Chips - Part 1

Right in front of Taju, the woman's left heel snapped.

His own reflexes surprised him. In a blur, he'd covered the paces between them and caught her before her collapsing frame went to ground. She was extremely grateful and couldn't stop appreciating her Knight in Sharp Reflexes immediately she recovered from the initial shock of her snapped stilettoes. It soon became clear that she'd twisted her ankle and was requiring some assistance to get to her vehicle parked just in front of the eatery.

After an eternity of "Thank you so much", Taju watched her drive off and promptly returned to his business in the eatery. He was there to meet with a "prospective client" who was interested in yanking off Taju's hand a super-secure chip Taju had developed.

The chip had the double-barrelled advantage rare in the tech community. It was a chip primed to revolutionise the cyber-security industry in a way hitherto unimagined. Taju had demonstrated that much to this high-profile client by scaling their company's previously unbeatable firewalls and holding their security systems to ransom.

It was the age-old style of announcing oneself and becoming notorious. A style known from time immemorial. You looked for the biggest cat in the game and you gave him a red eye.

When everything the famous REDBRIDGE CYBERGUARD (RC) threw at his ransomware failed, he knew he'd got their attention. They responsively negotiated an exchange at a meet. That was why he was at this eatery. And arriving early gave him ample time to prepare. It wasn't as if he wasn't prepared long before today but now that the meeting was imminent ...

His ringtone buzzed, butting into his thoughts. It was Dr. Deji Williams, CEO and co-founder of RC, a fiercely proud innovator and as shrewd a businessman as they came. It was Deji that had told Taju to go to hell when at first it was discovered that the latter's invention had breached RC's defenses. RC had believed they couldn't be beat. Initially. And finally, it was a more contrite Deji that negotiated with him for a settlement.

Taju looked at the screen for a bit before heaving a sigh of confidence and picking the call. It was short. Deji wanted him to be on time as he was running a tight schedule and barely had to make it for their meeting.

As Taju made to return his phone to his pocket, he noticed his notification indicator blinking. He turned the screen on again and dragged down the notification tray. He checked and dismissed all notifications. Taju liked leaving his notifications area neat. It made him feel uncluttered virtually just as he liked to feel physically. He powered off the screen and was ready to pocket the phone when he noticed the light blink again for notifications. Only this time when he checked, there was no notification to see.