The Grove

I could feel my heart beating.

What does that mean? Are our hearts beating in sync? I wondered.

I looked across the table at Ari trying, futilely I might add, to gain answers to my questions.

“So Ellie, how do you like it here in the Capital?” Ari said as he smiled at me.

I focused back in on the conversation, remembering that this was just a first date. Admittedly, it was my first date ever, and I had only just had to relocate for my job, and—

“Ellie? Are you still processing my question?” Ari asked, reminding me that I needed to respond despite my ever-flowing internal dialogue.

“Oh, sorry, yes. I am enjoying it here, though I am still adjusting to the way of life and just how busy it is now that I am here— you know?”

Ari shifted toward me, reaching out for my hand across the table. His hand was cool to touch.

“Have you seen the Grove yet?” He said, looking at me unblinkingly, his features serious.

“Well, actually…” I responded, “I have been so busy with work that I haven’t had much time for exploring the Capital,” I finished lamely, breaking his intense gaze, but keeping his hand in mine.

Suddenly Ari’s features arranged into what could only be perceived as a mischievous grin.

“Well, you are certainly in for the best experience of your life so far. I will have to take you there and show you what can only be described as, well… beauty in its purest form.”

I looked around us at the sparsely populated 42nd floor of the Grand building, then leaned toward Ari to whisper despite there being no logical reason to lower the volume of my voice.

“I have never been escorted to a place of pure beauty before, Ari…”

Ari seemed confused at why I was whispering but he also seemed to experience the magnetic pull toward each other.

“Well, let us waste no time, Ellie” he whispered back, the closeness sending sparks flying between us.

I pulled back quickly and looked around to see if anyone had been close enough to observe what had seemed, at least to me, like pure electricity flowing between us.

“Do first dates always feel like this?” I looked innocently at Ari.

He laughed a pleasant-sounding chuckle, and replied, “Actually no, you are the first person I have had sparks with myself since arriving at the Capital. But the algorithms they use for Matching are highly advanced, so I’m not surprised we found each other.”

I looked past Ari through the glass window behind him. The Capital really was an amazing place. Behind the glass, a double helix staircase wound its way down the middle of the cylindrical building, and behind it I could see through the glass to the other side of the floor where there were more tables and matched couples.

Before I’d had time to process, Ari was on his feet and pulling me out of my seat.

“Come on, you have to see the Grove.”

The locket around my neck clinked metallically and I could feel my heart beating as I let Ari pull me out of my chair in one smooth motion and lead me toward the stairs.

When we arrived at the Central building, which held the Grove, I turned to Ari. Having only just arrived, and spent so much of my short time in the Capital working my job as an encoder surrounded by screens and data… I felt… excitement. My heart was glowing for the first time, and I could tell Ari had noticed.

We held hands as we took the lift down to the entrance of the Grove. It spanned over a hundred floors, but apparently, the best way to take in its beauty was to take a glass elevator right from the lowest floor, several levels underground, through the middle of the building right to the top of the Grove.

It was dark when we entered the glass elevator. I turned to Ari, he was looking at me, we stepped closer. Sparks began to fly. Our hearts were definitely beating in sync, and I could see and feel the glow they emitted when we stood close. Suddenly the elevator started moving and we moved to stand side by side, our gazes transfixed upon what lay just beyond the glass.

It started with a view of the most incredible and intricate root system, layering together in perfect harmony, every root working together to support the needs of what could be found above. Next, the elevator whizzed through levels of beautiful flowers and flourishing greenery—every plant in existence intertwining in a cacophony of synergistic splendour.

As we neared the top of the building, resplendent rays of sunlight began to emerge through the greenery making the leaves appear to glow. The symphony of light and pure nature was breathtaking, and I turned to Ari in complete wonder.

“You are the only one I have taken here.” He said, looking at my face despite the beauty that lay beyond the glass behind me.

We reached the top level which consisted of a floor bordering the very outskirts of the top leafy layer of the Grove. Looking up, I saw the brilliant mechanics which worked to concentrate the sun’s rays and expertly bounce them around the entirety of the globe for maximum efficiency and beauty.

Ari and I walked over to a glass desk. I knelt down to see that the glass of the desk encased a single apple growing up from the Grove.

Standing upright again I turned to Ari, feeling the pull of our hearts towards each other and the undeniable electricity between us.

“Ellie, this is where we sign to say we have been accurately matched. It is your choice to take this step with me, but personally, I am sure the algorithm has succeeded with us.”

Screens on the glass desk suddenly lit up to reveal a contract with a box to sign for Ari and one for myself.

“R.E. (Robot Epsilon: aka ‘Ari’) 5006 and L.E. (Language Encoder: aka ‘Ellie’) 3020, hereby accept their match as confirmed.”

I looked down at the locket pressed against my chest containing my heart— well, I mean, all of the electronics installed in the heart-shaped locket to represent the heart of my being...

It did seem that the match was right, after all, when Ari’s heart and mine were close... there were certainly sparks, even electrical impulses which held our lockets connected until we separated. Our hearts seemed to be bound together by a lightning force, glowing so brightly and beating in sync.

Yes, this is the right decision. The Matching process has paired us correctly, I decided, feeling resolute certainty set into my wiring.

Ari had already signed his name, waiting for me to make my choice. When I had signed the screen, it faded away to reveal the glass underneath and the perfect apple just beyond, forbidden from touch.

Seeing I had also signed, Ari smiled blissfully.

“Come on Ellie, next I want to take you to The Extinction of Humanity Museum.”