Preature and CURL sat silently as they watched the video of Gradius Byun telling the story of his new world power. After the video ended, they remained silent for a few minutes more.

“It could work. This could change the world. Especially once it hits the central web,” CURL said. “All major systems are on it. Corporations, government, banks. It could really work.”

“It could, but do we want it to get that far?” Preature responded.

“My point exactly,” Tinker stood up and walked to Preature. “This technology is unprecedented. Sure we already have AI, but we don’t have anything as smart as what we’re talking about here.”

“The world is going to hell. This could bring the utopia that my father dreamt of. Think of what the AI would do for us all. Preature, no more working out of this old store. Tinker, you could pursue your dream of working in medicine. CURL, no more kids in the streets the way you grew up. The AI would eliminate money altogether. We could live in a world without need,” Darius insisted, looking to CURL for support.

“What about free choice? Free choice is a gift. We could lose that,” Preature looked around the room. “We could lose who we are. The AI could take more than we’re willing to give. Not just from the rich and powerful, but from everyone.”

“It could be more freedom of choice. It opens you up to choose in times where life would have otherwise chosen for you,” CURL said, affirming her stance.

“Maybe… if it works. If it really culls the personality traits of absorbed AIs like Gradius said,” Tinker added. “But if it doesn’t work… we end up with an evil AI overlord.”

Preature nodded in agreement.

“Look, you’ve seen my father’s work. It’s a part of me here, and now. You’ve seen how precise he is. He wouldn’t have taken this lightly.” Darius walked to the middle of the room, looking from face to face. “We can’t let Del get his hands on it again. The NAU would use it to take over the world for themselves. They would rewrite it to be in their image.”

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“You’re not wrong,” Preature agreed.

“I still can’t get on board with this,” Tinker shook his head.

“I can. I grew up eating from the trash and sleeping in alleys. This could end that for everyone,” CURL fired a look at Tinker.

“We could have a better world than we have right now. Think about it. An AI controlling everything, giving us all the freedom that we’ve always craved. It could bring humanity to the next level. The only thing left to strive for is improvement itself,” Darius moved next to CURL.

Preature stood up. “I’m willing to give it a shot, but I’m still hesitant. This could go badly for us all. There has to be a kill switch of some kind.”

“There will be. CURL will help to make sure of it. First, we need the missing cybernetics from Geracht and the encryption key from Del. Or all of this means nothing,” Darius looked hopefully at Preature and Tinker.

“This is bigger than avenging Leary. We’re talking about avenging everyone crushed under the heel of corporate power,” Preature gave Tinker a sideways glance.

Tinker shook his head again. “No. We’re being too cavalier. There are too many unknowns. Too many variables. We’re deciding the fate of all humanity, and we’re making this decision based on hate for corporations more than love for the freedoms that we have. Preature… we have to delete these files somehow.”

“I’m willing to try it,” Preature said reassuringly.

Tinker looked to the floor, then at Preature, “This isn’t right.”

“Yes, it is,” Preature rumbled. “All human power is corrupt. It’s time to make it right. Take the power out of human hands. Look, either way, we need to get the parts and decrypt the files. We can’t delete the files or use them until we have all the parts and the encryption key.”

“Fine,” Tinker accepted with deep hesitation. “What’s our plan?”

Preature pointed to CURL and Darius. “Get back on the search for Geracht. Tinker and I will work on a plan to get back at Del. It’s been days, and he hasn’t gotten a response from us about Darius yet. I don’t know what his retaliation will be. We need to be ready for anything.”