A Marriage Chosen Under Pressure

The Robot Who Looked Like Me

This thread follows Peter Honorious’s search for a spouse inside a coercive pairing regime and the unexpected role of genuine attraction.

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A Pairing Deadline A Pairing Deadline from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". Marriage as a Legal Demand An official directive Peter Honorious receives an order requiring him to marry by October 1 or face penalties.

A Pairing Deadline from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". Marriage as a Legal Demand An official directive Peter Honorious receives an order requiring him to marry by October 1 or face penalties.

Marriage as a Legal Demand An official directive Peter Honorious receives an order requiring him to marry by October 1 or face penalties. His request for an extension has not been accepted. A constrained choice He wants a suitable partner but dislikes the idea of choosing blindly. The regime makes marriage compulsory while offering no guarantee that the match will be good.

An Illegal Shortcut An Illegal Shortcut from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". A Promise of Better Information A friend’s suggestion Ungerfjord tells Honorious about a clandestine service that helped him find his wife.

An Illegal Shortcut from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". A Promise of Better Information A friend’s suggestion Ungerfjord tells Honorious about a clandestine service that helped him find his wife.

A Promise of Better Information A friend’s suggestion Ungerfjord tells Honorious about a clandestine service that helped him find his wife. The advice offers a way to act before the legal deadline. The simulator’s promise Euler proposes using the Political Factors Synthesizer and Simulator to preview how a marriage might develop. Honorious accepts the prospect of seeing consequences before making a binding choice.

Futures on the Screen Futures on the Screen from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". Fifteen Possible Marriages Compressed domestic futures Honorious watches five years with one prospective wife condensed into minutes.

Futures on the Screen from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". Fifteen Possible Marriages Compressed domestic futures Honorious watches five years with one prospective wife condensed into minutes.

Fifteen Possible Marriages Compressed domestic futures Honorious watches five years with one prospective wife condensed into minutes. Each preview turns a candidate into a sequence of changing circumstances, from early attraction to distance or disappointment. Increasing unease The simulations make the available choices less reassuring rather than more certain. By the time he has seen most candidates, he is gloomy and prepared to settle for a merely tolerable outcome.

The Last Candidate The Last Candidate from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". A Future That Feels Different A final vision Honorious previews the future with candidate 6903, seeing travel, laughter, a shared home, and a baby.

The Last Candidate from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". A Future That Feels Different A final vision Honorious previews the future with candidate 6903, seeing travel, laughter, a shared home, and a baby.

A Future That Feels Different A final vision Honorious previews the future with candidate 6903, seeing travel, laughter, a shared home, and a baby. The montage gives him a sense of affection unlike the earlier, more discouraging scenarios. Immediate conviction He decides that he is in love with the woman the simulation has shown him. The system appears to have succeeded, even though its forecast may not be the source of the feeling.

The Candidate Is Dinah The Candidate Is Dinah from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". A Forecast Meets Its Subject An identity revealed Euler discovers that candidate 6903 is Dinah Grebs, his secretary.

The Candidate Is Dinah from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". A Forecast Meets Its Subject An identity revealed Euler discovers that candidate 6903 is Dinah Grebs, his secretary.

A Forecast Meets Its Subject An identity revealed Euler discovers that candidate 6903 is Dinah Grebs, his secretary. Dinah admits that she placed herself among the choices because she had already fallen for Honorious. A real decision begins Honorious initially offers money to release her from any supposed claim. Dinah’s anger disrupts his transactional response, and their physical and emotional encounter begins outside the simulator’s predictions.

A September morning in 2038

During lunch with Earl Ungerfjord

Over the appointments before September 29

On September 29

Immediately after the final simulation