Deal

After a minute of silence during which Gloria tried to form a coherent reply, she said, "Ok!! I understand what you want... but well asking 88% of stakes; is it not too much?"

"Yes," said Marcus unhesitatingly. "It may seem too much at the first glance but you have to consider other conditions also."

"What I am offering in return for 88% shares is much greater than the worth of those shares. I have no doubt that the with remaining 12% of shares that you would hold, your monetary worth will surpass what your start-up could have ever achieved on its own."

"And it is not like that I am butting you out of your own start-up," Marcus continued. "In fact, I would want you… actually insist you to continue holding the position of president. You will have all the authority to make most of the decisions… I will only play a role with regards to important matters."

Gloria found herself in daze while Marcus pressed one more time.

"I can understand that you do not want to see your start-up... your blood and sweat falling into someone else hands but also keep in mind that you are already on the verge of losing this company."

"In fact, I am giving you a chance to keep your start-up afloat… to keep it running and even reached unexpected heights."

Gloria was still in hesitation.

"Why my start-up?" She questioned. "What you said earlier could not be the only reason."

Marcus nodded, "True. Other than what I had mentioned, I had two more reasons."

"As I told," he continued. "My desire was to be the owner and not a subordinate... not even in the shares."

"And I would have started everything on my own but I did not have resources."

"Your start-up has all what I needed," he said.

"My AI Evolution like every other software need servers to process large volume of data and you have self owned servers. Not like many start-ups who hire services for servers from other companies. This method creates a major risk of data theft."

"Also," he continued. "Your start-up along with your servers and data centre is located on a very fine place. In the outskirts, we would not have immediate issue of land when we expand. We can easily acquire a lot of land if we would want to do so."

"The other reason," Marcus added with a smile, "is you."

"I mean, your abilities and work ethics," he continued. "To bring up a start-up to this level in short 3 years is no ordinary feat. Your leadership qualities were excellent."

A bittersweet smile appeared on Gloria's face.

"Even so my start-up has failed and on the verge of closure," she responded.

"True," said Marcus. "But being backstabbed… are things you cannot really continue."

Gloria's eyes widened in shock, "You know?"

Marcus shrugged his shoulders, "A very well to do company suddenly plummets in such a short span without any chance to recover."

"I do not see any other reason other than internal sabotage," Marcus concluded.

Gloria nodded as she said, "We have not still not found the betrayer… even after acquiring your technology, we have another risk of sabotage."

Marcus shook his head, "No."

"We will lay off every employee except few," said Marcus.

"We only need a staff to manage and look after the servers and few more administrative staff."

"No employee will have any part to play in the internal workings AI Evolution," he concluded.

Gloria frowned, "What about technical glitches? Hacking attempts? Virus?"

"There will be no glitches," Marcus said decisively. "The only problem which will arise will servers getting overload so you will have to continuously keep upgrading the servers."

"As for hacking attempts and viruses, a firewall will be added to the AI," he said. "And if someone really cracks the fireball, I will offer half my shares to that person."

Gloria could only nod her head. While she considered these decisions a bit foolish, after witnessing what that AI had been capable of, she had no other option but to believe whatever Marcus had to say.

"Ok. We have a deal," Gloria gave a formal nod to the deal.

"How much time to settle these things?" Marcus added.

"Two days," Gloria explained. "I will get the paperwork for the transfer of shares ready in two days."

"Till that time, most of the employees would have also left and if you agree we can launch everything in another 2 days," she said.

Marcus nodded, "Fine by me."

"Chart out the plans about how you want to proceed in this," he said. "I will not become a public figure. You will be the face in front of the public."

Gloria nodded but she explained, "I have not problem with this but I do not think you will actually be able to hide your identity."

Marcus nodded, "I know but at least I will remain anonymous for few days until everyone wants to know who I am."

After this the duo the discussed few more details which included Marcus' personal details. After all no one would be willing to make a deal with someone who they did not know anything about.

Gloria's shoulders slumped after Marcus had left the office. She leaned back on her sofa as she took deep breaths.

Few moments later, she pulled her mobile and dialled a number.

"I want a full investigation on a certain person," she said as soon as the call was picked. "His name is Marcus Clifton and he is a student of Baharta University of Science and Technology."

A response came from the other side and Gloria cut off the call.

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[Thank you for reading. Give a review and leave your opinion. Comment your views. And send the Power Stones.]