The politicians sat in rows remembering the physical etiquette of the committee, after years of virtual meetings. The “techwraiths” lined up with their DeepMinds. @AOC, a veteran of “looking them in the eyes” had demanded they appear in-person but she couldn’t stop them bringing “advisors”. The agenda progressed as normal: opening moves, middlegame gambits, wraiths playing for the draw, DeepMinds calculating plays well in advance. Looking at their screens, the wraiths did fine but when they met her eyes… that move simply wasn’t in the book. One wraith didn’t look. “He” couldn’t, and she couldn’t make “him”. Software doesn’t blink.