Chapter 7 - The Boardroom Slaughter
While Chloe was imploding, Julian Thorne was preparing to launch his masterstroke.
Believing he had the authentic Artemis Project code, Julian integrated it into Vanguard Equities' primary algorithmic trading system. He planned to use the AI to outmaneuver my company in the Asian markets, driving my stock price down while generating billions for himself.
It was a Monday morning. I sat in my boardroom, surrounded by my executive team. We had a massive monitor displaying the live global market index.
"Julian flipped the switch," my CTO announced, typing furiously. "Vanguard's AI is live."
"Let's watch," I said quietly, tenting my fingers.
For the first five minutes, Julian's algorithm performed flawlessly. But then, the shadow code activated. The catastrophic flaw I had engineered began a feedback loop.
Instead of buying low and selling high, Julian's system began aggressively shorting the strongest stocks in the market while pouring billions into failing shell companies. Because the AI was designed to operate at microsecond speeds, human intervention was impossible until the damage reached critical mass.
On the screen, Vanguard Equities' stock ticker started to drop.
Down 5%. Down 12%. Down 30%.
"Sir, Vanguard is hemorrhaging capital," my CFO breathed in awe. "They've lost three billion dollars in fourteen minutes. The SEC is freezing their trading desks."
Julian Thorne had tried to steal my future. Instead, he had downloaded a virus that annihilated his entire company. By noon, Vanguard Equities was filing for emergency bankruptcy, and Julian was being investigated by the SEC for market manipulation and gross negligence.
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My phone rang. It was Julian.
I let it ring until it went to voicemail. I didn't need to hear his panic. The silence was much more satisfying.
