The interns waited outside the boardroom like defendants outside a courtroom.
Adrian paced.
Johnson stood stiffly, straightening his cufflinks for the fifth time.
Zoey stared at her reflection in her phone camera, fixing lipstick that didn't need fixing.
They all looked sharp. Corporate-perfect.
Too perfect for how fast their hearts were beating.
Adrian cracked his knuckles.
"Ready to rumble?"
Johnson shot him a look.
"This ain't boxing, bro."
Adrian scoffed.
"Whatever. Same adrenaline."
Zoey exhaled slowly.
"Here we go."
The doors opened.
They filed in.
Thirty Minutes Later
They stumbled back into the hallway like survivors of a minor war.
Johnson dragged a hand down his face.
"What the hell just happened?"
Adrian stopped dead, eyes burning.
"Who the hell was that asshole?"
Zoey let out a hollow laugh.
"That wasn't an intern-level question. That was a hit job."
Adrian kicked the wall lightly.
"I can't believe I wasted my nights for this shit. Damn."
Jordan, passing by with Nadia, slowed.
"Woah, easy there," he said quietly.
"Is everything alright?"
Adrian scoffed.
"You know what?"
Johnson cut in sharply.
"Adrian, don't."
Then he turned to Jordan.
"You're gonna need a lot of luck when you and Nadia get in there."
Jordan blinked, genuinely confused.
"Oh. Thanks."
Before Their Turn
Nadia hugged her tablet to her chest.
"So… how did Zoey's group do?"
Jordan shrugged lightly.
"Let's just say we need to give it our all."
Nadia swallowed.
"Anything to worry about?"
Jordan shook his head.
"Nothing actually."
It wasn't comforting.
Inside the Boardroom
Vivienne sat at the head of the table, spine straight, expression unreadable.
Richard lounged two seats to her right.
Damian sat beside his sister, Mariah.
The atmosphere was clinical. Polite. Predatory.
"Begin when ready," Vivienne said.
Nadia stepped forward.
She opened strong.
Confident. Polished. Corporate-perfect.
Her slides were clean. Minimalist. Elegant.
She handled:
• Market problem
• Business value
• Monetization strategy
• Enterprise use cases
Her voice didn't shake.
Vivienne relaxed a fraction.
Then Jordan stepped up.
Quiet.
Almost invisible.
He handled:
• Architecture design
• Threat modeling
• Data integrity layers
• System resilience
He barely looked at the slides.
He spoke like the system lived in his head.
Then he said:
"If someone breaches node three, you don't seal the door.
You burn the hallway."
A few board members shifted.
Vivienne noticed first.
*The Questions Begin*
"What's your projected Return On Investment timeline?"
Nadia answered smoothly.
"How does this outperform existing SaaS competitors?"
Still smooth.
"What's your data compliance strategy for EU markets?"
Perfect answer.
Vivienne exhaled.
Then Richard leaned back.
Smiled.
"Theory collapses under pressure."
He turned to Nadia.
"If a hostile actor injects poisoned training data into your Machine Learning model over ninety days, how do you detect it before it alters decision outputs?"
Nadia froze.
She blinked.
Looked at her slide.
Her mouth opened. Closed.
"I… um… we'd have periodic audits and—"
Richard cut her off gently.
"That's not an answer.
That's a hope."
The room tightened.
Jordan Intervenes
Jordan didn't rush.
Didn't raise his voice.
He stepped half a pace forward.
"You fingerprint the training data at ingestion.
Hash every batch.
If the entropy signature drifts beyond baseline, you quarantine the model and roll back forty-eight hours."
Silence.
Then, calmly:
"It's not complicated.
People just don't build systems assuming betrayal."
A few board members stiffened.
Liam murmured, "That's… really smart."
Sarah whispered, "Intriguing."
Vivienne's eyes sharpened.
*Richard Pushes Harder*
Richard smiled wider.
"And if the attacker spoofs the hash keys using compromised firmware?"
This was no longer intern-level.
Everyone felt it.
Liam muttered, "He's doing this on purpose. He did it to Adrian's group too."
Vivienne's jaw tightened.
You son of a bitch.
Jordan went quiet.
Then tilted his head slightly.
"Then your problem isn't cybersecurity.
It's supply chain infiltration."
A pause.
He shrugged lightly.
"But that's rare."
It was a lie.
Vivienne felt it.
Liam whispered, "How did he answer that?"
*Richard Goes for the Kill*
"You're saying a state-level actor couldn't penetrate your system?"
Jordan met his eyes.
Just for a second, his voice dropped colder.
"I'm saying they'd have to burn a lot of money trying."
That was all he gave.
And it was deliberately incomplete.
One board member murmured, "Who is this kid?"
Damian narrowed his eyes.
Nadia exhaled shakily.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Vivienne said nothing.
But her trust in him jumped twenty percent.
*Mariah's Question*
Mariah leaned forward.
"Why wasn't this level of security mentioned in your written proposal?"
Jordan answered carefully.
"Because you don't sell fear.
You sell stability."
That landed hard.
It questioned her intelligence.
Vivienne hid a smile.