"Who the hell is this guy?" Amelia muttered as she messaged her brow.
OmniTech didn't seem like your regular hacker, no, he seemed like a cunning business man with the brains of a tech genius.
Amelia just let out a resigned sigh and leaned back on the chair, closing the laptop.
Alex walked into the room a few minutes later. "Well?"
Amelia slowly stood up and turned to face him before replying, "he's asking for 5.7 million for the remaining fifteen vulnerabilities."
"What the hell?" Alex couldn't help but be shocked.
"And the worst part is," Amelia took a short pause before saying, "the entire 'negotiation', not once did I feel like I was in control."
Alex went silent for a moment. Before asking, "so, what now?"
"Now," she sighed, "we'll have to convince those old bastards on the board that paying him is less costly than ignoring him."
Alex grimaced. "You think they'll go for it?"
Amelia gave a humorless chuckle. "They'll have to. If even half of what OmniTech has is similar to the five he sent us then a breach would cost us ten times what he's asking."
"Besides, they wouldn't want the goose that lays the golden eggs to fall that easily." She completed before picking up the laptop, handing it to Alex and walked towards the room's exit.
She was right. The board might have been filled with money-hungry geezers, but that was exactly why they'd be willing to pay the 5.7 million OmniTech was asking for.
At Google's current growth rate, it would only take a couple more years before the company became worth billions — maybe even trillions.
Knowing this, the board members would be willing to let go of a measley six figures rather than lose it all... Or so she thought.
-----12:30 PM, Top floor of Google's HQ------
The mood in the conference room was tense as the board members quietly waited for the meeting to start.
They've all been briefed on the purpose of this meeting so their tense moods made sense.
The two founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, sat beside the current CEO, Eric Schmidt with an unreadable expression.
Internally, they were a bit surprised when Eric called them for an emergency board meeting but they immediately understood why when he sent them the notes.
They calmly waited for Amelia, whose team was busy setting up the slides, to start the meeting.
Amelia stepped forward once everything was ready. She took a deep breath before speaking.
"Good afternoon, everyone. As you're all aware, the purpose of this meeting is to discuss a critical security situation."
She clicked a remote, and the first slide appeared on the massive screen behind her — a list of the five confirmed vulnerabilities and the dangers they posed to their systems.
"Less than twenty four hours ago, an entity going by the name OmniTech disclosed five previously unknown vulnerabilities in our core infrastructure."
"Each of these could have allowed a catastrophic breach if exploited." She let her words sink in.
Before she continued, flipping to the next slide — a white page with a single number at the center: 5.7 million dollars.
"OmniTech is offering the remaining fifteen vulnerabilities — vulnerabilities that, by his claim, are of equal or greater severity — for a price of 5.7 million."
An audible murmur broke through the room.
"Five point seven million?!" one of the older board members, Mr. Grayson, barked, his voice filled with disbelief. "Is he out of his damn mind?"
Amelia remained composed. "I understand the instinct to be skeptical. However, my team and I have spent the last day rigorously verifying the initial five he provided. Not a single one was exaggerated. All were severe."
Another slide appeared — a projection chart comparing the cost of paying OmniTech versus the potential cost of a public breach.
"If even one of these vulnerabilities is exploited, it could cost us hundreds of millions — if not more — in damages, lawsuits, and, most critically, public trust."
This quieted Mr. Grayson down as he mulled over Amelia's words and the data presented before them.
Eric Schmidt leaned forward, his fingers steepled under his chin.
"And what guarantees do we have that once we pay, he won't simply leak the information anyway?"
Amelia expected the question. She'd prepared for it... Well not really, but she at least hoped that what she prepared would convince them.
She took a measured breath, then clicked to the next slide — this one with a simpler title: OmniTech's behavior so far.
"No guarantees," she admitted frankly, meeting Eric's sharp gaze head-on. "However, based on his actions from the moment he got in touch with us to now, OmniTech appears to be operating with a clear, consistent logic."
She pointed toward the bullet points displayed:
> Did not exploit the vulnerabilities for profit.
> Disclosed five critical flaws without demanding payment.
> Provided detailed proof-of-concept without causing damage.
>Entered negotiations professionally.... Kind of.
"This isn't the behavior of a typical black hat hacker," she emphasized.
"If OmniTech wanted to cause damage, he already could have and there're many ways he could've done so with none of it tracing back to him. Instead, he's opted for a transaction."
Larry Page finally spoke, his voice was calm. "But why not offer it for free, like white hats usually do?"
Amelia gave a wry smile. "Because he's not a white hat, either. At least, not fully. OmniTech isn't some altruistic hacker looking for fame or a pat on the back. He's a businessman. A genius one, if I'm being honest."
Another board member, Mrs. Patel, adjusted her glasses and asked, "Are we certain this isn't a scam?"
Amelia shook her head. "If it were, he wouldn't have delivered five legitimate zero-days without a binding contract. OmniTech already proved he has the goods."
There was a long, heavy silence as the board digested everything.
Finally, Eric turned to Larry and Sergey. "Thoughts?"
The two founders exchanged a brief glance — one of those silent conversations only long-time partners could have — before Sergey shrugged lightly.
"If we lose the public's trust now, all of our future plans are screwed," Sergey said plainly. "Search, ads, Android, YouTube...everything. It won't matter how much we grow if no one trusts us to protect their data."
Larry nodded slowly. "And if he's as smart as Amelia states, burning us after payment would destroy his reputation. He wouldn't be able to work with any major company again. If OmniTech's playing the long game, he'll stay clean."
Eric mulled that over, then looked back to Amelia.
"Prepare a counter-offer," he said in a decisive tone. "Start at four million. But if he doesn't budge, you can give him the amount he asked for, just make sure he doesn't think of crossing us."
Amelia exhaled slowly, masking the slight relief she felt.
"Understood," she said, bowing her head slightly.
"And Amelia," Sergey called out, causing her to look up at him. "If possible, get this OmniTech person on our side."
There was a flash of surprise in her eyes which she quickly masked and nodded, "yes sir."