4
"You've got to be kidding me, right?" Esmond complains. "J.D., Why do we hire such insane cronies anyway?"
Esmond Baza wasn't always very critical of J.D. Thorne's hunches but, hearing him continue to talk about Flynn's experiment over the phone was bothering him. As one of the executives of F-Con, his curiosity regarding ENCOM's tech was palpable. Everyone in charge knew about the plans for a merger between the two companies, yet he didn't expect something as odd as the ability to enter a computer would even be possible. His upturned nose flared at the idea of being the victim of a prank.
Baza was a very down to earth man. Born in India, he graduated from Leicester University of London and was an excellent programmer. Baza wanted to ensure that he wouldn't be fired for believing in, what he considered, was a few trick photographs.
"J.D. , What makes you think this has any kind of credibility to it?" He inquires.
"I keep telling you, he knows what he is talking about, I even had him take a lie detector test and he passed with flying colors. I used to be head of security you know, I knew they were doing something . . . weird in that lab years ago but, they kept it quiet so no one would say anything. This laser was probably what they were working on for so long." J.D. retorts.
Baza thinks for a moment. "I'll get the other execs together this evening, we will all decide if this is legitimate together and if we all agree, Boss will make the final decision."
"Me included?"
"Of course JD, Just make sure you bring your so called spy with you." He smirks.
"You've got to be kidding me." She says. Her heavy French accent only adds to her disgust and yet her pale skin doesn't even wrinkle slightly.
Popoff was one of F-con's brightest employees and the most driven of the three executives. A French native, she is extremely cold as an individual and works better with large groups.
The final executive, Seth Crown, just rolled his eyes. He was, in reality the corporate attorney for F-con. However he contributed his programming expertise to create one of F-con's greatest assets, the Seeker program: Capable of scanning virtually every computer connected to the internet to find, or eliminate, any file or program.
Crown was a very stern individual who didn't express much emotion towards anything. Yet his brow was even more furrowed then usual.
J.D. sat at the end of the table. Pounding his fist into the desk, he stood up and started hollering.
"I know it seems unlikely, but my intuition has served us well in the past. I worked at ENCOM for a few years and I know for certain that something extraordinary was being tested behind the lab doors. The pictures you see here are absolutely genuine. I even had Mr. Calvin Bullini take a lie detector test. If you continue to disregard my discovery, I will personally hack into ENCOM's computers and find the program they are using myself."
Eva leans in JD's direction. "JD, The problem isn't evidence, it's concept. What in gods name is Mr. Flynn doing to the test subject? How do you know he isn't dead or something?"
"Because he kept saying he was contacting him through and 'I/O' or something like that." Calvin interrupts
"You mean an input/output with the test subject?" Crown interjects, his booming voice scaring Calvin. "That could mean he was communicating with the test subject, so what did he see in there?"
Calvin just shrugs his shoulders. Baza stands to speak.
"We need to start making a decision about this now and tell Boss ASAP."
"I heard everything" Boss shouts. Everyone turns their attention to the camera in the corner of the room attached to the ceiling, the huge purple F-con logo on its side. It beeps and whirs into position. The voice actually comes from the camera, as the Boss has never actually been seen in person before.
From the founding days of the company, the true CEO was always behind a curtain. The Executives merely figure heads that would direct the true CEO's plans. No one knew where he was really located and no one dared question their 'Boss', yet many people believed he was really Edward Dilinger, former Senior executive of ENCOM, at least until the MCP had fallen at the hands of Alan Bradley's program and Kevin Flynn's computer prowess causing Dilinger to be fired as the MCP's deletion had temporarily crushed ENCOM's funds.
"Much like JD, I had once held a position within ENCOM and I hate to burst the bubble of the skeptics here but, he is right."
Everyone just looks at each other in bewilderment.
"What was your position there exactly?" Baza asks.
"And what do you mean by 'right'?"
"That is none of you business!" the camera screams. "JD, I'm putting you in charge of this assignment! I want you to find out everything you can about the laser, even if it means physically breaking into ENCOM. Get your best hackers to find a way in as well. When you figure out how to build the laser, reconstruct our own 'personalized' version of it, get it patented and start testing it. Imagine the possibilities if we can beat ENCOM to the punch with this tech."
"That's an incredible risk Boss. What does this thing even do?" Crown asks.
"It's a way for us to get in to the computer and eventually into everyone's information. It will allow us to get past any obstacle in our wake. Credit cards, bank receipts, everything could be ours to manipulate and use to our advantage. If we get good enough, the pentagon could be our personal Commodore 64 to play with. So get started . . . NOW!"