Aim to Engage 2023

25 Heart Match Inc.

"Did you hear the latest?" Angie couldn't wait to share.

"What got into Heart Match this time?" Her bestie sipped from a glass of red wine.

"Their AI matched Princess Charlotte with a homeless beggar," Angie crowed.

"That tops them all. Really?" Ellie's disgust was clear.

"I couldn't believe it when Fox reported it. I mean, usually they're only half right and twist everything into a mess." She dropped her voice to a whisper and continued, "It's been that way for at least a hundred years. You'd think Fox would learn their lesson. It's 2130."

Her bestie nodded. "If you're going to talk about Fox's problems, let's keep whispering. No one needs to hear us."

Angie looked over her shoulder and realized there were too many people in the bar.

"Breaking News. The world's leading artificial organ builder has announced the marriage of their CEO to a juggling clown from Cirque Du Soleil." The scroll on the big screen confirmed Fox's news anchor's statement. "Another screwy match from Heart Match Inc."

A chorus of groans reverberated through the warehouse décor.

"Heart Match is losing hard on the stock market. Almost at a fifty percent drop in the last month. Musk Industries is outperforming their predictions. The new brain chip is promising instant repairs on spinal injuries along with the usual stroke mitigation."

The business news anchor droned on and the rumble of surrounding conversations built to a muted roar.

"Hey everyone!" A woman took the mike on the postage sized stage. Live music was a thing on the weekends, but tonight, it was open mike night. Usually want to be comedians took over, but this girl was a new face.

"Really. Shut up. I've got a story for you all."

The bartender did her a favor and switched the screens off. The crowd quieted except for one heckler.

"Better be good. I'm missing the last game of the World Series."

"Go to a sports bar then, I don't really care."

Angie whispered in her bestie's ear, "She's got guts at least. I wonder what the story is."

"It better make me laugh."

"No kidding. It's comedy night."

"I got a message from Heart Match the other night. I've been looking for a mate for almost fifteen years."

Sympathetic murmurs ran through the crowd.

"I know, I know, typical right? But this time, something amazing happened. They sent me to meet a them.... I specified hetero, but you know, desperate right?"

She paused to let the giggles die down.

"Best decision of my life to go out on that date. They are pan. Identify as bi as well. Can you imagine that combination where the government is trying to get us to match up woman to man? Seems they're after getting more taxpayers the natural way. After all robots are machines, no matter how good looking they get." She waved at the bartender.

Another huge laugh. Angie came here because the model 3000 never messed up and remembered your favorite drinks. His velvet voice asked if she wanted the usual, and he always got it right. Whiskey neat with three ice cubes. The machine was precise, and so was the ice maker.

"But here we are. Two women, they are a girl, and three men. And we fit like the gears on the back end of a motor. We'll produce those damn children the government wants, and they'll have the love of five. Unlike the broken unknowing one on one pair ups most of the marriage brokers are pushing. AI at Heart Match Inc. acknowledges the incredible ways a family can come together."

The silence was profound. Angie snuck a glance across the table and followed it with her hand. Ellie's was already turned up, and she grabbed hers in a knuckle busting grasp.

"Hey bestie, what do you think? Do you love me enough?"

Angie felt the extra squeeze. Watching the crowd, hands shook as groups realized the friends they chose, were the family they loved.

"When does the government catch up with what Heart Match already knows? Spread the word, marriages can work in unconventional ways. Love is infinite, not only a tool to procreate. And children deserve the best we have to give."

Applause deafened her, but Angie only had one question.

"We can solve the human population decline. Apply to Heart Match Inc. You might be surprised, unless you have already figured it out. It takes a village to raise a child not two unstable parents caught by a government trap."  More whistles and stomping from the crowd. 

"Can we make our own village? Will you marry me, Ellie?"

The laws were clear. Marriage was legal in every way their mysterious female speaker was suggesting. Angie knew it, and Ellie was in her class at university when they studied the 2067 World Acceptance Riots. Their government's agenda wasn't even legal on the world stage.

"Yes!"

Ellie started to chant, and the crowd picked it up.

"Go Heart Match AI," echoed from three hundred throats. And the bartender 2000 poured drinks for free.