Was their guess close to the correct meaning of the abbreviation?
The two tech people leaned forward, excited to hear Iris' answer.
"Hmm, not really. I just felt like naming her Ketchup," she said.
The two stumbled on their own feet upon hearing her anti-climactic answer. She had created such a revolutionary AI technology, and yet she didn't take this chance to give it a majestic name? She named the AI Ketchup because…she felt like it?! Such a waste!
They all swivelled their heads to their President and gave him a meaningful look. They hoped that at least he would encourage his fiancée to take naming such impressive technology more seriously.
However, he didn't even glance at them. All his attention was on his fiancée. It was as if he had already forgotten about his employees' presence in the room.
"I see. I thought as much," Jin Liwei said. Then he looked at the digital white cat. Ketchup was now playing with a ball of yarn. "You already named our first cats Ice Cream and Popcorn after all, so I'm not surprised that you named this next one Ketchup. Although I wonder why you chose Ketchup."
"Actually, I originally wanted to name her Mayonnaise because she's white but when I tried calling her Mayonnaise, it just sounded wrong and…well, stupid," Iris revealed. "So I changed it and decided to name her Ketchup instead. So what if she's white and I named her Ketchup? I can name her whatever I want. Besides, Ketchup sounds so much better than stupid Mayonnaise. Imagine calling her Mayonnaise. Won't you feel stupid, too?"
'And Ketchup isn't stupid?' the two tech people thought to themselves but didn't dare say out loud.
"You're right. Ketchup is an excellent name," Jin Liwei agreed with her.
"I know, right?" Iris beamed again.'What do you mean that it's an excellent name?! President, please get a hold of yourself!' the two men almost cried seeing their boss acting like this.
Suddenly, the white cat stopped playing with the ball of yarn.
"Oh, right! I still have some tasks to do. Ketchup got distracted! Sorry. Meow~
"Resume scanning…
"Second person scanned matched the profile of… Gu Chang, Senior Database Administrator at Jin Corporation…
"Third person scanned matched the profile of… Diao Yijue, Senior Information Security Specialist at Jin Corporation…
Iris studied the basic employment information of the two men displayed on the nearest computer monitors.
"Ketchup, search through all available public and private records about Gu Chang and Diao Yijue. Copy their information and start a dossier for each of them. If there are any records that you can't access, take note of them and I'll personally hack and get those records when I have some free time," Iris instructed.
"Okay, Mommy! Meow~
"Starting search now…"Ketchup's green eyes glowed even more brightly, as she worked on her assigned task.
In just a few seconds, various information about the two men started flooding the screens covering one wall. Their birth certificates, school records starting from pre-school to university, drivers' licences, marriage licences, traffic violation records, bank account balances—everything was being displayed for all of them to see.
Gu Chang and Diao Yijue felt like their souls just flew out of their bodies. It was like they were being stripped naked in front of their President and his crazy fiancée.
Yes, she might be a genius but she was also crazy! Who would create a creepy talking cat AI and order it to search everything about them?
When the screens started showing information from their past that they'd rather forget, the two couldn't take it anymore.
"Ah ah! Please stop! We understand! We didn't see anything here today! Right, Bro Yijue?" Gu Chang said in a panic.
"Right! In fact, I don't remember anything at all about last night and today!" Diao Yijue declared. Then he turned to the white cat on the computer monitor who was currently staring vacantly with its glowing green eyes while it focused on gathering information about them. "Ketchup—I mean, Young Miss Ketchup! Please stop searching! We beg you!"
"Negative! Ketchup only obeys Mommy and Daddy! Gu Chang…and…Diao Yijue—have no authority to give orders to Ketchup.
"Who do you think you are? Meow~
"Resuming search..."Gu Chang and Diao Yijue turned to Iris next, begging her to order her cat AI to stop. However, she wasn't the least bit affected by their pleas. She even covered her mouth and delicately yawned.
Sensing no hope from her, they turned to their President instead. Unfortunately, their hopes were dashed because he wasn't even looking at them. Like before, all of his attention was on his crazy fiancée.
It was now beginning to dawn on the two poor men that their President might even be crazier than her for acting like everything was normal. He even had a faint smile on his face, as he watched what his crazy woman and freakish digital child were doing together.
Gu Chang and Diao Yijue could only cry a river inside their hearts at their fates in the hands of this crazy family.
Wuwuwu! Poor them!
"Oh, right!" Iris suddenly exclaimed. "Where are my manners? Mr. Gu, Mr. Diao, please take a seat."
She led everyone to the centre of the room where there was a comfortable set of couches and a low table. The biggest couch had two pillows and a rumpled blanket on it. This must be where she slept. An empty reusable water bottle and an energy bar wrapper sat on top of the low table.
Jin Liwei frowned upon seeing them. He grabbed the energy bar wrapper.
"You've been in here for fifteen hours and this is the only thing you ate?" he asked her while waving the wrapper in his hand.
"Well…I was too busy so I…forgot to eat….""You—!" Jin Liwei was angered by her response. He crushed the wrapper in his hand and tossed it back on the low table. Then he marched the short distance to her and grabbed her hand. "That's it. We're going to the kitchen. Now! You need to eat first."
"Darling, wait! I'm okay, really. Let's finish our business with your two men first…"
It took some time but Iris was finally able to persuade Jin Liwei.
All of them sat down on the couch. Iris carelessly tossed the pillows and blanket to one corner. She and Jin Liwei sat on the big couch while the two men sat separately on the other smaller couches.
Iris began speaking.
"I think that the two of you already figured out that I was the one who assisted you during last night's hacking incident."
The two nodded.
Gu Chang hesitated at first but he still went ahead and asked, "C-could you possibly be…Drakon?"
Jin Liwei tensed and threw a deadly glare at him.
However, Iris had no qualms admitting it."Of course I am," she replied in a nonchalant manner.
The two men gasped at her admission. Although they already suspected it after entering this insanely futuristic room, they were still shocked upon learning the truth.
Iris Long, a young celebrity, was actually the fearsome world-class hacker Drakon?
WHAT THE HELL?!!
"I am Drakon. So you must also have realized by now what I can do to you if you ever become foolish enough to dare betray me, your President Jin Liwei, and Jin Corporation. I have exposed countless powerful figures and toppled many companies, organizations, and even governments all over the world. With that said, dealing with the two of you is extremely easy for me. Something as simple as destroying you two, I don't even have to raise a finger. I could just instruct Ketchup and she'll do it while I drink tea and have a massage."
The two men immediately shivered hearing her threat. They felt like sacrificial lambs about to be devoured by a scary evil dragon.
"W-we'll never betray you! We've always been loyal to the President and Jin Corporation! And we intend to remain that way. Please don't worry!" Gu Chang hurriedly declared.
Diao Yijue followed suit. "Yes! Miss Long…Madam—no, Master! Our venerated ancestor! The queen of all hackers, empress of the digital universe! Please be assured that we'll never ever dare betray you or the President!"
They held their breaths, awaiting her judgment.
"Hmm…" Iris tilted her head to the side, studying the two men who were literally shaking in their shoes.She started to feel sorry for them, but she caught herself and quickly hardened her heart. This is for her and her darling's safety. She needed to do this or they would be the ones to suffer if they didn't do any of these precautions.
"Ketchup, pause your search for now," she instructed the white cat.
"Pausing search…
"Paused! Meow~
"Done, Mommy!"
Iris nodded. "Good job, Ketchup. In the meantime, place Gu Chang and Diao Yijue on our watch list. If they violate any of our agreements today, immediately put their names on our virtual black notebook."
"Okay, Mommy~"
"What's a black notebook?" Diao Yijue asked before thinking.
"Hmm… Something like my hit list," Iris replied in a nonchalant manner.
The two men's eyes widened in fright.HIT LIST?!!!
Iris waved a dismissive hand. "If you don't plan on betraying us, then you have nothing to worry about."
"Exactly," Jin Liwei said. "Not to mention that you'll be receiving generous lifetime compensation and benefits from me as long as you listen to my wife—I mean, my future wife."
Iris blushed hearing him call her his wife.
As for the two men, their eyes lit up despite the fear at the mention of lifetime compensation and benefits.
Iris finally began talking about the reason why she called for the two of them to see her.
"I have rewritten the weakest parts of Jin Corporation's current system. It's certainly stronger than before, but it's still possible that it could get breached again, especially by hackers of Eagle's level. That's obviously not good. This is because the system's framework itself is flawed. I can't rest easy knowing this, so I plan on replacing Jin Corporation's entire system."
Jin Liwei frowned in concern. "Love, we already talked about this. It's too dangerous."
"Not if people don't know it was me who created it. Don't we have these two here? You already announced that they were the ones who defended Jin Corporation during the cyber-attack. People won't think twice if you also announce that these two developed your company's new impenetrable system."
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