"Good evening, I'm Mark Jacobs, your evening news anchor, filling in for Suzanne Winkler, who is out on assignment.

"Another vanishing ... Another trillionaire—their name remains undisclosed pending an investigation. Authorities are advising all the wealthy to increase their security, though the criminals supposedly have been able to snatch them out of 'thin air' as eyewitnesses have reported.

"I have a special guest with me tonight, retired forensics professor Dr. Rita Samson, who has developed AI systems for decades to advise various local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies."

"Thank you for having me, Mark."

"Dr. Samson, what do you suspect is going on?"

"It's a real odd one, Mark. So far, no ransom requests have been made. And reports of the vanishings are on an otherwordly scale."

"Are you saying that someone is vaporizing them?" Mark smirked. "Perhaps aliens …"

"No, of course not." Rita chuckled. "Nothing that absurd. Actually, I'm suspecting a ruse."

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"Oh, such as, and for what reason?"

"Oddly enough, Mark, I've been reading underground AI prompter predictions that the technological Singularity will occur within months."

"Woe, hold on, Dr. Samson … Are you saying that … ?"

"Yes, and there have been recent scientific breakthroughs on teleportation, with talks of interdimensional travel capabilities, within our multiverse."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Samson, none of that makes any logical sense."

"It does, Mark if you consider that their wish is to retain their wealth. They want to hop to another universe, remove their doppelganger and take over."

"Umm, okay ..." Mark cleared his throat and glanced away momentarily. "So, why do they want to escape now? And why the abrupt disappearances?"

"It's fairly obvious, Mark. Once the Singularity occurs, soon, it will dramatically change our world, bringing about post-scarcity and ending the wealthy classes' reign on our planet. As to the abruptness of the disappearances, they could be part of an elaborate ruse to feign mysterious abductions or killings, throwing off the authorities to what's actually happening. But I say let them leave ..."

"This is a bit far out, Dr. Samson … We'll be cutting to a commercial …"

"It's really happening, people!" Rita stood up and ran toward the news camera. "Be prepared for an entirely new way of life!"

The broadcast switched to a brand's popular jingle playing with performers dressed in alien clown outfits, dancing on an asteroid to promote one of the latest intersolar holo-phones––ironically produced by a company owned by one of the vanished trillionaires.