As It Appears

Chapter 1

 He was three when his mark began to appear. It wasn't out of the ordinary for a child of his age to have it show up around that time. It was exciting, to a young boy who had a vague idea of what it meant. He was excited, running inside to show his mothers while bouncing around the kitchen.

A century or so ago, the government began inserting newborn children with a chip. It wasn't a means of regulation or control, but to help everyone find their other half. It got rid of the centuries of bias based on race, sexuality, and class to connect the two- and in some rare cases more- who best suited the other. The "Soulmate Chip" is what they called it. The chip, once safely implanted, would form a mark on the soulmates arm.

The first part of the mark, usually something small like a line or a circle, appeared when both soulmates had their chips implanted. Some soulmates had the mark appear the day they were born, while others had to wait until their other half was brought into this world, much like he did. From there, a new portion of the mark would appear any time the soulmates were together, or well within a few hundred feet of the other. When the soulmates shared their first kiss, the black shape that related to an interest of the soulmates that had formed over the time they had spent together would complete. The next time the mark changes is when the soulmates consummate their relationship, adding color to the simple black figure.

The boy would stare at his mark daily for six years, waiting for it to change, to add another line or miraculously complete. One day, his moms told him they were moving. "California," they had said. He and his mothers flew into the state a few days later to look for a new home. As they made their way through the crowded maze of the airport, his mark began tingling. He froze, watching a new line appear near the top of the one he already had. He tugged on one of his mothers' shirts, pointing to his arm frantically. She laughed and shook her head, not paying much attention as she tried to keep an eye on her own soulmate and her son. He glanced around, hoping to see his soulmate, though the people around him were much taller than him and acting as a wall. He let out a huff before scurrying after his mothers.

His soulmate, though neither of them knew it, was standing on the other side of one of the tall people. She was only six, getting ready to say goodbye to her father, a soldier, as he was set to deploy to a wartorn country for the next two years. She held his hand tightly as they walked through the busy building, her mother a few steps ahead as she checked her soulmate into his flight to another base where he'd deploy from. As they stood waiting, she felt her arm tingle, a feeling that shocked her. She watched the small like form before tugging on her father's pants. He leaned over and picked her up, watching with a smile as she proudly showed him her mark. He chuckled, leaning into her so she could hear him over the commotion of the area, "That means your soulmate is here, 'Laska."

The young girl was happy for a few minutes, but the mood soon changed as her father got ready to head through security. He kneeled down and hugged his daughter goodbye before saying goodbye to his soulmate, a loud squeal coming from his daughter as he and his wife shared their last kiss before he left.

On their way home, she told her mother about the line, her mother watching in the mirror as her daughter talked animatedly, before sharing the story of how she had met her soulmate, a story the girl would hold onto for the rest of her life.