[Fiction] The Psychic

"Show me"
"Are you sure you want this? It could be very disturbing..."
"I understand"
"You know its wrong?"
"I do"
"Fine. I'm letting you know that I'm destroying it tonight, after you're done"
"Good. You never should have made it in the first place"
"But you're still going to use it?"
"I am"

He shrugged. "All right, let me set it up for you."

We were in his basement, next to the device. It looked like an ordinary computer, but there all similarities ended. The keyboard was used to input a date in the future, and show a specific person alternate futures, which varied depending on the choices a person had made, or was making, or would make in the future. It was part of some weird science involving relativity, and time, and relativity of time, and I'm not sure I understood any of it myself. I don't think he set out to build it intentionally; it sort of grew organically, as, piece by piece, bits of his research fell into place. In the end he had a machine that could show glimpses of the future, or the past, but not travel there.

As he was setting it up, he flashed me a weird smile. "As a man of science, I normally had the greatest loathing for psychics, horoscopes, palmists, tea-readers, and those kinds of people or things who could pretend to tell the future. What bugged me most was not the moral ramifications of being able to see the future, but how their predictions were always so open-ended and not testable. Ironic now, then, that I'm actually the best, most accurate psychic than all of them, without even wanting to be one. OK - we're all set up now. what do you want to see?"

I didn't even have to think. "Show me my future with him"
"He knows you're here?"
"Yes"
"And....?"
"He told me he'd be happy with my decision, whatever it is"
"I see. Can you see the screen?"

I could. The screen had been displaying swirls of static, but these had gradually faded away, and a picture was forming. Soon it was replaced by another. Some moved, like videos, and others were still images. None stayed for long. Soon they started repeating themselves, with slight variation. "You are happy together, and comfortable in each other's presence." He spoke gently, with a low voice, and I could see it in the images. "You will bring him prosperity, and together you will create a home that is known for its peace and gentleness".

I wasn't sure if I could detect a note of wistfulness in his voice. "You will have children together, but how many is not certain. Some pictures show 2, others show 3 or 4, and one even shows 5. The number is not important, for the both of you will raise them perfectly, and they will add beauty to the harmony that the two of you will create." He looked away from the screen, towards me and smiled. "You will want for nothing. The two of you will grow with each other's help, and shine in each other's light, and become pillars of guidance for your community." Every sentence summoned up an image, as evidence for what he was saying, and I knew it would be true.

"Wow. This is more than anything I have ever wanted."
"Indeed. Looks like you have made your decision."
"I have?"
"Well, normally people who marry don't know what is going to happen. You do. And the match has been scientifically proven to be perfect by any possible metric - you have seen the evidence"
"I have."
"But....?"
"I want to see my future with you."

I blushed as I said it, which was almost funny, because he went pale.

"Why?"
"Because"
"But we have no future"
"Does this machine not show possible futures?"
"It does"
"Then there must be at least one future with you"
"Not impossible"
"But....?"
"But very improbable"
"Why?"
"Well - look at you. You are special, and amazing, and destined for great things. I meanwhile, am not."
"Not true!!! You are all three. Nobody else could have made this machine"
"Which you admit was wrong to make"
"Nevertheless, I insist.'

Again he shrugged. "Fine."

It took less time to set up, and once again the screen cleared from grey swirls of static, to moving rotating, pictures and videos. Some were not pretty to look at. "Our match will not be approved by my side, our yours." It must have hurt him to say that, but his voice remained gentle. "We will have little time for each other, as both of us will have to work full-time". He swallowed. "We will argue and fight constantly, bickering over the smallest of things. It won't be because we're petty - it will just be because of the stress we shall both be placed under." Finally, he turned to me from the screen, like the last time, only this time he did not smile. "We will have children, and they will bring joy into our lives for a little while, but soon they will join in the circle of unrest we will have created." And again, like last time, with every sentence an image was summoned, as evidence for what he was saying, but this time I refused to believe it was true.

"I don't believe it"
"Why not?"
"Because these things are exist in potentia, and are yet to become real"
"Do you not think that what you saw was the future?"
"What I saw was a future. It's not guaranteed to be the only one."
"True. But it is very likely."
"Are there other futures of us together?"

He hesitated.

"Yes, there are."
"Are they as bad?"
"No."
"Then why show me the worst one?"
"Because this is silly. The choice is so blindingly obvious. He will give you everything. I will not be able to."
"You know as well as I do that I'm not materialistic."
"I didn't mean to imply that. He will make you happy."
"And you won't?"
"I'd give everything, yet somehow fall up short."
"Don't say that. You don't know for sure."
"I'm almost sure"
"OK - one final question. Do you think we have a chance at being happy together?"
"We have a chance. Nothing more."
"That's good enough for me."

He shrugged, but couldn't hide a gleam of hope in his eyes. "I will think you very silly if you pick me over him, but, of course, I'll never turn you down."
"You don't understand - he is not, and was never my pick. You, on the other hand, are what my heart, and my brain want, and have always wanted. I had already made my mind up before coming here, and all I have seen has confirmed it."
"Understood. This is more than I have ever dared dream of. Let's go talk to the elders and arrange the match. But give me a few more moments - I need to destroy the machine."

I saw him walk over to the machine, turn the keyboard upside down, and press a button clearly marked "Self-Destruct." There was no explosion - there was an implosion instead. It was as if the thing melted from within, and in a few seconds all that was left was a very liquid pile of goop. And there I was expecting him to, I don't know, take a hammer to the thing.

We walked to the exit, and turned out the lights, and he saw the look on my face.

"What? No self respecting scientist builds a machine without a self-destruct button somewhere"

Of course not. How could I forget? My mind soon turned to other things. The meeting with the elders would not be easy, but I was not worried. I had him - everything else paled in comparison.