Page 1

One summer while I was still a virgin who had never been in love, I faked my own death just to see how long it would take my mother to notice. I knew somewhere deep in my soul she had never wanted a baby, but I guess my burning teenage angst was craving proof. Every woman in Gemina City is required to have at least one child before the age of forty, and my work-obsessed mother finally slotted me into her busy schedule one year shy of the deadline. At fourteen, the irony of my mother’s fame tasted like battery acid. By twenty-six, even her absence had left an indelible mark. And as much as I hated to admit it, I really could have used her advice today. My mother’s influence over this city, and over me, lingered on even long after her death.

My hand wavered in tandem with my confidence as I sat in front of the Intake Assessment: a probing, seemingly endless examination of my personality, preferences, dreams, and desires designed to formally determine what kind of person would make my ideal partner. In less than a year, I would be married to one of my most compatible matches, unless something went disastrously wrong. Based on my answers, an algorithm was solely responsible for choosing all the potential loves of my life today, just like every other twenty-six year-old for the last sixty years.

No pressure.