Plot 144: Cherished (Dystopian AU)
In a future world where human beings no longer have the ability to reproduce without the aid of scientific engineering (due to decades of exposure to harsh environmental pollutants and secret government initiatives to stave off the population to preserve resources), the kiss has become the highest form of physical intimacy. Kisses are reserved for your Cherished One--a mate who is assigned by a local agency based on extensive compatibility evaluations given when someone reaches the age of 18. Embracing someone who is not your Cherished One in this special way is a crime punishable by law, with serious repercussions for both people caught in the act. Those who are caught betraying their Cherised One can be sent to an interment facility for varying amounts of time depending on the severity of the ‘offense’ and may forfeit their right to participate in an annual lottery that decides which couples will be permitted to bear children through in vitro means. There are couples who are rumored to have defied the law and abandoned their Cherished One for another, but little is known of ‘the Disgraced’ as they are called because they must live apart from society in order to avoid the reach of the authorities. Muse A and Muse B have just taken their compatibility evaluations.