The Perils of Online Dating

Prologue

Dr. Julian Ivo Kintobor Robotnik was often called a joyless man by his peers. He knew it was true. There was very little in his life that made him happy. Losing his wife and unborn child just a short few weeks had left him broken.

The only happiness in his life was the young mink sitting at the computer desk in front of him. "And what is this you asked me to come to look at, Bartleby?" He asked curiously at the program that was pulling up.

Bartleby smiled. "It's an online dating service that I developed. It's so people can meet and get to know each other a little before taking the step to meet in person. There's also a bit of a gaming mode where you and the other person can play games together."

Robotnik sighed and rolled his eyes. "Boy, I don't need you to set me up." He said sharply.

The aristocrat jumped a bit at his bark and he pulled it in. "I know, I just wanted to show you, Uncle... To let you test it out..." He looked down as he stood up from the chair.

The old man groaned and nodded. "Fine, what do I do?" He sat down and followed the instructions for creating a profile.

Bartleby smiled. "Once you've created your handle and password, you'll be directed to a questionnaire and then you'll be connected with all the profiles that are compatible. You'll have your pick of eligible ladies."

After several minutes, the despot had created his handle; JulianR and was looking over the possible matches. Suddenly, the computer began binging and an envelope flashed. "What does that mean?"

The mink laughed. "That means someone sent you a message because your profile was compatible with theirs."

Robotnik clicked the flashing envelope. "Hmm, LoisL, thirty-eight, so two years younger. Long, brown hair, species, dachshund. Interesting... Could have possibilities. Hmm, LoisL challenges you to a game of Chess... Okay..." He clicked the yes button and the game launched. "Good choice making Chess one of the games."

Bartleby smiled. "I know it's one of your favorites and it's a classic game. And you can chat as you play. Sally Acorn actually helped me with this. That's why I was out of town last month. We were running a beta test." He said but his godfather didn't answer as he got engrossed in both the game and the conversation with the supposed woman on the other end of the internet.