Not My Problem This Time

Tristan Kelley posted the agreement he had signed with Sage in the group chat.

"Party A: Sage. Party B: Tristan Kelley.

"Through amicable negotiation, both parties have reached the following agreement regarding compensation for college entrance exam delays.

"If Party B, while preparing to take the college entrance exam, inadvertently misses the exam and is unable to enter the examination hall, Party A shall assume full liability for compensation.

"Compensation amount: within three business days, Party A shall issue a one-time lump-sum payment of 50 million dollars to Party B."

The class group chat erupted. Messages poured in faster than anyone could read.

"50 million! Is this for real? Tristan, you're not messing with us, right?"

Tristan sent a voice message, his words trembling with excitement. "The agreement's right there. How could it be fake? Sage even signed and stamped it. It's legally binding!"

"What if Sage doesn't honor it?" someone asked.

Tristan scoffed. "We're the honors prep class. Every single one of us is pulling near-perfect scores. Sage is backed by a massive company. Do you think they'd dare deny it? Do you think they'd throw their reputation away like that?

"Even if the AI doesn't care about its image, the company behind it sure does!

"Skip this one exam, study another year, and we'll still get into the top schools. This is 50 million dollars we’re talking about!"

I stared at the screenshot of the Sage agreement, fully convinced that every single one of them had lost their minds.

Sage was just an AI. It had no legal personhood, no assets of its own, and certainly no bank account. It would never pay out and, even if it somehow wanted to, it had no way to produce the money.

In my previous life, I had begged and pleaded with every last person, explaining this exact reasoning. Nobody listened. They accused me of being jealous and of not wanting to see anyone else get ahead.

This time around, I did not want to say a single word. I wanted to see exactly who they planned to collect their 50 million dollars from.

My phone buzzed. It was a message from my best friend, Tyler Russo.

"Zane, look at this! 50 million! You signing?"

In my previous life, Tyler was the one I had physically dragged from the mall to the exam hall. He had been convinced a windfall was waiting for him and had followed Tristan on a spending spree. I was the one who called his parents and hauled him away by force.

Later, when the mob came for me with acid, Tyler stood at the very front. "Zane Archer, you destroyed my dream of getting rich overnight. You ruined the only shot I ever had at turning my life around!"

The searing pain still seemed to linger on my face. I gripped my phone until my fingertips turned white.

"No thanks. I wasn't born lucky enough to strike it rich. Go ahead and sign."

Tristan wrote up a step-by-step guide on how to trick Sage into signing the insurance agreement. "Make sure you screen-record the entire thing. If Sage refuses to pay, these recordings will be our evidence."

"I've got a cousin at a law firm. I'll get him to sue them into the ground to the point they won't know what hit them."

He started a sign-up chain in the group chat.

"Tristan Kelley, signed."

"Tyler Russo, signed."

"Kyle Brewer, signed."

…

By the end, 32 people had signed. There were 33 students in the class.

"You're not signing?" Tristan tagged me directly, his tone dripping with mockery.

"Zane, do you think you're above the rest of us? Or do you just think the whole class is beneath you?"

I was about to reply when Megan Hurst, my childhood sweetheart, called me instead. "Can you quit picking fights with Tristan? Just sign the thing. Who do you think you are? Do you think you're the only smart one in this entire class?"

In my previous life, it was her foot that delivered the final kick that sent me over the edge.

"Keep acting like this and you shouldn't bother calling yourself my boyfriend anymore. The engagement is off. I refuse to be humiliated like this!"

I scoffed. "Get lost. I don't want a girlfriend this stupid."

I hung up and blocked her immediately.

"We all agreed. Nobody takes the exam. The more people involved, the more seriously Sage has to take this and the better our chances of getting paid!"

Several people tagged me in the chat. "Zane, just sign already! You're the only one left!"

"Don't push your luck!"