Chapter 4
The next day.
Financial news headlines exploded.
[Autonova Mobility founder David Grant ousted, liquidates entire stake in one day.]
[Market analysis: The split between founder and management is beyond repair.]
[Analysts: With David Grant gone, Autonova Mobility is about to hit the fast lane.]
The main photo showed Emily on stage, with a smaller inset of me walking out of the meeting room.
The comments section under the headline was blowing up.
[It's about time they replaced him. David's been way too cautious these past couple years, made everyone afraid to take risks.]
[Cashing out over 25 billion dollars? Did he know something we didn't?]
[Nah, he just knew he was done for and bailed.]
[Emily's a total boss. She's killing it.]
Sam sent me the links while I was having breakfast.
"Should we say something?" he asked.
"No need," I replied.
"But everyone's saying you got kicked out."
"I was kicked out."
Sam was at a loss for words.
"But actually..." he started.
"What actually happened doesn't matter. What matters is what's going to happen in a month," I said.
Sam fell silent.
I set my phone down and went back to my breakfast.
*****
At two in the afternoon, my phone rang.
It was a call from someone I never thought would reach out.
It was Michael.
I stared at the caller ID for three seconds before picking up.
"David," he said.
His voice was just as smooth as ever, calm, polished, never letting anything slip.
"Congratulations," I said.
"Don't say that," he chuckled. "I'm just an advisor. Emily's the one calling the shots now."
"What do you want?"
"How about we grab a coffee?"
"No," I replied.
"Come on," he said, sounding genuinely sincere. "We've known each other for years. You left so suddenly. Emily actually..."
"Michael," I cut him off.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"You're calling to make sure I won't go public with that test report, aren't you?" I said.
He went silent for a couple of seconds on the other end.
"What test report?" he asked.
"Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I mean," I said.
He fell silent again.
"David, you're overthinking it. You're out now. Why keep stressing over some tiny tech problems?" he said.
"Tiny problems?" I snapped.
"Yeah, minor stuff. Our engineering team checked everything. Safety's totally under control."
"Who's in charge of your engineering team now?"
"It's Robert Harrington. You know him."
"Robert told me three months ago he couldn't fix that problem."
Another silence.
This time, it lasted even longer.
"David, I'm just trying to be friendly here. If you're going to talk like that, this conversation is going nowhere," Michael said.
"That's it, then," I said.
"You really don't want to grab a coffee?" he asked.
"Nope," I replied.
"Alright," he sighed. "Well, good luck with everything."
The call ended.
I set my phone down on the table.
I knew exactly why he called.
He wasn't trying to make peace.
He was just probing.
He wanted to see if I was still a threat.
And what he found out was: I wasn't going to make the first move.
That put his mind at ease.
They thought that as long as I kept quiet, the problem would just disappear.
But some problems didn't require anyone to call them out.
They always found a way to show themselves.
*****
A week later.
Autonova Mobility's stock had soared 12%.
Market sentiment was through the roof.
Three brokerages issued bullish reports, raising their price targets by 30%.
On social media, everyone was hyping up how Autonova Mobility was about to shake up the whole game.
Emily appeared on a financial talk show.
She wore a pricey white blazer, her makeup was on point, and she spoke in an unhurried, composed way.
The host asked her what she thought about the former chairman stepping down.
She smiled.
"David is someone I deeply respect as a founding partner. But when a company reaches a certain stage, it needs more than technical skills and business judgment and strategic courage," she said.
"Our team is more complete now," she added.
The host kept going, "Word is, he cashed out all his shares before leaving. What's your take on that?"
Emily picked up her coffee cup.
"Everyone's free to make their own investment calls. All I can say is, he might regret it down the line," she said.
The comments section was blowing up.
[Damn, this woman really knows how to talk.]
[David sold over 25 billion dollars, and now the stock's still climbing. He got wrecked.]
[Come on, no way anyone actually thinks David made the right call, right?]
Sam sent me the link to the show.
I didn't bother to open it.
"What else is she up to?" I asked.
"Starting next week, they're putting the first batch of 200 L4 self-driving cars on the streets in downtown Brighton City," Sam replied.
"200? Wasn't it supposed to be 500?"
"They're starting with 200. Word is, it's a production capacity issue."
"That's not the real reason."
Sam hesitated.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Their engineering team spotted some strange numbers during the last round of safety checks," I said.
"How do you know that?"
"Robert shot me a message."
I handed him my phone.
The phone screen lit up with a short message.
[Mr. Grant, they're still moving forward with it. But the issue I raised still hasn't been fully resolved. I've done all I can.]
Sam's face fell as he read it.
"So what now?" Sam asked.
"We wait," I replied.
"Wait for something to go wrong?" Sam pressed.
I looked at him.
"I'm not waiting for something to go wrong. I'm waiting for them to face the consequences themselves," I said.
"But if something really happens, people could get hurt..." Sam said.
"I told them to stop three months ago. Who was the one who overruled me?" I shot back.
Sam fell silent.
"I've done everything I could. The rest is out of my hands," I said.
I stood up and walked to the window.
Brighton City was bathed in early autumn sunlight. The traffic moved along like nothing had changed.
Within a month, there would be two hundred more driverless cars on the streets of Brighton City.
Each one carried a hidden risk I'd uncovered.
I couldn't stop it.
The only thing I could do was make sure that when the day came, I had enough evidence ready.
*****
My phone rang.
It was a number I hadn't heard from in ages.
I picked up.
"Mr. Grant, this is Mark Evans from the Cybersecurity Research Center. I was hoping to discuss some concerns about the safety of Autonova Mobility's L4 algorithm," Mark said.
"How did you get my number?" I asked.
"It's a small circle, Mr. Grant."
"What do you want to talk about?"
"We got an anonymous tip. It's about how often Autonova Mobility's core algorithm messes up when the weather gets tricky."
I stayed silent.
"The data in these materials is extremely thorough. And it matches almost exactly with the results from our own independent simulations," Mark said.
"So?" I asked.
"So I'd like to ask you a question."
"Go ahead."
"Is this really going to be a problem?"