Chapter 102
Chapter 102: The Final Grift of Vanguard
While the foundation flourished, the remnants of the old corporate world still tried to find a foothold. Vanguard Development—the massive conglomerate that Anna had defeated in the 2042 Hudson Pavilion war—had underwent multiple corporate restructuring phases, eventually re-emerging as a digital real estate conglomerate called Vanguard Tech Matrix.
In early 2077, they launched a massive hostile takeover bid for an independent green energy grid in Virginia that supplied power to all the foundation’s educational facilities.
Their strategy was to gain control of the energy grid and hike the operational tariffs, effectively forcing the Claire Davis Trust into a financial deficit that would compel them to sell off their historic properties, including the Brooklyn laboratory.
The lead executive for Vanguard was a cold, algorithmic strategist who believed human legacy was an obsolete variable in business calculations. He sent a formal corporate ultimatum to Claire’s office.
Claire sat at her mahogany desk, looking at the digital document. Next to her sat the framed bounced check from 2026.
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"They think they can starve us out by controlling the power grid," Claire’s legal deputy stated, looking worried. "Their financial reserves are ten times larger than ours."
"Vanguard hasn't changed in fifty years," Claire said, her voice dropping into that chilling, unshakeable register that belonged to our bloodline. "They still think that money is the ultimate authority. They forgot that we don't just run on their grid. We own the actual copyright to the infrastructure."
