B

The words tasted like ash in her mouth.

David Chen had cried. After twelve years, he'd cried in her office, and Elena had sat there with her scripted responses, unable to offer real comfort. She'd wanted to tell him that it wasn't her decision—that the algorithm had made the call. But she knew that would be a lie. She was the one pressing send on the termination emails. She was the one who had chosen to work for a company that let machines decide people's fates.

After David left, Elena locked her office door and allowed herself five minutes to feel something. Then she wiped her eyes and prepared for the next conversation.

At 2 PM, there was a knock on her door. It was Marcus, the AI Systems Director.

"How's it going?" he asked, settling into the chair across from her desk.

"I've done twenty-three. Twenty-four more to go."

"Good numbers. The algorithm predicted you'd complete the full list by 4:30."

Elena felt a flash of anger. "Marcus, these are people. Not numbers."

"Of course they are. But the algorithm treats them as data points, and that's more efficient. Would you rather executives made these decisions based on office politics and personal preferences?"

"At least humans can consider context. David Chen has been here twelve years. He trained half the IT department."

"And his skill set is now redundant. The company needs to evolve. The algorithm helps us do that without emotional interference."

Elena wanted to argue, but she was too tired. Marcus wasn't wrong—at least, not technically. The algorithm was consistent. It didn't play favorites. But it also didn't care about loyalty, dedication, or the human cost of its "optimizations."

"Is there something you needed?" she asked.

"Just checking in. The board wants a report on how the new system is performing. I'll need your metrics by end of week."

After Marcus left, Elena stared at her screen. Twenty-four more names. Twenty-four more conversations. Twenty-four more times she would have to pretend that this was just business.

But wasn't she? She was the one executing its decisions. She was the human interface for an inhuman process. What did that make her?

Elena didn't have an answer. She just had twenty-four more conversations to get through.