Jonathan Harker took a deep breath before continuing. The conference hall was packed, and the bright lights focused on him were making him sweat. The mood of the room felt hostile, perhaps because he was anticipating the reaction to what he was about to say. He wiped the sweat away from his neck with a handkerchief, then used an old trick he learned about public speaking-find a friendly face in the front row and pretend you were addressing only them. He tried to convince himself it was working. It wasn’t.

“In conclusion, I have demonstrated to you that there is a trend toward significantly increased violent behaviour in populations in the Western Hemisphere. I have also proven that here is an external factor at play here, that is unrelated to the normal drivers of economics, sociology, ecology, or politics. Our species is being manipulated by AI. Artificial intelligence is rapidly and deliberately destroying humanity’s ability to think rationally. Unless we act now, we will see our position as the dominant species on this planet usurped.”

Jonathan Harker shut the lid of his laptop and bowed his head briefly. A silence hung in the air of the packed auditorium. Then the muttering began. No applause, just a low level of chatter among the conference attendees. The chattering continued, growing louder as he exited the stage. He left the building via the back door, where the cold air outside made his breath plume. A sprinkling of snow covered the road, and he pulled his coat collar up to cover his neck. Despite the cold, he decided against going directly to the railway station, but to instead head towards a Starbucks ten minutes walk away. Avoiding the mushy snow on the pavement, he wondered if he had made a mistake. Lost in thought, he never noticed the following footsteps. He entered the coffee shop and, looking around the room, spotted an empty table. After buying his coffee, he sat down. A figure approached him.

“You’re wrong, Mr. Harker!”

He looked up. A girl was standing in front of him. She was slightly built, dressed in a hoodie and jeans. Her hair was straw-blond; her eyes sparkling blue.

“I’m sorry. Do I know you?”

“Can I join you?” Without waiting for an answer, she sat down next to him. “Mr. Harker, your analysis was just brilliant. However, you got your conclusion wrong. AI is not going to rule the world. There are larger forces than that at play.”

She reached over and touched his hand. His fingers began to tingle-perhaps from the coldness of her hands?

“I just listened to you. You’re a brave man to say what you did. A room full of technologists and academics don’t want to hear anyone rubbishing AI and saying it’s destroying humanity. They want you to tell them that AI is a digital Superman, saving the world, instead!”

Harker laughed. “I knew it would be controversial, and the thought of a digital Superman is amusing. But what do you mean there are larger forces at work?”

The girl’s stare was magnetic; the hairs on his forearms rose, as if some unseen force was sweeping over him.

“It’s a bit too public here. Can we find somewhere else to talk, Mr. Harker?”

Harker considered the request for a few moments. Who was this girl? Normally, he would dismiss such approaches, but this girl was different. They headed for the park. Cigarette ends dotted the surface of the gravel path as they walked along, looking for somewhere to talk. They found an empty bench near an ash tree, and Harker indicated to sit down.

“So, young lady, first things first, who are you?”

“My name is Eve.”

As she spoke, she looked around as if she were looking for something or someone.

“Let me explain, Mr. Harker. I didn’t think your premise is wrong, just your conclusion. There are reasons behind what’s happening, just not ones that are obvious to someone like you.”

“So tell me, young lady. Explain what these reasons are,” Harker replied.

“Your assumption that it’s AI behind these global changes is wrong.”

“You’re repeating yourself, young lady.” Sitting next to her was like sitting next to an electricity pylon-he could feel some sort of charge running through her. He shrugged it off.

“You have my attention for ten more minutes. No more.”

She looked around again.

“Are you looking for someone to join us?” he asked her. She ignored the question.

“Does your research touch upon religion, Mr Harker? Are you familiar with the concept of the world soul?”

“I am familiar, but religious beliefs are not something I ever consider rational or relevant in my field of expertise. ”

“Please humour me, Mr Harker. The religion of Kabbalah contains the idea of something called a world soul, a single spiritual being that was destroyed at the birth of life.”

“My patience is wearing very thin. I thought you might have something more than religious claptrap.”

“Just give me a little time to explain. It’s not claptrap, and I’ll try to keep it really simple. When Adam committed the first sin, it is said that his soul was splintered into a myriad of individual pieces. These shards became individual human souls. This theory is also repeated in the Islamic faith and in Hinduism. I could go on, but you get the drift...”

“Even if I accepted a scintilla of what you are saying, and I am far from doing that, what do these religious legends have to do with my observations about the imminent demise of the human race?”

She paused, then took a deep breath. Harker stared at the girl. Was she dangerous? He thought he saw a figure moving towards them; did she have an accomplice? He looked again, but the figure had disappeared from view.

“We ran out.” She glanced around to see if anyone was watching them.

“Ran out? Of what? Common sense? Look, young lady, I think I’ve heard enough.” He got up, but she pulled him back, and he was astonished to feel how strong she was.

“You’re going to struggle to believe this, Mr Harker, but there is no way of making it sound more believable. We ran out of souls. We finally ran out of souls. It’s been going on for over twenty years now we think, and sometimes newborns don’t get allocated one when they’re born. And when they grow up, these soulless people have no sense of purpose, no human spark. This is not the worst of it, though. There is much worse….”

He tried to stand up again. This time, she didn’t stop him. Instead, she stood up too, and linked her arm around his.

“Walk with me.”

“I’m sorry, Eve, I think I’ve had enough of this nonsense.” She held his arm even tighter. Jonathan saw a man striding purposefully towards the two of them. She relaxed her grip on his arm and whispered, “Stand behind me. Leave this man to me. He’s a collector, and he wants to feed.”

“What on God’s earth are you talking about, Eve?”

“I said he’s a collector, but he doesn’t know who he’s dealing with.”

The man was ten metres away and approaching fast; Harker felt the hairs rising on his arms again, but this time not because of Eve.

“A collector of what?”

The man started running towards the two of them.

Harker saw the man’s intent and raised his hands to defend himself and the girl. He might be an academic, but he would not shirk danger. Eve suddenly shoved Harker to one side, and he fell onto the verge of the path. The man barreled into Eve, pulling a knife from his pocket and slashing at Eve’s neck. In a fluid, almost balletic motion, Eve avoided the knife’s arc; her hand flicked out, and the man stumbled forward, dropping his knife, then slumped to his knees, choking for breath. She turned and pushed him onto his chest before reaching down and flipping him onto his back. She sat on his chest and appeared to embrace him. The man reached out to grab the knife lying on the floor, but Harker reached to grab it first. He watched in astonishment as Eve began inhaling wisps of smoke emanating from the man’s mouth. Then Eve’s eyes glowed bright blue. The man groaned; the last traces of smoke disappeared from his mouth. Then his body went limp.

“For the love of God, what’s going on?” said Harker, pulling himself upright and dropping the knife onto the floor.

“This has very little to do with God. I’m collecting from a collector. And now the fight has truly begun.”

“What fight? Is that man dead? What is happening?”

“This fight is the biggest there has ever been since time began. And it is a fight I have to win.”