It was nearly one in the morning but the staff of the Monte Cristo were on strict orders to let her in anytime, without question. The front deskman tipped his hat to her as she passed. She nodded back with a half-smile. Pre never knew how to treat the staff. Technically she was a guest, and they were the employees, but anyone with a rank outranked her.

The staff didn’t seem to mind though. They all maintained an air of pristine professionalism at all times, despite her empty wrists.

Her ratty reflection surrounded her as she walked through the mirrored walls of the elevator bay. Stretched, overwashed black t-shirt, frayed and faded jeans, soot black hair falling out of a loose bun.

She knew she didn’t belong in a place like this. Her friendship with Xinder offered all too much perspective, both good and bad. His life gave her hope for what could be, and crushing misery that it wasn't already.

Saph, the elevator attendant, was waiting there when Pre walked up. She felt a twitch of relief. Like Pre, Saph wasn’t big on small talk. That gave Pre some time to prepare herself before she got to Xinder’s. He was always comforting after a bad date, but also asked a lot of questions.

Soon they arrived at the penthouse floor with a soft ding. The doors opened to let Pre out into a short hallway. She looked back at Saph to thank them, which Saph replied to with a polite nod before the doors closed again.

Pre stumbled forward, exhaustion starting to settle into her. Xinder flung the door open before she even reached it. His thick dark hair was a mess as if he had been sleeping, but his ember eyes were fiery and awake. “Pre!” he called, wrapping her into a tight hug. “How was your date? I figured it got to testing since you never replied to my messages. Did you get a connection? Was she your first? I so had a feeling she would be!”

“Come on Xin, at least let me get through the door first before you interrogate me.” Pre gently wormed out of the hug then pushed past him into the suite.

The lobby of the Monte Cristo was impressive, but it was nothing compared to Xinder's place. Floor-to-ceiling windows engulfed an entire side of the condo, providing a panoramic view of the core's skyline. Vivid murals of tropical flowers adorned the other walls. In the daytime, his place was an explosion of light and colors. A pretty effect but tortuous if you had a hangover.

It was a three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 5000 square foot bright, beautiful behemoth of a home. For some reason though, it never affected Pre as much of the rest of the luxurious building did. Xinder was like a brother to her and his home was, in spirit, her home too.

Pre flopped down face first on the red leather couch. “No connection,” she mumbled into the buttery soft material.

“What? Did you say no connection? Really?”

“Yup. No connection,” she repeated, lifting her face up. “Not a ranked one anyway.”

“Damn Pre I'm sorry. I didn't realize it could be so hard.”

Of course he didn't. Xinder had met Jawn, his Diamond ranked partner, on his first first date. Nothing was ever hard for Xinder. Not even finding the love of his life. She groaned again, dropping her face back down and venting her despair into the cushion.

“Come on Pre,” he cajoled. "You can't just show up here at 1 AM and not tell me what happened!”

She kept groaning, and louder, but pulled herself up to sitting. Xinder was sitting in an armchair across from her, inexplicably holding a teacup and saucer. He handed them to her.

“How… when did you get this?”

“I made it while you were in the elevator, and I got it just now while you were crying into the couch.”

“I wasn't crying,” she mumbled. “It's just crazy, right? How many unranked people over 20 do you know? Connext is foolproof! Everyone always finds someone. How is it that I'm the only person destined to be alone forever?”

A funny look crossed Xinder’s face but it flashed away as quick as it came. “Oh, honey,” he said, waving at her to drink her tea. “You're not crazy. I can't even imagine how rough it must be. And I'm sure that lots of people struggle with making their first connection. It's a big, complicated world out there with lots of complicated people. Connext is good, but they're not foolproof. Even Jawn and I argue sometimes.”

“Yeah, I know. I heard you were over at his place tonight. Still can't agree on whether to live together or not?"

"No. It's becoming… problematic. We can't spend any time together without him bringing it up."

"I mean, would it be so bad to just move in together? There's enough room here that you could each have your own space." She sighed. "I mean, I'd kill to switch places with you. You get to live in a sky mansion, help society function better, and have an amazing partner like Jawn. I think that's worth giving up a guest bedroom for him, or arguing every once in a while."

Xinder flushed and Pre immediately knew she said the wrong thing. “I'm not ungrateful for what I have,” he said tersely. “My life with Jawn is blessed and beautiful in so many ways I can't even describe.” He paused, as if debating what to say next, then finally added, “I'm just saying. It's not perfect. It never is.”

Pre bit her lip. She hadn't meant to upset him. They were so different and that wasn't going to change. But she didn't have to make him feel bad about it. As an unspoken peace offering, she lifted her teacup to her lips and slurped it, loudly and pointedly. It scalded her tongue but it was worth it to see Xin smile.

“So," he continued, smoothly guiding them back to her problems instead of his own. "How many dates was this now? Thirteen?”

Pre set her cup and saucer on a nearby end table to cool down. She avoided Xinder’s gaze as she answered. “My, uh, thirtieth?”

"Excuse me? Did you say thirtieth?"

"Um… yeah? Why? Is it that bad?"

It was bad. He was pale like he was about to vomit or faint or both. But when he saw her looking, he recomposed himself.

"Yeah…" he pulled the word out in reluctant agreement. "I mean, I don't want to make you feel worse than you already do-"

"You are. That's fine. Go on."

"I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you. I don't know anyone who's been on that many dates without getting a connection."

“Yes. Thank you. Point made. Now do you have any useful advice, Mr. Diamond?”

This got him to stop talking for a minute. He sipped his tea slowly, as if he could pull an idea from it. Then he pulled out his com and started thumbing through it.

“Uhhh,” Pre said, annoyed to be ignored for a com again. “Hello? Best friend crisis here? Think you can put down the feed for, like, two seconds and help me?”

Without a word, Xinder lifted his com to show her what he was looking at. Glittery graphics flashed and twirled around some text. A date, a place, and, most importantly, a large name scrawled across the top: VIAN. Even without the name, Pre recognized their photo immediately. They held a rank of 97%, the highest one in the system, which made them the most famous person in Toran.

“Wha-“ Pre began to ask but Xinder cut her off.

"Vian's birthday party is tomorrow. All the Golds, Platinums, and Diamonds are gonna be there. Maybe you can meet someone."

Pre snorted, pushing his hand, the com, and idea away. "You want me to go rogue? That's your brilliant idea? No way! I'm trying to get connected, not blacklisted.

"I know that it seems like Connext is really strict about their terms of service -"

"Strict? I could be removed from the system. I'll be even worse off than I am now. I might be unranked but at least I have a place to live and food to eat."

Xinder's mouth snapped shut. He looked like he was struggling with something. But it passed and he kept going.

"A lot of the elites are rogue. Connext always turns a blind eye for them. They know the algorithm isn't perfect and isn't the whole point of this to build stable relationships for the benefit of society? Even Connext knows that some relationships can't be predicted. Look at how close you and I are. They discourage rogues because it makes things more complicated, but trust me - they want people to find strong connections. And I know that if you got to meet more elites, you'd be bound to find a connection. A really strong one! It's statistically probable!"

Statistically probable wasn’t the most convincing argument. But she was tired and Xinder seemed so sure.

"Maybe," she answered. "I'll think about it. Right now, I think the only connection I need is my face connecting with a pillow."

"Ooh you must be desperate if you're reverting back to preteen Pre kissing practice."

Pre groaned, throwing a throw pillow at him. He caught it deftly and proceeded to mime the aforementioned make out session. "Ugh you're so annoying!" she laugh-screamed. "I did that one time when I was twelve! Are you ever going to let me live it down?"

Xinder pulled his face dramatically away from the pillow. "Never. Now get yourself to your room and do whatever you need to do with my poor pillows. I have a photoshoot in the morning but then I'll come back, make breakfast, and we can decide what you're wearing to the party."

She hadn't agreed to go yet, but realized it would be futile to argue. Maybe it was worth a shot. As she walked past him, she leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Good night Xin. Thanks for putting up with me."

He patted her arm. "Never had a choice but wouldn't change it even if I did."

The sound of Xinder tidying up the teacups followed her to the guest bedroom that was basically hers. She took her shoes off but didn't bother with anything else. Within a minute, she was asleep on the bed.