The waves rolled in slow, steady rhythms, whispering against the rocky shore. Alias sat alone on the villa’s terrace, a half-drunk glass of red wine beside him, untouched for the past hour. His notebook lay open, filled with scrawled equations, risk assessments, contingency plans. But his pen had been idle for some time now.
His mind was elsewhere.
On the risks.
Not just his risks.
Theirs.
Because if he brought others into this—into Pegged, into what he had started—he would be dragging them into something they might not fully understand until it was too late.
And unlike him, they hadn’t chosen this path from the beginning.
It wasn’t just operational risks.
It wasn’t just legal risks.
It was the existential risk of being part of something that, if successful, could never be undone.
A Faustian adventure.
That’s what he called it. Because once they stepped in, there would be no turning back. Pegged was meant to be irrevocable—and by working on it, so would their involvement.
The Risks to the Project
1. Exposure
The more people involved, the greater the chance of detection.
Someone could slip, talk to the wrong person, leave a trace.
A single mistake could lead authorities straight to them before Pegged was ready.
2. Capture
If a team member became a point of leverage, could they be turned?
What if someone was threatened, blackmailed, coerced into modifying the system before launch?
Could he truly ensure that every single component of Pegged would be protected from its own creators?
3. Competence vs. Trust
He needed people who were good enough to execute his vision flawlessly.
But the best minds were rarely the most trustworthy.
If he chose someone too ambitious, they might try to control the system.
If he chose someone too fearful, they might become a liability.
Alias exhaled, staring at the dark water. This is why Satoshi disappeared before Bitcoin could be captured.
He understood the risk of people.
