An assistant led him to the thirty-second floor.
Serafina stood near the windows.
No red beret today.
Cream trousers.
Black turtleneck.
Hair pulled back.
No sunglasses.
She looked less theatrical.
More dangerous.
A man Kellen did not know sat at the conference table.
Black.
Mid-forties.
Glasses.
Navy suit.
Serafina introduced him.
“David Chen.”
Kellen looked at him.
The man smiled.
“The name is confusing, yes.”
Kellen blinked.
David continued:
“My mother is Jamaican Chinese.”
“Everyone pauses.”
Kellen almost laughed.
David extended a hand.
“Outside counsel.”
“Not Vale counsel.”
That mattered.
Serafina pointed toward a chair.
“Sit.”
Kellen did.
She placed the severed wire on the table.
Sealed now.
Evidence label.
Photographs.
Chain-of-custody sheet.
Kellen stared.
“You moved fast.”
Serafina sat across from him.
“I didn’t sleep.”
“Healthy.”
“Not usually.”
David opened a laptop.
“Mr. Royce, before we start, I want to be clear.”
“This is an independent privileged investigation authorized directly by Ms. Vale under controlling-owner authority.”
“We are not asking you to waive legal claims.”
“We are not asking for confidentiality beyond protection of active evidence.”
“If you want your own attorney, stop us.”
Kellen leaned back.
“You think I need one?”
David answered:
“I think people should understand when the lawyer in the room does not represent them.”
Kellen nodded.
“I like you already.”
Serafina almost smiled.
Then:
“Tell us what happened three years ago.”
Kellen looked toward her.
“All of it?”
“All of it.”
So he did.
Vale had been preparing the SC9 platform for regulatory validation.
Kellen worked systems reliability.
During durability testing, three vehicles experienced intermittent sensor faults.
Not catastrophic.
Annoying.
Then one prototype lost power on a test track.
Kellen traced it to cable routing.
The sensor harness passed too close to a maintenance channel.
Under vibration, clips could loosen.
During servicing, tools could damage the line.
He proposed relocating the harness.
Cheap fix before production.
His manager, Trevor Hale, resisted because redesign would delay validation by six weeks.
Six weeks mattered.
Vale’s stock had fallen.
The board wanted the platform announcement before quarter-end.
Kellen filed a safety exception.
It disappeared.
He filed again.
Changed classification.
From potential safety event to serviceability issue.
He challenged it.
Trevor accused him of inflating risk.
Then Kellen found testing values altered after submission.
He copied screenshots.
He emailed compliance.
Compliance forwarded the complaint to engineering security because the changes might involve unauthorized system access.
Owen Mercer entered.
Within two weeks, the investigation changed focus.
Who had exported restricted data?
Kellen.
Why had he taken screenshots to a personal encrypted drive?
Evidence preservation.
Corporate policy called it unauthorized removal.
His access was revoked.
He was interviewed.
His supervisor testified Kellen had become “fixated.”
A colleague said he had discussed changing validation outcomes if management ignored him.
Kellen denied it.
Then a modified data file appeared under his user credentials.
He had not created it.