The Founder of the Feast Ch. 01

"THE FOUNDER OF THE FEAST"

A Part of The Game Universe

PART I, CHAPTER 1

By Arthur Nakamura

FADE IN: A SUITE AT THE FAIRMONT HOTEL

PART I, CHAPTER 1: AND THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN

In an ornately decorated hotel room, a man and a woman are fucking. The man, Jax, is on top of the woman, a beautiful Asian woman named Christy, who is lying prone on her stomach. As he pounds her, we hear a voiceover narration.

JAX (VOICEOVER)

One day, The Firm collapsed. Just 24 hours earlier, it was a boutique investment advisor firm operating out of a non-descript building in the Financial District. According to the paperwork filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, The Firm managed approximately $950 million in assets -- not large enough to encourage a lot of scrutiny, but reputable enough to bank some of the world's richest clients.

But paperwork doesn't tell the full story. Off the books, The Firm managed more than $300 billion in assets -- almost twice as large as the biggest "legitimate" investment advisor. The Firm was one of a handful of companies in a niche market. And in a way, The Firm's job was to maintain both their client's money as well as their secrets.

Employees at The Firm -- and all of their competitors -- were a part of The Game. The Game is so sprawling and complex that any attempt to fully describe it would be inadequate. However, the easiest way to understand it would be to consider literally as a system for keeping score of sexual conquests.

But in reality, it was more like a caste system. Your role in The Firm was directly related to your abilities in The Game. Careers and lives have been made and broken in The Game; fortunes won and lost.

There were the "Outsiders" -- named because they occupied the ornately decorated offices that formed a ring around the outside of the building. Outsiders only had one job -- get more assets under management. Given The Firm's role in The Game, sex was the primary incentive for the rich and powerful to hand over their money. Outsiders were beautiful, young, and successful, and almost nothing was off-limits for them.

There were also the "Insiders" -- mostly clerical and support staff. They occupy the inside seats in the office "bullpen" area. They performed administrative and back-office support, such as Accounting, Finance, and IT. Most Insiders didn't know how The Firm actually operated, nor did they participate in any of the extracurricular activities.

And The Firm was the best. All of their competitors had names -- Watkins & Young, for example. But not The Firm. It was always known as The Firm. It was so heavily structured as a series of shell companies and anonymous LLCs that nobody alive today likely knew the real name of The Firm.

And in less than 24 hours, The Firm will have collapsed and The Game will have been changed forever.

But for now, this is how I started my day.

As Jax continues pounds her, the pitch in her voice raises -- she's about to have another orgasm. And as quickly as she had this one, she's about to have another one. Eventually, she gives up trying to fight it, relaxes her body, lets her eyes roll back in her head, and allows the orgasms to take over her body. After 30 more seconds, Jax is ready to cum. As he moves to slip his bare cock out of her pussy, she wraps her legs around his waist and holds him close to her. Taking her enthusiasm as a sign, he cums inside of her. They are both satisfied.

Kristie, who has now covered herself with the sheet, continues to lie in bed while Jax gets dressed.

JAX

So are we still good at $15 million?

KRISTIE

Make it $20 million. Meet me here same time next week and I'll make it another $10 million.

JAX

That bad, huh? You want a 50% discount next time?

KRISTIE

Well, I can't blow my whole budget for just two sessions. At some point, the accountants for my husband's charity are going to start asking questions about why I'm having you manage our entire endowment.

JAX

Well, then I guess I can cut you a break. After all, you're down $30 million. That only leaves you with what, $2.97 billion?

KRISTIE

How many more orgasms will that buy me?

JAX

You want any more?

KRISTIE

Not today! You practically ripped me open. I have no idea what I'm going to do if Paul wants to fuck tonight.

JAX

Just tell him he's so big and tough that he did it.

KRISTIE

Trust me, if you'd seen him naked, you know that he wouldn't believe that.

JAX

Wishful thinking on his part - no man would reject that compliment. He'll be happy for the rest of the night, and no more pesky questions for you.

KRISTIE

Thanks for the advice! Any more tips?

JAX

Yes, I think you should increase your holdings in mining operations in the Caucus Mountains. Ronco Drilling is going to announce a new natural gas well next week. If we buy today, the share price should rise 10x.

KRISTIE

You can't even really mix business with pleasure, can you? It's just sort of one big thing?

Jax looks down a very sophisticated smartwatch on his wrist. He notices the time.

JAX

Duty calls, Madame.

KRISTIE

Have a good day!

Jax starts to walk out of the hotel room. Kristie yells to him as he leaves.

KRISTIE

Fine! Just leave me here, naked in this bed!

Jax walks out of the hotel lobby into a waiting black Mercedes G-class SUV. They belong to The Firm, and all of the Outside employees had access to them, 24/7. In fact, most Outside employees didn't even own cars anymore. Jax taps a few buttons on his watch, and then sends a voice message.

JAX (TO HIS WATCH)

Hey Old Man, it's Jax. I just wanted to let you know that I just left Kristie, and she's in for $20 million this week and $10 million next week. You know what that means -- prep the office for a party! I'm headed back to the office. See you soon!

Jax' car pulls up outside of a non-descript office building on the outskirts of San Francisco's Financial District. As he gets out of his car, he looks up and down the street. Across the street, a blue Crown Victoria is sitting in the loading zone of a warehouse across the street. Something doesn't sit right with Jax. He taps a few buttons on his watch.

JAX (TO HIS WATCH)

Elena, are you there?

A voice answers -- it is Elena.

ELENA (VOICEOVER)

Yeah, what's up?

JAX

Elena, remember when we went for drinks last night, and there was that blue Crown Victoria parked across the street in the loading zone?

ELENA

No, not at all. You know I don't remember stuff like that. I don't have your weird, freaky memory.

JAX

It's called an "eidetic memory", and it's actually pretty useful sometimes.

ELENA

Whatever... are you almost back? The Old Man told me you got Kristie, so I want to get fucked up!

JAX

Yeah, I just gotta check out one thing.

ELENA

OK, fine, hurry!

Jax presses a few more buttons and makes another call.

JAX

Hey Small Hands, are you there?

Small Hands is the head of digital security at The Firm. Nobody knows why they called him that. Some people speculated that it was because he was such a good programmer, coder, and hacker that you couldn't see his hands move when he typed. Other people speculated it might have been a contrast based on the size of his cock. Regardless, he and Jax are friends; or as close as anyone can be friends at The Firm.

SMALL HANDS

Yeah, Jax, what's up?

JAX

Can you pull up the feed from the building across the street, last night, 7:30pm?

SMALL HANDS

Sure; on it.

Jax tries to remember all of the details he could from when he spotted the car last night. Before he pissed off the wrong Brigadier General and got reassigned, Jax was a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the U.S. Army, also known as the "Green Berets". Between his military training and his eidetic memory, Jax knew there was something wrong. But he still wasn't sure what it was.

SMALL HANDS

OK, I've got it.

Jax wasn't even sure what he was looking for.

JAX

There's a car parked across the street. Is it the same one from last night?

SMALL HANDS

Checking... Negative, Jax. Cars are different.

Jax still isn't sure what he was looking for. And then, an idea hit him.

JAX

The license plate of the car from yesterday. Is it 9DLG458?

SMALL HANDS

Yeah, it is. Did you do your freaky memory thing again?

Jax is distracted while he's calculating possible scenarios. The license plate of the car across the street today is 9DLG456 -- almost identical from the car last night.

SMALL HANDS

Jax, talk to me. What's going on?

JAX

Hold...

Jax needs more information to put the puzzle together. He knows something is amiss but isn't sure what.

JAX

Can you get me a zoomed-in photo of the driver?

SMALL HANDS

Yep.

After a few seconds, Small Hands talks back to him.

SMALL HANDS

OK, check your Device. I'll also run it through our system and see if we know them.

Jax looks down at his watch. A photo of a man and a woman appear -- it is the occupants of the car across the street.

SMALL HANDS

We have nothing, Jax. Are you sure this is something?

JAX

There's something there, Small.

Jax continues to study the photo. He couldn't figure out why two cars with nearly identical makes and models, and very similar license plates, would be outside their office two days in a row.

And then Jax spotted it. It was so small, and so insignificant, that Small Hands could be forgiven for missing it. But once Jax spotted it, he knew exactly what was happening.

Jax tapped a few buttons to close the photo on his watch and called Small Hands.

JAX

Small, I'm coming inside. I'm pulling The Firm Alarm.

SMALL HANDS

Shit... are you sure? You know what happens when you do that...

JAX

Yeah. Get ready.

SMALL HANDS

Do you want me to tell The Old Man? Or give the Executive Committee a heads up?

JAX

No, just get ready to launch The Fire Alarm protocol.

SMALL HANDS

Well, that's why we train for this.

JAX

No doubt. See you soon.

Jax tapped a button to end his call with Small Hands and went immediately into his building. When he walked in, the reception area was barren. Two older men sat at a desk, checking people in and out. Except nobody ever checked in and nobody ever checked out. The building was a fake, a front. The Firm had dozens of employees, but just looking at the lobby, you would never tell. No splashy company name, no inviting art or comfy couches. The building was secure, locked down. Without a limited access badge (for Insiders) or a Device (the smartwatch that Jax and the other Outsiders wore), it was impossible to get into the building. The Firm has taken the highest security measures.

Jax immediately goes to the elevator and uses his Device to get to the 15th floor, where he and most of the other Firm employees work. Jax goes to his office, closes the door, and sits down behind the desk.

He taps his Device a few times. He takes a deep breath, then he speaks to it.

JAX (TO WATCH)

Initiate The Firm Alarm protocol.

He looks down at his watch, and it asks him to confirm the request.

JAX

Confirmed. Passcode is MUSIC-yelp-korean-4-4-KOREAN-GOLF-5-5-#-*-&-7-music-3-VISA.

The Firm had an elaborate password system, requiring twenty random letters, numbers, and symbols. The password changed every 30 days. The mnemonic device made it easier for Jax to remember the password.

The Device now asked him for two pieces of biometric data -- a fingerprint, placed directly on the face of The Device, and a retinal scan, also done by looking into the face of The Device. Finally, the Device asked him for final confirmation.

JAX

Pull The Firm Alarm.

The term "Fire Alarm" was a misnomer. It was actually a series of failsafes designed to protect The Firm and its clients in the event of a physical or digital breach -- and Jax knew what was coming.

During a Fire Alarm, a number of things happen immediately. First, all of the doors and windows have a metal barrier which comes down, locking the outside world out. All elevator service is suspended, communication into and out of the building are halted (including phones and internet) and an alert is sent out to all employees of The Firm.

The Firm Alarm protocol was designed by Small Hands and the Physical Security team. While Small Hands handled digital security -- anything with 1's and 0's, Physical Security handled everything in the "real world". Between Small Hands and Derrick, the head of Physical Security, The Firm Alarm protocol was designed to be flawless, but only used in the most extreme of emergencies.

Jax sits down in his seat and takes a deep breath. This is going to get worse before it gets better, he tells himself.

Just then, Jax hears a knock at his door.

JAX

Come in.

The door opens. Tommy walks in. Tommy is a member of the Executive Committee, a group of 13 employees that serve as management of The Firm. Unlike almost every other member of the Executive Committee, Tommy is neither particularly skillful or respected by others. He was a party guy, and definitely took advantage of everything The Firm had to offer.

But, Jax had known him for years. In fact, Tommy's father, The Old Man, was Jax' mentor. There was speculation that Tommy only got on the Executive Committee because his Dad was on it. But nevertheless, he was on the Executive Committee, so he probably needed to know what's happening.

Tommy is surprisingly frantic.

TOMMY

Do you know what's going on? Somebody pulled The Firm Alarm!

Tommy's behavior and demeanor made Jax nervous.

JAX

Yeah, that was me.

TOMMY

You?

JAX

Yeah -- I think we're about to get raided by the Feds.

TOMMY

Feds? What the fuck?

JAX

There's a car across the street. The license plate is only one digit off from a nearly-identical car parked across the street last night.

TOMMY

So?

JAX

Nearly identical cars, nearly identical license plates means it was checked out of a government motor pool. Considering our influence over most law enforcement, it can't be anybody but the Feds. And if they're here two days in a row, they're coming for us, and they must have something.

TOMMY

How do you know it's not like an EPA motor pool or something?

JAX

Because in the front seat is a shotgun rack. There was no shotgun in it, but only law enforcement would drive a Crown Vic with a shotgun rack.

Tommy slumps down in a chair in front of Jax' desk. He takes a big sigh.

JAX

What's wrong, Tommy?

Tommy doesn't say anything. Instead, he walks over to a bar cart in Jax' office. He pours himself a scotch and downs the glass.

JAX

That's an 18-year aged Lagavulin. I know this is bad, but not the end of the world.

Tommy still doesn't say anything.

JAX

Tommy?

Tommy starts to sob.

TOMMY

I fucked up, Jax.

Jax looks up at Tommy, concerned.

JAX

What did you do, Tommy?

TOMMY

There was this girl -- she was cute, and sexy, and came onto me, and was willing to anything -- I mean ANYTHING. And so I went for it.

JAX

Tommy, that's Wednesday morning for you. So what?

TOMMY

I know -- but she was an Insider.

JAX

Here? She's an Insider here?

TOMMY

Yeah, she's new in Payroll. They brought her in for the cryptocurrency mainframe updates.

JAX

And you decided it would be a good idea to break every rule we have, upend The Game, collapse the firm, and screw us all over because you wanted to fuck an Accountant?

TOMMY

I fucked up bad, Jax.

JAX

Your dad is The Old Man. So you fucked an Insider. That's not good, but it shouldn't bring the Feds on us.

TOMMY

Except, one day, my Device went missing. I took it off when she came over, set it on the charger, and we did our thing. When I got out of the shower, it had been moved. I didn't think she would know what to do with it, so I didn't worry.

JAX

What can she do with it? She can't access it without your retina and fingerprint. Even if she did access it, what kind of information could she get? Everything is locked down inside Small Hands' mainframe.

TOMMY

Not quite... Have you heard about The Client Files?

JAX

Sure -- records of investments, contracts, correspondence, nothing too exciting.

Tommy shakes his head.

TOMMY

You're wrong -- that's what they want you to think. In fact, it's a secret archive. Anything The Firm knows, it's in The Client Files. Access to money, client rosters and information, even blackmail material. And not just on the clients. The Client File contains records of every employee. Every time you've had sex, taken a shit, screwed an intern in your office. They know everything.

JAX

I don't believe that. How?

TOMMY

The Device. It tracks everything. Audio, video. It records everything. Don't you want to know why Outsiders have to keep it on at all times? Why it alerts if you even take it off? Why our building is locked down so that any other signals can't get in or out?

JAX

I just don't believe that, Tommy. The Old Man isn't stupid enough to leave all of that around for anyone with a Device to access.

TOMMY

That's why they didn't. The only way to access The Client Files is through a Device. But not just one Device. There are 13 devices -- one for each member of the Executive Committee. And there's 13 levels of access in The Client Files. Each level requires that many members of the Executive Committee to access.

So I can get Level 1 access by myself. A little information here and there.

Tommy punches a few buttons on his Device.

TOMMY

It looks like you left the office last night around 7:30pm for drinks with Elana?

Jax is both surprised and annoyed.

JAX

But worst-case scenario, maybe she accessed your Device. She couldn't have gotten her hands on a second one. How much damage could she do?

TOMMY

I don't know -- she's an Insider, so she doesn't have a Device for us to track her. We do some tracking of Insiders, but who knows who she's been talking to.

JAX

I know this isn't the time for "I-told-you-so", but you realize this is why we have protocols if you want to fuck an Insider? We treat them like an Outsider, we track them, and we monitor them. Now, we're about to get raided by the Feds and we know NOTHING.

TOMMY

I'm going to get Burned, aren't I?

JAX

I don't know, Tommy. Have all of your secrets relayed to the world? Get accused of rape? Have your bank account drained? If you were anybody else, I'd say yes.

Since your dad is The Old Man, I don't know.

Tommy was melancholy.

TOMMY

You know, I was born into a life I probably don't deserve. I had sex with my first prostitute when I was nine -- my Dad took me to a brothel in Amsterdam. Since then, my life has been about satisfying as many pleasures I could find. Now, it's all over.

JAX

You don't know that, Tommy. Go to your Dad and talk to him.

TOMMY

Yeah, that's probably what I should do. Listen, thanks for all your help.

Tommy stands up, walks over to Jax, and gives him a handshake, and then walks out of Jax' office.

As he does, Jax looks down and sees two Devices -- there's a Device on his right wrist, as well as his left.

JAX (TO HIMSELF)

I guess Tommy's got a little sleight of hand.

Jax sits down in his chair. Just then, his Device beeps. It is The Old Man.

THE OLD MAN

Jax, are you there?

JAX