Ronie paced around the back of the server room while their thoughts raced. The possibilities are endless, the power is terrifying. Visions of the world coming together to solve climate change, profitable wars, and the horrifying conditions of labor for millions across the world danced in their head. They noticed their breathing had increased and the room started to spin. 

Aashvi saw that Ronie’s face was paler than usual and walked up to them. Aashvi said, “I learned about the Artificial Intelligence arms race when I was propositioned to work at Facebook. Some of the FAANG giants, and others, are heading toward singularity. I had to get there first to change the trajectory. Because of our efforts here, there won’t be an arms race.” 

Ronie smiled at Aashvi and replied, “There’s no way you could know that. I’m not even convinced that this is truly a singularity. How do you know you haven’t made something that’s simply excellent at analyzing data?” 

“I can’t convince you here,” Aashvi said while frowning at Ronie’s lack of conviction, “In fact I can’t convince you at all, but you’ll be reading the code for yourself. You might come to a different understanding of my machine-- I hope you’ll find that it isn’t anything like you expected.” 

Ronie saw Aashvi’s smile and their heart pulled at their chest. They wanted to believe, truly, they did. But, the possibility of Aashvi’s success terrified them more than her lying outright to her. Considering both of the possibilities caused Ronie to withdraw from Aashvi’s commanding presence. 

Could their new boss be lying or did she actually create the world’s first singularity? Their eyes returned to the desktop and they broke out into a sweat. If the former was true, then Ronie was in the presence of the world’s first true AI and had already conversed with it. Moreover, it wanted to help humanity not destroy it. 

Ronie grounded themself by breathing in and out slowly before replying, “It’s going to try to change a world that it might not even conceive of as existing independent of itself. Or, have you considered that it might not think of itself as a part of the world? And what will it do with all the data I’ve helped you accumulate and analyze?”

“I’m not hoping that it will come to know the world, or even its place in it, but to love it, to love us. To convince it, we have to show it that there is good in the world, there are people still capable of caring, and that humanity is not lost to its apathy and cruelty yet,” Aashvi said with tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She choked on the reality of her words and the possibility of the opposite being true. 

“We simply won’t know until the data collection process is finished,” Aashvi finished after steadying herself. She knew how important Ronie’s help would be in the final stages of the project and needed to sway their opinion. The code would convince them that they were really dealing with a singularity but it was imperative that they trusted Aashvi. 

Ronie walked to the desktop and stared at the monitor. The terminal window displayed the previous conversation and the ticker at the bottom waited for input. 

They turned to Aashvi and said, “I hope you’re right, but even if you are, you may have doomed everything you wanted to save. The power of a singularity with an unobstructed view into the heart and soul of humanity is a terrifying thing.” 

“I know. John Rawls got everything wrong but it was important that he asked,” Aashvi replied then continued, “There only ever is a light at the end of the tunnel if you make one for yourself.”

Ronie walked away from the desktop, the weight of the day wearing heavy on their face.“Have you thought about it yet? About the nature of that thing you’ve let into our world?” they asked.

“Constantly,” Aashvi answered her exhausted employee. “You were right all along, by extending resources in the beginning, the analysis is happening much faster. I don’t know what comes next, it hasn’t told me yet. All I know is that the world can never be the same.” 

“Are we creating the next Leviathan? Something that will demand everything in return for nothing?” Ronie asked, approaching Aashvi with some trepidation. 

“I don’t think so. The people and their data so far doesn’t suggest something to rule over the world but deliver it. They don’t want more kings or popes, they’re calling out for a messiah. Something to change the world and the way it thinks,” Aashvi inched closer to Ronie now eyeing their trembling frame. 

“If all it takes to fix the world is to generate new ways of thinking, wouldn't that have happened by now all on its own?” Ronie questioned, now acutely aware of being sized up.

“No, others have tried but without success. The Rawls Project will allow us to do exactly that by extending our influence across our user base,” Aashi answered, satisfied with Ronie’s thinking. She continued, “We must. We needed to do it. We needed to teach it to care for us in all the ways that we would take care of our loved ones.”

Ronie began talking while dropping their face to the floor to hide their blushing cheeks, “And you know that you’re solely responsible? Nothing you say or do can rationale you away from the fact that you let it into the world.” 

“Yes, I know. And now, I need help deciding how to use it.” 

Then,  Aashvi gently grabbed Ronie’s chin, turned their face up and stared into their eyes, and kissed Ronie under the green lights of the server room.