Big Data: A Startup Thriller Novel

Chapter 89

         

The next morning, I woke up with the worst headache of my life. But fortunately with none of the nerves that I had felt this time last year. At least not about the act itself. The building? I didn't want to go back there. And technically, I didn't have to. It was, after all, just a silly formality. The memories hadn't lost their edge. Not even after all that whiskey. Just seeing the facade of Corinthian pillars made me squeal.

"I told you so," Henry said, giving me a big old grin. We met at the front of the stock exchange this time. My request.

"Good to see you again, too, but I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"I told you I'd see you here again," he laughed. "Maybe not this soon, but I had a feeling." He winked.

I couldn't believe I was here again. Resuming my place as the head of Ancien and getting Gaia back under control had been huge undertakings. Three lawsuits. One was even a class action.

The cash we'd spent settling those cases would have shut the company down only the year before, but Gaia's reputation spread quickly. We turned Gaia's malicious functionalities to more productive uses. By the time we had to pay up, we were making more money than we knew what to do with. The bankers wanted to set the stock price at fifteen dollars a share, which would put us at a valuation of three billion dollars, but based on our current revenues, we were expected to be worth double that.

In fact, the board debated for a long time whether or not we should even go public. We didn't need to, financially. But morally, we needed broader oversight. Sure, maybe it was just financial oversight, but that was better than none at all.

"Security's tightened up," said Henry. "You'll need to take off your shoes this time."

I put my purse and shoes through the machine. As I went through, I saw Ancien's logo on the screen. I smiled.

"Can I see the trading floor?"

Henry's eyes sparkled in delight. "Well, of course you can. Did you know the New York Stock Exchange originated in a small café on Wall Street? It was run out of that same café until 1817."

I let Henry give me the grand tour. I still felt like a jerk for not letting him show me around properly the first time. It was more interesting than I'd expected, though admittedly my mind was elsewhere. In particular, it was on the trading floor.

"And this is it," Henry announced, his arms in the air. "Where all the excitement happens."

There were a few groups of traders already gathering and talking. I could smell expensive cologne as one of the men brushed past us. I turned, and that's when I saw it.

"Isn't this where?"

Henry blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry. It was a poor choice of words."

"No, it's okay, I just want to know."

But I already knew. A chill ran down my spine as I looked up at the spot where I'd been standing only a year ago. This was where Taye had tried so desperately to get my attention. Had tried so hard to reach out to me. And I'd been so blind and distracted. Too caught up in my own shit to pay attention to what was going on around me. I'd been letting other people push me in directions that I didn't want to go. But I hadn't spoken up. I didn't think I had a choice. Everyone around me—my closest advisors—kept telling me this was the right thing to do. The mature thing to do. Even though it didn't feel right in my gut. I just gritted my teeth and let them do it anyway.

Allowing them to take my own company away from me wasn't my biggest mistake, though. Not paying attention to Taye was what I regretted most.

Taye had been everything I wasn't. He'd given up his life to fix what was wrong. And what had I done? How many times had I hung back from doing the right thing because I was afraid? Afraid of being embarrassed or of being wrong or of being unprepared. How many others had Doug and Thor manipulated? How many had kept silent, knowing in some capacity that what they were doing was wrong?

Taye was more than a hero. Taye was the person I now wished I could be. He was the standard to which I was holding myself accountable. At least that's what my therapist kept telling me. But what did she know? She didn't see the poor boy's limp hand. His death was not on her conscience, haunting her every day like a goddamn ghost.

"Luna? You okay?"

I snapped out of my daze and found that we were no longer on the trading floor; we were heading upstairs. Henry glanced at his watch.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, unconvincingly.

"Need to powder your nose?"

I shook my head.

"Good. We don't have time for that anyway. I'm always running behind with these things. You remember the buttons?"

I nodded, but Henry was looking at his watch and went on anyway, "There are three buttons. At nine thirty—shit. We're really behind. Okay, just press the green button. If the green button doesn't work, push the red button."

With a gentle shove, I found myself back where it all began. This time, though, it felt right. I was alone. Proud. Not giving up anything. Making no compromises.

I looked at the crowd. Another day, another bell. A few looked up at me. Most kept talking.

I looked at the spot where the crowd had parted for Taye. I closed my eyes and remembered him. The life that had saved so many others. The brilliance that had given the world Gaia.

I opened my eyes and looked down at the console. Nine twenty-nine. I wondered what would happen if I didn't press the button. Would the bell still ring? Then another thought came to me: what was that damned third button for? Henry had explained the green and the red ones, but there was an orange button sitting next to the red one. No one had mentioned that.

The clock changed. It was nine thirty. I did nothing.

I wondered if the electronic stock market was active, or if it, too, was waiting for me to press the green button. If it was active, Ancien stock would now be trading. I looked around, trying to find a screen with the ANCN ticker on it. The floor bustled in anticipation, though most of the traders still weren't paying attention to me. I couldn't find my ticker.

I heard a whisper from behind the curtain. "Everything all right?"

I said nothing. I was watching as the clock turned nine thirty-one. No bell. The trading floor was growing still. More people started looking up at me. I smiled.

My finger lifted and came down quickly on the orange button.

"No. Shit. No, no, no, no. Holy shit."

I turned to find Henry standing next to me, shaking his head violently, his hands covering his face.

The bell hadn't rung.

The crowd was silent.

Nine thirty-two.

Henry lowered his hands, revealing a huge grin.

"What?" I said.

He didn't respond. Just pointed. I followed his finger. I hadn't noticed that screen, but it was the one I was looking for. The Ancien stock price. In big bold numbers, I read the number in disbelief. Forty-five. Fifty. It was going up fast.

"You going to put these traders out of their misery?" he asked.

"What does the orange button do?"

"Nothing. Been broken for years. I just like to freak people out about it. Try pressing the green one."

The crowd was restless. Shouts broke out in the silence. I raised my finger and pressed the green button. The bell rang. The crowd descended into madness.