Page 39 of The Ranger
Nothing out of the ordinary.Not that I have a baseline, but no one seems nervous.
“Shame, we play once a month.”Chen shrugs.“I bet you’d have some power in those arms.”
“You do?I’ve never been invited.”Todd laughs but seems a little rejected while I’m unsure how to react to his comment.“Who plays?”
“Ah, I’ll invite you next month.”Chen waves it off, giving me another glance.“Come, let me show you the new 5G chips.”
Those are for the telecom customers and not what I’m interested in.It’s more important that I focus on what I’m here for.I don’t actually work for QuantumCore.
Not that they know that.
“I need to prep for another meeting, but thanks, Chen.”I go to turn, then swivel back.“That prototype date, can you send me the updated timeline, please?”
He can’t say no.
Chen flinches, and Todd gives me a surprised look.Clearly, no one speaks to Chen in such a mildly authoritative tone.
As I suspected.
He’s a gaslighter and uses distraction to manipulate those around him.I’ve seen this before.
Most newbies wouldn’t go straight for the jugular, but I’m not here to get invited to golf or Sunday football games.I’m here to find out who is trying to steal US military secrets inside QuantumCore.
This is espionage, not just corporate theft.
After speaking to Nathan and fully understanding the situation, I recognize that this is now a national security threat...if the spy gets away with it.
We don’t intend to let that happen.
I brief Josh, sharing the weight on my shoulders.
“How does it work?”he asked.
“The quantum AI chip has the ability to disrupt enemy radar and networks with advanced processing—fast processing—faster than anything currently on Earth.”
“Fuck.That could mean the difference between an entire city being destroyed...or not.”
“Yup,” I replied.“Whoever holds this technology will have a huge advantage for potentially years.We want that to be America.”
“Yes, we fucking do.If it lands in enemy hands, it could mean millions of deaths and borders changing all over the world.”
Neither of us say it, but the implications of that are greater than most people understand.Physical border changes aside, it would impact global economies and the way wealllive.
Depending on who the enemy is, it could throw the Western world into a recession not seen in generations.
“If this is used for nuclear weapons...game over,” Aidan says on speaker as we talk.
“Yeah.”I sighed, running a hand over my face this morning as I sat in the car.
The concern that we might end up speaking another language, like people used to say after WWII, would be the least of our worries.
No one survives a global nuclear war, especially if someone has technology like this, which gives them such an enormous advantage.
What originally appeared to be a corporate security job is much, much, more serious.
“I’ll add more resources to this project.Whatever you need, okay?”Josh tells me.
“Got it.”
