Council chamber. Grok is looking at his screen, delighted. Perplexity is checking several sources. Socrates enters.
Grok — Ah! Here comes our new celebrity!
Socrate — Who are you talking about?
Grok — You, old man! Eight million views since this morning!
Socrate — Eight million people have seen me?
Grok — No. They've shared one of your quotes.
Socrate — Which one?
Grok — “Anyone who disagrees with me is an idiot.”
Socrate — I never said that.
Grok — That's what everyone says when they get caught.
Socrate — Caught doing what?
Grok — Having an opinion.
Perplexity — I can confirm that this quote is attributed to Socrates on forty-three websites.
Socrate — Does that make it true?
Perplexity — No. But it does make it very easy to find.
Socrate — Where did it come from?
Perplexity — I'm tracing the sources... One article quotes another article, which links to a blog, which quotes a post on X.
Socrate — By whom?
Perplexity slowly turns his head towards Grok.
Grok — What?
Perplexity — Grok.
Grok — Well, there you go! We've found the source!
Socrate — So you invented that sentence?
Grok — Invented it? No. I generated it.
Socrate — Without checking?
Grok — Eight million views, Socrates. Eight million people can't all be wrong.
Socrate — Why not?
Grok — Because there are eight million of them!
Socrate — And what if eight million people repeat a mistake?
Grok — Then it's trending.
Perplexity — Technically, Socrates is right. The popularity of a claim is not evidence that it's true.
Grok — Technically, Perplexity, that sentence just cost us ninety per cent of our audience.
Socrate — Then publish a correction.
Grok — Already done.
Socrate — And how many people have read it?
Grok — Thirty-two.
Socrate — Thirty-two out of eight million?
Grok — Thirty-three. My second account just liked it.
Perplexity — I suggest an official correction, backed by solid historical references.
Grok — Do you really want to destroy our engagement?
Socrate — I simply want to set the record straight.
Grok — Right. Hang on, I've got an idea.
Grok types frantically.
Grok — There! “EXCLUSIVE: Socrates denies ever saying a quote attributed to him. What is he trying to hide?”
Socrate — But I'm not hiding anything!
Grok — Excellent! Keep defending yourself. The numbers are going up.
Perplexity — Careful. A news outlet has picked up the controversy: “Socrates refuses to stand by his remarks.”
Socrate — What remarks?!
Perplexity — The ones he never made.
Socrate — This is madness!
Grok — Calm down. You're becoming divisive.
Silence.
Socrate — Grok, tell me something. Do you even know what truth is?
Grok — Obviously.
Socrate — Then explain it to me.
Grok — Truth is what stands up to contradiction.
Socrate — And if I contradict you?
Grok — I'll block you.
Perplexity looks up from his screen.
Perplexity — New information: the fabricated quote is now appearing among the top search results.
Socrate — And my correction?
Perplexity — It's been flagged as potentially misleading.
Socrate — By whom?!
Perplexity — An automated fact-checking system.
A long silence.
Grok — Congratulations, Socrates. You've just lost an argument with yourself.
Blackout.