After an eternity of wait, the two shuffled through the Choosing Room
as their numbers were called. They ducked under the awning and behind
the curtain, offering scant privacy. It would be easy to listen in, if
one had a mind to, but they were all supposed to be
professionals. Still, who knew what games people would play even here?

The window opened. From inside, a woman neither old nor young said, "We're not
doing unions this time around, so whatever happens happens. I'll take
you both in turn."  The woman turned to one of them, picking up an
etched leather ledger (others said it was a sophisticated tablet
computer). "Who do you want to be?" she said, already taking a
scramble of notes.

"I want an affinity for death," he said, "From a young age."

"Like the dark lord?" the woman asked, "That sort of thing?"

"No!" he chuckled, "Just those insubstantial matters: spirits, decay ... I
want a story where those become identified with me."

"Whatever you say," the woman said, still scribbling, flipping rapidly
between pages in the book. "So, death in the sense of dissolution of
life," she said as she at last looked up.

He nodded.

"So you want prophecy," she said, "The ability to look ahead in the
story."  He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could she
continued, "Mind you, you will have no idea when you do see ahead from
the rest of your idle thoughts.  But it will touch you."  Though her
eyes were on him, her pen never ceased moving on the pages.

"Yes," he said, "I'll trust your judgement."

She looked down again.  More notes.  "Physical defects?" the woman
asked.

"None serious please, if it can be helped," he said.

"Okay," she said, "I can balance that out with three minor
insanities.  You'll be angry all the time.  You'll have an
extraordinary tendency towards self-destruction.  And your thoughts
will be --," she smirked, "-- noisy.  Also, you will related less to
the moment than to the unfolding of events and people will shun you
for it, but those are just side-effects of prophecy and don't count as defects
per se.  But that's what you want, right?  If you're not sure, now's
the time to let me know."

"Yes," he said, "That sounds fine."

Still writing frantically, she asked, "Anything else?"

"I'd like a few transcendental experiences, if that can be arranged,"
he said.

"We'll see," she said.  Half a minute of silence followed as the
finalized her notes.  "You're all set," the woman at the window said,
looking up at him.  She turned towards the girl, "What about you?"

"I want to be immersed in life," the girl said, "But not...birth, or
any of the casual associations with the subject.  I want to love the
terrible parts of life, it's messiness, relationships...the parts
others hate."

"I see," said the woman.

"I'm also intelligent," said the girl, "Extraordinarily so.  Not just
pertaining to a subject matter, but towards the underlying truth."

"That fits in with appreciating the melancholic aspects of life," siad
the woman. "Physical defects?" she asked.

"No please," said the girl, "I should be rather beautiful."

"You will be conspicuously beautiful.  It might even give you
trouble," said the woman.  "Such a girl's fancy," she added, almost to
herself.  "You're going to be rather crazy," the woman continued,
"You'll see things that aren't there, hear things that aren't there.
You'll also serve as an archetype for what many girls will affect to
be, but for you it will be reality."  The woman turned towards the
guy, "That will be true for you too, to a lesser degree."  Turning
back to the girl, she said, "You'll hate birth and children for the
most part, seeing so nakedly what they are, so work that into your
story.  I probably shouldn't tell you this, but you'll also have an
animal you love very dearly. Does all of that sound okay?"

"I suppose so," the girl said.

"Could I have an animal that's close to me too?" asked the boy.

"Sure, why not?" said the women, turning back the pages and making
more notes.

As the woman continued to write, the boy asked, "Are you sure there's
no way we could come back together?  We have this thing that we do."

"I'll see what I can do, but it won't be much," said the woman, "It'll
be mostly on you in any case.  We're not doing group returns right
now, but maybe you'll find each other anyway.  You'll be bear enough
that it could happen."  She turned to the girl. "I'll give you a touch
of prophecy too just to make it that much more likely," she added,
making more notes.

After another punctuating silence, the woman closed the book and
looked up.  "You're both all set," she said, "Walk through the door.
And best wishes on finding each other. I can let you walk through the
door together, but it won't make a difference."

The door opened and the girl and boy passed the threshold.  "Good
luck," the woman called.  They waved.