Translator: Dreamscribe
It was 7 a.m., not yet proper rush hour, but New York's roads were already gridlocked.
Honk, honk!
The endless blare of horns made pedestrians scowl. John leaned back in the rear seat of his official car, staring at his tablet screen.
How many tis had it aired now? National broadcasts were clearly fixated on Boston.
"Patrick!"
"Patrick!"
Thousands of citizens had gathered in the plaza, chanting his na.
The fervor was palpable even through the screen.
Patrick waved and climbed onto the stage.
"I, Patrick, make you this promise. Boston is no longer a city of gridlock. An autonomous adaptive signal network that never stops, not for blizzards, not for earthquakes, not for floods.
We will never stop innovating!"
"Wow!!"
"Patrick, show us again!"
"We're leading Arica!"
The plaza erupted in thunderous cheers once more.
On screen, Patrick wore the face of a victor.
Cheers, applause, banners.
It was the kind of reception reserved for a national hero. John clenched his jaw, then turned off the screen.
"How's public opinion looking?"
The aide seated next to him wore a troubled expression.
"The sentint on social dia isn't good."
"Give the report."
The aide hesitated briefly, then handed over the file.
It was a summary of posts from major online communities.
-Boston escaped traffic hell, so what's New York doing?
-If Patrick were our mayor, he would've fixed this already.
-John is all talk, always has been. What has he even done? The mayor's office was always too big a seat for him.
-Make Patrick the mayor of New York!
Tremble, tremble.
The hand holding the file shook violently.
John felt the political capital he had built over twenty years crumbling beneath him.
"Patrick, of all people...."
New York is the heart of Arica.
The mayor of a city he wouldn't have spared a glance at under normal circumstances was now threatening his position.
"Is the background research done?"
"Yes! Here it is."
Jake handed over a thick file folder.
[Boston Signal Optimization Project: Detailed Report]
-The city of Boston recruited Alan Smith, a leading authority in traffic engineering, with the goal of overhauling its entire signal system. However, due to the city's complex urban structure, Allen's models failed to produce significant results.
-He developed approximately 30 simulation models in total, but the majority revealed errors during testing.
-An MIT undergraduate assignnt produced a aningful signal optimization model applicable to Boston. After reading it, Allen persuaded Patrick to expand and implent that model.
-The success of this project is attributable to Deputy Director Allen, who recognized the value of the paper, and to Yu Seo-ha's individual genius. Mayor Patrick's contribution was virtually nonexistent.
It was information obtained by persuading an insider.
The report laid out every stage of the project in ticulous detail.
A faint smile spread across John's face.
"Did we submit the proposal to MIT?"
"About that.... Yu Seo-ha is currently conducting team-based research and says he has no interest in working as an individual. He told us that if we want to make an offer, we should direct it to the team...."
"Then just do that. What's the problem?"
"Yes! Understood. I'll submit it today."
Jake turned to the last page of the report.
-Yu Seo-ha's signal optimization model passed a total of 12,000 simulations.
These included all Category 1 through 5 scenarios as defined by the Federal Ergency Managent Agency (FEMA), covering blizzards, typhoons, earthquakes, fires, large-scale accidents, and more.
Without him, the project could never have been completed in the first place. Countries around the world are studying his simulation model, but direct implentation has proven difficult.
Screech.
The car pulled to a stop in front of City Hall.
Before the door even opened, reporters sward the vehicle.
"Mr. Mayor! Recent polls show unfavorable trends. What are your thoughts on this?"
"Public frustration with traffic congestion in New York has reached a peak. Do you have a solution?"
"Do you have any comnt on the criticism that there have been no concrete achievents during your term?"
Step, step.
This happened every ti an issue arose.
John pushed through them with an impassive expression. But the last question from a reporter stopped him in his tracks.
"What about the assessnt that Patrick would be a better fit as the next mayor of New York?"
He froze.
John slowly turned his head.
Sensing a reaction, the reporter pressed harder.
"Multiple polls show that a majority believe Mayor Patrick is the right person to solve New York's traffic problems. Of course, Mayor Patrick's side has not released any official comnt on this...."
John raised his right hand, cutting the reporter off.
"That opinion isn't worth a mont's consideration."
"Excuse ? Are you dismissing the poll results?"
"The polls were fair, I'm sure. The problem is that they're based on flawed information."
"Flawed information?"
"Mayor Patrick's contribution to Boston's traffic reform was minimal. Virtually nonexistent, one might say."
Cli-ick.
Click-click, click.
The mont John finished speaking, cara shutters erupted like gunfire.
"W-wait a mont. Could you say that again?"
"John, are you saying Mayor Patrick made no contribution?"
"Can you provide specific evidence?"
Reporters thrust their microphones toward John in unison.
It was nearly unheard of for a politician to attack another city's mayor so directly. The reporters sensed instinctively that this was a bombshell.
Only then did John allow a satisfied expression to cross his face.
"Evidence, you say?"
He lightly waved the file folder in his hand.
"Mayor Patrick has been deceiving the public.
Credit for the project's success rightfully belongs to Deputy Director Alan Smith, the one in charge, ah.... he's a full director now, isn't he? And to the MIT research team that made it a reality. Yet Patrick has been strutting around as if it were all his own achievent."
Click.
Click.
The attacks were sharper than expected, and reporters' hands moved furiously.
"Isn't the mayor's office one where the person at the top takes responsibility for everything? Then isn't it only natural for them to enjoy the fruits of success as well?"
John's gaze turned toward the source of the voice.
A gray suit, neat glasses, an old notebook in hand.
A veteran reporter from the New York Tis. He continued.
"Citizens judge based on results. They see the system as having brought real innovation to the city, and the mayor as being at its center. If there are results, it's only natural that the mayor receives praise."
John looked the reporter straight in the eye.
"You're right. If sothing happens in a city, both the credit and the bla should go to the mayor."
"Then...."
"But!"
John swept his gaze across the assembled reporters.
"Lies are a different story.
Patrick is a shaless hypocrite."
Murmur, murmur.
Reporters' hands sped up.
"What lies are you referring to?"
John raised his index finger.
"First, he never led the project. In fact, he was opposed to it. The one who actively pushed it forward was Director Allen.
Second, Patrick did not actively support this initiative. On the contrary, he cut the budget midway, putting the project at risk of being shut down. It was the MIT research team, and specifically Yu Seo-ha, the core algorithm designer, whose ability saved it.
According to insider testimony, he gave them less than four weeks for algorithm design that should have taken months.
Who knows? If he had done his job properly, Boston might have ended up with a far superior system than what it has now."
Click.
Click.
'This is huge!'
Reporters scribbled down every word he said in a frenzy.
"Now, let ask you again. After all this, can you still say he hasn't been deceiving the public?"
John composed his expression.
"But our New York is different.
I am already in contact with MIT, and I plan to offer the designer, Yu Seo-ha, the complete support he never received in Boston.
In Boston, he was treated unfairly. Despite having designed the entire project, he was hidden behind a politician."
He shook his head firmly.
"New York doesn't use people that way. We don't govern through lies and manipulation.
Ensuring that those who do the work receive proper recognition, isn't that the very value Arica stands for?"
Having said his piece, John ignored the barrage of questions from reporters and walked away.
"Mr. Mayor, just a mont!"
"Please, just one last question!"
Security guards held the reporters back.
Step, step.
The automatic doors opened, and the mont he set foot inside City Hall, John stopped walking.
Jake hurried to catch up and whispered to him.
"Mr. Mayor, what you just said was extrely risky."
John furrowed his brow harshly.
"You think I don't know that? My political career is already hanging by a thread."
He needed to get things under control before public opinion got any worse.
To win big, he had to put up stakes this high.
'If this fails, they'll bury alive.'
"et every condition MIT and Yu Seo-ha demand. And don't forget to emphasize that we're different from Boston."
"M-Mr. Mayor, the budget is insufficient!"
He glared at Jake.
"Throw in whatever's left in the ergency reserves. If it's not enough, pull from other projects. Once we get this rolling, the money will follow on its own."
New York is the global center of tourism, culture, and finance.
If the city's traffic problems were solved, that model and technology would beco the world standard.
Public infrastructure, a field where investnt was hard to attract,
but John was confident he could bring in private capital, as much as they needed.
* * *
"What's going on here, Theo?"
"Don't ask ."
The mayor of the world's largest city had co to their lab.
Solely to et Team Apex, or rather, Seo-ha.
Seo-ha's eyes went wide as he looked at Mayor John and asked.
"You want to be the project lead?"
John nodded.
"That's how serious we are.
After reading the reports, I learned that when the project was underway in Boston, you had no authority whatsoever. Boston used your abilities but gave you no compensation, no recognition."
His voice grew more earnest.
"We're different. New York won't restrict the direction of your research.
Data, personnel, budget, equipnt, whatever you need, it will be provided imdiately. Your algorithm will never be overshadowed by any political agenda.
So...."
He paused for a mont and looked at Seo-ha.
"Would you please solve New York's traffic problem?"
Before coming here, John had received a detailed briefing on Seo-ha.
'A rising star in mathematics who has already solved multiple unsolved problems.'
'A work of genius in design that cannot be explained by conventional traffic engineering approaches.'
'Yu Seo-ha's algorithm has a high probability of becoming the standard for traffic and urban infrastructure modeling for the next century.'
He had taken the project lightly at first, but the other side was far more serious than he had expected.
The second proposal John had sent opened significant possibilities for collaboration with major tech companies.
Seo-ha fell into thought.
'New York is a grid-planned city.
A model that works here has a high chance of becoming the global standard. In that case, couldn't I develop an even more advanced model?'
Ideas he had never been able to realize due to lack of ti and budget flooded in like a tide.
"All right."
When Seo-ha stood and extended his hand, John broke into a broad smile and clasped it.
"New York is betting on you. Everything."
Of course, what was wagered first and foremost above all else was his own political career.
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