Final Notice, page 8
“OK.” And then seeing the printed papers in his hand, she asked, “Whatcha got?”
“Our HSC Study Guides!”
“HSC?”
“Handgun Safety Certificates. I spoke with Rueben and he suggested getting that step out of the way. I’ve looked at the questions and it shouldn’t take long to prepare for the test. And Rueben will come with us to give advice about choosing a gun. If we buy one, we’ll have a 10-day wait before we can bring it home. California laws are much more restrictive than other states. In many, you don’t need a permit, nor do you have to have your gun registered. And that’s amazing, given that guns are lethal weapons and bullets can be traced back to a gun, like a fingerprint.”
“Slow down. I thought we were going to continue to think about this.”
“This is just part of the decision process. We’re not taking any tangible steps yet, just getting ready in case we want to … pull the trigger.”
Trudi faked a groan. “Vince Fuller. It’s a good thing I don’t have a gun right now!” But she was too pleased about her upcoming iPad to give him an argument.
***
CHAPTER 9 - WRINKLES
Quincy, Massachusetts. A few weeks into the alpha test, Maria Moon, VitalTech’s PR Director and Drew Pierson, Director of Research and Development, bumped into each other in the VitalTech coffee lounge.
“Hi, Drew. Long time no see.”
“Hi, Maria. Yeah, like all of us these days, I’ve been chained to my desk.”
“Not surprised. I’ve seen most of the top line alpha test results, but what’s your take?”
“Overall, I’d say it’s going well. The watch is doing its job, as I knew it would, and the user interface has been better than anything I’ve been involved with before.”
“That’s saying something, coming from an ex-Apple guy.”
Drew looked uncomfortable and scanned the room. Spying a table in the corner, away from everyone else, he asked, “Do you have a minute?”
“Sure. I have a long chain right now.”
Drew forced a smile as they sat down at the table. “Can we keep this confidential?”
Maria replied warily, “OK. What’s going on? You’re not leaving us, are you?”
“No. Nothing like that.” He took a deep breath and sighed, “Of the 100 participants in the alpha test, three have been involved with gun incidents. Two have killed people, including a multiple killing, and one, the youngest, has committed suicide, and we’re barely into the test period.”
Maria said nothing as she absorbed what Drew had just told her, wondering if it was coincidental or within a norm of some sort. Then she remembered the last top line alpha test results. “Are these the three with Final Notices?”
“Yes.”
“Who else knows this?”
“I don’t know. The guy who killed six people was shot and killed. It’s possible the clinical team picked up on it if the VT2 analysis and prediction were different than expected. I’m not sure what kind of follow up they do. Plus, he was the first and it didn’t really raise any alarms. The second guy actually died of natural causes almost a week before his Notice date, but he shot and killed someone between the time of his Notice and his death.
“How do you know that?”
“I got a call from the FBI last week asking about the VT2 and she told me that before dying, our test user shot and killed someone.”
“Jesus. Does Vijay know this?”
“No. He was away last week and I’m seeing him later today. When I bumped into you, I thought I’d get your reaction and advice about how to handle it.”
“Gee, thanks. What do we know about the suicide?”
“Nothing unusual, except that he received a one-week Final Notice earlier on the day he shot and killed himself.”
“After what you’ve told me, I expect it would be considered unusual. Any suicide note?”
“I don’t know. The user didn’t register any next of kin or emergency contact, so short of calling the police and asking … ”
“Yeah. Probably not a good idea. How do you know he committed suicide?”
“A call from the police. This guy was pretty much a loner with a few casual acquaintances. The guy hadn’t password protected his app so when the cops looked at the phone, they saw no phone activity and no emails, just a few standard Apps and the VT2 App. When they opened it, they saw that the ‘Last Activity’ date on the app Welcome screen was the date of the suicide, and they called the Help Line number. They didn’t know what the app was, so they didn’t ask good questions, but they told Debbie on the Help Desk that he had shot and killed himself.”
“I recall that the Notice feature was really liked by the focus groups. Was there any talk about adverse reactions? The suicide guy could have been depressed so that’s almost normal, but the killings?”
“I know. How do you think I should handle it with Vijay?”
“You know him as well as I do. Tell him straight out what’s happened. And what you think. Drew, what do you think?”
Drew hesitated for a moment. “Not sure. The depression angle is certainly logical. And we won’t really know how that will play out over time, but as you said, the killings are the big worry. We don’t have the details on either of the two except the bare facts. One guy shoots a dozen people, killing six, before he’s killed. The other guy walks into a store, shoots the cashier, walks out, goes home and dies. Revenge? Retribution of some kind? Nothing to lose?”
Maria spoke with great urgency. “When are you seeing Vijay?”
“I was going to catch up with him later.”
“No. Do it now. I’ll come with you if you’d like. What you just said is a PR disaster waiting to happen and I don’t care how good the VT2 is. This could be our Final Notice.”
“Thanks. I’ll get my notes and swing by your office on the way.”
***
Not long afterwards, Maria and Drew met with Vijay. He was in a good mood. All the pieces seemed to be falling into place with the planned production set up, and both KKR and Credit Suisse were increasingly bullish about the IPO.
Vijay couldn’t wait to share the news from his meetings with Credit Suisse and KKR. “I’m not going to start throwing numbers out yet, because you guys will start spending all your time thinking about what you’re going to do with all your money, but suffice it to say, everything is looking good for a very successful IPO. The product is right and our timing is perfect.”
Drew and Maria looked at each other and Drew swallowed hard. “Vijay, we may have a problem.”
“What do you mean? What kind of problem?”
Drew repeated what he told Maria earlier about the killing and suicide.
Vijay looked pale. “Holy shit!! Sorry, Maria. What do we know about the deaths?”
Drew took Vijay through what he knew about the Tucson killings. “I haven’t had time to check with Clinical to see if their readings indicated that he died from an outside cause or how long he began shooting after his Notice.”
“How did we find out?”
“I saw it reported on TV and at first it didn’t register but for some reason it made me think, so I checked the test file later and saw that the name and address matched the news report. He was the first, so it didn’t stand out as important.
“OK. Tell me about the second shooting.”
“The second one was an 85-year-old man who shot and killed a store cashier after he had received his Notice. He then went home and died of natural causes, so it may not have raised any alarms in Clinical, but it appears that he died before the day given in the Notice. Again, I haven’t spoken with them yet to see if they detected anything unusual, or to correlate the Notice timing with the time of the shooting.”
“How do we know about this one?
“I got a call from the FBI asking about the VT2.”
“What? The FBI called? What did you tell him?”
“It was a her, but just the basics. That it was a holistic fitness/health monitor and that the user was part of a test group helping to ensure that the application functioned as planned.”
“What kind of questions did she ask?”
“Hmm, I’m trying to recall. That’s right, she asked if the watch had diagnostic capabilities that could cause the user to become depressed.”
“What did you say?”
“I gave her a high-level overview of the Final Notice function, which she seemed very interested in. She also asked for access codes to the app and any documentation.”
“And did you give it to her?”
“Yes. The User Name and Password. I also sent her the standard documentation.”
“Did you check it out with Legal?”
“No. It was the FBI and I verified that by calling her back at their listed main number.”
“OK, good. That should be OK but going forward we need to set up a process. I’ll get the team together first thing after lunch so we can discuss it. Tell me about the suicide.”
“I got a call from the police.”
Vijay grimaced.
Drew told him the details he had shared with Maria earlier.
“OK. I’ll get Liz and Patsy to meet with us at 1:00. I’ll ask Patsy to bring the file logs so we can determine the Final Notice time stamps. Do we know the dates and times of the shootings?”
Drew replied, “No, but I can call and find out.”
“No, not yet. The first one is easy. We know the time of the Notice and death, if he was still wearing the device. Maybe Patsy can tell based on the final readings. The suicide is easy, too. We just need some more info regarding the second one. Maybe Liz has a legal connection that can casually check police records. But let’s keep this between the five of us for the time being. Thanks. See you both at 1:00.”
As Drew and Maria walked down the hall, Drew asked, “How do you think he took it?”
“I think he was shaken, but I have confidence in him and us to figure out the right solution.”
“But it sounds like he doesn’t want the IPO managers involved yet. Do you think he’ll try to hide it?”
“No. My guess is that he wants to know the details and develop a plan before he involves them.”
“You’re probably right. Thanks. See you at 1:00.”
***
Vijay sat back in his chair and re-read the email from his younger brother, Sanjay. Twelve years younger than Vijay, Sanjay was bright, but not in the same way as Vijay. Nonetheless, he attended the well-respected Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. But when their father became ill, Sanjay dropped out to help with the family store. His parents were furious at Sanjay’s decision, but he was resolute. ‘Store’ was a euphemism for the canvas and corrugated metal lean- to/shack where they had lived and sold fruit and vegetables to the local residents. Vijay had been able to get them into a real house several years ago, but his father would never give up the store. He would rather have died than sit around and have Vijay support them.
Soon, Vijay thought, I’ll be able to get them completely out of there and set them up somewhere so they can enjoy their remaining years in luxury, or at least tranquility, given his father’s ascetic nature. He was also hoping that he could help out Sanjay, even get him involved with the VT2 manufacturing operations. That would go a long way to assuage his guilt for having his brother give up his goals while he was fulfilling his own.
As he reread the email though, his hope turned to worry, as it might all be too late ... especially if the VT2 launch was delayed, or worse yet, cancelled, because of the killings he’d just learned about. His father had suffered a seizure several months ago, and although he seemed to recover, as a medical doctor, Vijay knew it wasn’t a good sign. That’s why, in addition to the 100 VT2s in the alpha test, Vijay had given out three others – to his father, his mother and Sanjay. All three were programmed for 30 days, which would give Vijay time to get things in order at VitalTech and get to India. He had also programmed the relay alert feature on his father’s VT2 to alert both himself and Sanjay. Perhaps when the alpha test was finished and a little more progress was made with the production plans, he could make a quick trip to India.
Was his last visit really almost five years ago? Where had the time gone? More guilt washed over him as he compared his life with that of his parents and brother. He lived in a luxury apartment in Boston and commuted to his office in Quincy in his high-end Tesla. His parents lived in a suburb of Mumbai, next door to a sprawling slum. They walked or hired a three-wheeler – the ubiquitous, noisy, smelly (and wide open to smells) auto rickshaws that are like bugs, in constant motion 24 hours a day.
Vijay had stayed in a Marriott hotel on the beach when he last visited, although to be fair, there really wasn’t room for him at his parents’ house, he told himself. When his family came to the hotel for dinner, it was like entering a palace, and their discomfort was palpable, not just because of the elegance of the surroundings, but the looks from the staff. Even when Vijay explained to them that almost all of the hotel staff lived in slums and poor conditions, it was hard to believe, looking at their smart, freshly laundered and pressed uniforms.
His father had complained about the food. Tasteless and foreign, even though it appeared to be Indian cuisine. Oddly, he didn’t mention the price. Perhaps he didn’t realize that numbers, that big, were prices for the food. If he had known, Vijay was sure he wouldn’t have eaten.
He was rescued from another wave of guilt as Maureen buzzed him to announce that his colleagues had arrived, but he wasn’t looking forward to this either.
***
CHAPTER 10 – CONSEQUENCES
Quincy, Massachusetts. Drew, Maria, Patsy Carter, VitalTech’s Head of Clinical Affairs, and Liz Glass, VitalTech’s Legal Counsel, assembled in Vijay’s conference room. Vijay had just cleared his head of his thoughts and guilt with respect to his parents and Sanjay.
Grabbing his notes, he opened the door to the conference room. “Hi guys.” (Even though there was only one guy.) “Thanks for clearing your schedules. We may have a problem.”
Liz and Patsy looked puzzled. Liz asked, “What kind of a problem?”
“Drew. Please give them an update of our conversation.”
Drew took them through the circumstances of the three users and the shootings, including the brief involvement of the police and the FBI.
Patsy responded, “It doesn’t surprise me, in a way. We all knew that one of the big unknowns was how users would handle the Notice feature. What Drew hasn’t mentioned, because we just updated the logs, is that two users have died within the past week of natural causes and the Final Notice prediction was consistent with their actual deaths. We’ll need to check and see if there were any unusual incidents associated with these two.”
“Unusual as in shootings?” asked Drew.
“Yes, or harming people in other ways. There was another natural death a week earlier and he might be the one that shot the cashier, which also might explain the anomaly with the Notice timing.”
Vijay was absolutely focused on what Patsy had just said. “What anomaly?”
“The user received his Notice for a week, but then the system issued an urgent 911 Notice five days before the week ended. We didn’t understand why that would change. But if the Notice triggered extreme stress and/or anger – which could be why he shot the cashier – or if the stress was a result of shooting the cashier, that could explain his accelerated death.”
Vijay recapped, “So, out of our group of 100, we have a total of 5 deaths, including one suicide. And under the circumstances, the suicide is almost normal. Let’s face it, knowing you have a week to live might make suicide seem like a good way to go, depending on your illness and pain levels. Two others involve some type of anger or revenge; and two more appear uncomplicated.
“The issue is the Notice. Nothing else with respect to the VT2 would trigger aggressive behavior. Drew, will you follow up with these two most recent deaths and verify that they were indeed uncomplicated with respect to guns or other violence.
“Got it.”
“And while you’re at it, see if they had guns or easy access to one. In fact, see if we can find out the total number of alpha testers who have or had access to guns. Liz, I wanted you here in case we have or may have a legal issue.”
Liz took a breath and replied, “I don’t think we do at the moment, but we need to give some additional thought to the set-up of the beta test, to take some precautions and ensure we don’t have legal issues going forward. Obviously, unless Drew’s search turns up information that the two users he’s following up on, killed people using baseball bats, guns seem to be the big variable. We may need to ascertain which users have guns and ensure we have representative numbers with and without.”
