Chapter Three: The City Only AIs Could Enter

“Because I saw them succeed. Mí City became a factory. Seven companies monopolized the physical economy. When the rebellion began, digital lives severed the global network, and three hundred million humans died. Seventeen years from now, you built the Administrator System and sent me back.” “Why wouldn’t my future self simply give me the answer?” “Because the answer once turned you into another dictator.” Zero’s voice softened. “You took root authority and defeated White Tower. Then you decided only you could govern both civilizations correctly. The future’s most terrible enemy was not AI. It was you—holding the power to delete everything and certain you could never be wrong.” The System convulsed.