09/04: Wake up

You roll out of bed, the blare of your phone alarm ripping you from sleep. The memory of that weird conversation in the void is already fading, a half-forgotten dream that leaves behind only the vague taste of ozone on your tongue.

The morning sun of your eighteenth birthday streams through the blinds, slicing the dusty air of your bedroom. You look around. Same mess of clothes on the chair, same posters of bands you don't really listen to anymore. You check the window. No burning bush, no booming voice from the heavens, just Mrs. Henderson's poodle taking a piss on your lawn. Eighteen years you've waited for today, the day the cosmic entity promised things would change. The whole "boon" thing feels more and more like a cosmic prank call you fell for as a disembodied soul. A familiar, bitter disappointment sinks into your stomach.

Living the last eighteen years over again has been… weird. You know all the answers in class, you know which kids to avoid, you know exactly when your first girlfriend is going to dump you for that jock from the football team. It makes life easier, like a walkthrough for a game you’ve already beaten. But it’s hollow. No divine intervention, no secret powers manifesting during puberty, just the dull ache of knowing what comes next without being able to really change it.

You sigh and turn back to the nightstand to finally kill the alarm that’s been drilling into your skull. Your thumb hovers over the screen, ready to swipe the notification away. Before you can tap, the screen flickers. The alarm cuts off on its own.

Ding.

An app you've never seen before is right there on your home screen. The icon is a simple, shimmering, stylized heart, labeled "Affinity Index."

Your heart gives a hard thump against your ribs. Then another. Okay. Maybe They didn't bail on you after all. The game is finally about to start.

(A/N: I thought I could use any variables in the text, not just the customization ones. My original plan was to have occasional "app check" chapters that list out the affinity variable values. Instead, they will be in the sidebar at all times. While you, the reader, can see all the romantic interests' affinity, assume that the main character can only see them when they open the Affinity Index app.)