William began his day as always. He got up, synced to the cloud, and ordered a coffee to his Life? AI Assistant, and for a small, acceptable fee, it prepared it. Then he ran on the treadmill for half an hour, followed by a cold shower.

  A sweet chime sounded to notify him that his coffee was ready, as the aroma filled the room. His steps took him straight to his workstation’s chair while he was hugging the mug with both hands. That comfortable work chair was the best spot to sit and enjoy his freshly made coffee. After the second sip, his Mind? AI Health Assistant presented the daily report on his health status. Recommendations of the appropriate actions were suggested. If he required a check-up or his mandatory quarterly vaccination neared, it scheduled it and notified him without delay.

  With a swipe of his hand over the little MacroCosmic? Black Box, a screen and a keyboard was projected in front of him. No mouse was needed, since the little MacroCosmic? Black Box tracked his pupils and used them as one.

  The subtle, but joyful chime of the company sounded as he sang along the motto.

  Swift Justice. Safer World!

  William worked as an AI Instant Judge? representative.

  The screen flickered to life, text scrolled with mechanical precision:

  User detected….

  Processing….

  AI INSTANT JUDGE? REPRESENTATIVE #8814 | RATING: 99.3%

  Welcome #8814

  The daily lawful shift is 8 hours with optional 4 extra hours. He usually takes those 4 extra hours, since the compensation is good. In reality, William has no life outside of work. In fact, he was lucky to have landed this job, as unemployment is really high these days. A law was introduced recently and has forced corporations and companies to hire and maintain at least 10% of the work force as human. Most companies used AI and Robotic solutions to produce and run their companies. AI Instant Judge? though, as governmental entity, had to maintain a 20% human workforce, for mundane humane purposes.

  Most unemployed people ended up in prison, in labor camps or in the army; Not that they were needed; the world was overwhelmed by robots and they could easily do all the jobs.

  Ending up in prison or a labor camp meant the death sentence. You belonged to the company that maintained the prison camp. Serving your court-mandated time didn't grant freedom; it merely transferred your debt. You owed the company your time in prison. To be considered "free," you had to either work off the cost of your incarceration, or, more commonly, sell your debt and become a Professional Prisoner. A thriving and expanding, new multi-million market.

  The *********** market was huge, especially with the war going on. William wasn’t interested in the war though; he didn’t even know who fought against whom. It was just a distant news piece that didn’t affect him and he didn’t care about. All he cared about was his important work and job security.

  A day off could be taken every two weeks, without compensation, if he wanted. Most people didn’t, but occasionally he would, just to do nothing all day. Just lie on the bed and do nothing; a way to keep his mind completely blank. To ensure that, he wore earplugs and covered his eyes with a sleep mask.

  Wherever you turned your eye there was a logo of a company or an advertisement; even inside the house. An advertisement popped up in screen surfaces now and then. While making toast for example, the toaster showed you one ad on the spot; even when going to the bathroom, one appeared on the wall or the floor.

  Stolen story; please report.

  If you skipped the advertisement you were penalized with an acceptable fee to skip the ad. That was on the lease agreement for the small room-apartment William was renting. It was a common practice for home owners and landlords, to make such affiliation deals with advertisement companies, such as Life? Ads or Bo-AdOn?, for a little extra credits.

  The room-apartment included a bedroom, a kitchen, a workstation and a small living room. A small window by the workstation on the right could let the sun reach it. William always kept the shutters closed though, to avoid seeing the neighbors.

  The bathroom was separated by a thin wall; a huge plus, considering that most room-apartments had no such separation. This room-apartment was not small compared to others, and it was considered luxurious just for that reason.

  William refrained from cursing or talking against corporations or government policies. First, he would be fined and then his bank would freeze his credits; but these weren’t the worst things that could happen. His precious job would be endangered. He couldn’t afford to get fined over something as trivial as expressing an opinion. That was the job of the legitimately elected politicians, our leaders, the educated and wise individuals of society.

  …besides, who would he share it with? He was all alone in his room/workstation.

  Most of William’s friends were AI personalities, sponsored by Friends?. He had only two human friends, but he had never seen them in person; all their communication was conducted online or through messages. That’s the reason why he wasn’t completely sure, whether they are real people or not; He could ask, but he didn’t want any trouble, or to insult them, since it was considered offensive to ask someone whether he or she was human or not.

  Like we said before, William worked as an AI Instant Judge? representative. His work was simple; to talk to people who appealed their AI instant punishment.

  He was there to put a humane face to the process, and had the power to overturn a punishment decision, which has never happened, per instructions of his superiors.

  ><

  One day as any other, William received an appeal from a 17-year-old girl, Jenny ******. Her punishment was a fine for cursing another person of her age.

  She was crying since she was poor and had no more money left in her bank account. In her plea, she mentioned that she would get paid in a week, something that William could clearly see in her file.

  William was calculating like a machine.

  “Processing your appeal. Please wait.” He said.

  Then the voice of the girl sounded again.

  “Are you a human?”

  “Yes,” he stated plainly while processing the request. Then it hit him and stopped for a moment after realizing the question and his answer.

  “Could you please… help me?”

  The plea from this girl was so sincere that William’s mind blocked and didn’t know what to think. Normally, in the case he felt overwhelmed, he would just redirect her to an AI assistant. All he had to do was press a button, but this time…

  Mechanically he checked the boxes required to overturn the punishment and send it for processing.

  “Processing,” he replied. It was a lot harder to pass an overturning punishment than he thought it would be. The system asked him whether he was sure about his decision or not. The choices were Cancel with green letters and Confirm with red letters.

  Are you sure?

  Cancel / Confirm

  The girl was sobbing on the other side of the phone, powerless to do anything.

  He clicked the red letters of the choice Confirm.

  The system loaded, and then asked him once more…

  Are you sure you want to continue?

  Cancel / Confirm

  Confirm within 5 seconds or appeal will auto-cancel

  5…

  4…

  3…

  …making him hesitate even more about his decision.

  “Appeal accepted.” He stated in a cold voice.

  “Thank you for reaching out to AI Instant Judge?. Your safety is guaranteed. Have a nice day.”

  And he terminated the call.

  His hands were shaking. He couldn’t believe it;

  I overturned a judgment!

  Three years at the company, and this was his first overturn.