hues. Gigantic sculptures floated and rotated. We approached a fountain where instead of water, a glittering, metallic fluid sprayed into a swirling pool of liquid. It was gorgeous. He turned toward me and his green eyes caught a flicker of a nearby light. He was familiar. It was as if we had known each other for decades. He leaned in and kissed me. Of all the jumbled emotions and sensations I experienced, the strongest was safety. With him, a man I met only hours before, I was safe. I knew it.

We broke away from the kiss and stared into one another’s eyes. I wanted to spend the rest of the night together, maybe the next day too. Images flashed in my mind about things I wanted to do with him, things I wanted him to do to me. I didn’t care that I’d be paired with someone else in the future. I wanted to enjoy the time we had together, for however long it lasted.

The reciprocal gazing between us severed when a message from the system popped into my mind. And by Aiden’s expression, he received one too.

Ideal match found. Meeting arranged in five minutes.

I felt sick. I couldn’t determine if I was terrified or ecstatic. Was it really happening? Was it Aiden?

The figure of a man formed in my neurovision. Aiden’s green eyes weren’t in the image. It was someone else.

“No!” Aiden shouted. Pedestrians glanced over at his outburst. “Auri, we were supposed to be matched! You were the ideal person for me.” He started to sob and fell to his knees. Tears dripped off of his face, absorbing into the ground below.

“The system is punishing me for meeting you first. Oh, no! I’ve ruined everything for both of us.” He reached his hand out for me to grab.

Match is waiting. Depart immediately.

I wanted to hold him, to cradle his head in my arms, and promise him everything would be fine. Instead, I backed away and watched as Aiden collapsed onto his side next to the fountain. With each cry, my heart squeezed. It was too painful. I had to turn away.

If the system called me somewhere, I had to answer.

Directions flashed through my mind on where to navigate. Where the man I’d spend the rest of my life with was waiting. The one who wasn’t Aiden. Tears pooled at the bottom of my eyelids, but I didn’t understand why. Not then, at least. I wiped them away and pushed the emotions to the bottom of my consciousness. I had three minutes and twenty-six seconds to compose myself.

After everything, I was right about one thing. I’d never see Aiden again.