The tiny square I lived in had four houses. Tan lived in the north. He was a mechanical engineer, barely talked, lived a life of routine and hard work. Aisha lived in the west. She was a banker, wildly successfully at the age of thirty. Her mansion was the grandest in the neighborhood. Hiroshi lived in the east. He was a scholar in philosophy, extremely intelligent, sweet, and shy. Although he taught at Princeton and I went to Yale and our universities were rivalries, I enjoyed hanging out with him and we maintained a close friendship. I lived in the south. My name was Catherine – but people usually called me Cathy. I was a lawyer, with a personality as curious as a cat. Things I enjoy included trying anything new and intellectual arguments, and sometimes I got into trouble for one of them or both.
The story began when I had dinner with Hiroshi on a Friday night.
“You know, sushi is my favorite, especially the sushi you made.”
“That’s a sudden change of topic from Kant, and then 21st-century international politics.” He said with a grin.
“You know, that’s me.”
Hiroshi’s white Persian cat jumped onto my lap.
“Speaking of a change of topic, eh, Cathy,” he paused, “I have something to tell you… Erh…”
I began to get impatient, but I was also used to his shyness. I looked into his eyes.
“Eh, I mean, we are good friends, but I wonder, if we can be more than that.”
It did not surprise me too much. I had long felt that Hiroshi treated me more than just a friend. But I was never sure how I felt – especially with what happened with…
“Ah, thank you.” For the first time I, one of the best lawyers in the City of the Truth, did not know what to say.
“Just thank you?” He seemed disappointed.
“Er, I mean, in an era when fetuses are genetically engineered by scientists and nurtured in tubes and bottles, and sexual needs can be easily satisfied outside marriages or even relationships, I am not sure if -”
“You are not sure if relationships still make sense.” Hiroshi smiled, no longer seemed shy. “But love will always make sense.”
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“It’s okay, Cathy, I can wait.”
“You said something something about genetically engineered babies?” Aisha laughed, “you said that when he confessed his love or whatsoever?”
“I expressed how I honestly feel.” I replied, “I honestly do not know if relationships make sense.”
“They don’t.” Aisha, like always, seemed a hundred percent sure of herself. “Only sex makes sense, and Cathy, what you need now, is good sex. When’s the last time you got laid down?”
“I honestly don’t remember.” I felt judged. “I mean, a girl can have other passions in life, like Rubik’s Cubes or ancient Russian literature or …”
“They are not sex.”
“Okay, then, I am not sure if I want to have sex with Hiroshi.”
“Trust me you don’t, you are a beautiful lady, and he is just a skinny dork. Maybe sweet, but you deserve someone with real muscles and a pair of sexy blue eyes.”
“Ah, I don’t know.” I actually knew for sure that muscles or sexy eyes weren’t what I wanted. Aisha was hungry for power and money – she also had good tastes for food, wine, and male bodies – but I, like I said, had other passions in life.
“You ever wonder what life outside the City is like, Aisha?” I changed the topic.
“Undereducated, starving people who fight each other for no reason, producing kids out of lust and whatsoever. Life within the City is so much more civilized.”
“I am still just curious.”
“You are a high-profile corporate lawyer. You never work with anybody who is not a CEO or a leading counsel. Why are you even curious about things outside?”
“People can get curious about things they don’t necessarily work with, right?”
“If I were you, I would be more curious about sex.”
Aisha was a very competent person but also a douche. Hiroshi was not a douche, but he had neither said anything good about things outside the City.
“Eh, Cathy, you know, outside the City, they don’t really value truth or knowledge or science. Kids like me used to be bullied and traumatized in the Age of Dawn. And now I am a respectable scholar, and I can enlighten the minds of our next generation and advance human knowledge with my intelligence.”