Things have never been as practical as today, you might say. Make a voice command and let your morning preferences, average brightness, cool temperature be fulfilled, press a button and your breakfast is ready, your car waits with the destination already programmed. An outstanding advance in technology. Something that decades ago would not have imagined.
You can also say that things have never been so superficial either. Press another button and a system will tell you who you are going to spend the rest of your life with. Or a part of it until you find someone more compatible.
You condemn this system, you think it is a shallow and mistaken distortion of a stubborn pursuit of happiness, and therefore you do not use it, preferring the old ways to build your relationships. Your sister likes to say that you look like a character from the books you read. It sounds unreliable to someone who lives in this reality, but you still take the risks and know that the number of non-followers is negligible. Even if it goes wrong sometimes, you stand firm and, against all that is said and shown by statistics, you find someone.
Until it goes terribly wrong and you give in a little when Alex suggests you try at least once. "If you feel uncomfortable, you can even give up on the first date," she says, and then you give in a little more until you find yourself staring at the system application.
The screen on your cell phone is intimidating, you're about to break a principle you consider valuable, and you're not sure if it's a good idea anymore. It's just a silly idea. Maybe not so silly. You're sure she can not bear your sadness over ending up with Mike, she's your sister and she cares about you, after all. She has not liked him since the beginning and thinks he is not worth your suffering. You agree that you should have heard her, she was right before, and it makes you think that you should listen to her now, maybe she's right again. You trust her.
You just don't trust the system, but what does it cost a try?
Alex is by your side when you decide to move on. She notices your hesitation, but does not press. You stare into her brown eyes and know that she will support you regardless of the decision you make. So you feel motivated. Your finger slides over the screen and throws your data into the process done by the system. You can't help the nervousness that flows through your body until the result appears. Your heart beats fast, your fingers shake and you can not take your eyes off the screen. Then when your courage seems to vanish with each passing second and you almost give up, a number finally comes out.
73.
You look at your sister's face, she simply raises her eyebrows and gives a small smile at the encouragement. Seventy-three percent. Not a very good number. You searched, of course. Many studies say that the guarantee of success in a relationship is over eighty-five, which is a difference that you think can not be disregarded. Giving up now sounds like a sensible decision, keeping in mind that from the beginning you already feel the failure nudging your shoulder. But, Alex realizes the direction you're taking.
"Are you going to quit, Kara?" There are no signs of judgment in her voice, she just asks. "Do not you want to know the name of that number?" And she's curious, too.
She looks right on your eyes, her expression almost comic of so much curiosity. You laugh a little and roll the page down.
"Curiosity killed the cat," you say before you see the result.
Your expression is complete surprise when you read.
Lena Luthor.
You're well aware of who Lena Luthor is, you're a reporter, after all. But who is not? One of the brightest minds of the century, rich, CEO of one of the largest technology companies in the country, one of the favorite subjects of the media and a list of other things that are part of a universe so different from yours. Seventy-three seems like a big number for you and Lena. Alex is as surprised as you are.
If failure had nudged your shoulder before, now you feel it breathing into your neck. You even wonder if it would not be Lena giving up first. How would someone like her become interested in you?
"What should I do?" You ask Alex.
She leans against the sofa upholstery, then looks at the result too, and finally reaches your eyes.
"I can't think of anything besides… Text her, Kara." Your older sister says and doesn't sound like a good idea for you.
You then try to argue, but your cell phone vibrates and you almost knock it over with fright.
Lena Luthor sent a text