The Character of February

Short and cold. Does Valentine's Day fit in here? It does not. Maybe that was when he died or was born or decided to throw a party, but let's pick one of the other ones and move this over to May-July. To fill the gap, we'll have a day to celebrate the imminent end of February, on the 25th or thereabouts.

Power of Love, Refreshed

"Ready the Love Cannon," Vice President Perrault ordered. In all the explored galaxy, there were few rivals to Mackenzie Extraplanetary Engineering left, but zero is a handsome number.
"Sir, the remaining love isn't enough to neutralize the target," a nervous engineer reported. "We've used it all up!"
Perrault admonished the employee. "Don't get excited. That's why we began manufacturing little candy hearts. We should be distributing already."
"About that . . ." The chief warehouse and logistics officer had just entered, wiping her forehead. "There's been a snag with the first shipment to the principal megalopolis on Earth. There was a minor accident ahead of our trucks, and now the highway is blocked by emergency vehicles and lawyers."
As much as he wanted to get straight to the firings, the vice president prioritized the current situation. "You, engineer. Is there enough love left to vaporize some lawyers?"
"Sure thing, sir."
Perrault made an instant high-level decision. "Change the Love Cannon's target."
Finis

Addendum

Your love triangle, I mean. I know you're all enmeshed in one, you indecisivie little so-and-sos.

A Holiday Explanation

I didn't say anything about Valentine's Day, because when it intersects fantasy, a love triangle is far too likely. I hope it went well for you though.

It Also Closed Down Social Media

"Here's the good news, ladies and gentlemen. Our company's Valentine's AI project has produced a genuine artificial intelligence in time for February."
"Great!"
"Fantastic!"
"So what's the bad news?"
"Here's the bad news. It's taken over and is arranging marriages for everyone in the world. Participation is not optional."
"Suboptimal."
"Unfortunate."
"So that's what that email was about."
"But here's the worst news of all. It's doing a fantastic job. Marital satisfaction is skyrocketing. Nobody is sitting around depressed until they turn to our products and services out of sheer inability to imagine a better life on their own anymore."
"A disaster!"
"Insupportable!"
"My new wife looks cute."
"There's only one thing to do. Send in the corporate special operations violence action team."
"Now I feel bad for fighting that proposal. Worse that I succeeded."
"I wish we really had one of those."
"Can we finish this conference up? I have someone I need to meet."
Finis

Cut Every Corner

Wow! Who knew Valentine's was such a dangerous day? Besides Saint Valentine, I mean. Now let's all forget love exists and get back to the ruthless efficiency with which we normally conduct our affairs. By the way, what does Mackenzie Extraplanetary Engineering actually do? No idea. That's how worldbuilding works.

Power of Love

"There is no doubt the recent attacks in this station are not terrorism or rioting but rather sabotage by our rivals, Ad Astra Design. There is no doubt also that we have so far found no way to retaliate. Their headquarters is on Satellite 8 on the other side of the planet, and no major facility of theirs is within our reach." Vice President Perrault of Mackenzie Extraplanetary Engineering paused, though he anticipated no argument. The facts were clear enough. Only his conclusion would seem unorthodox. "The solution is simple, gentlemen: Love."
"This is no time for jokes, Perrault."
"You mean seduce someone for infiltration?"
"That's not the kind of merger we do here, Perrault."
The vice president pointed to a display. "Gentlemen, I said love and I meant it. Observe." The display blinked on and showed a gigantic cylinder which had been hauled to one of Mackenzie's docking platforms. "Gentlemen, our engineers have demystified the essentials of love and produced this enormous Love Cannon which focuses the power of love into a destructive beam. Just as love transcends time and space, so too does our destructive ability. We can bypass the planet between and strike AAD directly."
"Genius!"
"Madness!"
"I still think this whole thing is a prank."
"Interesting. When will we see a test?"
"A test, gentlemen? The tests are done. We are firing the cannon now." As he spoke, the cylinder whirred and a pink glow surrounded it for a moment before a similarly pink beam stretched out in front of it and disappeared. Perrault activated another display which showed the planetary monopoly news channel at all times.
"This is unbelievable, but we have just received reports that Satellite 8, housing millions, is . . . well, it's just gone. More on this as it develops."
Vice President Perrault turned off the news and turned back to the meeting. "Well then, gentlemen. What should Mackenzie Extraplanetary Engineering do with our colossal Love Cannon next?" In that question, everyone gathered heard the start of a new era.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Be sure to take care of all your romance in real life lest it leak into your fantasy or scifi story. Nobody wants to see that.