Councilman Bravies, a short, stocky, and affable gentleman continued on.

“The matches were prepared by gathering data on all of you. More than 300 criteria were taken in account. Anything from sleeping habits to preferred research redaction techniques. We used advanced psychological methods to create algorithms that matched corresponding talents, habits, even hidden fears, all in search of complementarity. We want to ensure the compatibility between the experts we would like to make live together."

"We hold in great interest what will happen to each of you. Being paired up with other researchers shouldn’t hinder your intellectual, artistic, military productivity or talents in any way. If anything, it has to boost it. The country would be losing too much should such a depreciation of your abilities come to pass. "

"This is also why the first interviews you will go through separately and as a couple have to be candid. We called you up to save the nation, but we would not very much like losing you during the fight. Even if it seems benign, please do mention anything you find amiss. The earlier we know there is trouble, the easier it will be for us to help you.”

“Can I refuse to participate in this program? I have someone else I love and I don’t want to lose them.” A tall, very short haired, redhead interjected.

Jenkins answered first. “Anyone who refuses to participate can sign the appropriate forms and leave after his memories of this program are deleted. If such is your decision, please meet one the attendants the earliest possible and have them escort you to the medical center. But please, be advised that this is a one-time offer. Anyone who abdicates the program once will never be recruited for it ever again. So please choose carefully.”

Bravies said next.

“If one of you decides to leave the program after being married, they will considered dead for the public. Their memories of the program and everything that happened here will be deleted. If in the meantime, you had children with your he-wife or any other person, they will automatically receive custody of the underage children. Every other question regarding splitting assets will be dealt with according to the civil law. The proceedings will be secret of course. We will mask your resignation from the public office you occupied as member of this program as an accident. "

"Simply put, we will create a cover-up. An accident of a kind or another that will make your current face unrecognizable. Please feel assured that every precaution will be taken to guarantee we don’t kill you in the process. After all, under this appearance – Councilman Bravies gestured to the experts, smiling- or the one you were born with, you are extremely valuable to Jarusha. Never doubt it."

"The scheme we plan will allow you to continue on with your life and work using your recovered, original identity. At the time, you will receive manufactured memories that will enable you to create your own path afterwards.”

Shinji intervened. “You mean we won’t remember we were ever married to another man and had children? And we will get ready-made careers we can build upon? And we get to keep all the money we made as agents of this program above all that?”

“Yes, this is what I mean.”

Before he could add anything or react to the councilman’s statement, he heard someone talk very close by.

“That’s hard.” Shinji’s neighbor had spoken quietly, looking dejected.

“If I accept this and decide 20 years down the road to divorce, I will never know all of the happiness I felt. That’s too harsh!”

Shinji didn’t comment. Instead, he thought back at his life. He never was loved enough by anyone for them to make him a priority or show real wishes to be involved with him. Maybe Gracie Saggs, but then he butchered the whole thing for passion. Impossible passionate love, which would go forever unrequited.

"Except this time, I have a tiny chance that Amraani was chosen for the program and matched to me."

He shook himself from his reverie and lost his faraway look and his mouth corners lifted up into an equally tiny smile.

“I have to remind you all that for those of you who accept to get in the Eternal Glory Program, this is a five-year minimum work contract. Unless there is a special circumstance happening, the agents stay married and work for the government at least five years before having a chance to apply for resignation. If they don’t want to quit their service, they can reenlist for another five years, and so on and so forth.”

They kept asking questions and Shinji’s attention soon became divided between listening and playing a guessing game to find if Amraani was selected too.

He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. It receded, then came back a second time after a few minutes. He started to worry and left the conference room looking for an attendant. There was one right outside the door.

“Excuse me, I need help.” It got harder to breathe and Shinji was losing consciousness fast. He was barely able to sigh out when reaching the attendant.

“Not feeling well. Sharp thoracic pain.”

The attendant rushed to him as he crumbled to the floor. In a haze, he heard the attendant calling for emergency support and sending his painful body to a room down the hall via electromagnetic gliding.

When he arose again, a physician was looking him up and down and performing a scan with a small detection device. When he was done, he declared him in good health. The sarcastic laugh that escaped Shinji as he sat up got the physician asking.

“Have I said anything funny? “

“Last night I got drunk from the alcohol-based punch you guys served and from unknown substances. So drunk that you guys were able to change my face and other physiological functions without me ever waking up during the process. Just now, I had chest pains rivaling a heart attack, and I am doing fine?! Excuse me for laughing.”

The doctor lightened up a little. He explained.

“During the transference last night, you showed allergic reactions to one of the components of the gene therapy that changed your face and your build. It took us a moment to get you back to life. These chest pains are the residual effect of the treatment we applied to revive you.”

“And here you were saying I am fine! I died last night!” Shinji's anger shot out of him loud and clear.

The doctor struggled to hide his discontent at being berated.

“You came back safe and sound. There will be no other side effects from the transference. You are doing fine because I just confirmed that all the by-products of the gene therapy were extracted from your system. You are free to return to the conference room. You still haven’t heard anything regarding your match?”

He shot a quick glance back to Shinji. The denial expression he saw lead him to continue.

“We need the data to keep preparing you for life in the program.” He sat at his desk as he continued to talk.

“Jared, take him back to the conference room.” Shinji saw entering the attendant he met at the entrance of the conference room waiting for him. As if sensing Shinji’s question, the attendant said

“You were only unconscious for 10 minutes. You won’t have missed much of the Q/A session.”

Shinji’s untrusting reply was “Please! Lead the way!”

He stood, smiled his thanks to the physician and the remainder of the hospital staff present. Then they went back and it seemed to Shinji that someone just closed the conference room’s door as they appeared in the hallway. He tried to not give it much thought.

"This place is turning me paranoid." Shinji entered the room when they were finishing the Q/A session. The discussion was about the proper behavior the he-wives were assumed to have in public.

“For the general public, all of you he-females are women. You have to appear so in public or the program loses its sense. We provide you with husbands because their role is to help you in appearing as such."

"They are there to support you in any way necessary to keep your real identities, genders, and the existence of the program hidden. You can’t even inform your children of this plan unless you both leave the program AND they are legally adults. Even then, since you will both be declared dead and you are both men, only one of you parents will be able to adopt the children after your “death” and your successful reinsertion under your original identity."

"Families are made of fathers and mothers and not fathers and fathers, or inversely. We are at the top of the state. We have to lead by example.”

That got the lovely blonde with the bronze skin in the front to say: “I am an historian and I can’t help asking. Whose parents’ last names will be inherited by the children?”

“We recommend making their last names out of hyphenated versions of your official names. You can make their middle names and first names out of your real last names.”

At the mention of little children, Shinji’s brain tutor taught him child rearing concepts and innumerable tips on children food, hygiene, etc.

It seemed there was no other question coming up. So, one of the councilors took the stand to announce the couples as they were matched.

Shinji, very early in his life, had renounced faith for he found it utterly inefficient in explaining the world as it is. However, if he ever wanted to pray to a higher being, it was right here, right now. His genial intellect calculated in a flash the chances that he and Amraani would be matched. They were quite low.

For each couple, they called the he-wife first, then the husband. Both met up on the podium, greeted each other, got their first picture as a couple taken, and finished the meeting sitting side by side. Another couple was called. Then he heard his name and his new professional title being called. He started walking from his seat down towards the podium.

“Dr Shinji-Patrick Onodera, new Director of Subatomic Technologies for the Constitutional Subatomic Research Center will be matched to Dr Amraani Zander McAuliffe , new Head of Research of the Constitutional Subatomic Research Center”.

Shinji froze a second and looked around. A man sitting farther down the rows on the other side of the room stood up and started down the stairs. Shinji forgot how to breathe. He felt himself turning pink. The man kept walking towards the head table without looking around, so Shinji moved his feet too. He couldn’t see his face, but the aura and build of the man, Shinji knew. He couldn’t place it yet, but he knew it.

“Dr Zaadeem Masson is the new name of Dr Amraani Zander McAuliffe and Dr Shinji-Patrick Onodera is now Dr Fiji-Mary Ise-Masson.”

Oh boy! Whoever you are up there, thank you, thank you for giving me Amraani. I don’t want anything anymore. Oh, I’m blushing red Ferrari!

He surprisingly reached the stand with his dignity intact. The other man was talking with the photographer. He stopped when he sensed Shinji close, turned, and hailed.

“Misericord, Shinji!”

Amraani’s voice was different. It dropped an octave and had this sexy, resolute trace to it. Shinji looked up to his friend.

“The man in front of my room this morning. That was…”

His own voice came out thick and a little high. Hope, joy, and fear waged a bloody war inside. A thought flicked at the back of his brain. Well, that’s new! My voice goes high-pitched when I’m excited. I will have to watch out for it.

“Misericord, Amraani!” His heart’s turmoil must have shown on his face because Amraani held his hands with calm and squeezed gently, saying reassuringly:

“I’m happy it’s you my future wife.”

He smiled. And Shinji realized the eyes also didn’t change. His heart had recognized Amraani this morning and stopped as usual, but not his mind. His voice stuck in his throat for a second, then he replied with his heart, looking briefly, deeply into the thunderstorm-colored eyes, conveying his joy.

“I’m happy too. Now, I know I won’t be alone in this.”

Then he turned to the camera guy and got ready to pose. Amraani turned also and discreetly set his hand in the small of Shinji’s back. The receding flush came back with a vengeance.