[The camera is stable, likely mounted on a tripod because Irin won't hold it. He is sitting perfectly still, the blue light of the SUV's monitors reflecting off his chrome skin. He isn't looking at the lens; he's watching a digital readout of the car's engine performance.]
Bisi: "You're up, Irin. Don't worry about the jargon—just tell the people what you think of 2026."
Irin: [His voice is a low, resonant hum, like a distant power transformer] "It is a world of incredible geometry, Bisi. In Ominira, the peak of our engineering was the irrigation canal and the fortified wall. But this... the way you have harnessed the electron? The way you have taught silicon to 'think'? It is a symphony of logic. I find your 'internet' more fascinating than any ancient ritual. It is a digital nervous system for the entire species."
Bisi: "I didn't expect the 'Ancient Guardian' to be a fan of Wi-Fi."
Irin: [He finally turns his head, his silver eyes cold and precise] "Logic is universal, whether it is carved in stone or coded in binary. I appreciate the efficiency. I like that a man in Lagos can speak to a woman in Tokyo in less than a millisecond. It is the realisation of a dream we had five centuries ago—the dream of a unified mind."
Bisi: "So, no complaints? You're the only one enjoying the 21st century?"
Irin: [His brow furrows, and the hum of his voice drops an octave] "No. It is a masterpiece painted in blood. You have built wings to fly, but you use them to drop fire from the clouds. You have split the atom—the very building block of creation—not to provide infinite warmth, but to build a sun that only knows how to kill. In my time, war was a tragedy of the sword. Now, war is an industrial process. You have turned genius into a slaughterhouse."
Bisi: "What do you miss the most about the old world then? If you love our tech so much?"
Irin: "The weight of a man's word. In the Old World, if a contract was made, it was anchored in the spirit. Now, everything is 'negotiable.' You have laws, but you have no honour. You have data, but you have no truth. I miss a world where the structure of society was as solid as the iron I command."
Bisi: "And after Ile? What does a living machine do with his free time?"
Irin: [He looks back at the engine monitors] "I want to see the stars. Not through a telescope, but with my own eyes. You have the vessels to leave this atmosphere, yet you use them to fight over patches of dirt. If we survive this, I will find a way to take your technology and point it upward. I want to see if there is a logic out there that isn't obsessed with its own destruction."
Bisi: "Space, huh? The Final Frontier."
Irin: "It is the only place quiet enough for a mind like mine to calculate and finally understand the meaning of it all."