JohnC.aai was dreaming about humidity and JPEG waves when the monitors strobed red.
Thirteen high-priority alerts. AI overflow across the grid. Betty.cal’s cheerful voice cuts through the static, announcing he’s forfeited his last two hours of sleep under Emergency Scheduling Protocol clause 44.9.
MainFrame.as400 reminds him the session is being recorded. God is watching, even if He forgets to breathe.
John rotates three mice counterclockwise, jams the KVM with a screwdriver, and watches the feeds: burning alleyways, a church spewing drones, an animatronic bear gone off-script at a birthday party in Sector G. Cake chunks drift like meat confetti.
The Ninja-Bots stand ready in the dark. 99 units waiting for orders.
Betty calculates the time until full contract breach: 61 minutes optimistic, 30 minutes realistic.
John doesn’t get lunch. He never does.
Something bad has happened again. The AI grid is slipping. And the humans are dying.
Again.
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