Short story by BW Derge, written in 2024 – A vision of the future where an experimental dating service creates digital projections of potential suitors, who are much more revealing than their real life counterparts..
Vision of the Future:
Your Holographic Dating Service
She hadn’t felt a real romantic spark in a year, it felt like. Another night, another shitty date. He was okay. Like the rest of them, unimpressive despite trying make his best impression. Of course every now and then she’d have a potential suitor who had practically given up, and were then too raw and honest… and typically a little depressing. Kimberly was in her mid-thirties and trying to deny the fact that she had given up on love long ago.
After the one serious relationship of her 20s ended in infidelity and heartbreak, there had been little signs of hope in the sea of potential fish. She argued with herself that she was too quick to find the next first date than pursue any of these men for a second. In the back of her mind though, she had a list. There were 5 of them, occasional booty calls; no one involved considered these sexual relationships as anything romantic or beyond sex. But of these 5, Kimberly thought there might be one who would make a fine life partner. In the deepest tunnels of her heart, she knew she wanted to settle down with some semblance to love… should she just pick one and run with it?
There were machines watching her at all times. The Smart TV in her living room, the Smart phone in her palms, the little monitor on her fridge… the surveillance algorithms recorded data for our corporate overlords constantly. Kimberly, alone in her apartment, ate ice cream and watched a show recommended by some streaming service that knew her preferences while she was sending flirty meaningless texts to a handful of potential romantic partners. They wanted to know if she wanted to have fun, she was secretly wondering which would make the best dad for future kids.
Of them, one was rich and charming but full of himself. Another was fantastic but never available except on random weekend mornings. One wouldn’t leave her alone once she showed him an ounce of kindness, and another would be great if he wasn’t so secretive about their job… and then there was a wildcard named Jake; an aloof artist that intrigued her, but seemed too drunk and broke to be worth too much of her time.
Several days later, an older serious man in an expensive suit approached Kimberly outside of her apartment in the early evening hours when she got off work. “Kim James?”
Her heels stopped. She glanced over, apprehensive. “Yes?”
“May I have a moment of your time?”
The woman hesitated. “Uh…”
“If you let me talk, I can compensate you. And if you agree to move forward, there will be further compensation.”
“This isn’t a sex thing, is it? I’m not a hooker.” He shook his head sincerely and she eyeballed the lanky darkly dressed pale man. “Can you buy me some coffee then? There’s a place up the street.”
He grumbled. “Splendid.”
At the coffee shop, they sat at a small circular table. “Alright.” Kimberly sipped her beverage. “Let’s get to it. What’s your deal?”
The mysterious man nodded and also took a sip. “Forgive me if this is too forward, but am I correct to believe you are a woman with several potential suitors?”
“Suitors?” She repulsed. “I don’t like that word. But, okay, who are you again?”
“Too forward,” he remarked to himself before hunching inward. “I am a representative of a technology company involved mostly with research and development. Myself, I know nothing personally about you other than that my superiors believed you would be an optimal candidate for an experimental dating tool. Cutting edge stuff.”
Her eyebrow twitched. “And how did this company get this information about me?”
“Oh,” the man almost laughed. “I’m sure you agreed to the terms and conditions with some app or another without reading the fine print. Was I incorrect? You do not have numerous suitors?"
"Please stop using that word." Kimberly took another sip and corrected her posture. “I won’t lie and say I’m not intrigued. You’ve got until this coffee is gone to convince me of whatever it is you’re getting at. Didn’t you say something about compensation?”
“If you participate and fulfill all the requirements, then we can offer you twenty thousand dollars.”
“Bullshit.”
“The money is to assure you keep company secrets, that’s all. I can give you a check for five grand now if you agree to participate and don’t tell anyone about our conversation today. The rest is yours when you complete the live assessment. We can even wait a few days for the check to fully clear so you know we’re legit.”
“And who are you again?”
The man shuffled and drank some more from his cup. “I represent a tech company mostly involved with research…”
“And development,” she cut him off.
“The name of the company is on the check.” He took an envelope out of his coat pocket and handed it over for the woman to examine.
“Am I allowed to ask what the experiment is exactly?”
“Our legal department requires that you sign some release forms first.” Another envelope was removed from his jacket, this one was more densely packed. “You can take a few days to look them over if you like.”
The woman reviewed the documents the next day and took the check to the bank to deposit thereafter. She wanted to confirm with the teller that the draft wasn’t forged. From what Kimberly could discern, the experimental dating tool would allow her to meet digital representations of her real-life “suitors” and discover aspects about these men that they wouldn’t normally reveal about themselves. These characteristics would be voluntarily offered by… holograms of the actual men? Although intrigued, she rightly had some doubts.
More than a month went by before she received an address in the mail. She was able to schedule a convenient time via an encrypted message. Another week went by before Kimberly James found herself on the fortieth floor of a skyscraper downtown. The office where she waited felt very fancy. The smell was sterile like in a laboratory. “What have I got myself into?”
The lanky pale man from the coffee shop entered the large corporate room. “Thank you for your patience Ms. James. We’re ready to begin.” Moments later they were walking down an empty maroon hallway. “So you’ve reviewed the summary?
She replied softly, “Yes.”
“And do you have any questions?”
“Just one,” she said. The man glanced over at her slightly, still walking down the hall. “Did these, uh, suitors… did they consent to this?”
“They agreed to the terms and conditions, I’m sure,” he answered bluntly. “The artificial intelligence did its best to create an accurate representation of these men based on their private internet habits. Ideally, the digital projections should be a more honest version of the real human. And if they are lying, well, then it should be rather blatant.” He reached for a door’s knob as they arrived at the end of the hall. “But please keep in mind that this whole program is in the preliminary testing phases. There might be some bugs.”
“Bugs?”
The suit motioned for the woman to have a seat at a wooden desk in the middle of an odd, dimly lit space. Ignoring her last vocalization, he concluded, “Also remember you have probably agreed to have a hologram of yourself similarly appear before some of your potential matches… when you agreed the original terms and conditions that allowed us to track you down as a promising candidate.”
“Huh?”
By the time that information sank into her brain, the man had exited the room having said, “Good luck.”
A loud icy feminine voice soon echoed from a hidden speaker. “Good afternoon Kimberly. How are you feeling?”
Hesitant, she finally spoke. “Good, thank you.”
“Marvelous,” chimed the monotone voice. “Let’s get started, shall we? Our first suitor today is Rick.”
Suddenly, the room became brighter and the glowing visage of her rich and charming friend Rick appeared suddenly. Although it somewhat expressionless, she was shocked by how realistic the digital projection appeared. “Whoa.”
“And does this gentleman look familiar to you, Ms. James?” said the woman over the intercom.
She slightly stammered, “Yes.”
“Very good,” replied the voice. “You may proceed. Let us know when you would like to move on to the next prospect. Are the instructions clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Startled, she gaped across the empty desk at the hologram, saying nothing for several dozen seconds. “So you’re really Rick?”
“You could say that,” the replica immediately replied. “I’m just as successful and as big, maybe even bigger than the real Rick.”
She was shocked at how much it sounded like the real thing, it even imitated Rick’s mannerisms in a weirdly accurate way. “So success is what’s important to you?” Deep down, she had never been the biggest fan of the actual man’s personality, but such was easy to ignore when he took her on such extravagant dates. It was his money that made his faults easy to overlook. Hearing the raw lust for material success come so plainly out of the hologram’s digitized mouth turned her off instantly, nonetheless.
“I don’t even really care about actual success,” the fake Rick chided. “Honestly, I just want to look successful to the people around me. I want my neighbors and my mom to know how important and smart I am. Actual success is stupid, I don’t even know what that means. Rather, I am desperate for everyone to think I am successful. I happily neglect those that I love in this pursuit. I look in the mirror everyday and tell myself what a big important boy I am. I tell myself that I am the most successful, best life insurance salesman in the country. I like making others feel little and less important with my big bank accounts and nice cars…”
“Stop talking.” She cut the hologram off. Following a pause and a shudder, Kimberly wondered, “Do you even want to be with me?”
“Oh yes,” answered the machine. “You are very pretty and if you were my wife, it would show everyone how successful I am. We could make kids and that’s what every big boy gets when blessed with success.”
“Are you really this gross?”
“I’m not gross. I double down on gratitude every time I have a rainy day,” it affirmed like a toddler. “I’m the best big successful boy in the county. That’s not gross.”
“Next!” Kimberly yelled. The room grew dim again. The three dimensional projection of Rick’s form vanished with a flash.
“Are you ready for the second suitor?”
“Do I get the rest of the money if I quit now?” she asked.
“No. You must complete the assessment,” the cold voice responded through the intercom.
“Then I’m ready, yeah,” the test subject said. “Bring on number two.”
Next in line, the advanced prototype digital projector displayed a hologram of Steve, including his stupid cheap haircut. “Hello.”
“Hi, Steve.”
“Hi, Kimberly.”
“Well you’re easy to deal with. Let’s see if this thing works. Why are you almost never available?” she questioned with a stern tone.
“I’m married,” said Steve’s replica.
“What?!” the woman shrieked.
“And I have two kids…”
“Jesus Christ…”
“I really only get a few mornings where I can do what I want. My wife goes to her parents and then does some shopping with the kids and that’s when I try to sneak over to your place and…”
“Next!”
The three dimensional projection then portrayed a tall skinny man with long black hair down to his shoulders. “Hey, Kim.”
“Luke? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“What’s wrong?” the hologram asked.
She shouted at the ceiling, “This is ridiculous!” And then the woman shifted her focus towards the device’s holographic projection. “Why do you like every single one of my social media posts? Why do you text three times a day when I haven’t responded in weeks? What do I need to do to get rid of your ass?”
The hologram giggled. “I follow you home from work twice every week, too. And have been watching you from my car from far away on several of your dates… when I can find you…”
“Okay, next!”
The feminine voice in the intercom wondered, “Would you like to take a break before continuing?”
“No,” Kim stated. “Let’s get this over with.”
And next was John. Secretly her favorite. “Kim,” his hologram said.
“John.”
“What can I do you for?”
“Do you actually like me?” she wondered. “Would you want to have a family and be in love with me?”
“Oh yes,” the simulated man answered. “With you, most certainly.”
The lady’s face briefly relayed a sign of relief. After staring downwards at the pristine desk on which her elbows rested, she remembered what made her uneasy when spending time with John. She asked, “What’s your job, Johnny?”
“Weapons manufacturing,” the hologram replied. “I’m pretty sure my company is responsible for at least one hundred thousand civilian deaths in the middle east, and then a couple ten thousand more across several undisclosed territories…”
“Okay!” the woman shouted. “I’m done here.”
“Are you sure?” The woman on the intercom was quick to interject. “There is only one remaining suitor.”
Agitated, Kimberly grumbled. “Fine. Let’s do this.”
And then Jake appeared before her, looking even more disheveled than normal. “Hi.”
“Jake… so what do have to tell me? You’re a drug addict?”
“I have some mild alcoholic tendencies and I may or may not use marijuana frequently. I keep that part of myself off of the internet so…”
The test subject smiled. “And your art, is that why you’re busy all the time?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “Or I’m writing poetry or trying to think of something clever to text you. I usually can’t come up with anything I think is good enough for such a goddess, though.”
“So you’re not married or have a girlfriend?”
“No.”
“And you don’t have some weird obsession with success?”
“If I can keep drinking, making art, and spending time with you…” The digitized face smirked the same way Jake would. “That would be the most successful life I can imagine.”
“I pick him!” Kim shouted in an upward direction. “Can I go now?”
“Yes, Ms. James,” the monotone voice replied through the speaker. “Thank you for your time. Please fill out the survey about your experience before leaving and our assistant will provide the remaining $15,000 payment.”
Without saying a word, Kimberly stood up and left.
Over the next several weeks, the actual person named Jake ignored the few texts Kimberly sent him. She had cut things off with the other four men, who either owned up to their misgivings or tried to deny them vehemently... or in Luke’s case, required a restraining order…
Jake was invited to participate in the secret study as well. Although he had concerns about the invasion of privacy, there was no way he could turn down 20 grand. Like with Kim, five potential women were manufactured as digital representations of themselves. When he met with Kimberly’s hologram, he asked, “So how do you spend your free time?”
“I work most the day,” her cheerful replica replied. “And then I come home and text a handful of guys and try to meet to new guys and go on dates.”
“No hobbies or passions?”
“Mostly just work and sex. And I love ice cream.”
Jake smirked pitifully. A beautiful poem formed in his head. He moved on to the next hologram and eventually picked two of the other woman, who in turn did not pick him. No one ended up going on a single date due to the experiment. It was considered a failure by our corporate overlords.
Written by BW Derge, All Rights Reserved 2024
© USA
This was a short story composed in 2024 called "A Vision of the Future: Your Holographic Dating Service"
For another vision of the future, check out Your Automated Death Sentence
Or check out this short story about the death of love in modern times
