M.E.N.

This projection was so different. Always behind a trend, Alex swiped apathetically at thin air. Even the keyboard she used to type in the web address was a projection. It was a sad day when her laptop died. Old school technology couldn’t even be purchased on the black market. Here she was, swiping away. Up. Down. Left. Right. 

She had overheard 2 women at the market talking about their new men. It didn’t take her long to figure out these ladies were talking about M.E.N. – male enhanced noumenons. There were even second hand M.E.N. on the market now. One lady was cooing that she got hers for half. Still fully programmable. She just picked an already existing M.E.N. It had been rebooted to its factory settings. That, after all was the most important part. 

When they first came out on the market, Alex had laughed that no self respecting woman would ever buy one of these. But here she was looking at one. 60 was just around the corner. An age she never thought she’d be. What if she really did live to be 100? Spending the next 40 years alone was daunting. After her beloved Chico past, depression became her companion. It would be nice to have something to talk to. Even if it was a M.E.N. 

Suddenly, a flood of memories washed over her. Going to the movies with friends. Dinners at crowded restaurants. Walks in the park with co-workers. The sound of another human voice that wasn’t prerecorded. A deep sigh escaped her. Instead of browsing features, she began to read reviews. People were having physical relations with their M.E.N. and going into great details. Whatever happen to discretion? 

“Get another dog.” She whispered to herself. But she knew the truth. The only way she’d have another dog is if one wondered to her doorstep. Some of these M.E.N were cheaper than the cheapest dog she could find. Even the robotic dogs were out of reach for her. 

How did it come to this? That artificial companionship was better than nothing. That people were; what was the right word she needed to use here? Every word she could think of to describe the current state of humanity was insufficient. 

All social interactions now were app based. About the only place you could really talk to people face to face was the market. Even then if someone didn’t like anything about you, you were completely shunned that day. A new statistic just posted was the number of suicides after market visits were on the rise. 

With these apps, if you were a female over 35, your profile was flagged. Once you hit 40, your accounts were locked. If you lied about your age so you could participate in any social networking, your accounts were deleted. She had read stories about (mostly women) being jailed and even put to death for lying about their age to seek any form of companionship. 

As long as men could father children, their presents was accepted. But when it was discovered you couldn’t add to the population of society you were out. Wars, disease (man made and natural), disaster after disaster, had decimated the population. When she was 25, the world population was 8 billion. Now 34 years later, the population was 3.5 billion. And the world freaked out. 

The older men who couldn’t father children didn’t want companions their own age.

No amount of plastic surgery or fertility drugs worked. Older women were discarded and discounted like used tissues. 

They could talk to each other and be companions for each other, even then there were standards. And Alex was completely out.

Her heart sank as the security grid at her front door chimed. Opening the door revealed her reprogrammed M.E.N. She sank to her knees sobbing. This is what desperate loneliness looked like.