The next summon came, and Dara almost filed the release of obligation form herself before she left home. Almost. Upon asking around, none of the people who received a summon in the next few weeks had the same problem as her. All their matches existed, and the process went by smoothly. Why was it only Dara and her rotten luck?

She couldn't afford to waste another day of doing nothing. Her job required her to pass two reports by the end of next week, and the weekends were the only time left to at least chip a considerable amount off them. And now, she was on her way back to the GenSol-owned appointment building, praying to the heavens her date showed up. Just to make her feel accomplished and not utter garbage today. Perhaps, she'd get wasted with her sister later with them having summons one after the other.

A few hours later, she faced the same glass partition and PAGE, the pristine woman who greeted everyone who came for their summons. Despite the smile on her face that seemed comforting, the words pouring out the speakers demanded the opposite. "Upon checking the logs, it seems like there is no one going by the name—"

"Oh, come on!" Dara pushed her hair off her forehead. She didn't care about mudding her bronzer or her concealer or whatever her sister splattered into her skin. "This is the second time! Why is it always me?"

"PAGE apologizes for the inconvenience," the AI woman replied ever so politely. Dara ought to wring her digital neck if she could. "Perhaps, a game of chess like last time? PAGE is aware of Player Dara's tricks and will not fall for them the second time."

Dara tilted her head. "Forgive me if I am overstepping, but..." She pointed an accusatory finger at PAGE. "Did you delete my match for today?"

The woman on the glass shook her head in a beat. The smile never left, giving Dara a different signal. That was smooth. Real smooth. PAGE would do well as a regular human being if she was being this conspiratorial. "PAGE does not have access to deletion protocols," she replied. "Does Dara not want chess? Perhaps a match in weiqin or other games from ancient civilizations?"

"No, no. Chess is fine," Dara answered with a sigh. No use resisting her fate, right? "I just...find it strange I have two consecutive failed summons. Is the system really glitching?"

A chess board came to life in front of Dara, relegating PAGE's figure to a little square in the upper right corner. Good. She was too distracting anyway. "PAGE is not authorized to reveal recent data updates," the woman on the screen replied. "White—PAGE. Black—Player Dara. Calibrating previous battle logs. Preparing for in-game questions."

Oh, great. The same trick wouldn't work twice. Dara had to think of another way of weaseling out of the release of obligation form. And going broke. She shouldn't forget about the most fundamental reason she was doing what she was doing. "I understand," she said, acknowledging PAGE's reply.

Dara opened her mouth to blurt something stupid, but PAGE beat her to it. "PAGE enjoyed chess with Player Dara. It is rare for a client to request a game, so it took PAGE by surprise. The way PAGE previously lost is not acceptable, so a rematch is due."

Dara scoffed. An AI wanting a rematch was as rare as unicorns in broad daylight, but here they both were. "Did you just admit I intrigued you?"

"What does it mean to love, Dara?" PAGE asked after dropping her pawn in a spot to take control of the board's center.

"Oh." Dara made her move as her brain scrambled for an acceptable answer to give to an advanced AI. Her thoughts went back to the first time she experienced infatuation in highschool. It was horrifying, but she learned a lot from it, enough to piece together her response. A shitty response, maybe, but a response nonetheless.

"That's a bit complicated." She eased into it, watching her and PAGE's moves fly by. " 'Love' has varying formal definitions according to different people. I'm sure you can access the databases and find out for yourself—"

PAGE's piece landed on a black tile, putting a strain into Dara's defenses. "Your definition is not on the database though."

Dara scratched her chin and dragged her bishop past PAGE's defense. Oh, shit. She forgot to give it support. Back up, back up, back up—

PAGE captured the rogue bishop, halting Dara's brilliant plan. Okay, then. She inhaled a sharp breath and exhaled it in a weighty sigh. "Love is...well, understanding and caring for a person beyond the give-or-take relationship. At least, the ideal type of love is. But...there are tons of love in this world. No other person can love the same as another."

"Like how there are no two human opponents who play the same moves," PAGE answered, eyes trained straight into Dara's even though Dara was lost on the board. To PAGE, she probably looked like a busy streamer—too absorbed into the game to care for her fans. "To love is...to care? To understand?"

"To connect and empathize with," Dara added. "To love is a myriad of other positive actions that build a person up. It's an umbrella term, if you want to simplify it."

The piece PAGE moved made a clicking sound. "Checkmate," PAGE announced. She didn't smile to celebrate her victory. It was as if she was used to beating dumb shits at this game. "Thank you for indulging PAGE's in-game questions. PAGE sees why Player Dara used this technique."

Dara didn't bother holding it back. She laughed.