Chapter 5 - Exposed Under the Lights
The room descended into total silence.
"Section 4B," Kate continued, her voice echoing clearly through the briefing hall, "utilizes an outdated open-source library that was patched three years ago. Your engineers bypassed fundamental security protocols to save seven months of development time and meet your Q3 financial earnings report."
Trevor looked frantically at his chief engineer, who immediately lowered his head and refused to make eye contact.
"That... that is an unverified claim!" Arthur stammered, slamming his palm onto the podium. "Mercer Tech has invested three hundred million dollars into this project! We have satisfied every single requirement set by Congress!"
"You satisfied the requirements on paper, Mr. Mercer," Kate replied coldly, standing up from her seat. "But on the battlefield, paper doesn't protect human lives. If this software were deployed today, an enemy foreign state could bypass your firewall in less than forty-eight seconds, shutting down our entire military GPS infrastructure."
She looked directly at Trevor. "Mr. Vice President, can you explain why your development team chose to ignore three separate internal warnings sent by your lead software engineer six months ago?"
Trevor’s lips trembled. "I... well, you see... we evaluated the risk profile and determined that... that..."
"You determined that fixing the bug would cost fifteen million dollars and delay your executive bonuses," Kate finished for him.
The military officers surrounding Kate shook their heads in utter disgust. The lead Admiral made a note on his digital tablet and placed a red mark beside Mercer Defense Tech's name.
"Kathryn, this is absurd!" Arthur roared, dropping all pretense of professional etiquette. "You are deliberately sabotaging this company out of personal spite! You're holding a grudge because of what happened twenty-six years ago!"
Kate did not flinch. She leaned forward over her desk, her voice dropping into a dangerous, quiet calm.
"I am rejecting your proposal because it is flawed, dangerous, and corrupted by corporate greed," Kate said softly. "You thought you were buying a twenty-billion-dollar contract with country-club favors and political donations. But in this room, Arthur, money means nothing. Integrity means everything."
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She pressed a button on her microphone. "The review panel officially rejects Mercer Defense Tech's bid. Hearing adjourned."
She slammed her gavel down with a thunderous CRACK.