THE NDA

THE NDABOOK 5CHAPTER 14: THE BOARD

THE NDA

BOOK 5

CHAPTER 14: THE BOARD

11 names.

That’s what was on the note.

Not Victoria.

The Board was 12. She was 1.

11 were still alive.

"Who are they?" I asked Layo.

She read the list. Went pale. "Governments. CEOs. Royals."

"They own everything," Damian said.

"Then we burn everything," I said.

We were in Greece. 15 of us.

Me. Damian. Hope. 10 girls. Layo. Ana.

Month 4 of peace. Over.

Day 1 of war.

"We can’t fight 11 billionaires," Layo said. "We can barely fight 1."

"Then we don’t fight them," I said. "We expose them."

"How?" Damian asked.

"The AI," I said. "I still have it. In my head. And on this."

I pulled out a drive. From my shoe.

"I copied it before we left Facility 1," I said. "Every file. Every name. Every transaction."

Layo took it. "This is enough to take them down."

"Then we leak it," I said.

Day 2: We set up in an internet cafe.

Masked. VPN. Tor.

We started uploading.

File 1: Board member list.

File 2: Project ENEU files.

File 3: Facility locations.

File 4: Bank accounts.

At File 5, the power cut.

Men in suits at the door.

"Run!" Layo yelled.

We ran. Out the back.

Lost 2 girls in the chaos.

"Where are they?" I screamed.

"They took them," Layo said. "Bait."

Day 3: The news.

COLE GROUP AI LEAKED. 2 CHILDREN MISSING.

They blamed us. Kidnappers. Terrorists.

My face. Damian’s face. On every channel.

"We have to get them back," I said.

"And then what?" Damian asked. "We’re outnumbered."

"Then we go to them," I said. "To the Board."

"All 11?" Layo asked. "At once?"

"Yes," I said. "End it."

Day 4: We got an invite.

Plain envelope. No stamp.

The Board requests your presence.

Location: Geneva.

Date: Tomorrow.

Come alone. Or the girls die.

- The Board

"They want you," Layo said.

"They want both of us," Damian said.

"No," I said. "They want me. I built the AI."

"Then I’m coming too," he said.

Day 5: Geneva.

We didn’t come alone.

We came with the files. With the truth. With nothing to lose.

Location: A hotel. 100th floor.

11 chairs. 11 people.

Men and women. Old. Rich. Dead eyes.

And in the middle: The 2 missing girls.

Tied. Gagged.

"Hello Zara," the woman at the head said. "I’m Chairwoman #2. Victoria’s sister."

"You have my girls," I said.

"We have your leverage," she said. "Now sit."

We sat.

"Here’s the deal," she said. "You delete the files. Publicly. Say it was fake. And we let the girls go. And you get 100 million."

"And if we don’t?" Damian asked.

"Then they die," she said. "Live. On TV. In 1 hour."

She showed us the camera. Live feed.

"That’s not a choice," I said.

"It’s the only choice," she said.

I looked at Damian.

He nodded.

I stood. "I have a counter offer."

"Oh?"

"You let the girls go," I said. "And I give you something better than the AI."

"What?"

"Me," I said. "Lifetime contract. No escape. But the girls go free. Now."

The room was quiet.

"No," Damian said. "No Zara."

"Yes," I said. "It’s the only way."

Chairwoman #2 smiled. "Accepted."

She clapped. Guards untied the girls.

They ran to me. "Mama!"

"Go with Layo," I said. "Now."

Layo took them. Looked at me. "I’m sorry."

She left.

The door closed.

11 people. Me. Damian.

"Now," Chairwoman #2 said, "the deletion."

I pulled out the drive.

"Before I do," I said, "I have a question."

"What?"

"Why me?" I asked. "Why not just use a computer?"

"Because computers don’t feel," she said. "And the AI needs feeling. Pain. Love. Fear. You provide that."

"And the girls?"

"Backups," she said. "In case you die."

I nodded. "Okay."

I put the drive in the computer.

Deleted everything.

On screen: 100%.

The Board clapped.

"Perfect," Chairwoman #2 said. "Now, your contract."

She slid it over. 80 pages. Lifetime.

I signed. Zara Okoye.

Damian didn’t.

"Shoot me," he said. "I’m not signing."

"Fine," she said. She nodded to a guard.

He raised a gun.

I stood in front of Damian. "Shoot me instead."

The guard looked at Chairwoman #2.

"Do it," she said.

The gun fired.

I felt nothing.

I looked down.

No blood.

Damian was holding my arm. He’d moved me.

The bullet hit the wall.

"What are you doing?" Chairwoman #2 yelled.

"Saving her," Damian said.

Guards moved in.

Then the lights went out.

Gunshots.

Screaming.

When the lights came back on:

Layo. With a team. 10 people.

And the 11 Board members. Dead.

All of them.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"What you couldn’t," Layo said. "End it."

She helped me up. "We have to go. Now. Before police come."

We ran.

To the airport.

To a private jet.

On the plane: Me. Damian. Layo. The 12 girls. Hope.

"Are they really dead?" I asked.

"Yes," Layo said. "All 11."

"Then it’s over," I said.

Layo was quiet. "Almost."

"What?"

"There’s one more," she said. "Founder."

"What founder?"

"The one who started the Board," she said. "Victoria’s father."

"Where is he?"

"Dead," she said. "10 years ago."

"Then why—"

"Because he left a will," she said. "And a final protocol."

"What protocol?"

"If the Board dies," she said, "the AI activates. Worldwide. And it picks a new host."

"Who?"

Layo looked at me. "You."

My phone buzzed.

Unknown number.

Congratulations.

You are now CEO of Cole Group.

All assets transferred.

You have 24 hours to accept.

If you don’t, the AI shuts down.

And 4 billion people lose power, water, money.

- Protocol Omega

"What?" I said.

"You own them now," Layo said. "The company. The AI. Everything."

Damian read it. "Don’t accept."

"If I don’t, people die," I said.

"If you do, you’re trapped," he said.

The plane was quiet.

Hope came to me. "Mama, what’s wrong?"

"Nothing baby," I said. "Mama just has a big job."

24 hours.

We landed in Iceland.

Hidden. Again.

Day 1: I didn’t answer.

News: Blackouts. Banks down. Hospitals failing.

Day 2: I still didn’t answer.

Millions protesting. "Bring back the AI!"

Day 3: Hour 23.

Damian came to me. "You have to do it."

"I don’t want to," I said.

"I know," he said. "But you’re the only one who can."

At Hour 23:59, I hit accept.

My phone:

Welcome, CEO Zara Okoye.

Cole Group is yours.

AI is stable.

World is online.

And underneath:

New directive: Find the Founder’s Heir.

She is 12 years old.

Location: Unknown.

She can shut you down.

- Protocol Omega

"What?" I said.

"The Founder had a daughter," Layo said. "Hidden. She’s the kill switch."

"Where is she?"

"I don’t know," Layo said. "But the Board did. And now you have to find her before they do."

"Who?"

"The loyalists," she said. "The people who worked for the Board. There are hundreds."

Damian stood. "Then we find her first."

"How?" I asked.

"The AI," Layo said. "You’re the CEO now. Ask it."

I opened my laptop.

Logged in as CEO.

Typed: Locate Founder’s Heir. Age 12. Female.

Loading...

Result: 1 match.

Name: [REDACTED]

Location: Lagos, Nigeria.

Last seen: 3 hours ago.

My home country.

"She’s in Lagos," I said.

"We have to go," Damian said.

"What about the company?" I asked.

"You run it from there," Layo said. "Remote."

We packed.

In 6 hours we were on a plane.

Back to Lagos.

The place it all started.

On the plane, I looked at Hope. At the girls.

"Are you scared?" I asked Hope.

"A little," she said. "But I have you."

I held her. "Always."

We landed.

Car waiting.

Driver: A woman. Young.

She turned.

And smiled.

"Hello CEO," she said. "I’ve been waiting."

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I’m the Founder’s Heir," she said. "And you’re late."

She was 12.

And she looked exactly like me.

"How?" I asked.

"Because I’m you," she said. "Clone 13. The one they hid."

She held up a device.

"This shuts down the AI," she said. "And you. Forever."

Damian stepped in front of me. "Don’t."

The girl looked at me. "Do you want to die?"

I looked at my family.

"No," I said. "I want to live."

"Then give me the company," she said. "And I’ll let you."

The car was silent.

Layo had her hand on her gun.

The girl had her finger on the button.

And I had 10 seconds to choose.

The world.

Or my family.

I chose.

I reached for the device.

And the car exploded.