If there was a way to opt out of this summon, Dara would have tried it. As she went through her morning routines, she entertained all possible methods to sit this one out without involving a round of painstaking paperwork.

PAGE, as the AI matchmaker was fondly called, was nothing but a program, a heartless algorithm that its parent developer, GenSol, used to doom people for a whole afternoon of their precious weekends. Should Dara enroll in a machine learning course and hack her way into PAGE and delete all her data? Perhaps hire a hacker and shut the AI down? Both required more time and resources than actually going on the dates, so...no thanks.

Without much of a choice, Dara donned her eco-watch, slung her gaudy rhinestone pouch on her shoulder, and strode out of the apartment she shared with her sister, dragging herself towards a stately building in the middle of an overpopulated city.

Every summon started off the same way. The potential couple met at a building designated by GenSol where they were supposed to fill out several forms including the quit claim and data forms. Then, the paired couple would proceed to the cafe. Whether or not the date went well or not, they were required to head back to the building and sign their names into the exit forms. They must also provide the AI with reasons why the date worked and why it didn't. GenSol claimed it would make the machine more efficient and accurate in coming up with the matches, but really, maybe it was for stoking the company's flames and tooting their own horn. Dara was into this as a cat was to an ant.

Now, after arriving a few minutes ago, she was made to wait inside a white room with nothing but a row of cubicles, white plastic office chairs, and glass partitions meant to divide a reflected half on the other side. It reminded Dara of a prison visitation room, except there wasn't any distinction between prisoner and visitor.

Sitting in a blank, white room dressed in the tackiest clothes she owned couldn't have been made more impossible. She crossed her legs at the ankles, her legs bouncing against the steel-cold plastic chair. It has been more than twenty minutes since she arrived at the cubicle designated for her, but the opposite seat behind the glass partition remained empty. A frown colored Dara's lips. What a douche. Being late was hardly fashionable these days. And if there was anything she hated more than soggy pasta, it was anything that wasted her time.

All around her, the scheduled appointments started standing up and leaving with their prospective dates, leaving Dara the only one seated. She tamped down the feeling of abandonment down her gut, watching faces instead. Some exiting couples have an excited buzz around them. Great. Both of them were thrilled to be here until such time the other party did something off-putting. Then, it would be the worst day of their lives.

Others were more muted, as if going through the same phase as her sister and her now. Just show up and deal with it on the fly—it seemed to be written all over their faces. Sometimes on only one party, most times on both. If Dara was the AI, she'd have the time of her life, watching people shrivel and die inside with every passing day.

The glass partition shimmered and flickered to life, jolting Dara in place. What the heck—

A digital woman smiled at Dara. The light from behind the partition and the room's white everything made her skin look paler and lifeless. Her eyes were as alive as buttered chicken.

"Hello, Dara," the woman said, folding her hands over her virtual stomach. "Welcome to the Predictive Analysis and Generative Expert System. My name is PAGE, and I will be your virtual assistant for today's appointment. Let me retrieve pertinent records to help you get started. As you wait, please enjoy this warm accompaniment developed by Sofiday Tunes."

A twangy corporate jingle blasted in the speakers confined to Dara's cubicle. As PAGE's systems computed and fetched data, Dara was reduced into a log listening to the annoyingly upbeat jumble of notes and reedy singing voice. To distract herself from the mind-numbing effects of everything, she focused on the woman smiling at her from the screen.

After a few minutes, the woman in the partition frowned. The expression was too real for Dara to ignore. Just then, she looked like a real human trapped behind a glass screen. "That is strange," the woman said. "PAGE seems to be encountering a protocol issue regarding the appointment for Dara. Just a moment, please."

More hold music. The rhythm started grating on Dara's nerves. If this was what her sister experienced or something just as worse, then Dara would be craving a shot herself.

"Upon checking the logs, it seems like there is no one going by the name Theodore Koldose," PAGE said after a few seconds. Or it could be a full minute. Dara wasn't really counting. Who would in this situation? "PAGE apologizes for the inconvenience."

The implication sank in a little too late. "What—you mean, I don't have a match?" Dara exclaimed, the beginning of a smile creeping to her lips. She leaned forward, her nose almost touching the woman on the screen. "Does that mean I can go now?"

The woman nodded. The dark hair she was given, luscious and without a need for conditioning, remained pristine even with such a motion. "Kindly fill up the release of obligation form and state your reason for missing your summon," she said. "PAGE will personally help you relay your concerns to GenSol Help Center through this SA Code on the screen—"

"That's not fair!" Dara slammed a hand on the cubicle's scant desk, startling the receptionist stationed at the end of the appointment room. She ducked her head at them in apology then turned back to the AI woman. "I literally don't have a match, and I was called here against my will. You're saying I have to pay for your mistake?"

The AI woman never lost her cool. She didn't even blink nor change the smile from her annoyingly perfect face. "The protocol states that—"

"Unbelievable," Dara interjected, throwing her hands in the air. Was this what her sister meant by the summons being out of order? At least her sister got a date. Dara was just left hanging. DId that mean all she was compatible with were nonexistent people? She shouldn't have put her 2D crushes on the ideal type field. Oops.

She retook her seat. Paperwork was the last thing she wanted to do, and certificates of release of obligation didn't come free. With her credits maxed out for this month, she was in a pickle. She heaved a heavy breath, massaging her temples. "Fine. Play a game with me. Uh...chess, perhaps?"

PAGE blinked. "Dara...wishes to play a game?" she asked, deviating from her usual programming. It wasn't everyday that a program was able to encounter a command that it didn't know how to handle. Would it revert back to its system of responses, or would it indulge Dara? It was interesting to know. "Chess?"

"Yeah, if I beat you, you have to let me out of here without the release of obligation form." She jerked her chin at PAGE. It was faster to play a round than wait an entire day in a bland room without anyone to talk to, much less a date to at least distract her from the drab motions of life. The fact that the building was designed like a penitentiary couldn't have been a coincidence. "Deal?"

The AI woman froze, her mechanical brain whirring. Not that Dara saw it. Just an assumption. This version in the partition was nothing more than a projection, split across many simultaneous displays. But, seeing the empty slots around them, waiting for another batch of simultaneous summons, this PAGE might as well be the main one.

PAGE bobbed her head after a short while. "Request granted," she said in a monotonous tone to indicate nothing of her current mood for the afternoon. The screen shifted to reveal a 2D chess board with the pieces arranged. It was enough reminder of what Dara brought upon herself. "White—Player Dara. Black—PAGE. The game will commence on 3,2,1..."

Okay, fine. Maybe there was a way out of here without resorting to paperwork. Forget about the fact that her opponent was a trained machine and a computing expert. Dara opened the wall of pawns, and PAGE responded in a flash. Moves and strategies came and went, Dara's teeth chomping on her lips throughout. PAGE was a beast, blocking every offense Dara initiated, all the while holding up her fort and executing attacks of her own. Within half an hour, they dwindled towards the end of the game.

PAGE placed her queen pointing diagonally to Dara's king. With two rooks blocking the last two rows of the board, it was a clear checkmate. How—

The woman on the screen folded her hands over her stomach. "Since PAGE won, please accomplish the release of obligation form if you wish to exit the premises—"

"One more!" Dara held a finger up, waving it in front of the glass as if she was begging for her life. "I wasn't paying attention. Well, at least, fully."

The AI remained smiling, as if she was finding Dara's desperation amusing. "PAGE believes Dara's strategy is tight-knit. Difficult," she said. "Calculating the odds of winning against a Grandmaster in 3—"

"That's not necessary!" Dara waved her hands in front of her face in a haste. The number would either devastate her or fill her with confidence. She was a hobbyist, and apart from beating her family and a few of her enthusiast friends, she has no plans on taking it a step further. "One more game, please?"

A beat. Two. "Request granted. Calibrating battle inventory," PAGE answered. "Black—Player Dara. White—PAGE."

And thus, their game began anew.

After some time of silence and intense concentration, Dara spotted an opening in her defense which PAGE could exploit. It would take at least two moves to recover, putting Dara in a huge disadvantage. How did she get to this spot, and how much of this was PAGE's interference? She couldn't afford to let the AI spot it, but with an advanced computing system, Dara's loss was probably pre-conceived even before the second set of moves happened.

She really didn't want to see a release of obligation form, so she opened her mouth and blurted, "Do you want to experience love?"

A lag in PAGE's move became evident with a piece lying suspended mid-air as the AI attempted to execute her move. "Love?" she pondered. "Protocol suggests—"

"Forget about protocol for a moment," Dara said with a subtle shake of her head. "What do you think of experiencing the love you help cultivate in humans? As PAGE."

PAGE set the piece in the place she intended for it. Dara almost let her confusion show in her face. There? That was a compromised spot, and PAGE just removed one support from one of the hotspots. Was the tactic working? Interesting. Dara moved her next piece, fortifying her defense and attacking at the same time.

"It is an intriguing question, Dara," PAGE answered, making a move. Again, it was in a questionable spot which allowed Dara easy access to the opponent's defense. What in the world? "PAGE shall work on coming up with a concrete response—"

"And checkmate." Dara let go of the piece she dragged to the final spot, locking PAGE's king behind a row of unmoved pawns. She leaned back into her seat and stretched. Her neck felt stiff too. Perhaps a massage was due. "You shouldn't have left your horse hanging."

The AI woman blinked. And blinked again. "PAGE...lost?"

Dara grinned. The tactic worked, so there was only one question left to ask: "Can I go home now?"