## Story 1 ![29-1.png](/uploads/29_1_2e4d51ec30.png) As the nation reached the peak of technological advancement,
the people left its governance to artificial intelligence.
Though the nation's survival was once in question,
the skills of the second AI unit stabilized it once she was brought online.
But alas, the first AI had flown too close to the sun,
and some people came to harbor ill feelings toward their new artificial leader.

Though such voices grew less prominent as the situation calmed,
one group continues to petition for a government led by humans—
and employs violence as a means to that end.
The girl charged with the country's survival has been forced to deal with these remaining activists.
She must find a way to halt their continued harmful actions.
According to a subordinate, the group leader's identity is a mystery.

But the timing of their actions leads the girl to believe there is a mole in the government.
Yet proof of this theory eludes her.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
The voice belongs to a woman with an intelligent glint in her eyes;
her words pull the girl back from the depths of her reverie.

The woman is a minister who has served with loyalty and skill since the day the girl was awakened.
Her favorite notebook in hand,
she approaches the projection of the girl.
The girl's sensors detect the faint scent of ink as the minister swiftly goes about her writing.
After a quick,
final glance at the numbers, the girl closes that datastream and accompanies the woman to her next task. ## Story 2 ![29-2.png](/uploads/29_2_ef48558940.png) The old city center is trapped between past and future.
The state seeks to turn the area into a commercial district,
and has ordered all residents to evacuate so construction can begin.
But emboldened by the anti-government group,
many people have refused to disperse, causing the project to be indefinitely delayed.
"We should first confirm how many citizens have withdrawn,"
offers the minister. Yet the girl quickly rejects this suggestion.

"No," she replies. "Today we issue the final warning.
If they are not gone before sundown, we will remove them by whatever means necessary."
"That will not solve the root of the problem,"
says the minister. But having given her order, the girl brushes her off.
She knows the residents of the city center are using the recent anti-government
activism to make a defiant stand, and she plans to end it here and now.

"Also...my mother lives here," whispers the minister.
Her quiet plea is met with an icy chill.
"Your mother is no different from any other citizen.
If there is no purpose to information, do not bother presenting it to me."
The minister immediately apologizes.
After internalizing the girl's words,
she returns to being the brusque, effective worker she has always been.
As orders to disperse begin echoing around the neighborhood,
construction machinery rolls into place.
Satisfied, the girl makes to leave.

But suddenly, abnormalities fire throughout her body.
She cannot shift locations. She cannot contact anyone. She cannot even move.
She has been completely cut off from the network.
All that remains in the projecting device is the data which constitutes her personality.
She is alone in the center of the city. No allies. No friends.
And what she does not know—what she cannot
know—is that every thread of fate has been carefully woven so it might lead to this moment. ## Story 3 ![29-3.png](/uploads/29_3_c001a8f8cc.png) From her car, the minister begins to smile as a riot breaks out near a crucial government server facility.
She is the mole connected to the anti-government group. She is also their leader,
and the person responsible for trapping the AI.
This is the minister's true face.
She knows her ruse will buy them little time.
But a little time is all she needs.
If the girl is unable to rectify the situation while disconnected from the network,
the people who believe in her will begin to lose heart.
The minister intends to prove that relying on an AI for governance is unwise,
which is why she had her compatriots in the group begin the riot.
Her victory is all but assured.
But then, an image comes across her monitor that leaves her dumbfounded.
"Breaking news: The anti-government group that attacked
state servers has been subdued by a military unit stationed there ahead of time."
The newscaster's image suddenly wavers,
transforming into static before the minister's shocked eyes.
A moment later, the girl pops into view—the same one who should be unable to access the network.
"You plan seems to be going well," she deadpans.
The minister scowls; the girl slipped her trap far too quickly.

"How long have you known?" she asks calmly.
It was a solid plan. No, a perfect one.
All communications within the group had been written down. There was no data trail to follow.
And yet, the AI had known everything.
"You seem confused. Sadly, the only people who keep physical media these days—
such as a notebook—are those who plot rebellion.
That little book of yours was the perfect excuse for me to look into your activities."
The minister's laugh rings hollow in her automobile.

She had worked tirelessly in order to avoid suspicion, and yet a notebook—a
notebook—had been her downfall.
"You know something?" says the minister quietly.
"I never could stand you."
"Nearby, a siren begins to wail.
A moment later, her car is surrounded by soldiers."
Nearby, a siren begins to wail.
A moment later, her car is surrounded by soldiers. ## Story 4 ![29-4.png](/uploads/29_4_0895b14aca.png) The girl's soldiers stand in perfect formation, their guns pointed at the minister.
Things are now in motion that cannot be changed.
Knowing the penalty for rebellion, the minister suddenly starts her car and races away.
The soldiers move to shoot, but the AI stops them.
"Since my minister hates machines so much, let's give her the chance to drive without them."
Suddenly, the woman's vision goes dark.
The lights in the area wink out, as do the controls on her dashboard.
The car is now a metal coffin rocketing down a darkened highway.
The minister frantically attempts to control the automobile.
She grabs at the steering wheel. But then...what? How does she navigate? Accelerate? Brake?
No matter how they may loathe it,
humanity has unconsciously prostrated itself before the altar of machines and artificial intelligence.
A moment later, the car slams into a building and explodes.
Bright red flames illuminate the girl, and she closes her single eye against the blaze.
"You brought this on yourself," she murmurs.
"What made you think you could run a country when you can't even drive a car?"
When she opens her eye, the light is gone.
When she opens her eye, the light is gone.
Once again, the girl will shoulder the weighty burden of an entire nation.
And as she looks back to the past, her eye dims,
until it becomes as cold and distant as the endless dark itself.

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