Interview 4: “The Banker Who Lost His Reflection”
Location: Ballard, Seattle
Interviewee: Damien Clarke, Age 51, Former Investment Banker
When I meet Damien, he’s sitting where his office once stood. The air filled with the faint hum of photosynthetic power grids.
DAMIEN: “I used to trade time. Futures, margins, derivatives, all of it just… time sold in different clothes. Then AI came for prediction, and suddenly there was nothing left to gamble on. Everything was known.” He now works part-time as an emotional mediator, though he admits the irony.
DAMIEN: “The algorithms don’t crash. They don’t sweat. They don’t need victory. Sometimes I miss the fear. It meant something.”
When I ask what he’s learning to do now, he looks up.
DAMIEN: “Still figuring that out. Maybe that’s my new job.”
