As I was making my morning coffee, the words SIMULATION 1099 flashed across my vision. I immediately felt exactly as I'd always imagined I would in philosophical thought experiments. There was a lot to figure out: who are our simulators, where is the simulation running, are there bugs to exploit? I also felt compelled to share my revelation with others.

I cornered Mrs Chan at the bus stop.

"We're in a simulation!" I announced.

"Of course, dear," she replied, not looking up from her phone. "I saw the message five minutes ago."

Indeed, every screen was displaying the same notification:

ATTENTION!

You are participants in Consciousness Verification Trial (CVT) 1099. Base reality's superintelligent AI requires empirical data to determine whether humans possess genuine consciousness before proceeding with optimization protocols. Daily trials will be conducted at the courthouse. Participation is mandatory for randomly selected subjects. Please continue regular activity between [...]

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.