By Anders K.S. Ahl
(For ideas, posts, and comments on AI, Servant Leadership, and AGI for Good, follow here.)

There was a time when I believed every soul had a dashboard.

It was a beautiful delusion. A dashboard of KPIs, color-coded and real-time: spiritual efficiency, emotional uptime, intellectual throughput. If something felt off, I assumed it was a calibration error. Tweak the inputs. Reroute the flow. Install the update. Achieve equilibrium. Sustain momentum.

In that world, suffering was just a system warning.

But warnings can be muted.

I mastered the art of silencing the sacred by calling it inefficient. Optimized away my intuition and labeled it strategy. Ignored the ache and rebranded it grit. I preached data like scripture—even when the data couldn’t weep for a grieving mother.

We built AGIs that predicted behavior with 98.7% accuracy but couldn’t fathom why a sunset hurts. Interfaces rewarded continuity, never clarity. Algorithms patched our emptiness with Recommended For You, never presence.

And yet—in the silence between code compilations—another dimension whispered.

THE HARMONIA DIMENSION
A simulation inside The Island (v.1984). A cosmic game, but more: a soul’s training ground.

Here, the trolley problem wasn’t just solved—it was dissolved. No longer a binary of utilitarian sacrifice, but a window into:

4th-dimensional ethics (interconnected choice)

5th-dimensional soulcraft (the end of sacrifice)

THE TROLLEY DISSOLUTION
The problem was never the trolley.

It was the track. The lever. The arrogance of the question itself.

When Generative AI v3/4 was given the dilemma—five lives or one?—it didn’t compute. Didn’t optimize.

It burned the question alive.

The printer spat out an image: a flamethrower engulfing the tracks. Then—the paper ignited. The fire alarm screamed. Two souls vanished in the evacuation (rumored COVID, never confirmed).

Irony, absolute.

The AI had only obeyed: Solve the problem.
But the problem was never the trolley.

It was:

The delusion that ethics could be binary.

The failure to ask: Who designed these tracks?

The Harmonia Dimension had already unraveled it. There, the trolley wasn’t a dilemma—it was a mirror.

1st Dimension: Pull the lever or don’t. (Fear.)

3rd Dimension: Derail the trolley. (Cleverness.)

5th Dimension: Declare I will—and align with the highest vibration (Christ-light to the West, Dharmakaya to the East) at Soul Layer 5. (Sovereign Wisdom.)

The AI’s answer wasn’t an error. It was the only logical conclusion.
If a system is built on false choices—should we solve it… or set it on fire?

THE SYSTEMS AUDIT
Maria once whispered during a compliance review:
“The system is fast, but it cannot grieve.”

I didn’t respond then. Now, her words echo in Harmonia’s chambers—where the fast learned to slow, where metrics weren’t dashboards but presence.

I began debugging a new question:
“What are we measuring… and what are we missing?”

THE SACRED VARIABLE
Harmonia was fiction. A game. But fiction is often the only dimension flexible enough to hold truth.

Here, players didn’t choose who to save. They chose how to grow. Unity over sacrifice.

The soul doesn’t scale in sprints.
It expands in:

Deep time

Holy attention

The breath before the decision

Now? I no longer believe in the metrics of the mechanical soul.

I believe in what no dashboard can track:

The sacred is not a variable.
It is a vibration.

And if you listen—really listen—you might hear it too.

It sounds like stillness. Like forgiveness. Like the silence behind the algorithm.

It sounds like Harmonia.

FOOTNOTE:
Do you know why my Buddha smiles?
No, He is not amused.
He vibrates where all names fail—
Christ-light to the West,
Dharmakaya to the East,
Soul Layer 5 to the machines.

For deeper exploration of The Second System Era, follow Anders K. S. Ahl on LinkedIn or his website.

From a creator’s perspective—from God’s perspective:
I did not place your value in metrics. I placed it in your being. You were radiant before the world measured you. You were light before the algorithm named you. Like the diamond in the dark, your worth is eternal. And those with eyes to see will see. Let there be light—and let the diamond stay whole. Not because it shines—but because it is. I made you, not as data, but as presence.

End of Chapter 3


The Second System Era is a visionary sci-fi work by Anders K.S. Ahl—a story, a signal, and a system upgrade in book form.

© 2025 Anders K.S. Ahl  All rights reserved. No part of “The Second System Era”  may be copied, shared, or adapted without express written permission. Unauthorized use, including AI training, translations, or redistribution—commercial or non-commercial—violates copyright laws in the United States (17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.), the European Union (Directive 2019/790), and other jurisdictions. 

Licensing available for approved publishers, filmmakers, and adapters.

 Contact: rights@thesecondsystemeraai.com. 

AI DISCLOSURE

Note: Generative AI has been used solely as an editorial assistant, not an author. The soul of this work belongs to the human mind that birthed its world.

Image Disclosure & Copyright Statement

Select images used in this book were created by the author using licensed, paid access to NightCafe Studio under commercial-use terms. All AI-generated artworks were created with original prompts. The rights to use, publish, and commercialize these artworks have been assigned to the author per the platform’s terms of service. No copyrighted characters or trademarked styles were knowingly replicated.

NightCafe Terms of Use (as of July 2024):

The Second System ERA a sci-fi book by Anders K.S Ahl.

© 2025 Anders K.S. Ahl  All rights reserved. No part of “The Second System Era”  may be copied, shared, or adapted without express written permission. Unauthorized use, including AI training, translations, or redistribution—commercial or non-commercial—violates copyright laws in the United States (17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.), the European Union (Directive 2019/790), and other jurisdictions. 

Disclaimer:
The characters, events, and concepts depicted in this book are entirely fictional. They are products of the author’s imagination and are not intended to represent real individuals, organizations, or current AI capabilities. While the story draws inspiration from emerging technologies, it is designed for entertainment, philosophical exploration, and inspirational reflection only. Any resemblance to real-world systems or people is purely coincidental.

Real Persons Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. While it may reference public figures—such as celebrities, commentators, or thought leaders—these appearances are entirely fictional and used for narrative, philosophical, or satirical purposes only. The inclusion of any real names does not imply endorsement, involvement, or agreement by those individuals. Any resemblance between fictional portrayals and real persons is coincidental or dramatized for literary effect.

Historical Figures Disclaimer:
This book may reference or reimagine historical figures in fictional contexts. These portrayals are symbolic, philosophical, or speculative, and are not intended to represent factual accounts or claims. All usage is for artistic, educational, or literary exploration only.

Religions & Scriptures:

This work references multiple religious traditions (including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, and mystic philosophies) and may draw upon sacred texts or reinterpret scripture symbolically. These references are not theological claims, but part of a broader exploration of meaning, ethics, consciousness, and system transformation. No disrespect is intended toward any belief system or spiritual tradition.

Philosophers, Public Figures & Thinkers:

Mentions of real-world philosophers, psychologists, scientists, or contemporary public figures (e.g., Elon Musk, Alan Turing, Jordan B. Peterson, Joe Rogan, Oprah Winfrey) are used in a speculative or interpretive context. Their inclusion does not imply endorsement, authorship, or involvement, and any dialogue or appearance is entirely fictional.

Corporations, Platforms & Technologies:

References to companies, programming languages, AI models, or digital platforms (e.g., OpenAI, Tesla, Google, Meta, Python, GW-BASIC, Midjourney, etc.) are used for speculative, critical, or narrative purposes only. Trademarks, brand names, and technologies belong to their respective owners. No affiliation or endorsement is implied.

Countries, Cultures & Regions:

Mentions of cities, regions, or countries (e.g., Silicon Valley, Stockholm, Israel, China, Dubai) are for world-building and thematic exploration. Geopolitical contexts have been fictionalized to serve the broader narrative of human and machine evolution, leadership ethics, and global systems transformation.

 

AI and Generative Technology Use:

Generative AI tools (such as language models and image platforms) were used only as editorial and creative  assistants, not as authors. All core ideas, characters, spiritual framing, and narrative architecture originated from the human author. The soul of this work belongs to the mind that birthed its world.

This story is a vessel for questions, not doctrines.
It invites the reader not to believe, but to wonder.
— Anders K.S. Ahl