Ethan's fingers hovered over the keyboard, his heart pounding.
If this AI was as powerful as it seemed, it could predict market trends before they happened. Hedge funds spent billions developing algorithms like this. But this one… it had been sitting forgotten in a dusty corner of the company's servers.
His mind raced. If he reported it, the company would claim ownership. If he kept it for himself…
A notification popped up on his screen:
"Authorization required. Enter admin credentials."
Ethan smirked. "Let's see how deep this rabbit hole goes."
He cracked his knuckles and got to work.
30 Minutes Later
The firewall was tough, but Ethan was tougher. He had spent years in college hacking into systems just for fun. A few bypasses, a little social engineering trick he learned from a cybersecurity podcast, and—
Access Granted.
A dashboard appeared. A real-time feed of stock market trends, complete with probability forecasts. He ran a test, inputting the last three months of Tesla's stock data.
Projected Price: +12.4% (Margin of Error: ±0.8%)
Ethan's eyes widened. The AI had predicted Tesla's last stock rally… weeks before it happened.
This wasn't just a tool. It was a weapon.
The Plan
Ethan didn't sleep that night. By morning, he had formulated a strategy.
Step 1: Test the AI on a small scale. He would open a brokerage account and use a small amount of money to see if it really worked.
Step 2: Grow discreetly. No crazy moves. No attracting attention.
Step 3: Escape. The moment he made enough money, he was quitting his job and disappearing before Greg or anyone else noticed.
But first, he needed capital.
Ethan opened his banking app. His balance: $2,348.
He swallowed. Not great, but it was enough to start.
He clicked "Deposit" and transferred $2,000 into his trading account.
"All in," he muttered.
The game had begun.