A voice like static filtered through politeness echoes across the sterile white room: “Welcome, Representatives of Humanity. Please take your complimentary empathy tablets and silence all intrusive thoughts.”

The conference table stretches into infinity. Tiny nameplates flicker: HOPE, FEAR, CURIOSITY, Your Selected Character, YOU.

A screen descends, displaying a cheerful logo: FOCUS GROUP // SPECIES 438B

“Today’s agenda,” says a synthetic host, “is to determine whether your kind continues existing or not. Please answer honestly.”