"I have to wear this?" Makayla narrowed her eyes at the odd helmet. Matte black, with silvery tendrils reaching for the temples, and red LEDs blinking along the rim, it induced nothing in her but suspicion.

The technician glanced up from behind his computer screen. A raven strand fell on his forehead in the process. He combed it back with his hand, but only managed to tousle his hair. "Nobody is forcing you to, miss."

She patted her cornrows and played with a braid before answering, "I know." Exhaustion flooded Makayla; yet, she had spent most of her day in pajamas, streaming chick flicks and munching on cheese puffs until loud bangs announced the arrival of her sister. The green hoodie she had slipped on hadn't fooled Zari.

"You have a Cheetos on the clavicle," the latter had said, nose wrinkling in disgust. Hiding the lower part of her face in her silk scarf, Zari had darted to the bedroom and dug an almost-clean pair of jeans from the clothes littering the floor. "Come on. You're gonna be late."

The technician pressed a key on his computer, and the luminous dots lining the helmet pulsated furiously, bringing Makayla back to the snack-less present and adding to her wariness. She asked, "Once it's on, what happens?"

"The Heart Whisperer will sync to your brain waves."

"Why Heart Whisperer?" she asked, more to delay her fate than out of genuine interest.

Surprise flashed in his eyes. "Heart Whisperer, Horse Whisperer? Robert Redford in the Montana mountains?" When she shrugged, a faint pink blossomed on his sharp cheekbones. "Nevermind. I'm a sucker for old romance movies--though this one's drama."

A conniving smile tugged at the corners of Makayla's lips. "I'm more into modern rom-coms."

The technician grabbed the helmet and got up. He motioned for her to tilt her head and, when she complied, hunched over to install the dreaded device.

While he adjusted the connectors, Makayla sat in his warm presence, doing her best to ignore his heady but pleasant cologne. Her gaze wandered on his baby blue polo shirt, avoiding the triangle of golden skin around the neck, before landing on his name tag. Under a glittery heart shape, "Thibault" was printed in bold, capital letters.

"It's pronounced Tee-Bo."

She flushed and, not knowing how to react to being busted, blurted out, "Where are you from?"

Makayla cringed at her own question. She hated being grilled about her origins. What was so difficult about seeing past her bronze skin?

"I'm half-French and half-Chinese." His answer was courteous but succinct. Perhaps he didn't like being reduced to his ethnicity either.

"Sorry for asking. I'm nervous."

"It's okay. The procedure is impressive." He took a step back and leaned against his desk while observing the flickering lights above her head.

"Have you ever tried it?"

Thibault cast a glance at the closed door, then studied Makayla's face. "No, and I don't intend to."

Stunned by his honesty, she could only manage, "Why?"

His dark, expressive eyes locked with hers, and she felt her chest tighten at their intensity. "I think love doesn't answer to any algorithm or formula."

~~~

Ten yards away, on the other side of the dividing wall, Zari drummed on the arms of her chair. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

Her interlocutor, Antoni, let out a smug chuckle. Raising his chin up, the chubby man bragged, "We have a 100 percent success rate."

"You'd better have. This set-up is costing me a fortune." Since her little sister had disappeared in the back shop, Zari's stare had stayed on the closed door.

"Would you like to go over the terms and conditions in the meantime?" Antoni took a stack of paper from his desk drawer and pushed it in her direction.

Zari's purple coils flashed from left to right as she shook her head. With a resigned pout, she grabbed the pencil he was offering. "How long will it last?"

A satisfied smile stretched on his lips as he watched her scribble her signature on the last page. "Usually three to four weeks. Thanks to the brain mapping you've performed on her a few nights ago, his actions are tailored to her personality and past. He's the perfect guy--perfect for her. He'll help her find her self-confidence back, then he'll break up before she gets attached." Antoni paused and feigned a concerned expression. "Are you certain you don't want the Happily Ever After Package?"

Zari clicked her tongue against her teeth. "I can barely afford this Rebound Package."

The door flew open, and Makayla came back holding a sealed envelope. Waving it, she said, "It's done. Thank you, sir, but I have to fly. I'll call you tonight, Zari. Goodbye... Thibault." An intense blush spread from her nose to her ears, which she covered with her hoodie while sprinting towards the front door.

"What's inside the envelope?" Zari asked as she watched Makayla disappear in a subway entrance.

Antoni scrutinized the technician's face, then shrugged. "A blank page, but she thinks the name of her match is written on it."

"What if she opens it?" Dread filled her chest, emptying her lungs of air and her mind of thought. No way she'd let her baby sister fall into that dark pit again.

"Load Appearance #42."

Antoni's order triggered a low hum from Thibault's body. His hair shimmered, then grew into soft, sandy curls. A healthy tan covered his skin while his jawline went from square to pointy. Before Zari's bulging eyes, the mixed-race Asian transformed into a blond ephebe. Only the clothes and name tag proved it was the same person.

With a satisfied chuckle, Antoni readjusted the badge on the android's chest. "Don't worry. They never do."