Unmatched

I remember when 'ghosting' became such a widespread epidemic, the first connector-tabs released were communication tabs, and they were for free.

Now, our government still sells them at an affordable price, 30 bitz for 30 days. Most people maintain the basic membership all year round to at least gain 100% participation from either counterpart.

I'm guessing my date unsubscribed to his membership, or has limited funds, because he hasn't updated me on his whereabouts this morning for our first coffee catch-up that I was anticipating – 'platonic meeting with a 30% allowance for flirtatious undertones'. I refresh his profile; he's now a blurry face with a flannel shirt. 'Profile not found' pops up.

My days, even with mind programming to keep ourselves in contact, we can't help but leave things unended. No membership, no connection.

I sigh, closing the Meet-you app, flipping my phone back into its air socket. It blips into the air to my left, where I prefer to keep it. Once it's there, it's gone.

My phone-air location is one of the few things that's privy; everything else is out in the open for everyone to see to increase our chances, including our memberships and add-ons. Everyone has at least two.

For me, my memberships include anti-ghosting, conversation-building, and honest listening and are my active and prevailing tabs. People can see my tabs, as they're all open above my head to flick through. It makes sense these are my current installs - if I'm going to find my lifetime mate, I'd rather it be built on trust, depth, and worthwhile conversations. However, I'm still waiting for these memberships to gain me any favours in finding someone.

I look to the right at a nearby couple. 'Second date in progress: 30%'. They seem to be enjoying themselves. Theoretically, they would be the perfect match. Both of them have at least 5 beautician filters on – that's apparent from the lack of pores and sparkly eyes. Both also have charisma and charm add-ons. But who knows how the conversation is going? Maybe it doesn't matter if they both seem to look the part and say all the right things.

I sigh softly, looking up as the café door opens.

A tall man, maybe in his late 20s, walks in. He's wearing a navy button-down and black pants. He notices me looking, and I smile softly, before averting my gaze. I shouldn't stare too long, especially if he's here for a date.

He goes to the front counter, and I think he says something to make the lady behind the counter laugh. I draw immediately to the tabs above him. I blink twice to look through the semi-translucent selections. Does he have a humour or charisma package membership? I flick through them, and all of them are empty – except for one. However, the one tab that is active is a shaded grey and shows a locked icon.

I've never seen a locked tab before. He's most likely paid extra to keep it protected from public approval. Or perhaps people have to request access to see his add-on.

He walks back towards the front windows, I assume to whoever he's meeting. I pretend to look busy, checking my watch, despite the lack of notifications on it.

'Hey, can I get you anything?' He asks me. It's him, the guy. I quickly survey to see if he's on a phone call or talking to someone else. I see the green light that represents availability above him turn red, representing that he's now unavailable. I instinctively switch my status to unavailable, too.

'Um, do you work here?' I ask. That's what I get for not getting the charisma package – but surely my conversational membership will kick in at some point.

He smiles, lifting his brows slightly.

"I'm working. Just not working here. I'm on a break for a while." He explains.

He then tells me that his name is Carter, and I competently remember to tell him my name is Jen - guess those memberships really do come in handy.

Once we establish our names, he offers to get me a coffee – not because he works here, but because I think he wants to have coffee together.

"It's hard to meet someone who's not constantly plugged in, or assessing anyone as their next suitor. Do you mind if I join you for a bit?" I look around at the filled tables, many people on a date or one-on-one of some kind. I'm the only one without a counterpart.

"Sure, sure," I say, heat flushing my face. I pretend that I'm not getting red despite the fact that I am, but he doesn't seem to mind.

We start talking for quite a while. We hear the timers ring for the dates and meetings around us twinkle. Many around us come and go, but with the impromptu meeting, there are no timers, no constrictions, no assistance. It just is, we simply are.

We don't even really get to what we each do during the week, although I have my guesses that he may be in security or something similar. Where I'm usually given prompts to ask certain questions from my membership, we still manage to talk more.. and more.. and just more, and anything really.

I can't help but feel a little hesitant, given the amount we've talked and the amount of information we now have about each other. There's no regulation of it either, and no way for me to know if this is a one-off friendly meeting or the beginning of a romantic date.

It seems like he's noticed that I'm thinking about something, but I don't want to make it awkward by asking what this situation is. He furrows his brows slightly. Oh gosh.

Just now, he lets me know that he's enjoyed chatting with me, and he wanted to ask if I wanted to make it a date. I can feel myself beaming.

"This is quite traditional. I like it." I say, smiling.

"Well, they used to do it this way, didn't they?" He says.

That afternoon

We're both walking through Cornwall Park. There are many couples holding hands and having picnics - clearly, this is a good spot for dates. I look over and see a couple with a small child.

"Wow, just beautiful," I say, looking over at the small family.

"The government must also love them. They look so stable and happy." I say.

"Well, love is priceless. But our government loves to reimburse the efforts of citizens who use their tools accordingly." Carter says, now looking forward.

I've always felt conflicted about the way our governing body controls and rewards love. I've seen movies and read books about how we used to love because we could, because we really wanted to. Now, we have reimbursement packages for those who express high percentages of mutual affection and care during long-term interactions over a long period of time, and even more benefits for those who give birth to more citizens. It doesn't seem human at all anymore.

I sigh, but I freeze when I feel someone bump into my back, causing me to stumble forward. Carter draws his eyes to me, then twists as he pushes the force that crashed onto me.

I turn - a shorter man with black hair stumbles backward, and Carter approaches him.

"I'm sorry, miss, I missed my step. I fell, so sorry." He says, lowering his head.

"It's oka-" I stammer.

"No, it's not. Give it back to her." Carter says.

"What do you mean?" The man asks.

Oh gosh-

"The phone! Give her the phone back." Carter's arm is gripped around the man's forearm; he looks like he could lift him up any second.

Carter looks at him for a second, then pulls out the man's jacket, revealing my phone. I grab it while the man is half suspended in the air.

Disbelief enfolds me. How did this guy access my phone while it's in its air socket? How did Carter know it even happened?

I allow Carter to dismantle the man from his grip and question him on how he knew my phone was stolen. He looks at me for a second before replying.

"After a while in this field, you get to know the kind of people who want to steal your information," Carter says, looking at me, making sure I'm okay.

Information? My personal information? Perhaps it was based on my account. But what could that guy want that isn't already known to everyone? I dismiss the flurry of thoughts, leaving the rest of my questions for later.

Somehow, we end up recovering from the incident and keep talking. Carter offers to walk me home, but we end up talking more and learning about each other, our values. He's a good listener too, despite the fact that he doesn't seem to have any membership except for the one locked for public access.

We stroll outside the park and head for a convenience store to get some ice cream. I'm starting to notice onlookers glaring at us. For the first time in a while, people are looking at me, or at us, I can't tell.

We're both waiting in line with our desserts now, and we're laughing about something he said.

"Excuse me, miss?" I turn to the voice coming from my right, a shopkeeper, maybe? Carter turns to the woman whose face is masked with a black fringe. She pulls out a USB, but it looks like a knife?

Carter leaps in front of me with a taser-looking machine, lodging it into the woman's neck. But she doesn't spasm, she drops, instantly. Her frame dissipates, becoming translucent.

Oh my-

I freeze, horror filling me. What did he just do? What's just happened? I feel my eyes glaze over, and the world seems hazy. Carter supports my stance as I wobble, beginning to usher me out the door.

"Jen, I'm sorry, we have to go," Carter says, pulling my hand. I hear the murmurs and the yelling fade as we leave the store. He prompts me to start hurrying, and we pace quickly down the street.

"What's going on? What was that back there, Carter?" I ask, breathing heavily.

"What did you do to her and the guy? Is this something to do with your hidden membership?" My eyes flicker to the grey tab again, unnamed and securely locked.

His green eyes falter, and a glimmer of reality shifts inside of him. He's going to tell me, I can feel it.

"Jen, my membership. It's not just a membership. I was born with it, and because of it, the dating software isn't suitable for my brain wiring. It's locked because if people knew, I would be a target." He says.

"Then what is it?"

"It's more like a biological integration. You can't use bitzs to download it. It's innate"

I look at him, bewildered.

"What... what is your biological integration?" I ask him as we're now crossing into an outer street, near the self-driving taxi area.

"I can read people's intentions."

I pause. He can read people's intentions.

The café, the man, that woman..

I'm not sure if I should feel surprised, shocked, or betrayed?

"Is that... why you wanted to talk to me. Because you liked my intentions…?" I ask. Looking up at him, his face is steely, but still relaxed, still kind.

"Yes.. well. Don't get me wrong, please, Jen. I don't go around reading everyone's intentions. But when they are especially strong, like if they have a particularly strong emotion, or vindictive intentions-"

"Like the guy and the park... and the lady at the shop?" I say. A self-driving car senses us and parks in front of us.

Carter nods. "And..like you. When I walked into the café, your intentions were highlighted to me immediately - because they were just, pure."

"I never encounter pure intentions nowadays. People's intentions are so dark, so empty. But with you, it was like a light hit right into my mind. I just had to talk to you."

Joy beams within me. That's probably the nicest, most sincere thing someone has ever said to me, even though I don't exactly understand it.

He fills me in on the details of his work, that he's a cyber-agent, that his job is to kill bots, specifically Jetzbotz, that are using government software like Meet-you to hinder people's emotions, and their thoughts. He tells me the viruses want to control people; they want to steal people from their own minds.

"The attacks today were Jetzbots. Because my integration is secured behind a firewall, they can't detect me. But maybe because we were together today, something was set off, and they were activated to attack."

He holds my shoulder gently, seeing if I'm okay. I look expectantly for more information.

"Just based on our date today, I think you have a biological integration too. It's just unprotected, hence all the attacks. We have to go and secure it, now."

"What do you think it is?" I ask, my puzzlement pooling.

"I think... You see people for who they really are. And that makes you a threat to the system."

I freeze, reprocessing all the unsuccessful matches, the ghosted dates, despite the memberships I have. It wasn't that I was incompatible with the system, but the system was incompatible with me.

The issue wasn't that I wasn't being seen; it's that I saw too clearly. And now they want me gone.

I grasp for Carter's hand as realisation and urgency run through me. His eyes meet mine, and I see things clearer than ever.

"Let's go."