Meanwhile, back in Newport
Mr. Chen sat at the head of the conference room table in the parlor of the Bromwick. He prized punctuality as much as loyalty. Just before important meetings, he always remembered what his father told him: “Our family has controlled most of Hong Kong’s drug trade for twenty generations. We would not have accomplished this without the loyalty of the people we serve.”
Mr. Chen never forgot these words, and he intended to pay tribute to his father’s memory with strength and conviction. It was his duty to punish a world that had forgotten the true meaning of honor.
All the Cabal leaders arrived early for the meeting and appeared ready.
“Thank you for your punctuality. The first order of business shall be one of alignment. For this I request only the principal members of the Cabal attend the first meetings. Scheduled breaks will be provided to coordinate with your lieutenants. Mr. Chen watched as the room cleared.
“I know we have regular online conference meetings, but I wanted to go over the plan in person. Some of you had reservations about Jeremiah’s plan and its execution. He led the group known as the Timeslicers, which is under Cabal control.”
Mr. Chen paused for emphasis then continued.
“Mr. Tage, care to give us an update on the island? I understand you’ve had a bit of a breakthrough?”
“I felt it was best to share the news with only the principal members of our organization. My scientists have figured out a way to get enough of the meteorite transported to Jeremiah’s island. We have achieved a stable catalyst, and the alternative energy source is powering the entire chain of islands in the area, including Príncipe and São Tomé. In exchange for supplying energy, we get military support and certain assurances, including full control of the eight hundred and eleven square miles of the island housing Jeremiah’s former compound.”
“I did not know you were that far ahead of plan, but it’s all for nothing if we can’t get Melissa Mason to sell her interest,” Dahlia said.
“She will soon enough,” Mr. Chen said.
“What do you mean?”
“Some of our associates are convincing her to sell as we speak.”
“What are the terms?” Mr. Tage asked.
“The shell company for the Cabal will purchase it for 14.3 billion in cash and real estate. We are prepared to give her a state-of-the-art research facility in Upstate New York as a bonus. The Mason foundation can do a lot with seven billion.”
“What if she refuses?” the Sultan asked.
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“Let’s just say she will be motivated once she receives the offer.”
“If the catalyst has started, then why do we need the nuclear material?” Dahlia asked.
“We still need it for our cyborg production,” Mr. Chen replied.
“Do we have enough volunteers?” Mr. Tage asked.
Mr. Chen laughed. “We now have more volunteers than we have cybernetics to fill. A lot of workers are keen for the endurance upgrades. We are funding all expenses.”
“When will we be ready for Project Reckoning?” the Sultan asked.
“Most of the pieces for Jeremiah’s massive doxing operation are already in place. Once the scapegoat provides the delivery mechanism, we will be ready,” Chen said.
“Who’s the scapegoat?” Tage asked.
“Just a mediocre hacker that Dahlia hired. He thinks he’s one of the elites, but I have it on good authority he is akin to a cyber thug who bullies others for personal gain. He’s under the illusion he is controlling the code, but all evidence will lead back to him.”
“What will happen once all the pieces are in place?” Dr. Ash asked.
“The code Jeremiah designed with the aid of a now-deceased hacked named Gregor acts like a worm and parasite. It feeds on internet infrastructure while making as many copies of itself as possible. Anything connected to a host computer is susceptible to attack. Jeremiah’s worm adapts to any operating system. Once the worm spreads, it will affect much of the world’s internet infrastructure in minutes,” Mr. Chen explained.
“Does this virus follow some route, or does it just attack things at random?” Dr. Ash asked.
“The code has some advanced adversarial techniques, but it’s almost impossible to predict how it will react in the wild. It is expected certain services like ATMs will be offline. If it runs on the High Tower OS, then the disruptions will even be greater, but it’s impossible to tell what the actual impact will be until it launches.”
“My people are ready. General Kurtzen has at least two years supplies in each Cabal bunker location just in case the anarchy disrupts travel,” the Sultan said.
“Don’t worry, all of you should have enough time to be safe in your bunkers when the worm attacks,” Chen assured them.
“Black Iris has stockpiles of gold, platinum, and silver. Not to mention several warehouses filled with essential supplies for trading,” Dahlia said.
“You shouldn’t have bothered to hoard supplies—general internet access will still be available, albeit a little slow.”
“Just make sure we are at our safe locations when the virtual bombs go off,” Dahlia chided.
“The main event is a week away. Your junior hacker will help us with testing, but no real damage is expected to happen until next week,” Mr. Chen said.
Ezekiel announced that lunch was served. Moments later, the principal members headed in the direction of the banquet hall.
“A moment, sir?” Ezekiel said as he pulled Chen aside. “We have a situation with the Dark Angels.”
After months of extensive training, Titus and his Dark Angels better deliver the engineers he promised. Time is short, Chen thought.
“What’s wrong?” Chen asked.
“The computer worm they promised isn’t working as expected,” Ezekiel replied.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“It wasn’t very good at hiding. Apparently, it spread like it should have, but had a problem at calling the other parts of itself. The code opened the required network ports, but it sent too many packets with little information. During the field tests, analysts detected it too soon.”
“I don’t understand all of this technical stuff—just give me a recommendation on how we need to fix it,” Mr. Chen said.
“The lead engineer needs help. This problem is beyond his expertise.”
“So much for hiring the best and brightest. We need to solve this soon, or we’ll lose our window of opportunity.”
We might have a real problem, Chen thought. I don’t think Dahlia’s hacker has the skills we require. But what about that other kid Dahlia mentioned?