Chapter 3 - THE BATTLE FOR THE TRUTH
The dismantling began with the precision of a military strike. Robert didn't sell his company; he weaponized it. He used his immense wealth to buy out every competing pharmaceutical firm that had connections to the old Aegis shadow-board. He quietly acquired the patents for every piece of PNDD-related tech and then, in a move that shocked the global market, he announced the 'Open Science Initiative.'
He was going to release the cure for PNDD—and the entire history of the Aegis project—to the public domain.
The backlash was immediate.
On the day of the announcement, Robert’s private jet was grounded in Boston. His bank accounts were frozen by federal agencies citing 'national security concerns.' The boardroom of Blackwood Pharmaceuticals erupted in a literal coup, with the board voting to remove him as CEO.
Robert sat in his penthouse, watching the news coverage. They were calling him a traitor, a madman, a dangerous radical.
Lily walked into the room, holding a tablet. "They’re coming for the servers, Robert. The physical data you uploaded to the cloud is being purged by the Aegis shadow-board right now."
"They think they can bury the truth by killing the messengers," Robert said, looking at his watch. "But they don't know who they’re dealing with. I’ve already offloaded the data to a decentralized network. It’s everywhere now, Lily. In every academic server, every public library, every news outlet. It’s untouchable."
"They’ll still come for us," Lily said.
"Let them come," Robert replied.
Just then, the security alarms on the penthouse floor flared. A team of tactical specialists—not police, but corporate mercenaries—had breached the lower levels. Robert grabbed his go-bag and looked at Lily.
"We’re leaving. Ethan and Diana are already at the extraction point."
"Where are we going?"
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"We’re going to the place where Elias Walker did his first research," Robert said. "We’re going to finish
what he started, and we’re going to show the world that there are things more important than profit."
