Julie rubbed her forehead, then swiped the message alert. Immediately, her warm gaze wandered around the room before curiosity got the best of her — without hesitation, she tapped the message.

Dear Julie Jien-103

Congratulations on your eighteenth birthday. We wish you all the best in the coming years. Back to the main purpose of our message, we would like to inform you that you now qualify to certify for matching.
Your matching period is between the 2nd – 10th of May, 2064. Failure to make yourself available at that given period is a highly punishable offence.

Yours sincerely,
Trisha lones-47.
KAM organization.

When she was done reading, a cocky smirk appeared on her lips. She had waited for the invitation since last year, and her curiosity about the matchmaking would be uncovered. It seemed that the week would be very stressful, moreover, her birthday mood had already been ruined. Julie quickly wrote a positive response to the sender.

Suddenly, she sighed and covered her face. It didn't matter — they had to play married and produce a kid, that was enough for the matchmaking laws. For a second, she wondered how he looked and what he thought about the affairs of the country. It would be saddening if he had no interest in the idea of freedom — because she had always wanted to be free.

After several hours of studying, Julie arrived at home almost to evening. Despite her tired body, she and Skylar walked through the garden as they gazed at the blooming flowers. Julie took a deep breath, then forced a smile on her face — an action that she had gotten used to. With that, the door automatically opened for her.

"Mom! I am home." Julie walked through the living room as she searched for her mother. She wasn't in the kitchen nor the library, but the house seemed recently cleaned; hence she concluded that they might have all gone out. Julie stretched her arms as she quietly walked toward the stairs.

"Dad?!" There was silence in the house, the only feeling that could make one seem lonely and lost. Momentarily, her eyebrows pressed whilst her eyes wandered around the room. She couldn't believe that she had been gone for half the day, yet the furniture was rearranged. Weirdly, she felt uncomfortable with the change. "Mom?"

Julie slowly walked through the hallway to the floor elevator. Silently yawning when something caught her attention. Immediately, she stopped and stared at the massive trail of the reddish liquid that flowed from the opposite room. Julie rolled her eyes as she recalled the exact incident that occurred a week ago — it seemed that her mother had recently developed a habit of spilling juices in the room. She shrugged, then mumbled softly. "I'll just say that the doors were locked."

She was about to continue walking when something lightly smacked her forehead. In defense, Julie jumped, then slowly moved her hand over the forehead before stopping after noticing the stained fingers. Without hesitation, she wiped it off before another drop hit her once more. The more she stood — shocked by the sudden reddish drops, her gaze wandered through the walls until the ceiling.

Then she froze.

From the ceiling, a stripped body covered in countless ropes stained with blood was hanged downwards. At equal intervals, the blood slowly accumulated at the tip of the almost cracked bald-head before dropping to the floor. The person was unrecognizable, a shiver ran down Julie's spine as she gasped and covered her face. Her shivering figures roughly pressed against her skin, whilst the cold body fought against her intuition to run in such situations.

For all she knew, the killer could be hidden in any corner of the house, and she could be the next prey. Julie swallowed the lump in her throat, then stared behind her. "Skylar, we have — Skylar?" She paused upon noticing that her companion wasn't with her the entire time. That was strange because Skylar had always been by her side and for such situations, only the humanoid could send an emergency alert. Julie shockingly stared at the floor and studied it. Surprising enough, there was hardly any blood on it. That only meant that the person was recently hanged there. She thought whilst shivering.

Julie's first response was running toward her parents' floor due to the high security there, but she ran in the opposite direction. Her uneven breathing and loud footsteps made the fear of being caught worsen. She felt the heat in her chest whilst the tears uncontrollably rolled down her heated cheeks. After a while, she entered the office room. 
"Oh my gosh!" Julie screamed.

Julie's eyes immediately shut tightly — whilst her trembling hands pressed against her shivering lips. The image before her made her stomach turn, and tears slowly began to roll down her heated cheeks. What had happened to her parents? That was the only question that continuously echoed in her head. Her gaze was fixed on the two figures that were laying on the cold floor — unusually calm and peaceful, no, they seemed carefree in her eyes. Unlike the busy people who always had something to say.

Because they were laying in cold blood.

It had to be a prank, she thought. Nevertheless, sweat slowly caressed her forehead as she took two steps forward. Julie tried to suppress the continuous huffs and cries. "Mom? Dad? I — stop pranking me." Uncontrollably, soft giggles echoed in the space, her swollen eyes filled with guilt and worry. "Please, stop messing with me."

It couldn't be real, what was happening?

Julie had walked half-way across the room before she noticed the sharp, bloodstained blade next to the bodies. Fearing the killer wandering around the house, she quickly picked it up and walked out of the room. The path through the hallway was clear; hence, she silently walked through the living room before a random noise echoed in the space. Boom! A sound of a gunshot. Her heartbeat fastened, hands frozen as she stood at the centre of the room.

Before she could react to the multiple gunshots, a metallic hand grabbed her. "Mh?" Julie's eyes stared at Skylar, who seemed to roughly pull her against the hidden corner of the living room.

"Skylar is in defence mode." The humanoid repeated the programmed words thrice — the hands tightly pressed against Julie. Before long, Julie was released at positioned at a secluded spot. Immediately, the invaders' footsteps loudly echoed in the room. Julie and Skylar quietly hid in the secret corner behind the shelf of books — after several minutes, two individuals searched the place.

"Do we really have to kill their kid?" A girl sat on the couch whilst the other proceeded with the search.

"We can't leave the mission halfway." A deep, hoarse voice echoed from the dinning room.

"But, what can one privileged brat do?" Julie swallowed the load on her throat as she trembled against Skylar. Her eyes closed when all she could hear were the individual's words. For the first time, Julie was thankful for the humanoid who held her from collapsing or slowly gave tips on how to control her breathing rate. If she hadn't been home, Skylar could have fought them, but it seemed that different instructions had been provided by the security system.

"I'll inform the others that one escaped." That was all that the man dressed in black said, then walked out with his companion. To avoid errors, Julie and Skylar waited for thirty minutes until silence filled the place.

"They have gone?" Julie whispered as her company walked out of the hidden spot. Without hesitation, she followed Skylar toward the back door, then the garage. "Where are we going?"

"Daisy." The humanoid quickly opened the door for her, then walked toward the driver's seat. "The security headquarters are there, and you'll be protected by the matchmaking event whilst I get reprogrammed." At that moment, Julie could only cry whilst Skylar connected the internal server to the car. In no time, the car was under Skylar's control and being speedily driven through the residential area.

The journey to Daisy city took more than six hours, had Julie been alone, she would have been exhausted from driving. Luckily, Skylar was a computer that couldn't get tired, unless overheated. They took many road breaks and ordered food for Julie — thankful for the electronic banking. Subsequently, the journey was full of her snores and cries.

"We have arrived." Julie felt the cold, metallic hand that gently pushed her. Slowly, she opened her eyes, then stared at the bright city lights. Numerous hours had passed by, and she had napped thrice on the journey.

"It is so dark outside." She mumbled softly. "Are we at the matchmaker hotel?"

"Yes, let's head in." Julie rubbed her swollen eyes, then yawned as she followed Skylar.

The two individuals approached the building that had the initials MM flashed in various neutral colours on the large board. From the site where the cars were packed, a huge red carpet was stretched out until the entrance. Well decorated flowers were positioned at every corner of the carpet, which at the end lead to the visible green garden. Though it was past midnight, the place was active and filled with individuals that walked out of the matchmaker hotel.

Julie reached the entrance, where a guard humanoid stood dressed in black. She pulled out her phone and had the guard scan the barcode on the invitation message, thereafter, they were permitted to enter. They walked through the massive door before a waiter dressed in white approached them with a bright smile. The luxurious setting of the room caught her attention — her gaze wandered around the royal blue and silver themed room with an artistic statue at the centre.

A statue of a man and woman ball dancing on the colourful waters that flowed from the woman's scalp. At a distance, it seemed like the lady possessed hair of varying shades. The large open area was crowded with people seated in different rooms, blocked by a transparent glass wall. Julie noticed the gaming, bar and dining sites, each soundproof room had countless teenagers — which she had expected because it was the invited individuals' hotel.

"I need to rest." After the long night on the road, Julie felt the pain in her joints. Moreover, she needed to prepare for the matchmaking and Skylar's reprogramming. Yet, for some reason, she felt empty and lost. Though hard as it was pretending to be a happy family, being an orphan in one day made her miss them a little. After all, they were her birth parents.

What made her restless was that people were after her too. The thought of being killed almost made her dizzy. All she needed was sleep, then a day of contemplating her life. After all, she had to meet her match tomorrow.

"I wonder who it will be."

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