[ WP ] During your morning commute , a glitch in the matrix occurs and you discover there are no women anywhere , and only you 're aware of the change . What do you do next ?

“ Before we begin, does anyone know what a ‘ woman ’ is? ” 
 
 The class ’ s response was unanimous: I was met with blank stares and several shakes of the head. Of course, this was only confirming what I already figured out from observation. It was as if the concept of “ women ” had completely disappeared from the world. 
 
 I caught myself thinking in the back of my mind about how this would drastically improve my chances of hooking up with another guy. It really wasn ’ t the time for that now. 
 
 One of the students raised their hand. “ Um, is that going to be on the test? ” 
 
 “ No, it ’ s not important. ” Actually, it was pretty important, seeing as women were supposed to make up half of the world ’ s population, but I figured I ’ d try to play it cool instead of trying to convince people that women exist. After all, in this world, I was the crazy one. 
 
 Well, first off, I probably wouldn ’ t be able to teach a class in these circumstances, much less a completely different subject from the one I was prepared for. “ There ’ s sort of a personal emergency on my hands, so today ’ s lesson will have to be canceled, ” I told the class. “ If you have any questions, please talk to our wonderful TA, Mis— “ 
 
 I glanced to the side. The young woman I was accustomed to seeing had replaced by someone who looked much the same, except male. 
 
 “ —ter Chase. ” 
 
 With everyone in the room dumbfounded, I swept out of the room and shut the door behind me. That was a pretty good dramatic exit for one that wasn ’ t scripted, I thought to myself, hurrying to my office. 
 
 It was relieving to lock the office door and collapse into my chair. As far as I could tell, nothing had been altered in my office, so for a moment I was able to relax and forget about the sudden nonexistence of women. 
 
 I tried to think of a scenario that could explain what happened. If it was true that I was the only one who was aware of what happened, then that had to mean I was directly involved in this mystery. Other options would be that I was just dreaming, but that felt more like a denial than an explanation. I tried not to entertain the idea of me having gone insane. 
 
 There was also the possibility that there were others who remembered women, and if that was the case, I needed to make contact with them, and quick. 
 
 I took out my phone. I knew my friend Brandon and his girlfriend had broken up recently, so maybe the leftover emotions from that were strong enough for him to remember his ex? 
 
 “ Hey, what ’ s up? ” 
 
 “ Brandon. Hey. It ’ s Paul. Listen, I heard you broke up recently and I wanted to know how you were doing— “ 
 
 “ Oh, yeah, I ’ m fine, dude. Totally over the whole thing. ” 
 
 So much for leftover emotions. But it was possible he still remembered, so I did my best to press further while trying not to seem weird about it. 
 
 “ Are you sure? Feel free to talk to me if you want. ” 
 
 “ No, I ’ m totally fine. Actually, this is really great timing, since I was just about to call you. Listen, ” he said, lowering his voice. “ Are you free this weekend? I was thinking we could grab dinner and rent a movie or something. We can watch it over at my place— “ 
 
 I hung up. Brandon was a good friend, but friends were friends, not potential romantic partners. The thought of making out with him made me kind of uncomfortable, and more so because it was also kind of tempting. 
 
 I shook my head and looked at my phone again. Did I dare call another friend? I was kind of afraid of the responses that I might get. 
 
 Just as I was about to call, there was a knock on my door. 
 
 “ Professor? It ’ s Taylor. Um, about earlier… ” 
 
 Taylor, from my Feminism class. Well, it was Finance now. Darn it, he was probably here to ask about my behavior from earlier. 
 
 “ I ’ m kind of busy. Can it wait? ” 
 
 “ Actually, um, I was just pretending because nobody else seemed to know about it at all, but… ” 
 
 Wait. Did that mean—? 
 
 Full of expectation, I dashed over and unlocked the door. When I opened it, I saw Taylor ’ s concerned face looking back at me. 
 
 “ Professor. What happened to all the women?''
