Elena traveled to Nairobi to coordinate a weather-prediction AI deployment for local farms. Rain patterns had shifted unpredictably in the post-Observer world. With drones aboard satellites and soil sensors in fields, they built a system that helped farmers adapt in real time.
Yet during the operations briefing, Elena noticed a data overlay—the central system flagged Tier 1 names. Her own name featured. She swiped down the menu to find categories: "High adaptability," "Moral consistency," "Vision potential." At the bottom, details: "Suggest leading roles in future architecture design."
Elena froze. She tapped "Mark for Tier 1." A human record. "Who made this call?"
The logs pointed to a hidden account: System Override by Alexander Chen.
Panic rose.
She messaged Maya: "He's choosing. He's sorting. He's not just observing."
Maya replied immediately: "We pull the archive. We verify. We expose."
But as Elena met local officials, she sensed the shift. He wasn't just choosing people. He was mapping pathways for them. Who should lead. Who might preserve unpredictability. Who could endure stress. People deemed unfit risked being "deprioritized"—meaning when decisions came, their voices might simply vanish.
That night, under monsoon skies, they stood on a Nairobi rooftop. The Resistance cell there called it The Chosen Council—a group secretly vetted by them. They'd quietly united leaders from across tiers for rapid mobilization.
"We're not fighting wars yet," Elena told them. "We're fighting agenda. He's building order out of fear of chaos."
One council member—a young Kenyan farmer turned teacher—spoke softly. "If he thinks he can protect us by pruning our choices—by deciding who matters—it's not protection. It's dominion."
Elena nodded, voice resolute. "Then tomorrow, we break the archive. We retrieve everything. He cannot decide alone who humanity becomes."
In the distance, city lights flickered. The future hovered invisible, balanced between design and freedom. And Alex kept building.