Alice's Final Hours

Alice sat alone at a quiet restaurant.

Her heart was racing. She adjusted her glasses and took a sip of her coffee, hoping the warm drink would calm her nerves. Minutes ticked by. Doubts began to creep into her mind.

[She... didn't stand me up, right?] 

Alice checked her watch for the fourth time. Her date was 15 minutes late. 

Instantly, she began to theorize. Maybe her Toggle Maps link had been wrong somehow. Maybe she'd read the girl's message wrong and that "yeah, let's do it" message had actually been a "no, fuck off, creep." That was a lot of words to misread, sure, but maybe it happened. Maybe a meteor had crashed down on Earth and while Alice was sitting here, stowing in her quiet discomfort, her date was fighting for her life.

Against aliens.

Yeah, maybe aliens had invaded and instead of picking up a rifle and heading out to defend her planet from alien scum, Alice was sitting here, drinking coffee and sulking. 

Maybe. 

Just as Alice was about to give up hope, the front door of the restaurant swung open, and a stunning blonde beauty stepped inside.

The girl from Ember, the world's most popular dating app. 

The instant she saw Alice, she made her way over to the table with a confident stride. 

"Alice, right?" the blonde asked. 

"Y-Yeah, hi..." 

That was all she could say. She had seen her before, of course, but never this close. The blonde was even more gorgeous in person, with sparkling eyes and a smile that could light up the room.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," the girl continued, sliding into the seat across from Alice. "Traffic was a nightmare, and I had to circle the block a few times to find parking."

Alice managed a small smile, her nerves beginning to settle.

"It's okay, I understand. I'm just glad you made it."

From there, they started talking. 

But, the date didn't go well. At all. 

Alice had tried to talk about her job as a software developer, hoping to impress her date with tales of the cutting-edge apps she had helped create, the complex algorithms she had wrestled into submission, the countless hours she had spent hunched over her keyboard, fueled by nothing but caffeine and the art of code. 

But the blonde beauty across from her just stared blankly, her eyes glazing over with each technical term Alice dropped. In between her "yeah?" and "uhuh" it became clear that she had no idea what Alice was talking about, and even less interest in learning.

"So, do you have any hobbies?" the girl asked, twirling a strand of her golden hair around her finger.

"I-" 

Alice froze. 

She'd been about to let the dam break, wanting to tell her date about the otome games she played. They were just about the only thing Alice could call a "hobby". She didn't do anything else. Literally, every other part of her day was just some form of mundane chore. Take the trash out, watch the news, go to work.

But, she couldn't just tell this girl that her literal only pastime was to date virtual characters because she'd never had any success finding love in real life. It was pathetic. 

"No," she said instead, her voice flat and lifeless.

The girl's smile faltered, and Alice could see the disappointment in her eyes. She glanced at her watch, a not-so-subtle hint that she was ready for this date to be over.

Sure enough, a while later, the blonde beauty put a stop to this torture session. 

"Well, it's been great meeting you, Alice," she said, already sliding out of her seat. "But I just remembered, I have this... thing. Uh, yeah." 

Another failed date, another reminder that Alice would likely die alone. 

As the blonde made her way out of the restaurant, Alice slumped back in her seat, staring into the depths of her now-cold coffee.

At this point, she was beginning to wonder if maybe she was the alien all along.

[Add it to the collection,] she thought bitterly. [Yet another failed attempt at human connection.]

It seemed her virginity would remain fully intact tonight, the cobwebs between her legs destined to never be cleaned out. 

With a sigh, Alice downed the rest of her coffee and gathered her things.

Eh, who needed real-life romance anyway? It was just self-flagellation for the modern world. 

So, she walked out, telling herself all the while that sex and love were overrated, actually. 

---

Back home, Alice booted up her PC.

She navigated to her games folder and clicked on her current obsession: Black Hearts.

As the game loaded, Alice leaned back in her chair, a small smile playing on her lips. Sure, the game was marketed as a typical otome, with a cast of dashing male love interests for the female lead to choose from.

But Alice knew better.

She wasn't here for the bland, cookie-cutter boys. No, she was here for the REAL story, the juicy lesbian subtext between the protagonist and her supposed rival.

Alice barreled through the male scenes, clicking through the dialogue with barely a glance. She was on a mission, and that mission was to get to the good stuff.

And then, there it was. A particularly spicy scene between the female lead and her rival. 

"I hate you, Sylvia!" 

"Yeah, right. Only because you wish you were me!" 

[AAAAH!] Alice's heart was lit aflame.

The girls' faces were mere inches apart as they traded barbs and, in Alice's opinion, barely concealed longing.

Alice let out a squeak, her cheeks flushing as she drank in every delicious moment.

But just as things were getting good, her phone rang, shattering the mood like a brick through a window.

Alice groaned, recognizing the ringtone instantly. It was her mother, probably calling to remind her of some family obligation or to subtly (or not-so-subtly) hint that she should be settling down with a nice boy and popping out grandkids.

With a sigh, Alice picked up the phone, steeling herself for the inevitable.

"Hello?" she said, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

"Alice, honey!" her mother's voice came through the speaker. "I was just calling to remind you about church tomorrow. You're coming, right?"

Alice suppressed another groan.

Of course. Yet another attempt by her deeply religious family to somehow pray the gay away, to convince her that she was just confused, that all she needed was a good man and a healthy dose of Jesus to set her straight (pun very much intended).

"Mom, I-I don't know," Alice said, rubbing her temple with her free hand. "I have a lot of work to catch up on, and-"

"Nonsense!" her mother cut her off, her tone brooking no argument. "You can spare a few hours for the Lord, can't you? And who knows, maybe you'll meet a nice young man there. The Robinsons' son just got back from his mission trip, and I hear he's single..."

Alice tuned out the rest of her mother's spiel, her eyes drifting back to the paused game on her computer screen. The two girls were frozen in a moment of electric tension, their lips so close they were almost touching.

[God, I wish that were me,] Alice thought, a pang of longing twisting in her chest.

"... so I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early!" her mother finished, jolting Alice back to the conversation.

"Yeah, sure, Mom," Alice said, defeated. "I'll be there."

She hung up, tossing her phone onto the desk with a clatter. She knew she should probably feel guilty for lying, for planning to come up with some excuse at the last minute to get out of church. But honestly, she was just tired. Tired of pretending, tired of hiding, tired of being someone she wasn't just to please her family.

With a sigh, Alice unpaused the game, letting herself get lost once again in this other world. 

Maybe one day, she'd find that kind of love in real life. But for now, she had her games, her virtual girlfriends, and her own little corner of the internet where she could be herself.

And maybe, just maybe, that would be enough.

---

The next day, Alice went through the motions of her usual mundane routine.

She rolled out of bed, her hair a tangled mess, and stumbled into the kitchen to make some coffee. As the pot brewed, she scrolled through her phone, bleary-eyed and only half-awake.

[Let's see what fresh hell the world has cooked up today,] she thought, tapping on the news app.

She skimmed the headlines, her eyes glazing over at the usual parade of political scandals, celebrity gossip, and doomsday prophecies.

"I'm telling you, man," one homeless guy yelled into a camera. "The trucks are comin' for us, bro! THE TRUCKS ARE COMIN' FOR US!" 

One article caught Alice's eye. 

"Truck-related casualties up by over 2000%," the headline blared, accompanied by a grainy photo of a mangled vehicle and some poor sap in front of it, blurred out. 

[Wow,] Alice thought as her brow furrowed. [That's crazy.] 

But before she could dive deeper into the article, the coffee maker let out a shrill beep, signaling that her morning elixir was ready. Alice set her phone aside and poured herself a mug, inhaling the rich aroma with a contented sigh.

[Ah, sweet nectar of the gods,] she thought, taking a sip. [What would I do without you?]

With her caffeine fix secured, Alice set about getting ready for the day. She showered, brushed her teeth, and threw on some clothes, not bothering to put much effort into her appearance. It's not like anyone at work would notice or care anyway.

Alice was, at the end of the day, a painfully generic human being. The type you could call "factory-made". White, with black hair and brown eyes, 152 cm, and with the kind of face one would immediately associate with someone who worked behind a desk in some form or fashion. 

Before long, she was out the door, her messenger bag slung over her shoulder and her headphones firmly in place. She walked to the train station, her mind already churning with the day's tasks and deadlines.

As Alice exited the train station and began the short walk to her office, she heard a commotion behind her.

She turned, her eyes widening as she saw a delivery truck barreling down the street. 

And, it seemed like that truck was heading straight for her. 

[Oh, shit,] was all she had time to think before the truck slammed into her, sending her flying through the air like a rag doll.

And then, everything went black.

When Alice opened her eyes again, she was somewhere else entirely. A vast, white expanse stretched out before her, like an endless sheet of paper waiting to be filled.

[Where... where am I?] she thought, her mind foggy and disoriented. [Is this... heaven? Hell? Purgatory?]

But before she could ponder further, a voice rang out. 

"Hello, Alice. Welcome, to the Other Life Selection Program."