Chapter 13
Electra
Dear Reader,
It seems every time we talk, I’ve got another whammy to hit you with, and today is no different. Are you ready?!
Good. Because that idiot KISSED ME.
And this idiot (me) let him!
We’re disregarding the fact that it may have been the single greatest kiss in the history of kisses, which, shudder to think, is likely a direct result of his hundred years of experience making out with manupartners.
If we were to feign ignorance of that disturbing detail, however .
. . WOW! Can you imagine what it would be like to date a man who went to the effort of planning elaborate dates just to make you happy and kissed you so thoroughly you could have sworn he cared?
The type of man who had things handled so all you had to do was sit back and revel in your wellspring of feminine power and be the inspiration of such devotion.
For a moment there, it felt quite freeing, but I got ahead of myself.
The asshole opened his mouth, as men are apt to do.
He got all concerned about what would happen to his precious reputation if people found out he was canoodling with an actual woman.
That got me thinking. Can you imagine what would happen to his sacred reputation if I were to publish this?
I could title the post “Discover what it’s like to be kissed by MSP’s most ineligible bachelor.
” Or what about “CHOICElover founder kissed me: A real woman’s harrowing journey to darkness and beyond”?
That would only serve him right, as he is now in the living room with a manupartner in his lap! Not that I would do that to him. Unlike him, I’m a good human being and would never exploit his vulnerability.
Electra glances up from the tablet toward the door, wishing she could write away the little stab of betrayal currently gutting her, but journaling isn’t helping like it normally would.
Probably because she isn’t actually connecting with any actual readers.
Forgoing her normal sign off, she opens the FrogBlog app.
A minute later, she has a new account created.
Username: Dear_Electra. She grins at the screen.
Now, how does one start an advice column? She should research the columns from her time. Back on the home screen, her attention snags on an image of her and Res6 leaving the theater under a headline:
CHOICElover founder out and about with new prototype.
In the photo, her face is pinched in irritation while Res6 has a placid smile on his face, as if he had not just experienced the same argument she did.
That gets under her skin more than anything.
Even Chryl, because what he’s doing by immediately getting a manupartner after their kiss is clear: He’s dodging his feelings toward her.
Why is he like that? Why is he so averse to opening up to her, or anyone for that matter? She’s pretty sure she isn’t making things up. The question is, what happened to him to make him so closed off?
Her intense curiosity has her pulling up the CHOICElover website and going to the About Us section.
She skims through the text but finds no new insights.
Most of what she reads she already learned in one of the videos Tommy downloaded for her.
CHOICElover was founded in 2302 by a young scientist, Res6, who’d already had an impressive career.
They quote him saying, “I saw a problem, and I knew I could fix it.” No one seemed to question what the problem was, or at least the website didn’t.
She runs a quick search. There are early critics of manupartners, but they tend to fall into two camps.
First, the ethical considerations because of the source material, i.e.
, the consent of the people who existed once upon a time being used as sex clones.
Then there’s the safety of such technology, because of the AI wealth distribution event, The Great Equalizer, which led to many of the current regulations.
All interesting, but she’s getting no closer to understanding him. Surely there is a way to discover more about a person’s history, considering how much data is currently available on the network. She taps the DumBot app and issues the prompt:
Hi DumBot! If I wanted to discover everything there is to know about someone, including their early years, is that something you can help me with?
DumBot:
I can absolutely help you research someone. Is this person living or dead?
Electra scratches her head.
I’m just going to give you an identifier.
DumBot:
Great. I’m ready when you are!
She types:
A-RES6-MSP-00022960.
DumBot:
That’s you! What an exciting way to gain insight into yourself.
According to your EmoTracker, you’ve been experiencing concerning emotional spikes in recent weeks.
We can work together to help you gain clarity on how to achieve optimal balance.
Retracing your life milestones is one approach we can explore.
Here are your milestones. Please let me know if I can provide any additional details on a particular memory that we can dissect in more depth together.
(03/30/2271) A-Res6-MSP-00022960 is born at 19:58.
(03/30/2271) /-Jerme-MSP-00022961 is born at 20:03.
Interesting. Res6 didn’t mention his brother was his twin. And what does the slash mean? From what she recalls, the first letter refers to the quadrant and changes depending on where the citizen lives.
(03/30/2281) Aptitude results notification received. NHOS Citizen’s Career Specialization Agency recommends Res6 and Jerme for accelerated learning.
(07/31/2281) First day of Best Young Citizens School for the Especially Gifted.
Electra scans the list, snagging on—oh God.
(11/14/2292) Medical examiner lists cause of Jerme’s death as atmosphere-assisted suicide.
Electra drops the tablet on the bed as her stomach clenches. Her mind quickly pieces together the little she knows about him. She picks up the tablet again and scans to see when he started CHOICElover.
(11/14/2299) CHOICElover is founded.
(11/14/2302) CHOICElover rolls out first manupartners to the public.
Those dates are exactly seven and ten years after his twin’s suicide.
It feels too significant to be a coincidence.
Or is she jumping to conclusions again? A gut feeling tells her there is something to those dates.
A loss that significant could explain his reluctance toward close relationships.
Even some of why he might think manupartners would be a good idea.
She requests that DumBot remove its memory of the conversation and then deletes it for good measure. As she closes the app, her eyes snag on the date: October 21, 2390. That means the anniversary of his brother’s death is less than a month away. No wonder he’s so mixed up.
What is she supposed to do with this new information?
It’s not like it changes anything. Well, it explains why he keeps referring to Jerme in the past tense.
A pang of melancholy hits her. He keeps suggesting Jerme will like her, even saying they’ll meet soon.
How sad is that? Her heart aches for him.
She understands all too well what that feels like.
How long Jerme’s been gone doesn’t matter.
She still mourns the loss of her mother, and it’s been nearly twenty years. What now, though?
Be patient with him about Chryl, her inner narrator, who sounds a lot like Ask Doctor Janet, suggests.
Yeah, yeah. Chryl is his shield, and it did seem like he was trying to push her off his lap when Electra walked in.
It’s hard to imagine a man as serious and emotionally constipated as Res6 being romantically involved with a bubbly, bodacious woman like that, albeit a fake one.
The urge to help him smacks her in the heart.
He isn’t asking for your help, the Janet in her mind reminds her.
True, but it isn’t just him. It’s everyone!
There is one thing this society is seriously lacking, aside from the ability to go outdoors, and it’s partially because of his invention of manupartners: human connection!
Sure, she should be cautious—the world is a scary place—but the possible benefit outweighs the risk. The column could soak up her anxious energy and give her purpose. Maybe even prove she deserves a place here, instead of waiting for the world to remind her she doesn’t belong.
With her experience of how things were before, she’s the exact woman to show society how to reestablish real, meaningful relationships through her column. Not to mention she’s a romance writer—she’s basically a relationship expert!
And if Res6 grows as a by-product of her efforts, so be it. Not that she plans to use him as a test subject, or even tell him about the blog he’s so disapproving of. Only influence him through the psychological concept of emotional contagion. Take that, Janet!
Grinning, she picks up her tablet and logs on to the FrogBlog app with her new account. It really is a perfect plan. What an excellent main character she’s becoming.