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Oberon longed to be a matchmaker himself, a real one, who used his creations not just to encourage coupling, but to fan the flames of emotion and cause his subjects to fall wildly in love and live happily ever after.
Though nearly everything at the Center was under his control, the most important element was not.
Couples were selected for simple biological compatibility by a computer located off site that Oberon held no sway over.
So, Oberon bided his time, waiting for any couple that showed a glimmer of promise. When he found them, he did all in his power to encourage that spark to become a flame.
Typically, it was easy to see whether or not a couple showed promise.
But now that Chloe and Jubal were here, Oberon found himself at a crossroads.
Their personalities could not have been more different. Yet there was an undeniable current of mutual attraction that went beyond the physical.
He pulled his initial analyses and was able to confirm all points based on what he had seen so far.
It was a pretty problem.
He had one person who thrived on rules and expectations.
And the other lived to defy them.
This would require expanding his parameters to allow for the introduction of more variables at each crux. Jubal Ash was a bit of a loose cannon. And Chloe’s reaction to him wasn’t always what Oberon would have predicted.
But he was encouraged by the current readings, spilling forth during their ride to the villa. Both were feeling high levels of attraction and impatience.
Their very different personalities meant this would be a far stretch from lust to love, even for one as skilled as Oberon.
But, after all, there was the important romance sequence Oberon categorized as #7 - opposites attract. Could this be a possible path to love for Jubal and Chloe?
One thing in their favor that Oberon suspected but could not yet prove, was that Chloe did not know that Jubal was the intergalactic musical celebrity Jubal Ash. Oberon had watched for signs of excitement in her pulse and temperature when she met Jubal. But other than the usual tension when new matches met, he saw nothing on her chart to indicate strong emotion.
This meant that even if the two didn’t have much in common, Chloe did not yet know how much they didn’t have in common.
It also meant it was easier for her to be relaxed and natural with Jubal, which would surely lead them more easily down the path toward love.
To ensure that Chloe’s innocence extended for as long as possible, Oberon set a command to remove all of Jubal Ash’s songs from the soundtrack at the villa, and then at all the central servers throughout the Center.
After all, if his music came up, Jubal would almost certainly make mention of it. Chloe might even recognize his voice. Removing all traces of Jubal Ash from the musical memory of the Center was the only answer.
With a sense of what he suspected humans might call satisfaction, he turned his attention to expanding his parameters for their activities and possible responses.
At the same time, he ran a quick sequence on his security protocols so that if biological supervisors saw his energy feed it would explain his feverish calculations.
9
CHLOE
Chloe clung to Jubal as the little moped reached the top of the mountain and the road ended in a pair of carved wooden gates.
Jubal slowed as they approached the gates.
Before she had a chance to wonder if there was a bell to ring, the gates began to open on their own. Beyond them, a lane lined by cypress trees led up to whatever lay beyond.
“Welcome to Stars on the Sea,” Oberon’s voice said. “I hope the villa will be to your liking. Dinner will be served by the pool.”
Chloe had never stayed anywhere fancy enough to have its own name.
“Here we go, sweetheart,” Jubal warned her, before starting the moped up the lane.
