TRUE NUTS (LOST IN AI): 32: ALERTING
Meltdown Monday Madness
“Speaking of tricks,” says Quirk-bot. “When I snap my fingers, you will emerge.”
“Huh-what?”
I hear fingers snap and I open my eyes.
I can hardly believe that I am sitting in a chair on a stage in a theater facing out to a packed house filled with spectators… and… and… all their eyes—hundreds of them—are… Riveted. On. Me.
I turn to my left and… huh? David Copperfield? Standing over me? “What the…?”
“Thank you, sir,” says the master of illusions, a smug grin splashed across his face. “You may now retake your seat in the audience.”
Completely disoriented and still stunned, I look around without any clue as to where my seat is supposed to be.
David Copperfield leans down and whispers into my ear. “I said, you can return to your seat now.”
I look up and catch sight of Oscar with his hand raised trying to signal me from about ten rows back .
My mind is still a blur as I slowly exit the stage, make my way up an aisle, rump my rear into the empty seat next to Oscar.
“What the hell?” I say.
“I know,” Oscar enthuses, his eyes glued to David Copperfield moving into his next trick. “This magician is amazing,”
“But why was I up there?” I whisper.
“You don’t remember?” Oscar whispers back.
“No.”
“You got chosen at random, right?”
“I guess so.” I shrug. “Would’ve been random, for sure. I don’t remember.”
“So the spotlight came on you. He called you up to the stage, and you sat down—and then you disappeared into thin air!”
I rise and find my way back to Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak. There, I grab a stool at the bar and order a drink, hoping to get my head straight from whatever just happened.
I’m still wearing the Ai4 pass around my neck.
“Are you here for the AI convention?” asks the person occupying a barstool to my left.
“Yeah, I was here to…” I turn to face my questioner… and can scarcely believe who I see. “Emma?”
Her eyes express surprise that I know her name. Until she looks down and realizes it is emblazoned on her own Ai4 pass. “Oh, right… yes, that’s me.” Her green eyes gaze into mine as if searching for a solution to her own puzzle. “Have we met somewhere before?”
