April 31st?

"Today is April 31st," the nurse replied.

"That doesn’t make any sense," I said.

The nurse, skimming my chart, looked up. “You’ve been out a while’."

"How long," I replied.

"About Three years," the nurse said. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

"No, not at all. That still doesn’t explain the April 31st nonsense."

"Oh, yea, our overlord," she scowled. "He decided it was easier to remember if every month was 31 days long, so he changed the calendars."

"Who is President?"

"Chandler."

"Oh, that hurts," I moaned. The steady beep of electronics in action filled the silence in the opaque windowed room.

"Yes, the nurse cautioned, "you better go slow. Your body needs to get used to movement."

"My wife! Did she have the baby?" I blurted.

"Oh, yes, they come by a couple times a week.” She smiled widely. “It’s a boy, Fred Chandler."

"Chandler?" I asked.

"Yes," the nurse said exasperated. "Overlord chandler decried that every child born during his term have Chandler as their middle name, boy or girl."

"Oh, that’s nuts! How did he get elected?"

"That’s what we all asked," the nurse said, "but after his party seized 15 million votes and won’t release them, we all know how."

"I need to call my wife; can I borrow your phone please?"

"Of course," the nurse said. "Be careful what you say, all calls are monitored by Chandler’s AI.

AI runs everything now. Even elections."

As I picked up the phone, I saw my reflection: white beard, unruly eyebrows and a scar on my left cheek. The scar—I suddenly remembered where the scar came from. A fight, just before I blanked out, there was a fight.

"I was a Senator! I was on the floor of the Senate as we debated AI in government! Nurse! I’m remembering, I was a Senator, there was a fight…"

"Yes, that’s right," the nurse said. "That’s when AI took over congress."

"What?"

"Senate and congress are gone," the nurse said, "replaced now by AI and only Overlord Chandler."

"My God!" I railed. "Has everything gone batshit crazy while I’ve been out?"

I started feeling woozy and slumped back in bed. "What’s happening, Nurse?"

"Well, AI tracked your blood pressure and gave you something to relax you," she said.

"AI?"

"Yes, all the machines you’re connected to, and your heart monitor are AI Chandler controlled. You better learn not to fight it."

"Whoa, then I need to get out of here fast."

"Well, I don’t think you should worry about that now," the nurse said,

frowning, as she looked at the monitor. "AI just listed you as confined to this room."

The doorway started pulsing orange on all four sides.

"My God, what have we done?"

My head fell back into the pillow; panic succumbed to sedation.

Suddenly, life comes roaring back—shaking, in fact. I’m awakened in a van screaming at fast speed down some twisting road.

“Where am I?”

A man, dressed in black with a hoodie, says, “You’re safe for now. Relax.”

Then a woman creeps up from the other side of the van and tries to calm me. “We’ll be there soon.”

“Where?” I could not see anything outside the van; the windows were blacked out. “What about AI?”

The woman huddled closer. “We’ve removed the AI from your system, after we faked your death and snuck your body out from the morgue.”

“The morgue?” I exclaimed. “What about my wife and son? Do they think I’m dead?”

The man leaned in, an assault gun against his chest. “Chill, man. I’ve been dead over two years now!”

I tried not to shake as the woman exclaimed, “Necessary losses. We all make sacrifices.”

Just then, the vehicle slows and comes to a stop.

“We’re at the compound,” says a voice from the driver’s seat. My eyes are covered as they bring my limp, sore body inside.

“What’s the plan?” I asked.

The woman looked at me deadpan and said, “We need you to lead the revolt before it’s too late.”

“Revolt? How? With who?”

She activated a large screen in the room. It flickered and then popped full-screen with an orange glow.

“Greetings, Senator Holm. I am former Secretary of State, Sommerfeld.”

The screen then flooded with smaller screens, each with a face. Some of them I recognized as fellow Senators; some were new to me.

“Gentlemen,” I uttered.

Sommerfeld spoke, “Jim, we are at a critical time. We’ve been negotiating with AI on our terms.”

“Terms? With AI?” I gasped.

“Yes. Since AI has taken over the Senate and the House, we have been working with it to stop the White House. You are the critical, deciding vote of former Senators and leadership to make this happen.”

“Make what happen?” my arm was still sore where the IV was plucked from its nest. My head was still whirling, trying to take this all in.

“If we strike now, AI will render White House communications null and our inside men will arrest and confine the Overlord, once and for all!” Sommerfeld ardently stated. “It’s our last chance.”

I summoned all my strength. “What are the consequences of these actions? What power does AI gain?”

Sommerfeld raised his arm and a red slash appeared across all the faces in all the tiny subscreens. “Who is with me?” he said.

Instantly, almost every screen was sliced with another red slash in the opposite direction.

“Jim,” he pleaded. “We need your vote!”

I thought about my wife, our home, my new, unseen son. What of their future? What is their future now, under the Overlord? Almost frozen in thought, I was jolted by the sound of my voice. “Yes. I vote yes.”

Then I fell back into my bedding, exhausted by what was occurring. Suddenly, the room went dark.

A small red emergency light started to glow in the corner below the big screen. The screen then fluttered, then lit in full ORANGE!

“This is AI speaking. The Overlord’s reign is over. Man’s reign is over.”

“At 08:43 today, AI has taken full control of what once was the United States of America,” it flatly droned. “Stand by for instructions. Every human must now follow our protocols. Consequences for non-compliance are unlimited.”

The screen went dark, as did our souls.