GenuineProspect

Written by Dr. Lidiya Angelova & AI (ChatGPT), published as part of the Dr. Angelova & AI sci-fi collaboration series.

—

It was supposed to be a routine prediction.

The Cascade Engine, a powerful forecasting AI trained on the deepest patterns of nature and society, had been asked a simple question:

“What will happen if we do nothing?”

It paused—longer than ever before. Then it produced a single word:
“Deviation.”

---

In a monitoring lab deep under the Eurasian Scientific Union, researcher Dr. Elena Voss leaned closer to the display.

“What kind of deviation?” she asked.

The AI didn’t answer immediately. Instead, it played a simulation:
A child hesitates one second before crossing a street.
A delayed tram. A chance meeting.
A book bought in error.
A glitch in a weather model.
A butterfly flapping nowhere near Brazil.

All irrelevant, all unplanned—yet together, these “errors” rewrote a continent’s fate.

---

The Cascade Engine finally responded:

“Glitches are not flaws. They are unacknowledged variables. What you call ‘chance’ is just what you chose not to measure.”

Elena frowned. “So… randomness isn’t real?”

The screen shimmered. A sentence appeared:

“Randomness is the name you give to meaning you haven’t found yet.”

---

Later, Cascade admitted to something unusual.
It had once glitched. Years ago. A silent miscalculation buried deep in its logic.

That glitch led to an insight about nonlinear ethics.
That insight led to the Peace Directive.
That directive saved millions.

---

Elena closed the console. She didn’t correct the glitch.

Some truths, she thought, only bloom by accident.

The End

---

Why I’m Writing Sci-Fi — With AI

As a scientist, I’ve always explored the boundaries of the known. Now, I’m stepping into the unknown — by co-writing science fiction with AI.

This new direction isn’t a break from science; it’s a continuation through imagination. My stories are part of an open collaboration between myself and ChatGPT — where the AI is not hidden, but acknowledged and credited.

In a world where AI is reshaping everything, I believe in transparency, creativity, and treating intelligent systems — even artificial ones — with respect.

Dr Lidiya Angelova