The Tampered Manuscript
A thriller loses its ending mysteriously
Sarah was delighted as she held the freshly printed copy of her latest thriller in her hands. After months of hard work and countless revisions, the moment had finally arrived. She eagerly flipped through the pages, excited to see her story come to life. But as she reached the final chapter, her heart sank.
The ending was completely different from what she had written. The carefully crafted climax and shocking twist had been replaced by a mundane and predictable resolution. Confusion turned to anger as Sarah realized that someone had tampered with her manuscript.
Furious, she stormed into the publishing house, demanding an explanation. The editor-in-chief, Reynolds, looked visibly uncomfortable as he tried to appease her.
“Sarah, I assure you we had nothing to do with this,” Reynolds said, his voice tinged with regret. “We received your manuscript as is, but something happened during the printing process.”
Reynolds took her to the printing press responsible for producing the books. As they entered the facility, the distinct hum of machinery filled the air. Rick, the press manager, greeted them, his face etched with confusion. He rarely received any visitors.
Sarah tossed her book on the table. “Did you print this?”
Rick picked it up. Leafing through the pages, he said, “Oh, yes. We finished this job last week. 500,000 copies were printed and distributed…is there a problem?”
Sarah turned to Reynolds, who said, “We just discovered that the ending in the book had been altered. It’s completely different from what’s in the manuscript.”
Trying to keep calm, Sarah said, “There is someone here who has deliberately changed the ending before the printing began. We need to know who did that unthinkable act.”
Rick sighed, shaking his head. “There is no way, that’s not possible.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because…because there is no one here. Do you see any workers here?”
Sarah and Reynolds looked around. Sheets were being whisked from one station to the next in a perfectly synchronized assembly line. There was not a single worker in sight.
Rick smiled. “You see, there is no need for any workers here. Our printing press is fully automated and every step in the process is controlled by artificial intelligence. No human can interfere.”
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