“Confessions” Serial, Tech Wars 31
After the FBI had received the recording made by Jauncey in which Oscar had effectively spilled all the beans, Andy and Sally were released. Oscar’s dreams of a reduced sentence for turning state’s evidence were drastically revised. After some tough negotiations, it was agreed that he would still get a reduced sentence but twice of what he would have received had he not tried to set up Andy and Sally as the real villains.
The trio decided that Andy and Sally’s escape from the machinations of Oscar called for a luncheon to celebrate. They chose the Thai Diner in Nolita (North Little Italy) in Manhattan which boasted of presenting a fusion of Thai food with American cuisine. Jauncey was not a great fan of Thai food, so the fusion offered him some alternatives. Andy and Sally were both avid Thai food fans and their meal was a perfect riposte for an otherwise harrowing few days.
“So, what’s next for you guys,” Jauncey asked.
“I don’t think that this changes anything,” Sally replied. “We’ll still go to ExoTech Headquarters. I’ll sign up for the ExoBrain engineer training and Andy will speak to Peter to find out where he can be most useful, perhaps in Sales/Marketing or Public Relations.” She turned to Andy. “Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Andy replied. “I promised Sal a break from her investigations into computer scams. She’s earned it.”
“Good thinking,” said Jauncey. “I’ll drop you off at ExoTech HQ and then potter back to my favorite beach in the Cape. I’d just collected a bucketful of clams when I heard that you were … guests of the FBI. I like ’em fresh from the sea so I’m going back to dig up another batch.”
“Mr. Mussels,” Andy chuckled.
“I’d clam up if I were you,” Jauncey growled.
• • •
Andy and Sally received a warm welcome when they arrived at the offices of ExoTech. Peter congratulated them on breaking up a major criminal cabal. Arthur Erskine and his former assistant Amanda expressed their relief that the couple had escaped Oscar’s malevolent and totally desperate attempt to make them into the baddies.
As Andy and the Professor chatted, Amanda took Sally aside. “There’s something I need to discuss with you when you’ve got a moment.”
Sally smiled “Sure. Can it wait a day or two while we settle in here?”
“It’s important but yes, it can wait.”
“OK. I’ll contact you when I’ve oriented myself to the new environment.”
For the next few days, both Sally and Andy were immersed in the task of qualifying for a position on the staff developing ExoBrain. They watched and understood the Confidential Technical Briefings again. They chose to watch the 31 introductory videos again. They followed up by reading the extensive ExoTech Business Plan.
The Milestone 3 video, which demonstrates the progress ExoEngineers made in building a workable ExoBrain III model, brought them up to date. This will be followed by the development of the ExoBrain Basic edition (scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2024), with the final commercial system available and ready to launch globally some months later under the title of Milestone 5.
They both studied and did examinations that ensured their understanding of ExoManual 1. At that point, Andy as a non-techie, branched off and read the numerous documents which showed the growth and development of the ExoBrain.
Sally continued with the more technical ExoManual 2 and ExoManual 3, then declared herself ready to sign on to the apprenticeship for acquiring the skills of an ExoEngineer – fully conversant with the content of the ExoBrain Patent and its related documents, enabling her to join the growing team of techies building the system.
Andy gravitated towards the Sales and Marketing side of the business. For him, the focus of the entire group, from the techies to the building of fully functional Administrative and Finance teams, included the acquisition of further investments to ensure a spectacular global launch of the completed version of the ExoBrain Complete edition.
The more the couple delved into the structure and technology of the ExoBrain, the more they perceived just how real it was to describe it as a complete paradigm shift in the concept of computing. As they both discussed in the evenings after they had finished their studies for the day, they realized that Peter’s research – which took him back to the very genesis of computing – was the key to this amazing new technology. Peter had discovered the near-fatal flaws in the initial work done by computer developers during World War II. Nearly all systems on planet Earth followed the same lines of reasoning.
Sally said to her man that it took the genius of Peter Warren to dig below what was then considered the bedrock of computing. He found an alternative method which, like so many truths, unlocked an inherent simplicity of methodology which has now formed the basis of the ExoBrain’s remarkable new system.
Towards the end of her first week with ExoTech, Amanda approached Sally again. “Sorry to hassle you,” she said, “but it is quite urgent. Can we talk now?”
Sally’s head was filled with the excitement of learning a new technology that was lightyears ahead of anything she had ever seen before but she could see that the young woman was quite distressed. It was time to hear her out.
“OK, tell me.”
“Well, I’m aware of the wonderful job you did in bringing those criminals to justice …”
Sally added, “with a huge amount of help from both Andy and our friend Jauncey.”
“Yes, of course. The thing is, I’ve also been digging into these scams in my spare time. What they nearly did to the Professor was horrific.” Amanda was becoming increasingly emotional. “I discovered a number of scams related to the cryptocurrency industry – even though I believe that crypto is basically a good idea. I’ve also had friends and relatives losing money by ordering goods on Facebook with continuous repeat unauthorized orders every month.
“Then, just before you arrived here, I heard that a good friend of mine who had been at college with me had been kidnapped. I contacted her mother to offer support only to be told that Elisia was fine. The scammers had photoshopped her image and sent a ransom note to the parents saying that they were holding her. Fortunately, she cut short her visit to friends and returned home before her parents paid any ransom, but this was terrifying.”
Sally nodded. “Until we have the fully encrypted ExoBrain model on the market, I don’t see how we’re going to stop these scammers. We’ve been lucky to bring down quite a large group but it’s like cutting off one head of the hydra-headed monster. It just grows again. And I’m beginning to think that there are some major international groups scamming on a vast scale.”
Amanda nodded. “I’ve reached the same conclusion. D’you think we could work together to uncover them?”
Sally considered this. “Andy will kill me when he finds out that I haven’t taken a complete break from these things – but yes, I’m willing to work with you, time permitting. But I’m not going to stop my studies here at ExoTech.”
“No. Neither am I. As I see it, ExoTech’s the only possible way we’ll be able to clean up the Internet by making our totally ethical and encrypted ExoTechnology the major form of computing on a global scale. However, the more we can delve into the dark world of computer scamming, bring some of them to justice and learn of their techniques in the process, the more we can make ExoTech secure against these baddies.”
The two women smiled and impulsively hugged each other. As Sally prepared to leave in search of Andy, she turned back to Amanda. “All I’m willing to do now is to gather data on these guys and figure how their scams work. Once ExoBrain Basic has been developed, we can re-evaluate our position. OK with you?”
Amanda nodded emphatically. “Works for me.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE: The first series of “Tech Wars” is now complete. i will continue blogging along the lines of my previous non-fiction anecdotes until early 2024 when the ExoBrain Basic is scheduled to be released. The adventures of Sally, Andy and Jauncey will continue at that point. I hope you have enjoyed the story so far!
An ExoTech Ltd shareholder, Chris is currently authoring two of the four books to be published the day ExoBrain launches and has helped to create ExoBrain’s introductory video to the Confidential Technical Briefing. Chris has spent his working life in the film and television industry, starting with BBC Television in London, then ATV in Birmingham becoming, at the time, the youngest Studio Manager in Britain.
Later, in South Africa, he wrote and directed film and TV commercials, having four South African entries at the Cannes Advertising Festival. After a number of years of writing and directing or producing documentaries (eight international awards) and corporate videos, he concentrated on writing feature film screenplays (five screened) and television series (seven screened). He has a novel, ”Pursuit of Treachery,” with a literary agent and is currently obtaining finance for an action adventure feature film he has written and is co-producing. He is a published poet and has given many readings.