Episode 109 — Debugging in the Dark (Part 2)

The morning sun of the third day cut pitilessly through the gaps in the study’s heavy curtains.

My internal memory was at a total overflow state. In the corners of my vision, flashes of debugging sessions from my old world flickered like a dying program’s log file.

(...Don't distribute. Accumulate.)

My fingers began to move across the keyboard, twitching as if fighting the very laws of gravity.

"…Healthcare. …Old age. …Accidents. …Or perhaps, education."

I focused on the data appearing on the screen—the Nordic welfare models, the data from Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF).

People don't just want money because they want to live in luxury. What they instinctively fear are the "unexpected errors" of life. Sickness, injury, aging… they hoard what little money they have in their drawers as a form of "insurance" against those very things.

"Those are all just life’s operating costs. …So, if the state takes over those costs as a system, the anxiety itself is deleted."

I switched screens, linking Felsen’s demographic stats with Gara-Mon’s projected future profits via a complex series of functions.

"…That’s it. We don’t put Gara-Mon’s dividends directly into the citizens' hands. Instead, we redirect the entire payout into a massive, state-managed 'Mutual Aid Pool'—a Social Security Fund. In place of 'gold coins,' the citizens are guaranteed the right to reduced medical costs and a safeguard against starvation if they can no longer work."

This was the patch I’d engineered: the "Investment-style Universal Social Insurance System." Not a single copper of excess cash would leak into the market, meaning no inflation spikes. Yet, the citizens' standard of living would rise because their "anxiety-driven overhead" had been neutralized.

"…And there’s an aggressive secondary feature to this patch."

I added more equations to the code, listening to the roar of the PC’s cooling fan.

I wasn't about to let the massive capital sitting in this "pool" just lie dormant. I’d use it as the seed money for building the next factories and expanding infrastructure—'reinvesting' it directly back into industry.

"…An investment-based social safety net. The fund grows the industry, and the industry feeds more profit back into the fund. As the ROI increases, the citizens' premiums decrease until they eventually hit zero. It’s a far more efficient wealth-redistribution model than just handing out cash."

It was a "Sovereign Wealth Fund" on a national scale, similar to what Norway or Singapore achieved with their resources and labor.

I was going to execute it here, in Felsen, using the Gara-Mon engine as the core power source.

"…This is the one. This will compile. …I’m going to turn Felsen into one giant 'Mutual Aid Investment Corporation'—a Decentralized Autonomous Organization. A DAO."

I hit the Enter key with one final, heavy strike.

On the screen, Felsen’s revenue projections for the next several decades appeared as a beautiful, upward-curving parabola, swallowing every calculated margin of error.

"Meow. (Good work. You really should see the dark circles under your eyes in a mirror. You look like a zombie.)"

"…Gustav... the beta spec is finished."

I shut down the PC and collapsed onto the desk, my energy completely depleted.

***

A few hours later, the doorbell rang. Gustav and the math-demon Argo had arrived, unable to wait even a second past the promised hour.

I walked toward the living room with the gait of a ghost and placed the thick stack of documents—the "Felsen Social Security Fund Specifications"—printed via my translation printer onto the table.

"Gustav… here’s the result of the debugging session. This is how we make your ideal a reality. I’m going to go die for a bit, so you two check it over."

Gustav was speechless at my haggard appearance, while Argo began to slowly read through the spec.

Minutes of silence followed. In the quiet room, only the sound of turning pages echoed. As my consciousness began to fade, I watched Argo’s eyes slowly fill with a mix of shock and pure mathematical ecstasy.

(...Go ahead. Build a society where the 'poverty bug' doesn't exist. …Happy debugging.)

I leaned my recliner back and sank into a deep, dreamless sleep for the first time in two days.

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