Page 87 of The Dis-Graced
“Thank you for coming to see me,” I greet him, extending my hand to shake his.
He declines my hand, takes a seat without being offered, and surveys my office with a critical eye.
“Damn, if I were stuck coming into an office like this each day, I’d up and quit, get me a cabin in the woods, and be one with nature.”
I don’t even try to hide my eye roll. Gabriel’s crowd is known for being cocky, and Alistair’s said to be the worst of them.
“Somehow, I manage to get by.”
“So, you got this cool IP on the market, I hear.”
“It is not on the market. It was stolen, as you should very well know.”
“Yeah, yeah—don’t worry. I’m going to cooperate with the feds, I just wanted to have a talk with the man that developed the first turnkey artificial intelligence.”
My phone buzzes, it’s Elliot.
Elliot:We need to talk. I’m on my way to your office.
Drake:I’m in a meeting. It will have to wait.
Elliot:Can it be rescheduled, because I’m sitting on something that can’t fucking wait?
Drake:Then come on in.
“I hope you don’t mind, but my chief operations officer will be joining us.”
“Can’t wait to meet the bastard.”
The door opens and in walks Elliot. As soon as he sees Alistair, he stops dead in his tracks, his mouth hanging ajar.
“Alistair, this is Elliot Conway, my chief operations officer, Elliot, this is Alistair Whent.”
Elliot reaches out to shake Alistair’s hand. “When you said you were in a meeting, I had no idea that it was with Alistair. It seems much more likely that he’d be meeting with one of your brothers.”
“Well, unfortunately, we’ve had a security breach at Dallanger Tech, and Alistair has been kind enough to alert us to the issue.”
“Security breach?”
“Yeah, apparently, ALAN is on the black market.”
“ALAN? Wait, that’s impossible. Only you, me, and—”
“Yes, I am aware of all who are privy to ALAN’s existence, now tell me, what is it you needed to talk to me about so desperately?”
“I saw someone in Luke’s office—”
“Ah, yes. Luke was taken in by the police for questioning last night. He’s been terminated, and now we’re going through his things, gathering evidence.”
“Jesus Christ, and you didn’t think to tell me this?”
“Well, the situation didn’t really come into focus until Alistair here contacted me. Apparently, Luke was an amateur and decided to reach out to him of all people to make a sale. We’re highly suspicious that he asked others as well, so we’ve put out feelers with all the big names: Stryder, Icor, Lavinius, but they’re all saying they haven’t been made an offer.”
“And this was all Luke?”
“It had to be, and he planned it all too well, bringing in his sister’s fine ass as a distraction to me.”
“His sister? Is that why you got all defensive on me? Are you banging Brigger’s leftovers?”
