Michael never bothered studying much about the histories of technology revolutions. All that he knew was that since the AI revolution, the society just divided and splintered. However, he never really took in consideration of the possibility of a fifth revolution. Getting the salary and finding a reason for him to not get replaced out of the work force seemed like a great concern to him. That was Michael, always engrossed in the present with his genius but never really looking into the future.

Then Michael's attention suddenly drifted to Nicholas and the two other people standing in the room. They didn't talk this entire time.

"So you guys just believed what Agent Amelia said? All the revolution and Judgement Day stories? What if this is all just a big bluff set up by you guys so you could keep me here for whatever reason!"

"I could clearly tell she's not lying," Nicholas said in a monotone. "Besides, Dr. Alexandra Gauss here has formed a prediction model in her head that supports what Agent Amelia is saying."

Having the affirmation of a talented human like Nicholas provided enough credibility and shock for Michael already (despite the fact that Nicholas seemed to be a jerk), but apparently that woman, Dr. Alexandra Gauss, also seemed to be an intellectual prodigy.

"Dr. Alexandra Gauss?" Michael turned towards the woman and held out his hand," Michael Livingstone, data analyst, it's very nice to meet you."

"Oh, drop the doctor please, it's unnecessary. Just go by Alexandra." Alexandra took Michael's hand with a firm handshake. "I had a few Ph.D degrees at calculus, physics, and engineering, but it doesn't really matter today anymore does it?"

"Alright. Alright. The geniuses are done introducing themselves now? Let me introduce myself." The other man spoke. Michael and Alexandra both turned to stare at that man while Nicholas let out a sneer.

"Nicholas. Manners please!" Alexandra complained.

"So my name is Jay. I'm a street magician, a scammer, and an occasional con artist." Jay brought out a deck of cards as he spoke.

"And now can you tell us your special talent?" Nicholas spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"Yes. Indeed. I can read people just like you. Actually it's my cards who read the people. Here pick any card," Jay spread out the cards. Nicholas curled his lip but picked a card anyway out of sheer curiosity.

"Now you know what people say? Cards represent people? How about let's take a look at what card represents you?"

Nicholas flipped over the card. It was an ace of spades, but written in capital red ink was the word "JERK". Michael and Alexandra couldn't help but laughed out. Nicholas' face turned a bit more gloomy.

"Very clever. Ha. Very clever. Cleverness is the superficial substitute for intelligence."

Alexandra broke in to change the topic. "Jay, how about you tell our new friend here a little more about yourself?"

"Well. So basically I started off as a street magician. So yeah. Street magic is very different from stage magic. So I just go around the streets to perform to people instead of renting a big stage. But soon, however, people were like 'Oh he must be trying to steal my wallet'. You see? Street magic relies on the trust from the spectators, but in a society like this, nobody would trust you. The moment you approach someone, they would just walk away, or worse, assault you."

Michael recalled his confrontation with that acrylic painter he bumped into. Yeah, that was a close shot. A shiver ran down on his spine.

"So basically the field of street magic was dying. And I imagined myself as one of the heroes trying to revive it. Still trying sometimes now, you know? But... I doubt it will happen. Anyways. So I still need to find a way to make a living somehow right? But what can I do? I only understand street tricks. So I'm like, 'How about I scam a few people.' Yeah I know you are gonna say that I'm ruining people's trust here, but what can I do? Don't we all just want to survive?"

Jay told his story in a very lighthearted and humorous tone, but Michael could sense a tint of heaviness from his words. It was as if Jay was trying to cover up his desperation and helplessness with some optimistic thoughts.

Agent Amelia broke in. "All right, so I guess I should also share a little bit about myself. I mean, I am in charge of leading you guys..."

"You?" Nicholas interrupted rudely, "Lead us? Are you kidding me?"

Amelia ignored him. "... for the next operation. My name is Amelia Smyth. Just call me Amelia is fine, my friends all call me that."

"Psychological manipulation. Trying to hint subconsciously that we are her friend. Attempting to let us trust her." Nicholas muttered under his breath.

"I have been working in the SWAT force for five years. However, this is the first time I'm dealing with people like you guys."

"She's not lying," Nicholas said.

"Alright, alright," Michael finally decided to clear the situation up, even if it might mean losing some etiquette. "Please give us a reason on why we should agree to help you, when you just forced us over here like this."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Actually it was only you and Jay. Nicholas and I came voluntarily," Alexandra commented, "but yeah sure, keep asking your question."

"Well..." Amelia thought for a few seconds. "The first thing I know is that both you and Jay are suffering from the artificial intelligence crisis. You guys don't have a decent job. Moreover, both of you feel strongly that your skills are going to waste. Both of you would really appreciate it if you have a group of audience to admire your skills."

"No. Who said I was trying to show off my skills..." Michael tried to debate but was soon cut off by Nicholas with another sharp yet accurate comment that revealed Michael's inner thoughts.

"Don't worry about it brother, it has only been one day and I've gotten used to his comments already," Jay patted Michael on the back.

"But back to the point! You guys literally kidnapped me here! What's all the fuss for? Why don't you just knock kindly on my door and request me to come with you guys? Well, unless this operation..."

"Yes. This operation is classified. You are analyzing it correctly," said Amelia. Michael was shocked by her blunt truthfulness.

"But what if I tell you I'm satisfied with my current life? I don't wanna cooperate with you guys on this life-and-death mission to save humanity!"

"Well. I wonder what your life will be like if the Singularity is reached. In fact, I wonder what the entire human civilization will be like."

"If anything is to happen, at least it's not anytime soon..."

"Can you still not see it, Michael? Stop trying to be stubborn! You see it! Every time, the new revolutions take less and less time to happen! It's exponentially decreasing! Our last revolution was 23 years ago. When do you think the Singularity will happen? Soon. Very soon. Less than a few years. Maybe even less than a year. Now, imagine the power of the Singularity falling into the wrong hands."

"I want a day to think about it," Michael demanded. He tried to put strength into his voice, but he doubted that he could when he knew that Amelia had hit the all points of his weakness. Amelia definitely had the upper hand here. All Michael was trying to do was to pretend he had some leverages so he wouldn't submit entirely to the government. Any kindergarteners nowadays knew that a man without any cards in his hands was equivalent to a dead man.

Amelia considered for a moment and agreed. Before she walked out of the room, she turned to Michael, "You don't need to go back tonight. There's a bunk for you in this building."

"But wait. I didn't agree yet. What about my job and everything?"

"Don't worry. We will take care of that."

The second Agent Amelia left the room, Nicholas bursted out, "She was definitely hiding some important details."

"Chill, Nicholas," Jay responded, "don't we all have something we want to hide?"

Michael and Alexandra coughed very loudly at the same time. They looked at each other and bursted out laughing for a brief second. Then Michael went back to his serious mode.

"So do you guys actually believe what she was saying? And do you all think that we actually matter in this thing regarding Singularity?"

"They wouldn't tell us the details either, but they would probably either want us to seize that piece of weapon or to protect it." Alexandra said it as she was staring into the wall, contemplating and piecing together the puzzle pieces.

"My experience and instincts told me that there was a way bigger plan beyond all these. Protecting this weapon would just be a bluff. Maybe the government wants us to steal something they are incapable of doing?" Jay said.

Then the thought hit Michael. Once again, he was surprised that this obvious question didn't dawn upon him earlier. "Why don't they just use droids and drones though? That would make things so much faster! And besides, don't they have their own SWAT officers?"

"Exactly why I believe there is a greater plot behind all these," Jay readdressed his point. "What's something that we can do but AI cannot?"

Michael tried to think for an answer. However, Michael actually wasn't able of finding an answer to this question. Jay was the only special individual here — he had no correlations with the science fields; he was hurt by the AI revolution in a completely different way. If Jay was a magician of any other kinds besides street magician, he could have been a success in this era.

"I say we should agree. I will try to read Amelia more as time passes. Maybe we will have a definite answer then," Nicholas gave a suggestion in the tone of a command.

"But what if we have gotten ourselves in too deeply? It will be impossible for us to quit this thing by that time!" Alexandra caught the problem.

"Well, I'd actually side with Nicholas for this. Judging by how Michael and I were brought here, and judging by Amelia's arrangement of this place, I doubt that she would allow us to say no. The best move is to play along when she is still wearing the nice mask." Jay stepped next to Nicholas.

Michael weighed the pros and cons for a while and finally decided to stick to the plan. The next day, he told Agent Amelia that he would agree to help the government.

"Perfect!" Agent Amelia flashed a sweet smile as she exited the room. "I'll just make a few arrangements with your boss then, taking a few days off."

After half an hour, Nicholas called Michael over. Michael saw a news feed on Nicholas' Bracelet.

"God damn it!" Michael cursed out after he finished reading it.

It was a news article from two minutes ago. It read, "Young Man Named Michael Livingstone Murdered at Roadside by a Mentally Unstable Painter."

The mugshot of the murder was of the exact same person as the acrylic painter that Michael confronted earlier today.

There was a video footage under it. It was taken from the exact same traffic camera that Michael stood under. Because of the blind spot, all that can be seen was Michael flinching back as the man stepped threateningly closer with the plasma pistol in his hand.

The passage said, "Diagnosed by our clinics with mental disorders, this painter had pulled out his pistol in extreme self defense after the poor Michael Livingstone bumped into him on the street. The painter refused to listen to the victim's explanation and cornered the victim, eventually ending his life with two shots fired from the pistol. The suspect's face was recorded under the camera, and he was immediately arrested afterwards to be brought to justice." After that was a video of Agent Amelia and her SWAT team — the exact same people that took Michael into the car to this place. "The SWAT team arrived immediately afterwards to control the situation. Eventually, the criminal was found hidden inside an abandoned building. The SWAT team besieged that building and controlled the criminal."

Damn it! All the lies would piece together for those people unaware of the situation. Those who saw Amelia and her team would only think that they were there to arrest the acrylic painter. These false perceptions fit together into a perfect counterfeit image!

And now, Michael was a "dead man". He could no longer go back to the society. All his identifications would be invalidated, and people trusted statistics and computer verifications more than verbal persuasions nowadays. The society would not believe and acknowledge Michael Livingstone as a valid member anymore. If Michael couldn't return to the society, he would have to help the government then, for living, for survival.

Michael realized that he had completely played into the government's hands.