Match Made in Seven

A short story

It had been 3 years, 2 months and 23 days since Addy had died. At any given moment, Eric could recite the hours and minutes too. He’d stopped being so specific after the second anniversary of her death, but there wasn’t a moment that passed when he didn’t feel her absence. He supposed that this was how the rest of his life would feel.

It had become his normal.

Most days, he got up early, went for a run, then showered and ate breakfast with coffee. Just like they used to. He went to work in his office from 9am till 6pm.

The room was grey now. When they bought it, it was baby blue. They hadn’t bothered painting it because they thought one day, maybe, it could be a nursery. He’d painted it the day after she died.

Today, he’d taken a personal day.

He’d seen the advert a hundred times and finally decided that he didn’t want to be alone anymore. She wouldn’t have wanted him to be alone.

He sat in his grey office in front of his laptop. He clicked the link in his email and the lobby window expanded from the taskbar to take up the entirety of the screen.

The software’s logo ran through its animation, letting him know that the connection was being established. It was the same software he used for work calls.

A woman's head and shoulders appeared on his laptop screen. She smiled wide. She had dark hair, styled in a bob and held back with a set of headphones. She had a perfectly symmetrical face.

“Hi, Mr Loam. How are you today?”

“I’m good, thanks. How’re you?”

“I’m great, thanks for asking. So, I see you’ve completed the initial questionnaire and psyche eval. That all came back with no issues. As I said in the appointment email, I’m going to ask you seven questions today that will help our system to calibrate the personality profile. Then, if you’re happy to proceed, we’ll sort out the billing side. Sound good?”

Eric wondered if she was real. If she existed below the shoulders. If she was a complex human mind or a complex series of algorithms, and logic.

Eric wondered if there was really that much difference.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

He tried his best to sound upbeat. The truth was he was nervous.

“Ok, great.”

The woman consulted something to her left. She had kind eyes. Eric felt an awkward compulsion to fill the silence but fought the temptation.

“Ok,” She said, finally. “First question. What are you physically attracted to in a potential partner?”

Eric hesitated.

“We’re just looking for a few attributes for this one. Hair colour, height, build, et cetera.” The woman smiled again. She seemed somehow too human.

“I, uh, like red hair. Green eyes. Athletic build. Don’t much care about height. I like tattoos. Not too many, but a few.”

He felt a tinge of embarrassment.

“Uh-huh. That’s great for now, we can narrow it down a bit more later if need be.”

“Okay.”

“Question two. Do you prefer the country or the city?”

“City.”

“Me too.” She noted the response on something without looking back at him. It could’ve been a genuine action. Then again, it could’ve been an extraneous piece of code designed to make the avatar seem more human.

“Question three. Is there a place you’ve always wanted to travel to?”

“India. I’ve always wanted to visit the Taj Mahal.”

“Good answer!” She cooed. “Question four. You’re doing great.”

She flashed her kind eyes up to meet his. It felt like eye contact even though he knew that, if she was a person, she was just looking at the lens of her webcam.

“What is your sexual appetite like?”

“What?”

“You don’t have to be specific, just a few words to help the personality algorithm work up its profile.”

Eric’s cheeks were suddenly very warm. he shifted in his seat a little.

“I guess it’s normal.”

“Okay, I’ll enter a range for this one. You can always reconfigure settings later. I know it can be a little awkward answering questions like that but, rest assured, all your answers are stored in an encrypted file and we adhere to the strictest data protection policies. These next three questions are a little different. I’m going to give you a scenario and you just need to say what you would do in the circumstance.”

“Sure.”

He considered the advantages of having an AI perform interviews like this. No human error. Built-in data protection protocols, encryption, automatic deletion.

He studied the face on his screen, looking for any sign of artificiality.

“Try to be honest. Question five. You’re walking through a park and you see a dog lying on the grass. There is no one else in the park. The dog seems to be sleeping and does not wake up when you get close. There is no collar.”

If she was artificial, he couldn’t tell.

“I’d carry on walking. I don’t like dogs.”

Eric had been afraid of dogs since he was a child. Addy would’ve taken the thing home and nursed it back to health. Claimed it as her own.

"Okay. Question six,” most people had some kind of reaction when he told them he didn’t like dogs. She didn’t seem fazed at all.

“You’re in a busy restaurant. The young waiter looks like he is new and struggling to keep up with the orders. He brings you a meal that you didn’t order.”

“I’d eat it anyway. Service is hard work.”

He remembered one time when Addy had come home from her job at the bar. She flopped down on the couch and tears started streaming down her face. She said it had just been a really hard shift. Eric had realised some months later that it was probably not long after she got her diagnosis and hadn’t told him yet.

“Last question. You’re in bed with your partner. You’re just about to fall asleep when you hear a noise coming from inside your home. The noise continues to get closer to your bedroom door. Your partner is frightened.”

“I’d grab something heavy and investigate. I’d do everything in my power to protect her and our space.”

“Okay, that’s great. I just need a moment to generate your result.”

Eric thought he saw the woman's face glitch a little but it could’ve been an artifact of the software.

Some clicking and popping sounds came through his laptop speakers, and then a new window appeared in front of the woman’s face. An athletic figure with flowing red hair, wearing black leggings and a loose tank top, rotated in place. A floral tattoo decorated her left shoulder.

Eric’s breath caught a little in the back of his throat. The face was different but from certain angles, it could’ve been her. She looked like she’d just finished jogging. Had that dewy glow about her and pinkness in her cheeks.

“How are you feeling, Mr Loam?”

“I’m… I’m amazed.”

“That’s great to hear. Have you read through the personality highlights?”

“I’m just doing that now.”

The highlights were vague but they could’ve easily described Addy.

“She seems,” he tried to think of a word that wasn’t… “perfect.”

“You’re sure? Is there anything you’d change?”

“Nothing at all. When do I get to meet her?”

“Well, the manufacturing process takes seven days, start to finish. She’ll be shipped to you by our dedicated courier service, free of any additional charge.”

“Sounds great.”

Eric felt his heart beat faster at the thought of meeting her.

“Okay then, Mr Loam, are you happy to proceed with your order?”

“Yes, I am.” Something fluttered in his stomach. It made him feel a little nauseous.

“Great. Will you be paying by bank transfer, cheque or one of our tailored payment plans?”

“Cheque, please.”

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Cover image generated by Imagine AI