The car ride was silent as Jade thought about the party she left a few minutes ago. Her party, to be precise. Although she hosted similar events on a regular basis, she never paid it much attention.
After all, it was mostly boredom that caused her to play host and watch the different kinds of people sucking up to her. That or see them getting batshit drunk until they would be sleeping in their own vomit unless the standby medical team took care of them.
These were the only type of people attending every time.
“Miss, I got the information you were asking about.”
‘Yes, except that guy.’
Jade’s eyebrow twitched as she received the electronic file from her secretary, Melissa.
Anywhere else, Melissa would be capable enough to be an executive of a high-profile corporation, and yet, she was here taking care of Jade’s schedule and activities.
Naturally, getting the file on some kid she met at her own party wasn’t a task that took her more than a few minutes.
A few minutes that already appeared too long.
It’s been bothering her, what happened in the kitchen, that is. Not the fact that he came with that girl’s group, Tara Bates, but what he did to her household android.
It was one of the newer models, a product that was supposed to hit the market in two months. She wanted to use the party to introduce it to several classmates, or better said, the company that stood behind them. After all, none of them didn’t represent at least a major corporation in the central district.
With their presence in high society, she could gather interest in the androids prior to launch, eliminating any doubts or uncertainties beforehand. What she didn’t expect, however, was the android to malfunction right away. It seemed to be operating as expected until that guy came around and messed everything up.
“Did you send the A7-Model to maintenance, Melissa?” Jade asked as she looked over the electronic file in her hands.
“Yes, Miss. They are already working on it as we speak. I also told them to submit a report on the technical issue regarding its behavioral AI.”
‘That AI is flawless, though.’ Jade thought in her mind as she shook her head. The design of androids has been in development through GenoTech for decades, refined and improved with every newer version. Not to mention, the model they used as a base has been created over a century ago by the brightest minds of humanity. Her grandfather, the current chairman of the GenoTech Conglomerate, was one of the lead researchers on that project until it was discontinued.
To think that such an Artificial Intelligence would be at fault appeared unthinkable to her.
“Hmm, what?” A certain section in the file caught her attention. “He was recovered from the wastelands as an orphan from the Clean Life Foundation. Melissa, isn’t that one of our non-profits?”
The neatly dressed woman sitting next to Jade nodded.
“Yes, it’s one of several in regards to reclaiming resources and lifes from the wastelands. However, compared to the others, it’s one of the worst-performing assets among GenoTech’s subsidiaries. The numbers have been in the red consistently for years now.”
“Then why haven’t we sold that yet?” Jade couldn’t understand why it was still among their assets. In her mind, if it wasn’t performing up to standards, it should be sold right away.
“The proposal of selling it has been brought forward several times already but the chairman never greenlit the trade. Now, the board just accepts it as a red stain on the books they can’t do anything about.”
Nodding slightly, Jade flipped through the following slides of the file trying to find something. With him being with the Clean Life Foundation for a while before entering the foster system, they should have some personal information regarding medical history and a clearer background check. And yet, none of that information was present.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
‘Melissa, why don’t we have any records on him through the foundation?”
“It’s because you don’t have access.”
Hearing her secretary’s blunt answer, Jade raised an eyebrow in question. “Excuse me?”
“I tried retrieving those records but they were denied. The authority required is above yours.”
“That’s impossible.” She scoffed in denial. “My authority is among the highest in GenoTech except maybe my grandfather…”
Jade never finished her sentence. There wasn’t a mistake or anything similar. After all, their security and database, as a mega-corporation, was among the best in the United Human Territories. Her access being denied only meant one thing. Either the CEO or chairman of GenoTech classified it as too important for anyone but them to see. Not the current higher executives and certainly not her.
But why would her grandfather lock the records of some orphan of their worst-performing non-profit foundation?
Thinking about an answer to her question, Jade stared out of the window at the passing cars. A few minutes later, she finally opened her mouth.
“Melissa, we’re going back to the Kotova Estate.”
She needed to find out more about the matter. Especially since she had a feeling she would encounter Leon Harper more frequently in the future.
“I need to ask my grandfather some questions.”
……….
The next day, Leon went to the Labs right after classes ended, eager to find out more about Project Phoenix.
Although he was still worried about the aftermath of the party, considering he broke a brand-new million credit robot, Trey promised him that it wasn’t an issue. More specifically, he didn’t seem to be bothered in the first place.
In his own words, a million credits wasn’t more than spare change to Jade Kotova. Understandable, taking into account her status as an heir to one of the few mega-corporations in the world. But still, Leon wasn’t quite comfortable with the whole situation. She was someone with real power. Something Leon couldn’t contend with even with all his wits and brains.
Plus, he was broke. His allowance from his meager stipend that Alpha Dynamics was willing to cough up was thoroughly drained with the exception of his daily meal tickets.
Yet, in the end, he would need to pray that Trey would pull him out of trouble if she ever decided she wanted payback.
As he thought about his precarious situation, Leon entered Dr. Irvine’s office who was sitting behind his desk, reviewing several documents on multiple screens. Without saying anything, Leon stood by while observing the middle-aged man while he tried to find the right words.
“What are you thinking about so intently, Leon? You never hesitate to speak up right away.” Dr. Irvine blurted out, his eyes never leaving the screen.
“I was wondering about something.” Leon began with a serious tone. This seemed to break the man’s concentration, making him raise his head.
“Wondering about what?”
“The file you gave me. Is there any way to get a clean version without any redactions?”
“Redactions…” Rubbing his nose slightly, Dr. Irvine averted his gaze for a moment before shaking his head. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. You see, the censored parts are missing reports and details from the project, lost throughout its time when it was still active. After all, when they began working on it, the war just ended with the world in shambles. Everything that couldn’t be confirmed because those responsible died was blacked out instead.”
Missing and lost.
Leon repeated those two words in his mind. It made sense but also not. The redacted sections were focused on the creation of the first true AI. Not the general information but more detailed reports, as well as the later development stages that caused its failure.
Yet, those parts were missing?
“Then what happened to the results of the project? They may have failed in completing it but they still should have developed a better AI model than anything before, right?”
“They did.” Dr. Irvine nodded, leaning back into his chair. “In fact, the entire android development of the GenoTech Conglomerate wouldn’t be anywhere where it is today without the Phoenix Project at its base. Their current chairman, Andrei Kotova, took the AI base model and re-designed it over a century to where it is now.
With every word he spoke, Leon noticed how Dr. Irvine’s tone got more and more spiteful.
“He took what all those researchers, including your father, painstakingly developed for the world for himself—and created a product incomparable to anything on the market. That’s why GenoTech is a step above, even compared to the few other mega-corporations. In regards to androids and robots, they have the undisputed market dominance.”
……….
“Information is power. No matter what part of life it applies to.”
~~Dr. Benjamin Harper’s Memoirs~~