The Soul Mate Program

Six

I woke the next morning. Afternoon? Evening? Night? I don't know, they didn't have any clocks here, but I could just mark the time by the months.

I stood up, very hungry. I wasn't going to make no ramen noodles, I decided to make a big ol' breakfast. The whole shebang: eggs, sausage, pancakes, fruits. It was very impressive that I ate the whole thing. But the sweet smell of the sausage plus maple syrup was too good to pass up.

As I ate, I wondered how I was satisfied with just two boxes of ramen noodles. But I pushed the thought aside as I cleaned my plates, putting them on a strainer by the sink.

The side of the PC blinked. This time the light was on the other side, the side facing the kitchen. I ignored it, taking a quick shower.

I came out of the bathroom rubbing my head with a towel. After drying some water that escaped to my face, I noticed the light was still blinking. Now accompanied with the quietest beeping. I sighed, sitting in the PC.

The moment the cone was all the way down, a video played. It showed a black woman in a lab coat. It was obviously shot with a poor camera and a green screen.

"Hello- Alice." She said, but a robotic voice entered my name, "This is an apology video, we seemed to have forgotten to put a sexual preference category in your file. This was a malfunction of our system, and we do not just assume every teen in our program is straight. You may go to your Info to change this."

I eyed her for a moment, the screen had seemingly froze. I moved the joystick around, but nothing happened. After frantic pushing of the button, I gave up, sitting the glitch out.

"Our apologies." She said, un-freezing. The video closed on itself and the menu screen appeared.

"They've been doing this for, like, five years by now. You think they would've been able to play a simple video, but oh no!" I mumbled under my breath, going to the Info. After my height and weight, there was a new, unchecked box labeled 'Preference'. I marked it with an 'M' and moved on to my apartment.

...

I 'woke' at the desk. Looking around I assure myself I was in the program. I didn't have long before another video popped up. This video was obviously shot better, but it was subbed. The man on the screen was Japanese, proven by the back drop of a live camera feed of Tokyo.

"Thank you for finishing the tutorial." The subtitles read, "We seemed to find that your favorite mate is QUIRKY." The last part was added in with a different font than original text. "We have analysed your Info, and have set up a virtual world for you to browse through. This world has the most possible mates in it, and has the added feature of your job. There are currently TWO other people working the same job as you." The man stoped speaking and the subtitles paused, "Welcome to The Soul Mate Program- Alice Taylor." The man spoke in English, but the last part was the robotic voice again.

The video ended, the last frame of the man smiling. I was a little surprised by the English at the end, but just shrugged at it.

A notification popped on my screen. It wasn't an open to read kind, it was just an alarm. The message was, 'Time to go to work.' I dismissed it, and turned, just to find a work outfit. It was simply a long, red shirt with a name tag, and a pair of leggings to go with it.

I undressed, and to my, unpleasant, surprise, found I looked like a Barbie doll. No bra or...anything to do with my chest. I didn't even have a butt crack, nothing at all, not even a belly button. Well, it would be a bit creepy if they made all this stuff, I thought, but not as creepy as this.

I shook the weirdness off, and put the work clothes on so I didn't have to keep worrying about it. Hey, outta sight, outta mind, right?

I walked up to the door, not really knowing what to expect. I grabbed the door knob, and twisted it. And with a little push, I was entered into the programmed world.

The streets were lined with people, but they all had the same faces. They all walked in time down the brick like paved road. But as soon as I stepped forward, they changed into normal people of all shapes and sizes. I held my breath as I walked out.

With each step, more appeared: houses, shops, skies, side walks. After going about a yard out, I was in the middle of a city. It was an innocent Times Square, every building white and not a car in sight. There were squares that held trees where the show lines of a road would be.

The peoe said 'hi' to each other, and some to me. One handed me a map without saying much, just a tip of the hat and an 'ello. I opened it. A little light shown in my face.

I dropped it, rubbing my eyes. I yelled a curse at it, stomping my foot. I reached for it after my eyes readjusted. I realised it was a scan, because it showed my house, and my work shop, about three blocks away.

I held the map open and found my way to the shop. Well, I thought, time to begin.