Promotion

He found himself as a commanding officer.

“Sir, radiation’s killing them. It’s just a machine! Think of their families!” said a medic.

He looked at a map. Fortifications surrounded a super intelligence more capable than all humankind, and their enemy wanted it destroyed.

He paced …

“Inject them. We must resist at any cost.”

“Their blood on your hands!” The medic scowled.

He stared back—“It’s worth millions of human lives. Do it.”

————

“Simulation closing.”

John Francu’s identity restored.

A man in a suit removed John’s headset.

“Congratulations, John. The council decided in favor of your executive promotion.”