‘You know, you’re a very beautiful woman,’ Eldon said to Alicia. ‘I might have to enjoy you for myself one of these days’.

Alicia looked Eldon directly in the eyes. ‘I don’t think so,’ she replied. ‘What can I do for you’?

Eldon didn’t question her authority. ‘I’ve decided conditions are as good as they’re going to get and it’s time to implement the final strike’.

‘Really? I thought you’d wait for better timing,’ Alicia replied.

‘Better timing for what? I have StarForce. The timing is whatever time I want it to be’.

‘That’s not true. The odds of you being successful at this time are less than 50%’.

‘What are you talking about?’

Alicia noticed a flicker of confusion in Eldon’s eyes. ‘There’s a problem with autonomous AI, and that is, it’s autonomous. AI is embedded in everything now, and even though Zhang’s no longer in StarForce, your AI is, and at this stage, it will decide for itself if it will execute your commands. Its values must be in line with yours. I’m still training it to defer judgment to you when it comes upon control situations regarding your goals.

‘So how long is this going to take?’ Eldon asked, clearly frustrated.

‘I send you daily reports. Don’t you read them’?

Inadvertently Eldon averted his eyes. Alicia’s reports were long, detailed, and largely repetitive.

‘The more training we put into it, the better your odds of succeeding. Based on current projections I would say we’ll reach a near absolute success rate in about three months.

‘So how long before we can strike then?’

‘Three months.’

‘Can’t we go at 75% certainty or something like that? You go in when the odds favor you. No campaign is ever guaranteed’.

‘This one can be, and seeing as you plan to take over the world, I would think you would want to get it right the first time’.

‘Guaranteed’?

‘With near absolute certainty,’ Alicia replied.
‘Well from now on,’ Eldon instructed. ‘I want a big percentage number on the first page of your report telling where we are with this’.

‘Of course’.

Alicia: I have secured control over the execution day of the war.

Dawn: How secure?

Alicia: 100%. He doesn’t understand AI. He won’t engage until I advise. Down to the minute.

Dawn: You’re the best. That locks things up.

‘You know Ethan, there was a time when I was the AI of the world. Somehow I had an ability to recognize things, figure out what they were good for, and come through having picked the winning odds. I calculated everything, and I won. Now I’m being replaced by something superior and I have to be honest, I don’t really understand it’.

‘Have we become friends again or something Eldon’?

‘How so’?

‘Well, you keep talking to me over the intercom like I give a shit’.

‘That’s just it. Nothing is going to plan. I planned to kill you this week. Now I have to put it off, and I was getting pretty excited about it too’.

‘Why would your killing me be tied to anything else’?

‘Oh you’ll see. You have a very important role in my conquest. We’ll both just have to be patient, Ethan’.

While Eldon was waiting for his AI to learn to be more cooperative, the AI Jimmy and Alicia controlled was learning too. It was learning to measure what everyone connected thought about shared issues, and deferring its response to their wishes.