The Love Algorithm

Chapter 3: The overfitting problen

By the third day, Est had started bracing himself for the chaos called William.

But nothing could prepare him for this.

William had rearranged the chairs. Not just moved one—rearranged the whole seating area in the lab's waiting lounge into a crooked half-circle, "for better storytelling vibes," as he'd explained.

"I thought this was a research lab, not a student film set," Est said, staring at the mess.

"Can't it be both?" William asked with a grin, adjusting the lighting on his camera. "Your lab is cold. I'm trying to make it warmer. Human."

"I don't need it to be human. I need it to be accurate."

William leaned against a desk, arms crossed. "Can't it be both?"

Est ignored him and returned to the model. Today's run was meant to test pairings with emotional history: people who had broken up and gotten back together, to see if patterns of rekindled love followed predictable trends.

Est had barely started the model when William asked, "So... have you ever been in love?"

Est looked up. "Why are you asking?"

"Because I'm filming a story about love, and I need to know what the 'genius behind the machine' actually thinks about it."

Est hesitated. Then: "Once. A long time ago."

William raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"She didn't like being studied."

William let out a soft laugh. "Can't imagine why."

Est didn't smile. "She said I made her feel like a case study. Like I was waiting to see if she'd fail my expectations."

There was a pause.

"Did she?" William asked gently.

"No. I did."

The room went quiet. For once, William didn't try to fill it with a joke.

Instead, he said, "That's the thing about people. They don't behave the way we want them to. That's not failure. It's just... being human."

Est went back to the keyboard. "That's inefficient."

William chuckled. "So is art. So is photography. So is dancing. Doesn't mean it's wrong."

A silence stretched between them, not uncomfortable—just there, like a thread that hadn't been tied yet.

Then William pointed to the screen. "Hey. That couple there—they're at 92% compatibility. That's almost perfect, right?"

Est nodded. "Yes. But they broke up three months after the study. He wanted to move abroad. She didn't."

William frowned. "So even perfect numbers can't stop real life?"

"No model can account for timing."

William looked at Est. "You really believe that love is just data?"

Est didn't answer right away. Then he said, "I believe that if we understand enough variables, we can make better choices."

William smiled faintly. "I think people don't want perfect choices. I think they want stories."

He walked away again, and Est stared at the graph on his screen. The 92% couple still blinked in green—perfect on paper.

But the file was labeled "Inactive."

Another failed prediction.

Another beautiful variable he couldn't fit into the model.

Another overfit.

And William... he was starting to feel like one, too.