One week later the team, which included four of the current Moorehouse staff, was set, salaries agreed to and offices filled. Terry handed the four new Human Leaguers over to Shawna, who would put them to work developing the Bloodhound program. Terry arranged with his lawyer to have $15 million of his trust fund capital transferred to a payroll account for The Human League. Jamie Goldman, who was president of Moorehouse Digital, would also take on the role of President of The Human League.
Editor’s Note: See Prior Parts Here
This left Terry free to troubleshoot inside and network outside on behalf of the organization. Terry was just about to set off on the road to Washington when he got a call from Senator Roman.
“Terry, how are things going with your new venture?”
“I’m just getting ready to head down to Washington to follow up on some of the referrals you’ve given me.”
“That’s good. But listen, son. I was wondering if you would do something for me.”
“You name it sir.”
“I have a personal friend who is in a bit of a situation. I think they could use your help.”
“What sort of situation are we talking about here?”
“It involves AI and, well, I think it would be better if we didn’t talk about it on the phone. I’ll text you their info.
The name the Senator texted to Terry was Arthur Tyson with an address in Stamford and a phone number. Terry did a Google search and discovered that Arthur Tyson was a real estate tycoon, with literally dozens of residential building projects up and down the eastern seaboard. Terry wondered about what kind of trouble someone like this could get into, and even though he was pretty young, he could imagine at least half a dozen things.
Shortly after that Terry got in his car and headed south. He stopped for lunch in New Haven and then pressed on to Stamford, where three hours later he pulled into the driveway of a large modern-looking mansion. Arthur Tyson was sitting on the front steps when Terry arrived. He was smoking a small cigar.
After the introductions and handshakes, Arthur invited Terry to sit down with him while he finished his cigar.
“I’m not allowed to smoke in the house.” he said.
“Never been a smoker myself.”
“I limit myself to two or three a day.” Arthur said. “But that’s not why you’re here.”
“I have to admit I’m a little in the dark about that.”
“Well, you’re here because Virgil says you know your way around the AI world.”
“Okay.”
“Well right now, as we speak, I am being blackmailed by some people who have used AI to basically create a pornographic film starring my daughter, Rebecca. They are demanding ten million or they will release the videos on Rebecca’s’ social media accounts. This will essentially ruin her life. I can afford to pay them, but what proof will I have that they have actually destroyed the footage? And what’s to keep them from coming back for more.”
Terry looked over at Arthur. He could easily see the pain that he was in. At the same time, he thought, this is the beginning of it. Everything he wanted The Human League to be was embodied in the look on this man’s face.
“Have you gone to the authorities about this?” Terry asked.
“No. They warned me against doing that. I told them I need at least a week to get the money together. That was yesterday.”
“And how are they communicating with you?”
“By email. A Gmail account.”
“And they sent you some sort of sample?”
“Yes. It’s in my computer in my study.”
“Let’s go have a look at it.”
They got up and entered the house. It was big and screamed money.
“What’s your business, Mr Tyson?” Terry asked just to try and put him at ease, because he was obviously very upset.
“I build subdivisions. “Tyson Homes. I’m pretty much hands-off these days. I went public a few years ago and have been spending a lot of time here trying to write the great American novel.”
They walked into the study. Lots of books. Lots of dark wood, a real man’s den. Arthur pulled a chair in beside his chair. They both sat down and Arthur opened up a MacBook on his desk. He clicked on his email program then opened an email from something called Armageddon2.
Terry read the text and then clicked on the attachment. It was a masturbation scene. He could see right away that the head of the model had been created through an AI imaging program using what he assumed was Rebecca Tyson’s likeness. The clip was only about thirty seconds long and to the untrained eye, it would be quite authentic looking.
But Terry’s eye was anything but untrained. He could see the slightest differences in skin tone. He magnified the head and shoulders portion of the video and as he did, he pointed out to Arthur the differences in skin tone and a couple of instances where the blending was less than ideal. As he played it again, he noticed that the voice-to-picture sync was also a little off here and there.
“These people are not high-end professionals. They’re probably students. A lot of what’s wrong with this video are rookie mistakes.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“No. Not really. but it gives us something to work on. If you don’t have a problem with it, I’d like to send this to my team in Plymouth. We have one person there can who figure out a lot more about the origins of this than I can do here.”
Arthur looked at Terry, then took a deep breath. “This can’t get out into the world, son.”
“And it won’t, sir. But it all comes down to you and me and the trust you need to have.”
“Well, you do come highly recommended.”
Terry moved the laptop over and entered Shawna’s email address and forwarded the email to her. He then called her.
“Hi Shawna. I’ve just emailed you a video. We’re trying to find out where it came from. OK. As few eyes on this as possible. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“My partner will figure this out. Once we do, I would suggest that you use Senator Roman to contact that local police force or the FBI and have them raided. If it comes from you they might not do anything right away but the Senator has come clout and a lot of credibility with the police.”
“How old are you, son?”
“Twenty-five, sir.”
“Where did you get all this experience?”
“Mostly just logic, sir. Now there’s no guarantee that we can actually trace this, but you only get lucky if you try.”
“Well let’s hope we get lucky.”
“But if we don’t I would advise you to two things. One is to agree to pay them. And two is to call the police and tell them everything. Whatever you do, do not agree to do a wire transfer. Make them come and get it.”
“What happens if they don’t agree to that.”
“I honestly don’t know, sir. But they would have to be crazy to have come this far and then back away. ”
“Well let’s just hope your people are as good as you think they are.”
“I’ll get back to you as soon as we have figured something out. By the way, how is your daughter taking all this?”
“She doesn’t know. Neither does her mother. They are both in England visiting relatives.”
The two men shook hands and Terry headed to his car and headed back north.
