Illustration by Joi Rudin.
Gon woke up in the armchair and immediately checked the Schäffer & Schäffer vital signs monitor beside his wife's bed. Rose was still sleeping, and every piece of medical equipment he had learned to read indicated that she was just the same as yesterday, which meant she wasn't worse. That was good enough for Gon right now.
He went to the kitchen, made breakfast, and brought it back to his wife's room. She was now up, and the sun shone through the window. She was smiling. Even after all the pain and discomfort she'd been through, she still smiled. And Gon still thought she was the most beautiful being on the planet. Rose grabbed the cup of coffee and said, "I had the space farm dream again."
This time, Rose said the barn in her dream was heart-shaped. At first, Gon thought she meant that the barn looked like a heart from above, but it soon became apparent that she meant that the building looked like a heart when seen from ground level. Rose spent several minutes trying to explain to Gon that the barn's color was pinkish red and not reddish pink, but the difference was too subtle for him to understand. She eventually gave up and moved on to explain the different types of hay the farm had and which were for what animals. Gon sipped his coffee and listened to his wife talk about the horses, the cows, and the goats. He did his best to look interested but was too tired, and Rose saw right through him. "I'm rambling again. Sorry, baby. You should get ready for work. I'll be right here reading. Don't worry about me," she said. He kissed her on the forehead and went to his office on the other side of the apartment.
In about sixteen hours, it'd be their tenth anniversary. There were days Gon still couldn't believe Rose would even give him the time. They had met on an Adonis dating grid. The algorithm said they were compatible, so they went on online dates, watched old movies in VR theaters, shared gourmet experience NFTs, and eventually dared to meet in the meat space. Rose was a stunning woman, more so in real life than online. Her avatar was intentionally less attractive to avoid people harassing her or only talking to her for her looks. Gon's accurately represented his natural body, albeit the avatar had a fuller head of hair and less belly fat. The moment they met in the physical world, something clicked. They just couldn't stop talking and laughing.
Rose said she fell in love with Gon's mind, how he saw things, and how he always tried to improve them. Gon was absolutely taken by how kind Rose was with everyone around her. He'd always thought the world was dark and miserable, but that feeling disappeared when Rose entered the scene. She made everything brighter.
When they first met, Rose worked in S&S's Auditing Department. It was a stable, monotonous job, but she liked it all the same. But after one of the many personnel shuffles that big corporations tend to have every so often, she was forced to take a role supervising one of the company's many animal testing facilities. Bearing witness to the many experiments S&S ran on innocent beings took its toll on Rose. After a few months, depression set in. Getting out of bed in the morning was almost impossible. She had to take a medical leave from her job. That's when the dreams about the farm began. She'd dream about adopting every animal S&S did experiments on and giving them the loving life she thought they deserved. Eventually, her body got weak, and other illnesses started showing up. When she got too sick, she quit working for S&S. Not watching animals suffer improved her spirits. Still, her organism didn't fully recover, and she had to recuperate at home. That was two years ago.
Gon's job paid well enough that becoming the home's sole income and dealing with Rose's medical bills didn't even dent their finances. He was a front-end grid designer and one of the senior designers who worked at Mandala Horizons. He built the immersive spaces that regular people experienced whenever they logged into any site that supported immersive Virtual Reality or neural-implant interphase. He had enough experience that he could have been leading a team of other designers, but he liked his job. He liked making things. He enjoyed building spaces that others enjoyed. The front grids he built were always easy to understand and welcoming. Rose said it was because he was full of empathy that he cared so much about what others had to see and experience; he'd never make something others wouldn't have a good time using. He wasn't sure about all that, but Rose was adamant about it. He just liked making things for others.
There were less than four hours left for their anniversary. Gon had spent most of the day in his office working on the same grid he'd been working on for months now and was happy it was time for dinner. It was a special occasion, and he had ordered a Karaguchi Pineapple Pizza from the Karaguchi Golden Label app. It was the most expensive item on the menu, likely due to the realistic pineapple slices; they didn't just taste like pineapples; they even had the correct texture. Or so Gon thought; after all, he'd never had real pineapples. Either way, this was the meal they ate on their first date when neither could believe they shared a love for such a hated pizza topping. And tonight should be all about things they loved.
They ate in Rose's room, she on her bed and him sitting next to her in the armchair, while they watched an old movie. She laughed watching it, and he felt his heart filled with warmth. After the pizza was gone, Gon asked her if she minded taking a look at the grid he'd been working on. She said she'd love to, so he handed her the VR set and booted the grid. As the graphics loaded, Rose's mouth opened, closed, and finally quivered as tears started appearing on her cheeks from under the VR visor. She laughed as she cried. She put her hand towards Gon, and he put his hand around hers. She squeezed. Gon was never good with words. Holding his wife's hand, he apologized if the paint wasn't the right shade of pinkish red.
He went to the kitchen, made breakfast, and brought it back to his wife's room. She was now up, and the sun shone through the window. She was smiling. Even after all the pain and discomfort she'd been through, she still smiled. And Gon still thought she was the most beautiful being on the planet. Rose grabbed the cup of coffee and said, "I had the space farm dream again."
This time, Rose said the barn in her dream was heart-shaped. At first, Gon thought she meant that the barn looked like a heart from above, but it soon became apparent that she meant that the building looked like a heart when seen from ground level. Rose spent several minutes trying to explain to Gon that the barn's color was pinkish red and not reddish pink, but the difference was too subtle for him to understand. She eventually gave up and moved on to explain the different types of hay the farm had and which were for what animals. Gon sipped his coffee and listened to his wife talk about the horses, the cows, and the goats. He did his best to look interested but was too tired, and Rose saw right through him. "I'm rambling again. Sorry, baby. You should get ready for work. I'll be right here reading. Don't worry about me," she said. He kissed her on the forehead and went to his office on the other side of the apartment.
In about sixteen hours, it'd be their tenth anniversary. There were days Gon still couldn't believe Rose would even give him the time. They had met on an Adonis dating grid. The algorithm said they were compatible, so they went on online dates, watched old movies in VR theaters, shared gourmet experience NFTs, and eventually dared to meet in the meat space. Rose was a stunning woman, more so in real life than online. Her avatar was intentionally less attractive to avoid people harassing her or only talking to her for her looks. Gon's accurately represented his natural body, albeit the avatar had a fuller head of hair and less belly fat. The moment they met in the physical world, something clicked. They just couldn't stop talking and laughing.
Rose said she fell in love with Gon's mind, how he saw things, and how he always tried to improve them. Gon was absolutely taken by how kind Rose was with everyone around her. He'd always thought the world was dark and miserable, but that feeling disappeared when Rose entered the scene. She made everything brighter.
When they first met, Rose worked in S&S's Auditing Department. It was a stable, monotonous job, but she liked it all the same. But after one of the many personnel shuffles that big corporations tend to have every so often, she was forced to take a role supervising one of the company's many animal testing facilities. Bearing witness to the many experiments S&S ran on innocent beings took its toll on Rose. After a few months, depression set in. Getting out of bed in the morning was almost impossible. She had to take a medical leave from her job. That's when the dreams about the farm began. She'd dream about adopting every animal S&S did experiments on and giving them the loving life she thought they deserved. Eventually, her body got weak, and other illnesses started showing up. When she got too sick, she quit working for S&S. Not watching animals suffer improved her spirits. Still, her organism didn't fully recover, and she had to recuperate at home. That was two years ago.
Gon's job paid well enough that becoming the home's sole income and dealing with Rose's medical bills didn't even dent their finances. He was a front-end grid designer and one of the senior designers who worked at Mandala Horizons. He built the immersive spaces that regular people experienced whenever they logged into any site that supported immersive Virtual Reality or neural-implant interphase. He had enough experience that he could have been leading a team of other designers, but he liked his job. He liked making things. He enjoyed building spaces that others enjoyed. The front grids he built were always easy to understand and welcoming. Rose said it was because he was full of empathy that he cared so much about what others had to see and experience; he'd never make something others wouldn't have a good time using. He wasn't sure about all that, but Rose was adamant about it. He just liked making things for others.
There were less than four hours left for their anniversary. Gon had spent most of the day in his office working on the same grid he'd been working on for months now and was happy it was time for dinner. It was a special occasion, and he had ordered a Karaguchi Pineapple Pizza from the Karaguchi Golden Label app. It was the most expensive item on the menu, likely due to the realistic pineapple slices; they didn't just taste like pineapples; they even had the correct texture. Or so Gon thought; after all, he'd never had real pineapples. Either way, this was the meal they ate on their first date when neither could believe they shared a love for such a hated pizza topping. And tonight should be all about things they loved.
They ate in Rose's room, she on her bed and him sitting next to her in the armchair, while they watched an old movie. She laughed watching it, and he felt his heart filled with warmth. After the pizza was gone, Gon asked her if she minded taking a look at the grid he'd been working on. She said she'd love to, so he handed her the VR set and booted the grid. As the graphics loaded, Rose's mouth opened, closed, and finally quivered as tears started appearing on her cheeks from under the VR visor. She laughed as she cried. She put her hand towards Gon, and he put his hand around hers. She squeezed. Gon was never good with words. Holding his wife's hand, he apologized if the paint wasn't the right shade of pinkish red.
Written by Espeche, original idea by Alvarythm.