Page 9 of Code of Heart
Levi had always been a hands-on CEO. When time allowed, he often took part in the development and quality assurance processes of any of their software products before launch. Being in the trenches with the developers helped him stay grounded and connected to the team. Interacting with the team made Levi happy, particularly because the majority were exactly like him.
Neuronix was dedicated to hiring the best talent, with a focus on creating employment opportunities for individuals of all abilities. He believed it to be a key differentiator that set the company apart from the competition while making it a safe place for people to grow and innovate.
However, he never used his status as CEO to do whatever he wanted and would go through the proper channels with Isaac's approval. While they were all friends, keeping strict professional boundaries was critical to ensure smooth company operations.
As CTO, this was technically Isaac's domain, and Levi felt it was important that everyone—including himself—respected and enforced this.Especiallyin front of Isaac's team. Otherwise, it undermined Isaac’s authority as a leader. He was too important to Levi as a friend and as the CTO of Neuronix to disrespect him or any of his other friends like that.
So, to learn that the Chair of the Board himself was acting outside the scope of his authority like this made Levi's blood boil.
It was probably because Tyler seemed to have an opinion abouteverything…and had made it clear that he could do a better job of running the company than Levi.
“I’ll address this during today's Board meeting. You know he’s going to bring Project DL up again, right?” Levi asked. A headache was taking shape behind his eyes.
It’s way too early for this shit.
Isaac nodded his head slowly, his jaw clenched beneath the thin beard coating his ebony chin. “I've already reprimanded Harris Wilkerson, the director who took instructions from Tyler, and made it clear that unless there is a communication specifically from me, they arenotto deviate from the project plan. I put him on a leave of absence while we conduct an internal investigation. Based on the seriousness of the findings,it’ll be grounds for immediate termination…I’m sure you can imagine how well he took that news.”
Levi angrily shook his head and gripped the armrest of his chair. “If you haven't already, schedule a mandatory meeting with your entire team this afternoon about it. I can attend to reiterate the message if you need me.”
“Consider it done,” Isaac said. He whipped out his phone and sent a message to his administrative assistant asking him to prioritize scheduling the meeting.
“We need to tighten security here. Board members shouldn’t have access to freely roam the building, especially in any area where proprietary code is openly worked on. Please work with Owen on that,” Levi added.
“Already on it. I dragged him into my office yesterday right after I tore Harris a new one,” Isaac said, taking another casual sip of his coffee. Of all his friends, Isaac was the most logical and put together…and also why Owen often called him a robot. In times like these, Levi sometimes envied his ability to be so levelheaded.
Levi sat back in his chair. “What’s the project status now? Hopefully, we caught Harris's interference before they implemented anything.”
Isaac visibly tensed, “The project itself is on track, but the problem is we don't know the full extent of what changes Harris made. I've removed his access to everything so he can’t do it again, but this is also why I haven't terminated him yet. We’re actively investigating exactly what happened.”
Levi raised both eyebrows.
“My understanding so far is that Tyler somehow followed Harris down to that area after the meeting last month. According to other team members, Tyler was asking questions about the progress and certain confidential solution attributes…but the part that caught my attention, andreallyconcerns me,is how focused he was on the type of data it would capture from the user.”
Levi narrowed his eyes and tilted his head as he thought through the potential implications of this.
“On top of that, the team is reporting various issues in the code that continue to pop up,” Isaac continued with a frown. “My gut is telling me that he’s been modifying it for a while, and there’s a lot buried within layers and layers that we need to uncover.”
“Shit,” Levi whispered, leaning against the back of his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose.This is really bad.
Project DL was focused on deep learning for text prediction to integrate artificial intelligence into their existing text solutions. This would revolutionize their product offering because it learns how dyslexia uniquely affects each user based on the type of mistakes they make, allowing them to more accurately predict the text they are trying to type with fewer mistakes.
Neuronix was also conducting ongoing research in brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies, which would enable dyslexic individuals to interact with computers using thought patterns, bypassing reading and writing challenges altogether. There was still so much work to be done in this space, but they were leading the charge.
The biggest issue with Harris and Tyler’s interference with the project was the impact on the user’s personally identifiable information, or PII.
This type of highly customized technology creates a need for a lot of PII, and not only to differentiate between each user, but because it's directly tied to their medical history. With identity theft and data breaches increasing, Levi couldn’t help but wonder why Tyler was so interested to learn what PII would be collected with this new solution.
Levi looked at his watch and grimaced. “Well, unfortunately, it's time for the meeting. Let's see what Tyler has to say about it.”Isaac schooled his features back into that impenetrable wall he was skilled at building.
Together they stood, collected their things, and left for the Board meeting.
CHAPTER 4
Aurelia
Selene picked herself up off the floor and made quick work of straightening out her pantsuit and her hair, her features still twisted in confusion. Aurelia was a little slower to rise but managed to get to her feet and right herself. There was a good chance she would develop a bump on the crown of her head based on the radiating pain.
She glanced at Selene apologetically and said, “I’msosorry, I didn’t see you there! Only I would manage to pick the exact moment you were about to knock on the door,” she rambled. “Are you okay?”
