SYNOPSIS:

herringbone@columbus.rr.com6142852741

Rob, Skeet, and Clare live in a world where people of the future have all consigned themselves to a government program called "Screening". Beginning around puberty males and females can no longer visibly see each other with the exception of family members. They are temporarily made blind to each other to limit the amount of fighting and disruptions caused by hormonal changes.

Instead, young men are represented to young women by green lights and young women to young men, by red lights. Each Person is "Screened" by the government as they reach puberty. They are first mysteriously blinded to the opposite sex and then they are fitted for a sensor so they can interact with the opposite sex without actually seeing them.

Exceptions occur with married couples and immediate family members. Also the screening only lasts until the age of 50.

Society has decided (in the distant past) that crises pregnancies, STDs, and sexual crimes almost drove humanity to extinction. Equal rights and person-hood were being denied in too many cases. A government study was done which showed that a chaste view of the opposite sex would correct all that and possibly save the planet. If you get permission from "Big Gov" to marry, you can see your spouse but only after marriage. The government has taken away the freewill selection of mates and instead supplanted it with a computerized system of tests to be sure your marriage will not fail. Couples who have a high percentage chance of compatibility based on genetics and common interests will "Flash" each other. To Flash or be flashed is to have your sensor brighten so the couples can find each other, pair of, and eventually mate. The brightness of a flashing sensor is an indicator of common interests and possible pairings of individuals, but mainly it's the government's choice for your mate.

So if you meet a "bright light" that is Big Gov determining a higher percentage of a happy coupling between you and the other person.

So the story picks up years later when this is commonplace and totally accepted by most people. In the story, on occasion, there are a few glitches in the system (as always!) and people catch a glimpse of what their forefathers gave up. And (of course) there are teens who are hacking the system because it's fun to rebel against authority.

Are Rob and Clare typical Romeo and Juliette, star crossed lovers aided by their hacker friend Skeet? Or is there something more conspiratorial going on?

The plot basically questions the level of responsibility an individual has for their own happiness. When freewill is given away in favor of a Utopian society there are always questions about how much control a government should have.