Author's note: First, I wanna say thank you for choosing my book :) I hope you'll like it as much as I love writing it and sharing it with you guys. Don't hesitate to tell me your view because I love to hear your feedback!

Second, I want to warn you: I marked this book as mature, so this is my first and unique warning for people who are underage or don't feel at ease with some subjects, because I won't put warnings before the scenes with sex or other mentions.

And finally, the following decree in the chapter is clearly NOT what I stand for, but it is one of the founding principles of the world you're entering.

So enjoy the journey and the reading ;)

_________________________________________________________

Decree 123-51316 (August 9, 2030)

Valid Worldwide

Sect. 1

Hereby, the authority vested in the head of the World Nations declares that couples will from now on be decided by the government* to ensure perfect harmony in the relationships.

1. The Marriage Matchmaker application will determine people's perfect match through the compatibility algorithm.

2. The matched couples will be two persons of the opposite sex, living in the same area** and compatible at more than 95%.

3. On their 20th birthday, every young person will take various scientific tests to allow the Marriage Matchmaker application to determine their perfect match.

4. The match will happen between the ages of 20 and 30 years old.

5. The matched persons will be informed of this decision by recorded letter. From then on, the two future spouses – who may or may not know each other – will have to discover themselves and start acting like a couple, to then marry within 3 months.

6. From the wedding, they will live together and respect all the marriage principles (faithfulness, respect, support... cf: Sect. 3).

7. All decisions will be taken together, and in case of disagreement, it is the male's opinion that will prevail.

8. Divorce is proscribed.

9. Any breach from one of the spouses will immediately result in his/her banishment to avoid any contamination of bad morals. The same sentence shall be met out for persons who don't respect the matched marriage, even before their matching.

10. Any romantic interaction apart from the match is forbidden.

11. The scientifically matching is from now on the only approved relationship. Therefore, to lead by example, any other kind of relationship is also proscribed in arts (literature, cinema, music...).

Special case: Any marriage contracted before this date will be continued.

*: Each country will handle the functioning and management of the Matching.

**: It is forbidden to relocate to a different region. Any relocation has to be justified and approved by the government.

________________________________________________________

'Decree 123-51316', Anastasia underlines the words, adding a touch of yellow to the rainbow highlighted papers spread on the little table. 

The scene before her looks more like the desk of an overloaded businessman than the small tray of a subway passenger seat, and it earns her a compassionate smile from the old woman beside her, who is probably sympathizing with the young overworked student, knowing the burden of school studies.

Anastasia politely returns the smile, even though this task is far from being a burden for her; she enjoys it. Yet she won't explain this to the old woman because first, she doesn't have time, and second, she would only get an odd 'are you an alien?' stare, like the ones she always gets from her schoolmates. 

For most people, reviewing 65 years-old laws is a deadly bore, but not for Anastasia. It has always interested her, and since she has been little, she has wanted to become a lawyer, to defend innocent people and do justice to the ones who don't respect the law – something she has never understood and that has always outraged her.

She is so passionate about her future profession that she almost misses her stop, the unintelligible mix of static and words through the speakers bringing her back to the present just in time, and making her blink away from all the tiny and formal texts to gather her papers. Though the articles of law are still playing in her head as she rushes to the exit, getting another sympathetic smile from the old lady, which she doesn't have time to return in her run.

She is never late, and today is not the day to change her habits. Even if her watch is indicating that she is five minutes early, she doesn't slow down, nor take a breath, and her tracks of thoughts and steps are only stopped at the sight of the imposing and austere building soon appearing in front of her.

There is something about this building. The facade may be a metallic-mat gray, like any other around, yet its wide size and the aura emanating from the construction are standing out, making her feel so small as she lets her gaze trail up the endless rows of windows. There are so many that it's almost dizzying, and they always lead her eyes to the same spot.

'We serve and protect', the words engraved in big bold letters above the large sculpted door are catching all the attention, and they seem to weigh solemnly on anyone who passes it. However, Anastasia doesn't go through the main door.

She is bypassing the front of the building, towards a less grand entrance, where the small 'service' inscription on the side holds a much different meaning. She still takes a deep breath though, her fingers instinctively reaching for the small scales hanging from the chain around her neck as if she could hear her future calling when she walks through that door.

"Anastasia Fisher?!" 

This isn't the call she has expected, and before she can exhale or even make out her surroundings, she is engulfed in a mix of chlorine, rose, and rough white fabric that are strangely forming a warm hug.

"I can't believe it's you! You look so much like your mother!" The tall woman finally pulls away, letting Anastasia take in the narrow hallway where they are standing and the genuine smile accentuating the wrinkles on the woman's tanned skin. "When Lauren told me we had a newbie called Anastasia Fisher, I never thought it was you. I didn't think you were already old enough to work! How old are you?" she continues to ramble cheerfully, making Anastasia smile.

Vera, her mom's old friend, is exactly as her mom describes her.

"I'm 22," she replies with a soft voice that could be mistaken for her mother's, if there wasn't the light accent.

"Oh?! So old enough to work, but also to marry!"

"Not yet," Anastasia remarks.

She knows it will come; she has already taken the tests, but at the moment, it isn't her main concern.

"Oh, it'll come sooner than you think!" Vera gives her a wink, the glint of experience shining in her eyes more than in the ring at her finger.

It is a contrast with Anastasia's bare hands and her hazel gaze shadowed by a frown as her preoccupation is more down-to-earth and immediate: finding her direction in the narrow hallway.

She hasn't remembered there have been so many doors and turns the first and unique time she has come here, and as they are all looking the same, she can only rely on her memory and the map she is eagerly searching for in her overfilled bag.

A heavy sigh of relief is already making its way up her chest when her fingers reach the laminated papers, but once more, Vera steals her breath as she pulls on her arms and leads her easily through the hallways, without even stopping talking.

"By the way, give your mom my regards. I really need to call her one of these days!"

"I will." Anastasia nods, trying to memorize each turn before giving up and offering a thankful smile to her mom's friend as she finally recognizes the inscription on the gray door.

"I let you get ready. I don't wanna make you late for your first day!"

That's the last thing Anastasia wants too. So she doesn't dawdle, not even bothering to take a glance around the simple room and heading straight for the row of lockers on the left, while Vera stops near the door, where the schedule is displayed.

"You're starting with the twentieth floor. Do you know how it works?" 

"Yeah, don't worry. Lauren explained everything to me on my training day. Thank you," Anastasia replies after finding her locker number and putting her quite heavy bag there. All her sheets of lessons will be left with it, and instead, she grabs the white folded clothes that have been waiting for her.

"Okay, then I'll go back to work! Good luck, see you later!" Vera waves, rushing outside and leaving Anastasia alone in a sudden and almost eerie silence.

However, she doesn't mind as she is hurrying too, and the quietness is perfect to repeat in her mind all the instructions she has received for her task.

Let's do this! She tells herself, adjusting her blond ponytail, once she has changed into the official uniform. 

She really needs to work seriously. She really needs this job.

***

The last room of the floor: the hammam. The strain in Anastasia's back is almost calling for the warm relief as she enters the area on the side of a soldiers' locker room, but she isn't here for this. 

So grabbing her broom and bucket, she continues what she has been doing for the past three hours, pulling a little bit more on her tired muscles as she wets the floor in the same dark gray color as the others before, matching perfectly the lighter shade of the walls. Though she doesn't really pay attention to the details of her surroundings. She just appreciates that the room is not too big in comparison with the ones she has cleaned before.

While her hazel eyes are focusing on the traces of dirt on the tile floor, her brain is concentrating on the laws' reviews, listening to her lessons through her headphones, and she is so engrossed that she doesn't notice a white placard fallen on the floor, next to the door, as she enters one of the steam cabins. 

It doesn't matter though, as long as the door is held open by the bucket... and it stays that way for long seconds, all through the footnotes of the Decree 123-51316.

She is reaching examples of breaches and their trials when she moves the bucket of just half an inch to reach a corner, and she doesn't get to hear the defense plea as a draft happens at the same instant, and the loud slam of the door definitely brings her out of her distracted state, the series of beeps following making her aware of everything around. 

She takes in the closed door, the narrow space of the cabin, the flashing device, and most importantly, she realizes the extent of her mistake when the little device on the wall announces '170°F/77°C', and puffs of steam start coming out from the ceiling. 

With a shot of burning terror, surely hotter than the steamy air starting to fill the room, she rushes to the door, putting all her strength, all her energy, and all her hope as her hand wraps around the handle, yet all of them are crashing against the locked door.

"Please," she mumbles, begging the door to give way under her rough, desperate attempts to pull, push, anything, but it doesn't even budge.

It is iron-heavy, and the electronic unlocking is outside. So she searches for another way out, her gaze running all around the small space and its eight corners, and although everything is blurring with vapor – including her head – she quickly comes to the obvious conclusion that there is nothing, resolving to her last solution.

"Help me, please! I'm stuck!" Her shaking screams almost sound like a prayer as she doubts anyone will hear her.

She has seen no one on the third floor, and it is already getting late. Most people are going back home to their loved ones. Who would even think of coming here?

The silence, only interrupted by the strong thuds of her heart, is the loudest proof that she is alone, and the helplessness and the distress invading her could freeze her if she wasn't starting to boil from the temperature in the small room.

"Help!"

She goes back to the little screen, tapping the device in the hope that it's a touchscreen, and searching for a miraculous hidden button at the same time, even if from the looks of it, she guesses that the commands are outside in the main room, where she has seen a bigger screen and a keyboard.

It doesn't stop her from mistreating the little screen though, and a trail of curse words in French leave her lips when the device beeps once more, announcing '210°F/100°C'.

The temperature in the cabin is rising quickly, as well as the suffocating steam, and her heart is hammering furiously in her chest, her breathing becoming ragged and desperate. She knows the panic is only worsening it, but she can't help it. The thoughts of what's to come and the minutes she has left are echoing and ticking in her head, and no matter how many deep breaths she tries to take to think coherently, the thick hot air is always clogging her lungs and her brain.

Yet she isn't one to give up. She keeps going back and forth between the door and the screen, praying for someone to help her and trying to save herself until her calls for help and her movements are growing sloppier and weaker, and all her energy is consumed by the moist air searing her skin and her lungs.

"Pleeaase!" she cries out one last time, thumping feebly against the blurred glass as each movement feels like vivid flames burning her from outside in.

She rests helplessly her head against the opaque glass window, a few tears mixing with the dripping sweat on her red cheeks. She doesn't have saliva, voice, or even strength to scream anymore, and let's not talk about oxygen.

Today hasn't been supposed to go like this. It has been her first day of work here. It has been a great opportunity: working at the headquarters of the armed forces – a job she has got thanks to her dad's boss who has some influence – and it is really well-paid. 

It has been her great opportunity to earn money to pay for her studies. It has been supposed to be a step closer to her dream, a fresh start in her life, not the end. 

These are her last thoughts before it all turns black, and she surrenders to the suffocating heat.

What do you think of this story so far? ;)

Do you think Anastasia will make it out? 

And what do you think of these laws? It would be horrible if it happened for real in 2030, wouldn't it?

I hope you like this story, please please let me know what you think in the comments, vote, add to your library... ❤