The idea of a 'government assigned girlfriend' at this point is a done to death trope. It's droll. But I wanted to try my hand at it, so here it is.

The year is 2040. There is a loneliness epidemic. The world's governments are less concerned with birth rates and more concerned with the increasing amounts of depression and anti-social behavior in people of all types.

So they came up with a solution. The Matchmaker program. The Matchmaker Program is a mandatory companionship program. While mandatory, it is designed to be as accurate as possible.

The steps of the program are simple. At the age of 16 you are requested to fill out a form. This form asks some simple questions. Your name, gender identity, sexuality, and some basic preferences you know about your taste in partner. Height dynamics, languages spoken, hobbies. Anyone older than that when the program became available is made to sign up for a matching appointment as soon as possible.

Then at the age of 18 you are matched. The matching process is complex yet smooth and dynamic. You go to a facility where you sit upon a chair attached to a conveyor belt, and a small chip is implanted at the back of your neck. Then the conveyor belt moves and brings you face to face with each match, them similar to yours, you similar to theirs.

However, there is a catch. To avoid missing out on potential matches, the chip they implant is there to monitor your brain activities for signs of interest. If both of you show interest, the match is made. And it is legally binding.