Ethan watched Revered Al on the monitor as he kicked, stomped and body-slammed the devil into submission.

‘Who the hell is that?’ He asked, turning to a smiling Dawn and Jimmy.

‘That’s Reverend Al,’ Dawn replied. ‘What do you think?’

‘I don’t know what to think. He’s a character, that’s for sure’.

‘Over a billion consistent viewers when you include his shows,‘Cooking For the Poor’, and ‘Reverend Al’s Community Garden’. His message is consistent over all his programs and he manages to convey to people that we’re all in it together, and there’s a way out. He’s a grass roots kind of guy and encourages people to participate.

‘So this is something we’re doing?’ Ethan asked.

‘Yup,’ Jimmy replied. ‘It’s all AI. Even Reverend Al’.

‘Isn’t he a little over the top?’

‘He’s what people want,’ Dawn answered. ‘A bit of a preacher, cheerleader and clown. It helps them get through the day. Most people get value out of watching him. He’s a friend and influencer to many. I love him’.

‘Why make him Christian?’ Ethan asked. Won’t that exclude a lot of people’?

‘We wanted him to have a spiritual component. He’s kind of a new age Christian. He draws from other faiths as well. Next week, he might tell a story about the Buddha. People need to hear a story of hope, and he’s giving it to them.

‘His purpose,’ Dawn continued, ‘is to become the centralized voice of the resistance. Someone familiar. The face of the tribe who people can mobilize around’.

‘Nice,’ Ethan replied. ‘How’s that mobilizing working out anyway’?

‘Good,’ Dawn replied. ‘AI is sampling and profiling everyone and everything connected to the internet. It continuously samples local trends, laws, and misdeeds by authorities and business leaders. It takes this information and shows people how it will impact their lives. We’re able to create very specific messaging compelling every connected individual to take action.

‘See. I don’t know if I like this,’ Ethan replied. ‘Aren’t we just as unethical as anyone else when we’re directing people to do things without their knowledge?’

‘We never make anything up. We present them with the facts, only in a provocative format.’

‘Which is manipulative,’ Ethan interjected.

‘Which is competitive,’ Dawn replied. Corporations and well financed interest groups have been doing this all along. We have to present an alternative voice, regardless of what it takes to break through.

‘Agreed,’ Ethan replied.

‘People are looking for information and mobilizing on their own as well,’ Dawn continued. More and more, they’re becoming aware they live in a two caste system. There is a recognizably unfair division between the haves and have nots, and it applies everywhere in the world. There’s those who rule and have the power and those who don’t. The same people have access to advanced apparatus and policies to maintain and profit from their control. The majority does not.

‘People are starting to fight back, and they’re developing a voice with considerable clout. You’ve referred to actions of the ‘Crowd’ from post Enlightenment. Right now, the world is developing the voice of the Crowd. They’re finding it to be a very powerful resource. The Crowd was first recognized ten years ago when the ‘Me Too’ movement went viral. The viral part was the ‘Crowd’ jumping in to support the movement.

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‘When the majority focused on the movement, everything related to the situation was righted immediately. Lives of people involved in the scandal, even on the periphery, had their careers ruined, and the majority of it happened outside the judicial system. Public opinion ruined careers.

The Crowd next popped up in the world of finance. Investments of Individual retail investors were consistently getting wiped out by Hedge Funds who were taking unfair advantage of their size and wealth. One day the Crowd within the situation got together to fight this. The battleground was a company called ‘GameStop’ and when the Hedge Funds made their move for the stock price to go down, the Crowd bought so many stocks, the price went up. The majority showed up, and punished the Hedge Funds to the tune of $10 billion. When the majority shows up, it will beat unfair advantage. It will beat it into the dust.

‘So things are moving along in the right direction?’ Ethan asked.

‘I’d say so. Awareness is growing, particularly in regards to the potential of the people when acting together on common issues. It’s very hard to predict because the tipping point we’re looking for hasn’t occurred yet, but we believe we’re in the zone’.

‘Well, that sounds better than how we’re getting on with Eldon. He’s gearing up to go at it with Zhang. I suspect things are going to get pretty tense from here on’.

‘Yeah,’ Jimmy responded. ‘It looks like war. He’s called a general meeting of all his lieutenants. He hasn’t done that since I’ve been around’.

‘Yep,’ Ethan replied. ‘He’s pissed. How are you set up for what’s coming, Jimmy?’

‘No worries. As far as anyone knows, Zhang has his AI which he is relying on to overcome Whitehead’s StarForce. Whitehead has his AI with access to Zhang’s, and he intends to use it to neutralize Zhang. For the purpose of war these are the two most efficient AI’s out there. No one knows about my AI, which can neutralize both of them and any other AI with a push of a button.

‘How come your AI has never been detected?’ Dawn asked. ‘Don’t those things draw a noticeable amount of power to operate?’

‘Well, my AI is decentralized.‘ It operates on the internet, not outside. It draws everything from the internet, including its power. Everything remains stored on the internet. It links and processes data from within. It is completely stealth. No one will ever know it exists’.

‘How can you even do that?’ Dawn asked.

‘Just laying down the foundation and building on it. I sent in single pieces of code in search of backdoor access. When one was found, it created an anchor, and staked out a little piece of property on someone else’s claim. Once this was accomplished, I started sending code through my linked system. At first most of it was to train it to build a stronger and more secure infrastructure, which it continues to do. It’s impenetrable and has access to everything now. It controls Whitehead’s and Zhang’s AI. Trust me. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can touch my AI’.

No sooner had Jimmy bragged about the impenetrability of his system, than an alert from his AI came through his microchip.

‘Well that's interesting,’ he said.

‘What?’ Ethan and Dawn asked in unison.

‘My AI is being attacked,’ he replied. ‘From an AI system much like my own’.

‘Eldon?’ Ethan asked.

‘Most likely. Possibly a foreign national, but most probably the US government with Eldon’s involvement’.

‘So what’s going to happen now?’ Dawn asked.

‘My AI’s been trained to develop strategies and protocols to repel attacks. We let them fight it out. At least until I figure out what’s going on’.

Everyone became quiet. Not even Jimmy knew what two warring AI’s would bring.

Reverend AI could be heard in the background. This time he was in his community garden, located somewhere in Central Park. The only thing growing there was a huge Amnesia Haze cannabis plant. Reverend Al liked to lie beside it and smoke a doobie from one of its past harvests. Then the babbling started.

‘Now, I’m not saying it’s true,’ Reverend Al said, ‘but what if, is all I’m saying. What if we’re all travelers making our way through space and time, and once we learn how to fly our starship, we can go anywhere we want. Oh what a fun time that would be’.

‘...Hey, have you ever thought how fast we’re moving and don’t even notice it? The old earth is clipping around the sun at over a thousand miles a minute. It’s kind of like its own starship. I wonder why we don’t fall off?’

‘...I love looking at the stars, don’t you?. Just laying back and staring at all those stars on a nice summer evening. It’s worth the price of admission, I’ll guarantee. They say one of those stars is a galaxy, and it contains billions and billions of its own stars. I wonder which one it is...

‘I wonder if I have any Eggo's at home? An Eggo kind of looks like a world doesn’t it? Hey, have you guys ever had this bread pudding. It’s like pudding but it’s made with bread and drenched in all this lemony, syrupy, deliciousness. I wonder how you make that...