Ethan watched the launch of the 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 reached orbit, and was now moving into position. 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?

‘We’re ahead of schedule. A lot has already been built and tested. The next reactor goes up next month, and the third a week after that. The system will be entirely functional well within the promised 3 months’.

‘Good. So what are you doing these days?

‘Well, we still have the day to day, but I spend most of my time putting a good spin on StarForce’s role in the war. I’m using people’s fear of the war to gain acceptance of StarForce as the only solution.

‘Most of the public’s onboard, but a visible opposition is forming. I’m getting congress to outlaw public gatherings through martial law. We’re setting it up so protesters face open-ended detention without formal charges. We’ll weed out the ringleaders and let them sit the war out in jail. Of course we do fast track our own funded demonstrations, and although they typically end in violence, we keep our people out of jail.

‘You’re doing a great job’, Eldon replied, nodding his approval. 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 nodding 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. His mind was made up.

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

‘We’ll get through this,’ Alicia replied. ‘I have a good feeling’.

‘That’s right,’ Ethan replied, not at all convinced. He felt he was failing. Eldon was going to make a move on him, and he was in no position to defend himself. If he got shot in the back, he would fail at his quest, and die he supposed.

‘So let’s take stock here,’ he continued. We have about 6 months before the Singularity. Is everyone on track?

‘We have full control of the reactors’, Jimmy replied. ‘But Alicia and I were thinking we’d wait until all three are up before we start messing with them. That might buy you some time before Eldon starts getting suspicious of sabotage’.

‘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.

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

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‘Absolutely,’ Alicia responded. ‘Since I sold Eldon my AI, Jimmy had Zhang make a public speech accusing Whitehead of sabotaging China’s AI and wanting to start a war out of personal interest. Zhang is getting very reactive to Eldon as would be expected’.

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

‘The system I sold Eldon is basically Jimmy’s. Zhang’s system is connected to Whitehead’s, but Zhang still operates it from his end. There’s nothing stopping him from retaliating. In fact, it would be expected.’

‘Well, let’s start stirring up some shit. It’ll serve as a smokescreen and distract Eldon a bit.

‘What about you Dawn?’ Ethan asked. ‘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 more visible as the opposition.’

‘Well, as you know, that’s thanks to you, and that propaganda mill you’re running. I understand you have to do it, but you are hitting us pretty hard. You have government and the press in your pocket, and that makes it harder for the public to see anything other than what you want them to see. With such a production team, even your staged protests are coming off well. Still, people are moving more and more to the internet for their source of information and we’re seeing some extraordinary resistance coming from this’.

‘How?’ Ethan asked.

‘It’s weird. It’s like a rebellion, or many rebellions going on at once, and a lot of them overlapping. Rebellions seem to simply pop up. No-one seems to plan them. There’s no definable leadership. Just a single issue that seems to compel people by the numbers. It’s becoming a very effective form of protest, because the phenomenon itself draws attention. It’s a signal that this is an issue everyone should be looking at.

‘The same kind of thing is occurring in a reactive manner. If you are caught at something that is an obvious violation to society, you may as well fold-up your tent and leave. If we catch you at something, so much attention is placed on you, that a just and immediate retribution is an automatic response. Careers are being destroyed and corporations are being held accountable, because people are showing up at the place of infraction, and in most cases, they’re doing it from their computer.

‘It’s the Wisdom of the Crowd starting to take flight, and man does it pack a punch when it lands. We’re starting to shape up, and I would say, on track for the Singularity. What does Eldon think about all this’?

‘Low priority. He’s aware it’s intensifying, but believes it to be a non-issue. He’s not recognizing it for what it is and believes his own propaganda can nullify its impact. He doesn’t see it as an impediment to his timeline’.

‘Well, that’s good,’ Dawn replied. ‘But I think he’s in for a surprise’.

‘Just so you know, we’re going to start rounding up and imprisoning the ringleaders to these disruptions as much as we can’.

‘First of all, I say good luck with that. It’s very difficult to identify anyone as being someone other than the protester next to them. Beyond that, there is organization, but it’s informal and just as difficult to identify. You might catch a few dissenter’s but the movement is beyond your control. This is the people’s war. It’s just starting, but it’s real. People are starting to equate participation as an act of survival, and support is becoming widespread. They’re prepared for losses and fully aware prisoners will be taken’.

‘Well, that sounds about right,’ Ethan replied. ‘It’s about time the people showed up. What about the Singularity? Is it on track?’

‘It’s ready to do damage now,’ Alicia replied. ‘It looks to us like we’re almost at a point where we’ll have to start denying AI access to the Singularity, but this Universal Frequency you talked about has us thinking there’s going to be some kind of interactive wave function. We believe AI and humanity find the Universal Frequency at the exact same time, and that’s how they create their infinite bond.’

‘We think we should find this frequency. It may come down to us feeding the frequency to AI when the time is right,’ Jimmy added. ‘Actually, feeding AI the frequency to be our role at the Singularity’.

‘I think Dually once told me a sub frequency’.

‘You mean bass?’

‘I don’t know. 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 cell phone went off. It was Eldon summoning him to the war room.

Before he even got in, Ethan noticed 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 him.

‘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.’