by I. T. Lucas
For a long moment, Alicia just looked at him, but then she nodded. “Fine. I’ll do it. How do we arrange it so we are paired?”
“We don’t. You fill out a questionnaire on your end, and I fill out one on mine. If we both choose a Star Trek adventure, the algorithm is more likely to match us.”
“So, we won’t know whether we were matched with each other or someone else, right? Not even after the adventure is over.”
“If we choose avatars that look a lot different than us, then we won’t know. But since we know each other, we can ask.”
She shook her head. “If I do this, I don’t want to know if it was you or not. I’ll choose an avatar that doesn't look like me, and I won’t answer your questions if you ask me about the experience.”
“I can live with that.”
Except, he wasn’t going to change a damn thing about his appearance, so Alicia would know for sure that he was her partner and not some random dude.
Well, except maybe for the color of his eyes. He might ask for her favorite shade of blue.
8
Alicia
“Where is your not-so-secret admirer?” Marcy asked.
Alicia shrugged. “How should I know?”
“I thought that after he’d showed up at the club, things would move forward with you two.”
The day after the concert, Alicia had told Marcy about Gregg and the drink they’d shared, but not about the Perfect Match gift certificate. It was too intimate. Some girlfriends shared details from the bedroom, but Alicia had never felt comfortable discussing her private life with others.
“Not really. We just talked.”
“Yeah, and you found out that you were both Stark Trek fans. I’ve seen relationships start with less than that.”
Alicia grimaced. “Gregg made it very clear that he’s not interested in a relationship, and I don’t do hookups.” Well, except for maybe virtual ones. She was still on the fence with that. “But even if he were interested in more than sex, I don’t have time for something serious.”
“Right.” Marcy shook her head and then waved her hand. “Good riddance. He wasn’t worth your time anyway.”
It was nice of Marcy to say, and perhaps it was even true, but then Alicia was not rid of Gregg yet.
He might still be her perfect match. Not that she would know unless he made his avatar look like him, which was possible. The guy was gorgeous, why would he want to change his looks?
If asked, she wouldn't have changed anything about him. In fact, she’d been asked, and the perfect guy she’d described turned out a lot like Gregg.
Between the Star Trek fantasy that she’d concocted and the description of her perfect partner, the algorithm would pair them for sure.
Was that a good thing, though?
She’d realized that accepting the gift certificate had been a mistake the very next day when Gregg walked in and ordered his usual. Instead of the flirtatious banter they’d been enjoying for months, things had felt awkward.
Perhaps it had been only on her side, and she’d imagined the expectant gleam in Gregg’s eyes and the stifled smirk on his lips, but the result was the same.
He’d stopped coming.
Perhaps instead of logging into Perfect Match’s website the same night, she should have waited a day or two and considered the implications, but she’d been too excited and curious to wait.
First, she’d read the long explanation that attempted to explain in laymen’s terms how the service worked, then she’d read the complete privacy guarantee, twice, and finally, she’d read about a hundred customer testimonials, raving about the experience.
It was two o'clock in the morning when she finished with that part and used the access code on her gift certificate to log in, register, and open the questionnaire.
If she had seen it first, she might have not used the access code. The questionnaire was very detailed and very intrusive, to the point that she’d felt herself blushing when answering some of the questions.
And yet, she’d kept at it even though her eyes had burned from lack of sleep.
It had been like a journey of self-discovery. She’d never pondered many of those questions, some of which had never even crossed her mind, and when forced to do so in order to provide honest answers, she’d been surprised by her own choices and preferences.
Had she been lying to herself her entire life?
Not really, she just hadn’t been attuned to her inner self. It was disconcerting to realize that she tended to gloss over things that made her uncomfortable or things she disliked.
Alicia had filled up the questionnaire a week ago, but she’d never pressed the submit button.
Perhaps Gregg had already played out his Star Trek fantasy with someone else? There were plenty of fans out there.
Was that why he’d stopped showing up? Because he’d already found his perfect match?
On the one hand, it made her sad to think that Gregg was lost to her, but on the other hand, it made pressing that submit button much easier.
Perhaps her perfect match was somewhere out there, waiting for her to submit her questionnaire?
The thing was, thinking about that damn button had been stressing her out all week long, which was reason enough to just take the plunge and do it. Anyway, she wasn’t going to use her own name or create an avatar that looked anything like her.
The name she’d chosen was Leia, not the Star War’s princess, but a princess nonetheless. It was her fantasy after all, and if she wanted to be a princess voyaging through the stars with her favorite captain, she could.
9
Gregg
“I knew it!” Gregg banged his fist on his desk.
More than a week had passed since Alicia had registered, but she hadn’t submitted her questionnaire, and he was starting to think that she’d changed her mind.
Not wanting to push her, Gregg had stayed away from the Starbucks, waiting impatiently, anxious that the algorithm would pair him with someone else.
But as soon as she finally submitted it, the email informing him that a match had been found arrived less than an hour later.
He couldn’t be a hundred percent sure it was her, and yet he was. Other than hacking into the system and manipulating the outcome, which would have been morally and legally wrong, he’d done everything else to ensure it. But the only information he’d allowed himself to hack into was whether she had completed her registration or not.
Right after he’d given Alicia the gift certificate, Gregg had gone home and filled out his questionnaire, making sure to submit it before she submitted hers. Star-Trek-themed fantasies were common for guys, and if not for his custom-tailored answers and descriptions, she might have been paired with someone else.
Since women favored different kinds of fantasies, the risk of the same happening to him was much lower.
According to Gabriel, and that was the only inside information he’d been willing to share, a guy had a much better chance of getting paired if he were ready to play a billionaire, a prince, a vampire, or a pirate.
Women were strange creatures, multifaceted, and with contradictory wishes and desires. Guys were so much simpler.
“Why do you look so smug?” Sam walked into his office. “Any good news?”
“Potentially.”
“Care to share?”
“It’s personal.”
“Aha. You’ve booked another virtual hookup.” Sam shook his head. “You have an addictive personality, my friend.”
“Why would you say that? You’ve known me for years. I’ve gotten drunk precisely once, and I smoked one-third of a joint before deciding that I’m not going to touch the stuff ever again.”
Pulling out a chair, Sam sat across from him. “I admit that none of your addictions are harmful, unless too much coffee and virtual sex are detrimental to your health.”
“They are not.” Gregg leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “You, on the other hand, are a
ddicted to work. If not for Lisa, you would still be working eighteen-hour days. At least I know how to balance work with my hobbies.”
Sam arched a brow. “What hobbies? The mountain climbing you do in an air-conditioned gym?”
Gregg huffed. “If you didn’t keep bringing in more and more business, I could take more time off and go climbing real mountains.”
“I doubt that. You are doing it to keep in shape because you hate weight training. What other hobbies do you have that I’m not aware of?”
“Sex, of course. Virtual and non-virtual.”
Sam smirked. “As I said. You have a problem, buddy.”
“I don’t. I just haven’t found the one woman to complete me yet.” He put his hand over his chest and batted his eyelashes. “And until I do, I must keep searching.”
10
Alicia
“Ready for your adventure?” the technician asked after attaching a gazillion wires to Alicia’s body.
The top of her chest and her arms were covered with little squares of sticky pads, and she had a huge helmet thing hovering over her head. If this were a horror movie, this is what the victim of a mad scientist would look like.
Except, she was the mad one for doing this voluntarily.
“Let’s go over the safety measures again,” said the technician, whose name was Rebecca like Alicia's roommate but looked nothing like her.
By now, Alicia could recite them from memory, but she nodded politely and answered questions until the tech was satisfied that they had covered everything safety related.
“Anything you want to ask me before we proceed?” Rebecca asked.
“Are you sure that, once I enter the virtual world, I’m not going to remember who I am? How can that be? Where do all my memories go?”
The tech patted her knee. “Your memories are still there. They are not going anywhere. Think of it as a movie that is superimposed over your brain. Once the movie ends and the feed stops, you’ll have access to all of your old memories and also the new ones from your awesome adventure.”
“Has anyone woke up not remembering his or her life from before?”
“No, but I’ve had quite a few customers who were very unhappy about returning to reality. They wanted to stay in dreamland forever.”
According to the manual, the entire session was going to be three hours long, but supposedly time moved differently in the virtual world, which meant that during those three hours, it could feel as if weeks or even months had passed.
Provided it was fun, it could be great to enjoy a vacation from her mundane life. But what if it was not fun? What if she ended up hating her adventure?
“Has anyone had a bad experience?”
Rebeca shook her head. “The way the program is designed, it can’t happen. If the sensors detect distress, the algorithm will adjust the story. Everyone gets their happy ending no matter how outrageous the adventure leading up to it is.”
That was reassuring.
Taking a deep breath, Alicia nodded. “I’m ready.”
“What’s your avatar’s name?”
“Princess Leia.” Alicia smiled sheepishly, wondering how many women before her had chosen that name and title.
“Very well.” Rebecca didn’t react to it one way or another.
She put a set of goggles over Alicia’s eyes and lowered the helmet, adjusting it so it fit snugly. “I’m going to count back from ten. One, two, three…”
11
Alicia
Aka Princes Leia
“I’m deeply honored to be chosen for this mission.” Leia bowed to her mother.
The queen hid a smile by dipping her head. “It is a great day for our people.” She pushed to her feet and motioned for Leia to follow. “Come, daughter. I have a few last words to impart before your departure, and I wish to do so in private.”
“Of course.”
Good. The stifling formality was necessary for the sake of the news reporters who had been treating this like a freaking reality show. Ever since news of the Krall’s ancestral home planet discovery had spread, their court had been overrun with news crews from all over the world.
Until Leia actually stepped onto the transporter platform and got beamed up with the rest of the delegation, she had to contend with them following her everywhere.
Thankfully, the interstellar ship’s captain had refused them entry.
“We don’t have much time,” her mother sat on the couch and patted the spot next to her.
“We’ve been over everything a thousand times, mom. I’m well prepared, and so are the rest of the delegates.”
“I know, but I can’t help worrying. We are very different people now than we were five hundred years ago when our ancestors woke up from their millennia-long frozen sleep under the ice. Those on the home planet still have the same superior attitude toward other races, and they might look down on you and the other delegates because you are more human than Krall. Even worse, they might lust after your blood.”
Leia reached for her mother’s hand. “I’ve majored in Krall history. I know what I’m up against.”
Her mother smiled. “History books put a positive spin on things. You might discover that our people are more elitist and their customs more barbaric than what's in those books.”
Snorting, Leia let go of her mother’s hand and crossed her arms over her chest. “We still keep some of those so-called barbaric customs.”
Not everyone practiced the old mating rituals, but as the queen’s daughter, Leia was expected to follow the tradition.
“They are not nearly as barbaric as they used to be,” her mother said. “Before taking human consorts and absorbing human customs, Krall couples met only to procreate, and those were vicious encounters. The children were raised by their mothers alone, with the fathers expected to contribute financially to their upbringing but nothing else. Thankfully, the Krall mating rituals got softened by those of humans. What we have today is a meshing of both traditions.”
“And genetics. We’ve lost the special mental powers of our ancestors, but at least we no longer have to drink blood for sustenance.”
Raw meat was still considered a delicacy, but other than that the Krall ate the same artificially produced foods as the rest of Earth Federation’s population.
Their arctic circle territory was no longer secluded and isolated from the rest of the world, but they retained their autonomy to some extent. While Earth was ruled by a group of elected officials from the different continents, the Krall held on to their monarchy, even though nowadays it was mostly ceremonial in nature.
There were no pure-blooded Krall left and, with the exception of a few individuals, the mental powers their ancestors had possessed were mostly extinct. The new Krall were also not as striking as their forefathers and foremothers had been, but since the Krall black hair and black eyes were determined by a dominant gene, their descendants retained the coloring even though they were genetically more human than Krall.
“I hope that won’t be a problem on the home planet,” her mother said. “You should make it very clear from the get-go that none of the delegates are to be used as snacks.”
Leia laughed. “The Krall council is well aware of that. They’ve been informed that we no longer drink blood straight from the vein.”
Her mother waved an impatient hand. “They might think that they can get away with hypnotizing you into compliance. Your human blood will sing to them.”
“It’s going to be okay. I’m immune to hypnotic influence, and the other delegates know to stay close to me.”
This was the one time that Leia was glad her Krall genetics were less diluted than most, which made her resistant to mind manipulation. Regrettably, those genes also made her taller than most human females and provided her with fangs. Not the long canines of the vast majority of this generation of Krall, but actual fangs.
When she wanted to go places incognito, Leia had to remember to keep her mouth closed.
&nbs
p; Her mother produced a chip from her pocket and handed it to Leia. “This long trip provides a perfect opportunity to ponder your choices of suitable mates. I had my secretary compile a dossier on each of the available noble sons. When you come back, you really can’t delay issuing a summons.”
Barely managing to stifle a grimace, Leia nodded politely. “That’s very thoughtful of you. Thank you.”
She had no intention of choosing one of the Krall nobles as her mate, and she didn’t need her mother’s secretary to compile a dossier for her. There weren’t many of them, and Leia knew each one personally. She’d rather stay an old maiden than summon one of them.
Her mother patted her knee. “If we weren’t so far removed genetically from our ancestors, perhaps you could’ve found a suitable mate on the home planet.”
Leia snorted. “You’ve just warned me that they might be interested in me as a snack.”
“I was speaking hypothetically.” The queen smiled. “Out of all the noble sons, which ones are you considering for the summons?”
“None.”
The smile melted off her mother’s face. “You have to choose, Leia. How about Meroll?”
Did she have to pick the worst one? “Anyone but him.”
It was bad enough that he’d been chosen as one of the delegates. She’d tried to argue against it, but Meroll house was powerful, and other than personal dislike she couldn’t come up with a good excuse to have him disqualified.
“Why? I remember you being quite infatuated with him.”
“That was ten years ago, and my so-called infatuation lasted for about two weeks. I was sixteen, and Meroll looked good in an Interstellar Fleet uniform, but even then, I knew he wasn’t a good person. Maybe that’s why he never made captain even though he finished top of his class.”
The queen grimaced. “There is still a lot of prejudice against us. That’s why Meroll was never promoted, and that was why he eventually quit the fleet.”