[Chapter 388: The External Threat]
Moscow, Eastern Administrative District.
As clocking out ti approached, Sergey put on his coat, wrapped a thick scarf around his neck, and stepped out of the office.
A friend had invited him to grab a coffee.
Sergey left the newspaper office, got into his black Volkswagen sedan, and drove to the Northern Administrative District, entering a business lounge.
Among the people sitting there was not only his friend but also a stranger's face.
His friend made the introductions, and the stranger, nad Andrei, had business to discuss with him.
After exchanging a few polite remarks, their mutual friend found a reason to leave the room.
Not far from the door, in a nearby lounge, the man accompanying Andrei, Bosque, sat drinking a hot coffee.
...
Andrei had traveled day and night from Costa Rica to fulfill a task given by his new boss.
"I heard that you have the power to independently review articles at the newspaper?" he said in fluent Russian. "I have a news piece I want to publish."
In the dia business, many people took on similar side gigs, and this was not Sergey's first rodeo. He replied, "I need to see your draft first, or you can tell about the story and the people involved."
He worked for The Moscow Tis, the largest English newspaper in Eastern Europe.
Andrei pulled out an English manuscript and handed it to him, saying, "Take a look."
Sergey took it and was slightly surprised by the headline -- Siberian Computational Research Institute Achieved Major Breakthrough in Artificial Intelligence!
The article was full of technical jargon, all concerning artificial intelligence.
After reading it through, Sergey confird there was no political risk and asked, "I haven't heard about this before?"
Andrei pondered for a mont and replied, "This is a highly specialized field, and the circle is quite small; it's normal for you not to have heard of it."
Sergey carefully read it again and confird there were no risks involved. He said, "I can publish this, but you'll need to pay a publishing fee."
Andrei pulled out a standard envelope and handed it to Sergey. "This is all I have."
Sergey took it out, counted carefully, and discovered $3,000, suppressing his inner delight. "I'll arrange it as soon as possible."
Andrei stated, "It should be published tomorrow. Please give an account or address to send the remaining $2,000 after it's published."
"No problem, it will definitely be in tomorrow's edition!" Sergey felt that even a second of hesitation would be disrespectful to the $5,000.
Andrei pocketed the notepad Sergey had filled out and left the room.
...
Minutes later, Andrei t up with Bosque at a nearby hotel.
They didn't just seek a spot in one newspaper; they acquired space in multiple publications.
Bosque found that Moscow's dia professionals were essentially no different from their Arican counterparts.
If anything, they were even greedier.
The two stayed put until the relevant reports were out and bought copies of The Moscow Tis and other newspapers, seeing the AI article prominently displayed in print. They copied, scanned it, and sent it out.
Andrei also used Russian Twitter and other social dia to publish many similar pieces of news.
After completing these tasks, they each took the newspapers, departing Russia independently.
---
Los Angeles, Coast Tower.
In the lobby on the first floor, Edward accepted the USB drive from Hierro, exchanged so polite words, then rushed back to the 16th floor.
He entered Hawke's office, plugged the USB into a computer that was offline, and loaded the content onto the tal screen ahead.
What displayed was the report from The Moscow Tis about artificial intelligence.
Hawke read through it carefully and said, "Make a backup first, then you need to personally run over to Fox and deliver this to gan Taylor."
Edward made a copy: "Boss, shouldn't we post it on Twitter first?"
Hawke shot him a glance and simply stated, "This directly concerns our news. The first to break it should ideally be a third party."
Edward nodded, "Got it."
He removed the USB and left the office.
...
Hawke called gan Taylor, saying, "I have sothing here; I've sent soone to deliver it to you -- it's the headline news for Ace News."
gan didn't hesitate, responding, "Oh really? Are you bringing it yourself? I want to prepare."
Hawke asked, "Prepare for what?"
gan teased, "So special equipnt, of course."
"I'll co by another day; I've been too busy lately," Hawke quickly added. "The goods are on their way to you."
gan checked the ti, "Tonight's Ace News headlines."
...
After hanging up, Hawke called Caroline, asking, "Release that mo about those employees today, make the language strict."
Caroline replied, "I'm already drafting it."
In less than half an hour, a mo announcing the firings of those employees who had betrayed the organization was published on the internal Twitter.
The group was already charged by the federal prosecutor's office and held by the FBI.
In addition to the firings, Twitter would also push for the court to pursue criminal charges and civil litigation against them.
They aid not only to imprison the individuals but to bankrupt them as well!
This also served as a warning to others.
---
Fox Television Center, Office of the Channel 11 Director.
Edward delivered the USB to gan and hurried back to Coast Tower.
gan opened the USB, quickly scanning through the content. Upon seeing the report from The Moscow Tis on artificial intelligence, she couldn't help but smile.
She knew Hawke all too well. Combining the content on the USB with the recent uproar over the "BlackRock Espionage scandal," she could guess his goal.
Just yesterday, BlackRock's co-Presidents had made statents through the dia, denying that any such AI leaks from Twitter existed, and anwhile, the Russian dia announced breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology...
Being in news, it didn't take long for gan to foresee the storyline's evolution; regardless of how the Russians denied it, Aricans wouldn't buy it.
If the Russians admitted it, that would be even better!
gan made a call, summoning Aisha, the producer and host of Ace News, and handed her the USB drive.
That night, Ace News headlined the significant news revealing breakthroughs in Russian artificial intelligence.
---
New York, near a campus apartnt building close to NYU.
Natalia finished her class and arrived at the apartnt entrance only to find two xican won approaching her.
She placed her hand inside her cashre coat pocket, gripping the inside can of pepper spray.
Betty stopped three ters away, saying, "We are sent by your brother Eugene Kropov to find you."
Natalia had never ntioned her brother to anyone and sized them up suspiciously: "I don't know you."
Betty pulled out a Motorola phone, opened a video showing a recording of Eugene made by the FBI.
In Russian, Eugene spoke about how he had offended so dangerous thugs at work, who might discover Natalia's existence and potentially hurt her, urging her to obey her protectors.
After watching the video, Natalia relaxed her guard and asked, "Is Eugene still alive?"
Betty replied, "He's alive, hiding in a place even we don't know."
She was unclear where the FBI was keeping Eugene: "We've accepted his request to help you hide for a while until things calm down, then you can return to school."
Betty dialed a number and said a few words: "Your brother wants to talk to you."
Natalia took the phone and spoke with Eugene briefly before the call was quickly cut off.
She returned the phone and pointed upstairs: "I need to go pack and ask my professor for leave."
Betty said, "Make it quick."
The group headed upstairs, and Natalia called her professor to explain a family ergency and request so ti off.
After packing a few things, she dragged her suitcase and followed Betty and the others out of the apartnt building into a van.
That afternoon, they took a flight out of New York.
---
Coast Tower, still brightly lit at night.
Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, and Hawke gathered in a small eting room to discuss their next moves.
Both were rallying their respective influences, pressuring the BlackRock Group while preparing to advance the Manhattan AI Project further.
The technology departnt established a dedicated AI division, hiring the right talent, drawing from newly acquired companies to refine this plan.
Reid Hoffman put down his docunts and said, "Through this spy case, our Manhattan AI Project has spread across the nation, it's likely that all mbers of Congress and political figures in Washington are aware of its existence."
Peter Thiel laughed heartily, "The publicity campaign was a great success -- one Russian spy served as a spokesperson for our plan."
Hawke replied seriously, "If our Manhattan AI Project wasn't groundbreaking and advanced enough, would a Russian spy co to steal it?"
"Exactly; the Russian capabilities shouldn't be underestimated," Reid Hoffman noted after researching Eastern European counterparts: "Moscow is the headquarters for Kaspersky, and they have multiple advanced laboratories there."
Hawke knew Kaspersky, a giant in the firewall and antivirus industry at the ti.
Peter Thiel pondered, "Just this isn't enough to capture the attention of those slow-moving legislators..."
Hawke glanced at the quartz clock on the wall and said, "Let's watch the news first."
Edward turned on the television, tuning into Fox Channel 11.
...
Shortly after, Ace News began broadcasting, with the headline relating to the discussions among the attendees.
"Recently, there has been new progress in the espionage case concerning Twitter's Manhattan AI Project. Our station has obtained news from Moscow that the Siberian Computational Research Institute has achieved a critical breakthrough in the field of artificial intelligence!"
The visuals switched from the anchor, Aisha, to the report from The Moscow Tis.
Aisha narrated the report's content in voice-over.
....
Reid Hoffman frowned slightly: "The Russians' information technology has reached such heights? They actually..."
At this point, he turned to look at Hawke.
After all, he had been involved from the planning stage during the espionage case, aware of how the sche originated entirely from Hawke's strategy.
Peter Thiel clapped his hands suddenly, exclaiming, "This is great, absolutely great! Now that we have an external threat, the Russians have made breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, and Arica is under threat!"
*****
spatreon/Sayonara816.
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