Page 45 of Ideal Life

“Likewise. And good luck with Ideal Life.”

It wasn’t until Talia was driving away that she realized she’d never mentioned the name of her startup to Evangeline.

Talia laughed out loud.

The mystery writer of Your Gossipy Tech BFF really did know everything and everyone.

Erin

Don’t worry—your date’s going to be amazing. And you look great,” Erin’s roommate, Colette, said. She was flopped on her bed on the other side of their tiny dorm room.

“Easy for you to say. You’re French and everything you put on automatically gets translated into ‘effortlessly chic.’ ” Erin waved at Colette’s gray T-shirt and sweatpants and blond hair in a messy bun.

Colette laughed. “It’s not my fault Americans have some weird cultural filter that does that to French people. I’m a slob, but it just so happens that I’m a Parisian one.”

“I hate you,” Erin said.

“You love me.”

Erin turned back to the mirror and tugged at the hem of her top. It was a green bias-cut satin tank that Ideal Life Athena said Erin liked, since her dopamine levels had spiked when she tried it on. Erin had paired it with a black midi skirt and thought it looked very put-together.

Fifteen minutes before her date, though, she wasn’t so sure. She put on her Omni 3Ds, which she’d taken off just a few minutes ago so she could pull the tank top over her head.

“Athena, how do I feel about this outfit?”

Colette threw a pillow at her. “Why do you need to ask an app how you feel? You feel, not the code.”

Erin shook her head and ignored the comment. Colette was a “fuzzy”—that’s what the liberal arts students were nicknamed, the opposite of “techies” who studied STEM fields—and that meant Colette had a stronger, built-up resistance to technology. But Erin knew Ideal Life and its brethren were the future. She saw it every day she interned at the company, and she envisioned herself like Talia someday, hopefully not too long from now.

Talia was always pushing herself to be the best. Erin wanted that for herself, too.

Ideal Life Athena marched into the field of vision of the Omni 3Ds and reported to Erin how Erin felt about the outfit.

Ideal Life Athena: Based on current chemical levels and activity in your anterior cingulate cortex, you are currently experiencing emotions of uncertainty. However, remember your tendency to assign causation where there may only be correlation. Ask yourself, Is it possible that my feelings are not the result of my outfit but that they come from elsewhere?

Erin sighed. “Good point; thanks for the reminder.”

“That’s what roommates are for,” Colette said. Even though their room was small, she was still far enough away that she hadn’t been able to hear that Ideal Life Athena had responded on the Omni 3Ds. So she thought Erin was still talking to her. Erin let it go.

Ideal Life Athena had been extraordinarily helpful in planning the date with Georgia Tan, a girl in Erin’s computational logic class. Ideal Life Athena had homed in on the best way for Erin to ask Georgia out, examining what had caused Erin anxiety in the past and minimizing for that (the conclusion had been to write down Hey, Georgia, can I take you out to dinner sometime? on a piece of paper and show it to her; if Georgia said no, Erin could tear the paper up or burn it to purge the feelings of rejection, plus rest assured that there was no digital record of the failed attempt—other than her conversations with Ideal Life Athena, of course, but those were private).

Ideal Life Athena had also assisted in choosing a place to eat, taking into account what cuisines Erin tended to pig out on (unattractive!) and what gave her heartburn or gas (super embarrassing and uncomfortable!) as well as considering cost (it analyzed Erin’s past brain activity for clues on the kind of spending that stressed her out).

Erin looked at her outfit in the mirror once more, took a deep breath, and grabbed her purse. “Okay, I’m heading out. Wish me luck!”

She was in the hallway when Colette came running out after her. “Wait—I wanted to give you a good-luck hug.”

“Aww.” Erin opened her arms.

But instead of coming in for the hug, Colette yanked the Omni 3Ds off Erin’s face.

“Hey! Give those back!”

Jackson, a football player who lived a couple doors down, poked his head out of his room. He was an Italian literature major and also a wide receiver on the Stanford team, here for the summer to help the new recruits acclimate. “What’s going on out here?”

“Think fast,” Colette said, throwing the Omni 3Ds at him. Jackson caught them and dangled them up high.

Erin let out a huff. She was supposed to pick up Georgia at her dorm on the other side of campus. She didn’t have time for this!