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who’d spent all-nighters playing Civilization, except now fifty years old, with knees that hurt when he climbed stairs.
    His life hadn’t left time for romance. For ten years he’d been the sole caretaker of ELOPe, the first AI, whose existence he’d fought to keep secret. He couldn’t sustain a relationship then. Maybe there were some who could have a deep personal relationship while maintaining a deception about who and what they were, but not him. And merely knowing ELOPe had been all-consuming.
    Then for the last ten years, he and Leon had been the architects of human-AI society, evolving an entire set of social norms and rules to keep the balance of power equal and prevent a runaway AI from destroying humanity. No surprise there that he hadn’t found the time for a woman.
    Yet the last ten years hadn’t stopped Leon. He shook his head, uncomfortable with his thoughts, and turned back to watch the street with arms crossed. Exactly what was he doing with his life now? Was he going to spend it alone?
    Across the street, a mixed crowd of older adults and college-age kids approached, yelling to each other. A man up front carried a sign and egged the group on. “No Altered Intelligence,” the sign said, echoing the crowd’s chant. Great, now they were opposing neural implants and AI? Thirty, maybe forty people passed by. A mother carrying a baby in a backpack trailed the group with her own sign reading, “No Rights 4 Robots.”
    Mike scowled until they were out of sight and the street returned to normal. A few seconds later, Leon came up. “Well?” Mike asked, trying to put the protesters out of mind.
    “We’re going out Friday. Want to come? She’s got a roommate working toward graduate degrees in English Literature and Philosophy.”
    Mike shook his head. “Unless it’s her mom, no way. She’s got to be twenty years younger than me.”
    “That stuff doesn’t matter. Nobody cares.”
    “I don’t have time for a relationship.”
    “It’s just a date. That’s all. I know you have time for dinner, because we’re going to dinner now.”
    Mike reflected on his earlier thoughts. What the heck, he had nothing to lose. “Alright, I’ll do it.”
    “Hell yeah! It’s about time.” Leon closed his eyes for a second. “It’s done. We’re set for Friday at eight.”
    Well, how about that. He was going on a date. What did people wear on dates these days?
    Leon gave him a shove. “Let’s go. I’m hungry.”
    They headed a few blocks over to their usual izakaya restaurant.
    “Hello Leon-san, Mike-san,” the hostess greeted them.
    “ Konbanwa , Keiko-san,” Leon replied.
    “ Ni desuka? ” Keiko asked. “No Rebecca-san?”
    “ Ie. ”
    She led them to the back of the restaurant to sit at the bar so they could watch her husband cook.
    “ Konbanwa .” He bowed to them.
    “ Konbanwa ,” Leon said, as they both dipped their heads.
    They turned to each other without ordering, knowing that Hiroyuki would prepare whatever he wanted.
    “What do you think about what Rebecca said yesterday?” Mike asked.
    “Huh?” Leon appeared lost in his thoughts, probably thinking about his date.
    “The political party—the People’s Party. Do you think they’re really a threat?”
    “I don’t know. Rebecca was the President. She’s the one who’s involved in politics. I don’t see how a political party is going to influence the Institute. We’re independent.”
    Mike looked sideways at him. “You’re just saying that because you’ve never been the one who had to speak to Congress.”
    “Yes, but we have our own charter,” Leon said. “We’re a non-governmental organization.”
    “Don’t be naive,” Mike said. “The President could pull our funding if he wanted to. Or appoint some industry group to be in charge of AI standards.”
    Leon began to protest, but Mike steamrolled over him. “Look, it’s possible, especially if there was a lot of pressure. The People’s Party has some real