Free · interactive · about 3 minutes

A fictional office at night with empty desks. — The Last Hire · fictional story. The office empties; a desk is cleared. Two questions make room for a shared decision.

A fictional office desk with chairs and windows. — The Last Hire · fictional story. The office empties; a desk is cleared. Two questions make room for a shared decision.

It says it's done: a branching scenario

Your AI research assistant reports that all 20 sources are summarized, and the memo goes to Dana at 14:30. Choose what to say, ask for the missing half, and see where each path ends. Three ways in, six endings.

Fictional practice case: It says it's done. Dana is fictional, and Otto is a fictional AI research assistant. Your choices stay on this page and are not saved or sent anywhere. After an ending where you asked something, “Try again with what you now know” keeps the answers you asked for in a list at the top, labeled as learned earlier, and starts a fresh run.

Numbers and quotes come from the free "It says it's done" case: 20 sources, a 5-minute check for each, 60 minutes before 14:30, 16 sources read in full and 4 from abstracts only, and 8 sources the memo relies on. Each ending can skip ahead to 14:30; that part uses only the case's arithmetic, its own listed outcomes and what was said on your path, and says what the case does not give. Dana decides which sources may be cited, and the assistant approves nothing. A change to what is cited stays a proposal until Dana confirms it.

About this practice

Dana, a fictional colleague with a cartoon head, standing and facing forward.

Teaches: Check what the memo rests on, label the rest, and put the citation decision to Dana.
Does not claim: A fictional case, and Otto is a fictional AI. One run is not a verdict, and no outcome is measured.
For: Anyone whose AI research assistant says the work is done with the deadline an hour away.

More scenarios

Choose from all eight branching scenarios →

Where to go next

Next case: Two role windows around a one-page brief. Time is short again, but now the limit is the windows of the people involved instead of a tool's report.
Guide: How to clarify who can decide before a work conversation stalls. A short read on telling apart who knows, who recommends, who approves and who does the work.
Tool: Request-clarification checklist. Work through the two questions and the follow-ups for who is asking, then copy a plain reply.

Ask the questions yourself.
Play the same case as a solo game: ask Otto or Dana, reveal the missing facts and write your next-step card.

Play the free "It says it's done" case ↗

Site last updated: 2026-10-17