Nana doesn’t watch TV much. I spend most of my time streaming Dev, even when she’s around. She sits in the parlour, pressing her phone, waiting for someone to pick something for her to watch. I’m her usual victim. I love Dev, but she always finds something wrong with it. To her, it’s a gateway to criticize my generation, ignoring the fact that the technology we enjoy was created by hers. She expects us to stick with skits and slapstick comedy, the stuff her generation loved. Nana insists Dev is just a video game, with synthetic people who have no souls. She claims it’s out of God’s will and calls Negasi the Anti-Christ. I told her there’s a church in Dev. She was quick to say even Satan had a church in her days.

Today, I turned on the streamer, and they were showing free relationships on Dev. Right on cue, Nana turned her attention to the screen. I genuinely believe she likes watching Dev, but she’d never admit it. She’d rather wait for someone else to stream it. It reminds me of the reality shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians she used to watch. I don’t know how they pretended not to know it was scripted. Nana always has something to say about Dev relationships.

“This thing called marriage is dying a natural death.”

– Ada

In Dev, you’re human, just without a physical body. So, you still have emotions. With no need for long-term companionship or reproduction, marriage loses its flavour. It becomes a long, unnecessary union for sex. Few people get married in Dev. It’s more about ‘vibing’ with someone, enjoying the connection, and then moving on when the vibe dies. No one tries to own anyone else through relationships or marriages. Marriage is dying a natural death.

It’s ironic because here on Earth, we’re still celebrating laws that allow any gender or sexual orientation to marry. But Dev is the future. Same-sex marriage proves that marriage isn’t just about reproduction. Divorce rates and infidelity also show that exclusivity is a myth. How many ‘till death do us part’ vows have been broken by everything but death? What’s the point of marriage? To legitimize sex?

In my culture, sex outside marriage is fornication; sex with someone else when you’re married is adultery. But the way people commit these ‘sins’ makes you wonder why we even pretend otherwise. Marriage just gives permission for sex with one person or, in cases like polygamy, more.

I have explained this to Nana countless times, but she sticks to her beliefs. She always starts with, “I know you won’t listen because you think you’re too smart. I’ll say it, and if you like, listen. If you don’t, that’s your business.” That’s her disclaimer. Then, her smirks and claps come in. Her expressions are priceless—slow blinks, soft frowns, shaking her head. It’s like she’s given up on me and my generation. She does not understand why we don’t believe in marriage anymore.

She smirks when I explain my view on Dev. Her generation believes young people can’t have better perspectives. For her, understanding means agreeing with her beliefs, not logical reasoning. She’s bent on ‘converting’ me. Sometimes, she succeeds. But this marriage thing? I can’t wrap my head around it.

Nana’s version of marriage is a mix of religion and tradition. She leans on church teachings, quoting the Bible. But when I point out that the Bible’s examples seem more like traditional marriages, she says they used to be the same. She believes the church blesses the marriage, but the real deal is the traditional ceremony. She also accepts court marriages as legal backing. That part makes sense. But it’s the idea of marriage itself that baffles me.

How is it a sign of trust if you need a legal document to ensure loyalty? You don’t tie down a friend with a contract. If you truly care, why involve the courts? Nana says it wasn’t always a legal matter—it used to be an agreement between families. She believes a wedding is a statement to God and witnesses that two people have chosen each other. It’s all for show. Yet they call us vain. For a generation that preaches values and integrity, they sure love their paperwork.

They wore rings to mark themselves as ‘love slaves.’ They had these elaborate proposals, expensive rings, pre-wedding shoots, bridal showers, bachelor parties, etc. They even had bridal trains – a bunch of people following the couple for no real reason. They held onto these rituals and ignored what truly mattered—their desires.

They denied themselves freedom and tried to convince everyone they were inseparable. ‘Love slaves’ is what I call it. Nana’s face always contorts when I say it. Today, I’ve decided to engage her again.

“Nana, I can’t be anybody’s love slave. If we vibe, cool. But I’m not getting trapped in marriage.” Her face tightens with disapproval. Sometimes, I tease her, but I mean it. Marriage was always about control. In Nana’s time, men had the upper hand. Even after the fight for equality, marriage was still a tool for dominance. Men controlled their wives, decided what they did, wore, and said. That’s the marriage Nana defends. Maybe not in its extreme form, but it still stifles women.

As my father always said, “If the leaves don’t show a tree’s use, the fruit will.” The fruits of marriage are clear—kids, infidelity, paternity fraud, divorces, broken homes, and stigmas. Women stayed in abusive marriages to avoid that stigma. It was all rooted in tradition, blindly followed. Peer pressure from the dead, as someone said. People feared being labeled ‘bad’ more than they cared about their happiness. Sure, some people are happy in marriage, but it’s not for me. Dating is already exhausting, with all the talking stages and failed first kisses. Why lie just for sex?

Nana says I’ll be lonely when I’m old. But I’m not planning to stay on Earth long. As soon as I save enough for MaDe, I’ll leave for Dev. No one ages on Dev. Nana does not understand that forever is too long to commit to one person. It’s easy to say on Earth, where you know life ends eventually. But I would not want to spend forever with just one person. I want to explore, meet different people, and experience new things. Humans were made to explore. How do you live with one person for all eternity?

“What about society?” Nana asks. “Marriage is the root of the family, and family is the core of society. How will society continue if people don’t have families?” She wasn’t listening. Older people rarely do. I try to respond respectfully, but it’s hard.

“Nana, that was before Negasi brought MaDe and the ability to culture consciousness. People don’t die on Dev.” She looked at me, shocked. I think it was the first time she understood. “Only God will judge you people,” she muttered. “You want to be God, huh? The day you join them, don’t come back here. I’m sure they’ll initiate you into their evil spirit.”

When Nana runs out of arguments, she turns to fear and religion. She can’t defend marriage anymore, but she won’t accept that it’s dying. I’m still on Earth for now, but I’ll leave before they start pressuring me to marry. I’m not becoming a love slave. I’m heading to Dev, where I’ll find real freedom.

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