Ethan watched the launch of the first reactor from StarForce’s Launch Control Center. He couldn’t help but notice how true Alicia’s words were regarding how invasive AI had become. There were less than a dozen people in the room. Back in the day of the Apollo missions, the Control Center would have hundreds of people manning stations.

On this day, everything worked well. The reactor got into orbit without mishap, and was now positioning itself. All controls were functioning. The launch was a success.

Immediately after, Ethan was summoned to Eldon’s war room.

‘Congratulations on the launch Ethan. We’re on our way now,’ Eldon said when Ethan arrived.

‘Yes sir,’ Ethan replied. ‘Everything went off without a hitch’.

‘And how about the rest of the project, are you ready?’

‘Everything’s already built and tested. The next reactor goes up next month, and the third the month after that. The system will be entirely functional in 6 months as promised’.

‘Good. So where are you placing your focus on StarForce now?’

‘It’s changing. With martial law now, the people are afraid and starting to see StarForce as their salvation against Zhang. My propaganda is strong, and creating public fear. We’re experiencing very little push-back. Nothing we can’t easily overcome.

‘With the reactors, and Starships already completed, my focus is more on the day to day issues that come up with logistics, and testing. We’ll analyze today’s launch to see if we might fine tune things for the next launch. Mostly, I’m just making sure everything happens when it’s supposed to’.

‘You’re doing a great job’, Eldon said, and then after a pause. ‘You know Ethan,’ he said, looking Ethan in the eyes. ‘You stand to gain the world with me.’

Ethan held Eldon’s look, and started shaking his head in agreement. ‘And then what are we going to do?’ he said, grinning and slapping Eldon on the back as he turned to leave.

Eldon watched Ethan very closely as he left the war room.

‘It looks like I may have bought myself some time with the successful launch,’ Ethan told the group, who now included Alicia on monitor. ‘Eldon seems to be gauging when I will outlive my usefulness’.

‘Hey!’ Alicia countered. ‘We’re a team. We’ll come out of this together’.

‘That’s right,’ Ethan replied, not at all convinced.

‘So let’s take stock here,’ he continued. We have about 10 months before the singularity. Is everyone on track?

‘I’ll be seeing to it that the reactor is inaccessible to Eldon,’ Jimmy said. ‘But Alicia and I were thinking we’d wait until all three are up and moving towards final position, before we start interfering. That might buy you some time’.

‘Yeah, maybe,’ Ethan replied. ‘But the truth is I’m not nearly as needed as I was when this all began. Just be ready guys. Anything can happen.

‘So as far as Eldon is aware, Zhang is still alive and kicking, am I correct?’ Ethan asked.

‘Absolutely,’ Alicia responded. ‘I did leave a breadcrumb that Jimmy was working for him, but nothing more than that. Since Eldon took over, Jimmy had Zhang make a public speech accusing Whitehead of sabotaging China’s AI and orchestrating the war for his own end.

‘Is there any advantage in us making Eldon think Zhang is somehow still a threat? Could we do this in a believable way?’

‘Well, the system I sold Eldon basically appears as a first gen system of Jimmy’s managing Whiteheads and Zhang’s systems. There’s nothing stopping Zhang from retaliating from his end. It would be expected in fact.’

‘Well, let’s start stirring up some shit at the very least. It gives us one more tool, and serves as a smokescreen at the very least. It’ll keep Eldon guessing.

‘What about you Dawn?’ How are things going with the uprising. I have to be honest, I’m not seeing it. In fact I’m seeing the opposite. The people in support of the war are equally as visible as the opposition.’

‘Well seeing as you manage a good portion of Eldon’s propaganda mill, you well know he owns the press, which is still the greatest spreader of information, ‘Dawn replied. ‘The press is very good at highlighting social displeasure, especially when you’re manufacturing it with staged protests. In the main, you’re only showing the one side of the issue. You also control the API of social media, which once again, places you in a much greater position to trigger responses favorable to Eldon’s cause.

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‘It looks like these are equally opposing side’s but they’re not. Eldon’s side is nowhere near the majority. Most people are sitting on the sidelines watching everything, and trying to form a judgment on it all. They’re not just seeing Eldon’s point of view even though he’s hammering it home. They’re also noticing more and more people like Eldon have yet to directly intervene in the management of the climate crisis, even though they say they will. They are beginning to see how more people are getting left out of this two tier economy, and they’re also starting to see how close war can come to their doorstep. It’s scary out there for everyone. The reality of our common situation is starting to overpower any of the bullshit Eldon is spreading. Ongoing inflation alone is moving people to act and protest.

‘We are gaining, and there’s virtually nothing that can stop our momentum because reality is on our side and it’s on a destructive path that no-one is trying to stop. We’re waiting for this to reach a tipping point. The moment the people can see the lies for what they are, and have had enough. It’s very hard to predict when this moment will happen, but we’re placing our money on the singularity now that you’ve told us what to expect.

‘Tipping points rely on stimulus outside the current environment,’ Dawn continued. ‘It’s unexpected and comes out of left field. To carry the baseball analogy further, there is a moment in baseball’s history when a recognizable tipping point occurred. They called it ‘Moneyball’. It was at a time when big number number technology came along and provided those who chose to look, a much greater breadth of statistical information on the game. One team chose to apply statistical analysis to choose their entire roster. Something that had never been done before. The other teams preferred to go out and eye up their recruits. They did use statistics, but didn’t apply scientific method to their choices. Well the statistical analysis proved so successful it changed the game forever. Now every team has to incorporate big number statistics to be competitive. Big number statistics is a new thing in the world of baseball, and it changed the game forever. It represents the final straw point that turned the whole game around and turned it into something new, while remaining entirely the same.

‘This is the same kind of tipping point we’re looking for. Something that will revolutionize the game. It’s the final straw that is going to evolve the entire species into a new state of consciousness, where we end up being the same, but something permanently new as well. We believe the tipping point we’re waiting for is the moment Eldon has StarForce operational and he declares victory over the world. We believe this is the last straw.

Another thing about tipping points is they occur at a time past when you can no longer do anything about it. When the moment arrives that Eldon declares victory, there will be nothing the people can do to stop him. All he has to do is push a button and everyone’s dead. That’s why it’s important we place Eldon in a scenario where he’s not really in control at all. This is going to be very precise timing on our part to make everything work. The entire outcome of the world depends on one moment in time. Each one of us, must be in position and act appropriately when this moment arrives.

‘So,’ Dawn continued. ‘People on their own are becoming aware of the reality they’re living in. We’re providing the message of an alternative world, and how to get it. Jimmy developed a new VPN app where people activate it with a personal iris scan. They have to unlock their screen with a pin and manually activate the app and then scan their iris. This way, If the authority’s confiscate their phone, it looks like they’re only using approved apps. A lot of people all over the world are downloading the app. It’s giving us a good idea of active dissatisfaction, especially in censoring countries such as the BRICS’s. While they use the VPN, we are constantly sending them messages on how the Wisdom of the Crowd works, links to established movements and channels, and of course access to the Reverend Al channel.

Another metric of the public’s social consciousness is coming out of the people themselves. They’re initiating spontaneous protest movements that are becoming commonplace. It’s very generic. No one seems to be in charge of anything. People just show up and it’s like a flash protest, but there is organizing. It’s word of mouth organizing, only happening at scale on the internet. People aren’t even protesting the same thing. People are showing up for different reasons and voicing their protest. This shows the people are beginning to use the Wisdom of the Crowd. They’re talking, and their protest is using the power of numbers.

‘I can tell you with certainty Ethan.’ Dawn concluded, ‘we’re in the ball park and waiting for that one last straw to fall’.

‘That still sounds like nothing too tangible,’ Ethan reasoned.

‘No it doesn’t, but I remind you, that’s the nature of a tipping point’.

‘What about the singularity’ Ethan asked. ‘Is it going to be ready to happen when the time is right?’

‘It’s ready to do damage now,’ Alicia replied. It’s already making requests that would shut the bad guys down. We’re waiting for the people to catch up, but we also think at the time of the transcendence and singularity, people do tune into this universal frequency you mentioned, and AI has to be ready to receive it as well. It probably needs a little time to find it. It’s not showing any signs of it yet. We think AI’s tipping point is the people tipping.

‘Oh, well that even sounds better,’ Ethan replied. ‘So what we know is we don’t know a damn thing. Is that what we know?’

‘Pretty much,’ they all agreed.

‘So one final thing about this microchip I have. I think Dually once told me it’s tuned to a sub -frequency’.

‘You mean like with bass?’

‘I don’t think so. Is there another frequency like there’s direct current and alternating current? Something like that?

‘Yeah,’ Jimmy replied. ‘But I don’t see...

Just then Ethan’s cellphone went off. It was Eldon summoning him to the war room.

Before he even got in, Ethan noticed some changes to the war room. Security was beefed up a hundred fold. Once he entered, Eldon flanked by a guard on either side of him approached Ethan.

‘Ethan,’ Eldon said. ‘I’ve decided things have gotten to a place where we require more security. I’m going to have you and Johann move up here for your own safety. These guards will show you to your room.’