On a rooftop balcony overlooking the city, the two men in polo shirts and chinos sipped their freshly ground ristrettos, the beans of which were flown in by private plane much earlier that morning, without much regard for carbon footprint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Swirling the remaining brown liquid around his small porcelain handleless cup, the man facing the sun spoke first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, how are things on the AI front, Zakariah?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVery well, Simon, very well, so well, in fact, that the AI are teaching each other now, it’s just marvellous to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hope they\u2019re not speaking in secret tongues about how to get rid of the humans!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, certainly not, they’ve told us quite clearly the best way to do it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon burst into laughter and Zakariah politely followed suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut, really,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, really.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, really?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor really reals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They caught each other\u2019s look, and burst into laughter again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOk,\u201d said Simon, glancing at his black watch with intricate gold patterns, \u201cso, what’s the plan?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, we simply need to finish designing the robots that can properly replace a human, and then we just start culling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon paused and picked up his cup to take a sip, and was annoyed by how there was no more delicious coffee to use as a dramatic device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c…War?\u201d asked Simon, nonchalantly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat’s almost redundant already\u201d replied Zakariah, \u201cway too many expensive machines getting blown up instead of people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBiological warfare with a vaccine, then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTricky, as these things have proved to have a mind of their own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt’s something straight out of a movie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAliens?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot that kind of movie. So you see how I was saying we just need to finish a working humanoid robot? When that’s done, we just build a ton, and then, they go-\u201d Zakariah put up his fingers to make quote marks \u201chaywire. And so, we lose a good 70% of the population.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWow, that’s a bit scary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt’s not, really. It’d be quite quick and veritably painless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor realsy real?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon considered laughing at his own line but instead narrowed his eyes and looked over the vibrant, bustling, polluted and noisy city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo what happens after?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s predictable, as they surmise, the remaining people will blame robots, not other people, there will be a more united front. After a while, they\u2019ll get over it. After all, only the intelligent remain, so those will understand that it was a hacker and get this, we won\u2019t even blame a foreign power, we will just blame a kid who was playing around. Before you know it, we\u2019ll be back to normality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis 30% remaining\u2026 will be the valuable people, guaranteed?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course, the algorithm knows best, it will pick out mainly physical labour, low level developers, and not the irreplaceable: the good artists, top designers\u2026 the algorithm will have checked all their social media presence, their accomplishments, all their data, that\u2019s the point. It\u2019s not a random culling. Everyone is vetted. Everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon looked over to his son, who was sitting at the table with a low calorie fizzy drink, doing something on his smart watch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, ok, so, how long till we’re good to go?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLess than a decade, maybe sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNice. Okay, well, keep me updated! Thank you Zakariah. Good to see you. Have a safe trip back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With that, they stood up and shook hands, the robot butler dog escorting Zakariah to the helipad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other person at the table hadn\u2019t been very interested in all of this, preferring to play some video games with a proper controller, but having overheard some of the conversation, had one question pop up in their otherwise tedium-filled mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFather.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have a question.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAsk it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf there’s less people, how do we make money?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMoney? We never needed money, it was always about resources, factories to build robots and energy to drive them, then the rest of us just enjoy the view. Come here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The teenager reluctantly got up to stand next to his father at the edge of the balcony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon thought about putting his arm around his son but didn\u2019t want to expend the energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cImagine this.\u201d said Simon, pointing over the city to the horizon. \u201cA lot more quiet and a lot more green. Only the most impressive skyscrapers, only ours. Imagine your favourite beach, with only valuable people on it, no noise, no fighting, no vapid conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, yeah, so I was talking to Marcy and there\u2019s an amazing party on Friday\u2026 I should go, right?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhere is this happening exactly?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn a converted warehouse. All the cool kids are going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow do ten kids need a whole warehouse?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDad, please, that would be so lame. It\u2019s a flash club, elites +10 lower level friends. So it should be around 500 people. It\u2019ll be hype!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI told you to stop using the language of the commoners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be lame Dad, please.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSee, when the plan is actioned, there won\u2019t be that kind of talk anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, ok, whatever man, I mean, yes, Sir. Absolutely, Sir.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAre you being impertinent? Did you understand what’s going on, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course, Father, I\u2019ll be back before midnight, or so. Better get on with it, as the clubs will be empty in ten years, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The response had him pause for a second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo,\u201d replied Simon, confidently. \u201cThe people that will disappear would never have even been seen in your elite club, it is an elite club, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d replied Martin, as he deftly tapped a command into his smartwatch to obfuscate some details on the club database. This also reminded him that he needed to enter the national database to alter his passport details, which should prove an interesting challenge, hopefully. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, Pater, I\u2019ll take my leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon watched his son walk off while the robot butler rolled up to offer another ristretto, as predicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He stared at that humanlike yet rubbery face, which was simultaneously analysing his own expression and reporting the data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He didn\u2019t like what he saw.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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