Independent Sources by Melissa F. Miller

Author:Melissa F. Miller [Miller, Melissa F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Brown Street Books

21

Landon gripped the phone. Despite his promise, Brian Rosen hadn’t called him back. Instead, Delone himself returned the call. On the one hand, Landon was pleased not to have to suffer through another rambling, lingo-laden conversation with Brian. On the other, Delone had apparently been on his best behavior at the Gilt Club. Now, he was brusque to the point of rudeness and intimidating to the point of threatening.

Delone wasted no time telling Landon to string Sasha along. “Keep pushing her off. The settlement is going to happen, make no mistake.”

“But on the off-chance it doesn’t, what then?” Landon persisted.

Delone’s impatience blasted through the phone. “In the event that happens, you’ll go forward with the meeting and be as unhelpful as you can without making it obvious. And to forestall your next question, if the case somehow goes to trial, you’ll lie on the stand if that’s what it comes to.”

Landon wasn’t sure which part was twisting his gut: the instruction to commit perjury if necessary or the idea that he could play Sasha McCandless-Connelly for a fool. She was not stupid. And she was ferocious. She’d once threatened to cut his throat with a shard of porcelain. Who knew what she might be capable of if she realized he was stringing her along?

“Do you have the clarity you need now?”

Delone’s disdain sparked a dormant ember of courage buried deep with Landon, and he spoke before he could second-guess himself. “Yes, I’m clear about my marching orders. I remain fuzzy on how you’re going to change the world.”

“What?”

“You said you plan to use Cesare to change the world. But after chatting with your integration sherpa or whatever Brian Rosen calls himself, it sounds to me as if you plan to use it to turn privacy invasion into a high art.”

Delone barked, “What I ultimately do with Cesare isn’t your concern. You get your money, and I get the program. It’s that simple.” Unable to stop there, the billionaire—motivated by ego, Landon surmised—continued, “But rest assured, Landon, once I retool Cesare, it will change the world.”

“As Mjölnir.”

“Precisely. Mjölnir will cut its teeth on the commercial applications. It’s artificial intelligence, but it can only learn what it’s taught. Right?”

“Well, that’s a gross oversimplification, but yes.”

“You’ve used a limited dataset to teach Cesare to predict latent criminal behavior. That’s why you had limited success. I’ll use a vast, growing, interconnected neural network of algorithms and AI applications to expand Cesare’s understanding of the full range of human behavior.”

Despite himself, Landon’s curiosity spiked. “To what end?”

“As Mjölnir, Cesare will observe the diversity of human misbehaviors that fall short of crimes. Minor daily infractions like anonymous online trolling, pettiness like wearing a dress then returning it. Lying to one’s spouse. All of this data will flesh out the digital avatars we create. Once Mjölnir has a robust understanding of human nature, then we’ll turn to law enforcement applications.”

“But you can’t. The consent decree that the Joshua Group and I entered into with the Justice Department forbids the use of the algorithm to predict criminal behavior.

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