Chapter Text
Hundreds of years ago, teams of scientists began to create a formula to calculate the exact point in time when someone meets their soul mate. It was an effort to accomplish the impossible and eliminate the dating scene. Once perfected, the teams of scientists asked people to volunteer their lives and get the chip implanted.
The idea was popular, especially in younger people. The chip skyrocketed in popularity practically overnight. Everyone wanted to know who they were meant to be with. Everyone felt like they needed to know who their soul mate was statistically. Ideally, people would be given the choice to implant themselves. Young parents, who grew up knowing who they would marry, decided to implant their children out of the womb.
There was an uprising of traditionalists who claimed the chips did more harm than good. They refused the treatment for themselves and protests broke out in front of hospitals and clinics. Younger generations agreed, until they really tried the old way of dating. Things were messy and complicated and the chips were always superior in their eyes.
As it almost always does, youth wins out, backed by testimonies from around the globe. The chip enhancements were a phenomenal technological advance. The protesters grew fewer in number as the years wore on, most giving up their fight against change. Not too much after the tide shifted in favor of the chips, people started to ask how they worked. Like all technology, it was a complex process the general public didn`t quite understand.
The release of their research and study highlights how incredibly complex the new system is. To begin, there are three microchips to make: an optic nerve blocking chip; the central chip holding the algorithm inside a person’s head; and the “battery chip”. The chip behind the optic chiasma blocks the brain from receiving color signals from the retinas. The central chip, installed inside the limbic system of the brain, is the largest chip. The limbic system is responsible for feelings, like love and affection. The most important chip is at the base of the skull. The “battery chip” there runs the show. The soul mate formula is so large and complex that it needs another chip just to work properly without overloading a person`s senses and making them blind. Everything is wired by scientific experts and there is almost never a glitch. All three chips are installed inside the subject at the time of their birth, quickly whisked away to an operating room nearby. Newborns ensure the best recovery period and the skull is still malleable enough to operate on easily. Scientists proclaim the older a test subject is, the harder it is for the chips to take. Once a subject starts forming memories, specifically those of colors, interfere with the chips and cause malfunctions.
The idea for the soul mate formula was first thought up by a male scientist who was tired of going out on countless dates. He poured his entire life into the formula and it destroyed his marriage and all personal relationships he had. Ideas sprung up to have it be a timer, maybe a chip in the wrist that heats up when the subjects are near their soul mate, a glowing chip, a mark on the skin where they first touch, their first words to each other, or even their name. They tested each idea, all with limited success. The color scheme was the best performer, next to the glowing chip. The glowing chip was rejected because too many of the test subjects accidentally broke the glowing portion of their chip and needed emergency surgery to prevent them from radiation poisoning.
Shortly before Dr. Sam Bowling’s death, he decidedly perfected the formula and, as it turns out, his soul mate was his ex-wife, who left him because he devoted too much time to the formula. After he passed away, his trusted group of scientists took over and actually perfected the formula. They then proceeded to cram it inside the three microchips. Then they coded it so there was a definite shift so the general public knew when they found their soul mate.
Generations upon generations of chip-users later, a young culinary student nervously enters a classroom full of people. He is late to his first day of class on his first day of living his dream. He sheepishly waves to the professor in the front of the classroom, who is directing him to sit at the empty seat in the corner. The young man graciously smiles and sets his textbook down on the table. He looks at the young woman next to him and smiles quickly.
A young exchange student sits in the corner, oblivious to the disruption behind her. When the young man sits down, she glances over. As explained minutes earlier, the person sitting next to you is your cooking partner for the rest of the semester. She extends a hand and smiles warmly. “Hi, I’m Sabine Cheng.”
“I’m Tom Dupain.” He smiles back, taking in the beautiful colors that suddenly filled his vision. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Sabine blushed and stole a glance at his bright green eyes. She decided right then that green was her favorite color. “It’s nice to meet you too.”