Big Data: A Startup Thriller Novel

Chapter 53

"We did it," said Thor, stepping out of a black car onto the runway. "You were right. With the right incentives in place, our programmers cracked it. We call the feature Gaia's Wrath. With it, we can now target anyone in the world."

Doug's smile widened until he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Have you tried it out yet?"

"No," said Thor. "I wanted you to have the first go at it."

Doug took a deep breath. Once again, the universe had provided. When Thor suggested that Doug join him on his private jet to Seattle that morning—with the promise of good news—he wasn't expecting news as good as this. Thor was scheduled to meet with Boeing to close a deal that would put Ancien in all their new airliners. Ancien had already proven its value to the aviation industry when it was installed on small private jets built by King Air.

Thor continued, "So, will this make Gaia's Wrath more valuable for whoever we're selling it to?"

"You keep using the words 'us' and 'we.' Have you forgotten our deal?"

"Of course not. I merely assumed Luna would be the first person targeted by Gaia's Wrath."

"How does it work?"

They stepped onto the jet. It was spacious inside, with four large chairs surrounding a circular oak desk. Thor sat down and pressed his fingers against the desk; a screen rose up and a keyboard was revealed.

"It's easy," said Thor. With a few keystrokes, he pulled up a screen with a single text input. The door of the jet closed, and almost immediately started to taxi to the runway. "You just put a name here."

"What if it's a common name? Like, John Butler. There are probably dozens of John Butlers in the United States alone."

"Collateral damage."

"That's the kind of collateral damage that gets noticed, Thor."

"We'll keep working on it. I don't think there are a dozen Luna Valencias. Go ahead, try it." Thor spun the circular desk toward Doug until his fingers touched the keyboard. The jet pushed with full force as it began its ascent to the clouds. Doug sat quietly. He always enjoyed the feeling of his stomach moving up to his throat.

"So, you never answered my question. Will this make Gaia more valuable?"

Doug laughed.

"What's with your obsession with money, Thor?"

"It's how we keep score, isn't it? It's how we know who's winning."

"And are you, Thor? Winning?"

"Well, I could always be winning by a wider margin."

Doug watched as the plane tore through the layers of morning clouds, and the warm yellow sun shone in through the windows. He stood up and went to the minibar at the back of the plane.

"Is that what you want out of life, Thor? To have the most money? To make your family name mean something again through commerce?"

"Fuck you. What I want is my business. You don't see me trying to butt into your motivations, do you?"

"I guess not. I guess not," Doug mused. He pulled out a bottle of champagne and two glasses and returned to the table. "Is this thing online?"

"What? Gaia's Wrath? Yeah. The plane has a satellite Internet connection. It should be good to go."

"And how long will it take to do the job?"

"Who knows? You'll be the first to find out. It could be minutes or hours. Maybe days. Our team has used Gaia to break into every major healthcare, government, and digital service there is. Gaia's Wrath determines how best to kill efficiently and without being traced. We've never tried to figure out how quickly it does its job before."

Doug poured two glasses of Dom Perignon, vintage 2002.

"Well, it's about time someone found out. Here's to a long and fruitful partnership."

Thor grabbed the glass.

"Here's to Luna Valencia," said Thor.

"I'll toast to that." Doug swirled the glass under his nose and took a small sip. He let the champagne linger on his tongue for a moment before swallowing the bubbles that had waited for so many years to see fresh air—only to be consumed seconds later.

Doug sat down and typed on the keyboard.

Luna Valencia.

He pressed return. The screen seemed to freeze for a moment. Then a confirmation appeared. Doug continued typing.

Phillip Jones.

Doug pressed return and looked up.

"Who was that lawyer representing Luna again?"

"Heath Lemming. Why?"

Doug typed Heath's name and pressed return. Thor's eyes widened.

"Hey, wait. Heath's on our side. He's going to bring Luna to me."

"If this thing works, then he won't need to bring us Luna. If it doesn't work, he still can. Either way, it'll be fine."

"I don't think we should be using Gaia's Wrath without consulting each other first. We don't even know if it works yet."

"Don't worry, partner," said Doug. "It'll be fine. I believed you a few minutes ago when you told me it worked."

Doug looked up at Thor. Thor was staring out the window at Mount St. Helens. Quickly, Doug typed out one last name. He wasn't going to make the same mistake he'd made last time. Collateral damage.

Thor Massino.

Return.