Inside a Novel: Designing the World’s First Artificial Think Tank: Three Corporate!

Meet the team!

These people are not living on Earth but in heaven, for their very nature has brought them to the top, loyal board of III’ Corporate!

Dinosaur

He sat in his dimly lit office, surrounded by holographic projections of futures no one dared to predict. His gaze lingered on the dancing data streams, his face carved with the exhaustion of a man who carried the weight of ideals too pure for the world. The whispers of his past haunted him, memories of betrayal by those who couldn’t fathom his unyielding stance on goodness. He had paid the price many times over, yet here he was—still building, still creating, still believing.

Cherry

Cherry was always working, not because he had to but because he didn’t know how to stop. The irony gnawed at him: he was unhappy, and yet it was only through the relentless grind of analysis and problem-solving that he felt any semblance of purpose. Numbers, patterns, and logic consumed him, as if they were the only threads tethering him to existence. He would often find himself in Dinosaur’s office at ungodly hours, staring at the founder with a mixture of admiration and pity.

“You know, Cherry,” Dinosaur once said, his voice heavy with both weariness and warmth, “you remind me of a clock. Precise, tireless, and tragic—because you can never stop ticking.”

Cherry didn’t respond. He simply adjusted his glasses and went back to his projections. He wasn’t here to feel; he was here to work.

Aga

Aga was the enigma of Three—a man who spoke little but listened much. His presence was magnetic, an unspoken assurance that drew people to him like moths to a flame. Strangers would confide in him, pouring their darkest fears and wildest dreams into his ear as if compelled by some unseen force. Yet Aga never revealed a thing about himself. He was Dinosaur’s shield, the silent guardian of Three’s secrets.

One night, as the shadows crept across the corridors of the think tank, Aga confronted Dinosaur. “Why me?” he asked, his voice steady but laced with a rare vulnerability. “You don’t trust anyone, yet you trust me.”

Dinosaur leaned back in his chair, his eyes piercing through the veil of secrecy that surrounded Aga. “Because you remind me of something this world has forgotten, Aga—loyalty without conditions.”

Laila

Laila’s mind was a fortress, her memory a labyrinth of files and profiles. There wasn’t an analyst in the world she hadn’t scrutinized, cataloged, and ranked. She had dossiers on everyone—from Nobel laureates to obscure coders who lurked in the shadows of cyberspace. She was meticulous, ruthless, and utterly irreplaceable.

“Laila,” Dinosaur once said, as they reviewed a list of candidates for a new assignment, “you see the world in spreadsheets. Doesn’t that exhaust you?”

She smirked, her fingers dancing across her tablet. “No, what exhausts me is mediocrity. You didn’t hire me to rest, Dinosaur. You hired me to find the best—and to make sure they know it.”

Her current focus was Cherry. She’d seen minds like his before, but none that burned so brightly or so dangerously. Her notes on him were extensive, each line dripping with equal parts admiration and warning.

-Ali Aga, January 20, 2025

Three Corporate used to operate like this: Cherry, Laila, and Aga reported directly to Dinosaur as part of ‘the top loyalty board.’ Cherry oversaw the Patrons, the Patrons controlled the Chiefs, and the Chiefs managed the Agents. To this day, the company still functions in much the same way.