I Know You: Science Fiction

You don't know me, but I know you. Your husband Dan doesn't know my friend Joe, but Joe knows him. Your neighbor Rod doesn't know my other friend Mary, but she knows him. That's the price you pay for living in a great and free society with a social net that protects you all, even if you don't know it. No unemployment, no infertility, no substance abuse problems, no legal problems. Anytime something like that happens, one of my friends sees it and one of your friends gets a fantastic job offer that they can't refuse. Huge party time! Then they leave, and you get a few letters now and again, referencing all the in-jokes you need, and eventually you just get a couple of Christmas cards and one day you realize you haven't heard from good old Jane in a long time, and wasn't it wonderful how she got that job right when she needed it most? And you try sending a letter, but it gets returned saying Unable to Forward, and maybe you try googling her or checking her social feed, but all it says is that she met a wonderful guy and changed her name and is going to spend more time with her family. Then there are a few cat pictures and some recipes and then nothing, right about the same time you stopped getting Christmas cards from her. Why do we go to all this trouble, you ask?


Inspiration: "Anonymous Face" - Quix*o*tic
Story Potential: Medium-high?
Notes: Mmm, tasty dystopia. I like this setting, but all the plot hints appear to be missing.