Palindrome: Traversing Fields for Planting.

Working

Over the past few years, William had been working on computer algorithms for an investment bank. They paid him to analyze the trading patterns in particular markets and to create programs to respond in unexpected ways, generating large profits. The bank was not primarily interested in producing a service for customers even if this was printed in their marketing materials and annual reports. Instead they generated profits off the abstract prices of food and natural resources that were consumed around the world; profits whose scale could purchase a country or influence the outcome of an election.

William did not agree with the bank's use of his work. Nor was he a regular employee. He had previously developed a successful software company. But once it had been recognized as influential and capable of generating large profits in banking, sovereign fund managers began to apply pressure on him. These were the firms that carried out one county's interest in another country's assets, executing political strategies that were cloaked as financial transactions. Eventually he felt he had little choice but to do as he was asked, accepting an offer to work in Manhattan at one of the largest investment banks in the world, who also worked closely with sovereign funds.

But William was James's son. And each morning when he got out of bed he reminded himself of this and spent hours developing another algorithm that he had no intention of discussing with anyone associated with his employer. At the same time he realized he was indebted to the bank as he could not have developed this idea without first being deeply involved with his work there, as his program was unrecognizable to existing programs run by the investment banks. He remembered his father's words to be grateful for any, "gift of despair". And he was.