Jordan orated everywhere. The audio was so clear Yeung-Sung heard the fabric of his suit sift against itself when he raised his hands. At the end of the balcony, he held on to the railing with every bit of strength his snapped tendons would allow. Three stories below, the holograms looked as if they were taunting him, waiting to catch him. There was no space backward, anyway. He was to wait, and then to jump. What other reason was there?

But why?

“The news of Airgead’s currency being gated by an AI may come as a shock to you.” The army of Jordans looked from side to side, making Yeung-Sung wonder just how much surveillance PM had. How long have they been watching him?

“Some of you may be upset,” the mad CEO continued, “Some of you may think I changed the rules. But change is natural.”

Neatly crossing his hands behind his back, he began to pace. “Humans are accustomed to change. The seasons, for example; day and night; the rise…and eventual fall of empires.” The hologram blurred as he moved around making him appear wisp like; like a genie.

“Rich and poor?” he added. “If we cannot accept change, cannot accept that things are always in motion then we are not long for this world. This is our duty as humanity.”

He pivoted, walking anti-clockwise. “The AI in the Gauntlets has access to the same resources as you do. To thought,” he said, tapping his temple, “And to time. Which you have realised are integral to the core mechanics of Airgead. So, you will compete with it for the prize.”

“The prize?” asked PM.

“Yes; The solution to the end of the ‘Crash’,” he replied. “It depends on the results of this reset. You didn’t think I was the only one trying to recreate economy, did you?

That’s not what I was expecting him to say. At least we know this isn’t a recording.

He explained further, slowly, father-like. “You see, some leaders think that the way to recoup the economy is to use the same capitalist infrastructure as before, but run by AIs. But I believe in you, in humanity. Artificial Intelligence has… certain limits.

“I’ll put it like this: A first-time baker will buy flour and yeast and prepare their bread according to a recipe. If it comes out burnt, a human would blame himself. An AI...an AI would blame the recipe, or maybe even not acknowledge that it was a mistake.”

He came forward, his holographic face tearing at the ears and the chin. “A human might even change the recipe,” he said with a twist of his eyebrow, “The execution is what’s important. Together we will take back the world. Show me what humanity can do.”

“-YOU COULDN’T EVEN EXECUTE ME!” yelled Brinn.

He was -standing on the railing! Spread wide, he let himself become the centre of everything. His ginger beard blazed as a spotlight was shifted unto him and a breeze flapped it like a flag.

“YOU’RE GOING TO SAVE HUMANITY?” Brinn roared out a laugh.

“YOU CAN’T EVEN SAVE ME –”

Yeung-Sung flung his hand out to grab him, but the ‘trainee’ had already jumped. Screams and gasps struck out from beneath.

No.

With a cutting motion, Jordan silenced each of them. Yeung-Sung flinched as he burst his head over the side of the balcony to see, expecting an impact. Yet no sound came. He looked below to where Brinn should’ve dropped, but as they rippled back the floor showed only empty, dusted linoleum. The members below -They must have seen him fall- patted themselves down searching for splatters of blood. They looked around, confused; The body had disappeared. Slowly, though, the members of PM went back to their phones, back to Jordan in awe, and they cheered.

Where did he go? Execution? Am I next?

Something tugged him from behind.

“Let’s go,” said Woo-Yi.

“When did you –”

“This will not end well.”

As they slipped out Yeung-Sung was certain that Jordan take nodded directly to him and continued with his transmission. But even so, there was still one blatantly unanswered question in his mind.

Is MEDB helping me? Or Jordan?