Lahat ng Kabanata ng Not My Problem This Time: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 8

"You don't want to sign? Are you trying to drag the rest of us down?"Tristan sent another voice message, his tone cold and hard. "You can't make anything of yourself, so now you're taking it out on me for getting with your girlfriend, is that it?"This is about everyone's future." He shifted to a voice that made it sound like he had the entire class at heart."Aaron Pruitt's mom works at an electronics factory, assembling thousands of parts every single day. Her neck condition is so bad she can't even afford to get it treated."Amber Loring's parents wake up before dawn to sell fish at the market, just waiting for her to make something of herself so she can support the whole family."Zane, hate me all you want, but can you put aside your pathetic little grudge this one time and stand with the rest of us?"He paused, then twisted the knife. "Or is it that you just can't stand seeing anyone else do well?"That was all it took to set the entire class off, especially the ones he ha

"Zane, cut the act. You don't have the guts to go for the money, so you can't stand watching the rest of us get it. That's what this is about, right?"You're nothing but a coward. You'll spend your whole life working for someone else, cramming onto the subway, living in some rental dump!"We've got a signed agreement, screen recordings and evidence. Sage can't weasel out of it. As for you? You've got nothing. All you've got is your pathetic little pride."The more Tristan talked, the more worked up he got. His fists clenched tighter with every word, and passersby were starting to stare."You think showing up to the exam means you've won? So what if you get in? After you graduate, you'll still end up working for somebody who never went to college. Who do you think you are?"Megan chimed in from beside him. "Exactly! Tristan's right! You just can't stand to see anyone doing well! You're nothing but a jealous freak!"The crowd began to stir. Some of them pushed forward, others held

The post blew up the same day. It hit the front page with a trending tag and racked up views instantly.The entire class was ecstatic, cheering in the group chat."We made it!""It's going viral!""Sage is finished!"They expected public opinion to rally behind them. What they got was the exact opposite."I'm dying. Who actually trusts an AI chatbot with their future? Sage: 'Go ahead and call the cops on me. I don't even have hands.'""Party A: Sage. Party B: Tristan Kelley. I showed this contract to my dog and he could've signed the same thing. Literally the same legal standing.""Sage! Say something, Sage! Why won't you pay up? Oh wait, you're an AI. You don't have money.""I watched the full screen recording. Sage didn't trick him into signing anything. He tricked Sage into signing. He sweet-talked and manipulated the AI the entire time.""Sage going home like: 'Mom, I'm back. I owe 32 people 50 million dollars each, can you help me out?' Mom: 'You're no child of mine.'"

I was just grateful that, this time around, Tyler would not be standing in front of me with a bottle of acid.As for Tristan, he had lost his mind.The internet might eventually move on and forget about him, but the 31 people he had dragged down with him never would.Every so often, he would pull up screenshots of his conversations with Sage and show them to anyone who would listen. "Sage said it's going to pay me back. As soon as it gets a bank account, the money's coming."A few days later, it would be a different story. "Sage and I never had any beef. Why would it do this to me?"When his mind was at its worst, he would say, "I've got 50 million dollars coming. It's about to hit my account. I'm about to be rich."On the rare occasions his mind was clear, he would cry quietly. "Why did I believe Sage? Why did I throw my whole future away?"In September, the campus at Carlton University was carpeted with fallen leaves.I wheeled my suitcase down the main path toward the freshm