POV: Katherine NaskarDate: September 3, 2012Location: Nova Tech Headquarters – Katherine's Office, Salt Lake Sector-V, KolkataTime: 7:30 AM IST
Morning light, filtered through storm-washed glass, carved pale rectangles across Katherine's desk. Her fingers hovered over her tablet, where news tickers celebrated Nova Tech's unassailable audit. Flashbulb icons marked articles in every major outlet—digital and print—her chest swelled with pride and something sharper, a lingering caution.
She rose to the window, pressing her palm against the cool pane. Below, the boulevard pulsed with life: autorickshaws skimmed past drenched planters, delivery riders lurched over slick roads, umbrellas bobbed like colorful mushrooms above bustling crowds. The city moved on, unaware of the data battles and boardroom gambits that had just unfolded behind these walls.
A soft chime at her door jolted her back.
"Come in," she called.
Priya Menon slipped inside, fresh espresso in hand and a stack of briefing binders under her arm. Her crisp sari still bore a few raindrops. "Good morning," she said. "Congratulations to your husband—Chapter 248 was a triumph."
Katherine returned the cup Priya offered. "Thank you. But success at the auditorium is one thing. Sustaining it is another." She flipped open the first binder: "Global Expansion Task Force – Agenda". "Lagos is secure, thanks to Arnav and his team. Next up: Accra pilot in Ghana."
Priya sank into the visitor's chair. "The UN liaison confirmed site approval. We've scheduled local workshops to begin next Monday. Elena Vasquez will co-lead, ensuring cultural adaptation of our interfaces."
Katherine nodded, scanning the detailed timeline chart. "Excellent. And the South-East Asia proposal?"
Priya pointed to the second binder. "We have provisional agreements in Malaysia and the Philippines. The draft MOU is signed, pending final legislative review. I've arranged a video-conference with their ministers at 3 PM."
Katherine leaned back, contemplating. "We're expanding faster than the board anticipated. That's good, but we need to avoid overstretch. I'll join that video-conference. I want to reinforce our commitment to local ownership, not just technology exports."
Priya hesitated, concern flickering in her eyes. "There's… something else. Overnight, we detected a subtle flux in the audit chain for Accra—minor node desynchronization, nothing on the level of Lagos, but enough to trigger an alert."
Katherine sat forward, pulse quickening. "Show me."
On the tablet, cascading hashes revealed a handful of timestamp mismatches—entries that lagged by exactly forty-seven seconds. Too precise to be random latency, but not enough to corrupt data. A silent probe.
"Protocol Shadow," Katherine whispered, recalling Viktor's ominous handiwork. "He's testing us again—probing the backups, looking for weakness." She closed her eyes for a moment, drawing on the morning's calm. "We'll meet that quietly. Priya, schedule a full redundancy drill for Accra this afternoon. Let Viktor see our resilience."
Priya exhaled. "Consider it done." She rose to leave, then paused. "One more thing—your father called. He said he'd like to speak, to… congratulate you."
Katherine's lips quirked. "That's new." She watched Priya depart and tapped the desk's intercom. "Line to Bern, please."
The screen buzzed; Nathaniel's lined face filled it, softened by the glow of Swiss dawn. "Katherine," he said, voice surprisingly warm. "I saw the session—impressive."
Katherine chose her words carefully. "Thank you, Father. But I understand from Priya that there's been another probe on Accra."
Nathaniel's eyes flickered. "I was not involved. But it's good to see your systems holding. Your husband's transparency—your transparency—is proving invincible." He paused. "I apologize for overstepping. The Blackwood resources are yours, if you still wish them."
Katherine felt a shiver. "Our partnership stands, but only if we operate in daylight. No more shadows."
He inclined his head. "Agreed." The screen went dark.
She exhaled, uncertainty and relief warring within her. Outside, the rain had paused; a lone pigeon pecked at the marble ledge.
Her phone buzzed—Elena Vasquez, confirming the Ghana drill. Katherine stood and walked to the window, phone in hand. "Elena, let's talk contingencies…"
Below, the city hummed with promise. Above, the storm clouds parted. And in that quiet embrace of sky and skyline, Katherine Naskar resolved to keep that promise: that every ledger, in every village or capital, would reflect not only numbers, but the unbreakable vow of trust.