REKT - Chapter 24
Far Gone & Out
I have a passion for systems. Inputs, outputs, key variables. The language of a system, the pace it beats at, what it can run over, what can smash it in half. Every system is unique. Systems are not human, they are bigger than human, but have personalities and temperaments. I am fascinated by systems in action, I want to learn how they work, to speak their language. Pumping coins is a system full of subroutines. Target selection, story crafting, message distribution. How do you sell a coin to the public? That’s theater. Behind the theater is the technical. The buying, the selling, understanding margins, determining demand, how long to stay in, when to get out.
Now that we are in the soup to nuts business of pumping coins, I find myself distracted from my task. There’s this new shiny thing to learn about, to watch develop, to see how we wield it better from one coin to the next. I’m in thrall with the manipulation, willing to overlook the immorality of our actions, able to convince myself that nothing here is real. We are simply playing a game inside the bubble. This is one of many games being played here. The entire bubble has become a game, games within games within games. No one should walk into the bubble innocent anymore. The con is clear as day, the unsustainability of it all. We are all aware agents inside the bubble, there are no babes, no innocents left here. If there are then that is their fault for not doing the most basic of research, for not listening to any of the million warnings being issued. This is a live fire zone. No one stumbles in accidentally, if they are here and they are naïve it is because their greed has blinded them, and they deserve everything that is coming to them.
This is how I live with myself, how I tell myself that what we are doing is ok. There’s such an unreality to the world of fake magic money that it can only be a game, that we are all just players in position on the field. Our code, our conduct is outside the norms of the real world because this is not the real world. This is a game we are all playing.
But back to my task, my drudgery, the daily grind of the great unwind of Icarus.
“Harvest Financial. This is Katie, how may I assist you today?”
“I want to inform the fund of a pending withdrawal in the amount of two hundred million from your money market fund. We intend to liquidate at the end of the week, and I want to give the managers a chance to prepare.”
“I see. Let me pull up the account. Can I get your name please?”
“Ryan Declan with Icarus.”
“Thank you, and the account number?”
“0003872132”
“Confirming back, 0003872132. That’s the Harvest Financial Money Market.”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Declan, I show a withdrawal of two hundred million from your account yesterday.”
“Yesterday?”
Did Niko move the money over to Frankfurt already? She couldn’t have. The account requires two signatures on any redemption over five million.
“Yes, yesterday. All funds were wired out.”
“To where?”
“One moment please.”
This has to be a mistake. That money is moving to Frankfurt for the last round of redemptions. Nikola, Andy, and I are the only people with authority on this account. There’s no way the two of them…
“Sorry Mr. Declan, the computers are a little slow today. That money was wired to a Gemini Brokers.”
“Who authorized the withdrawal?”
“Andrew Hansel and Nikola Adamou.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course, Mr. Declan. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“No.”
I have been betrayed. I have been played. Andy has revealed his position in the field. Niko has shown why she’s been distant since Andy got out. Ram was right. Now I know what Andy is going to cram through the tunnel of the bubble before it bursts. He’s taken our client’s money, given it to Niko and they are going to pump and dump coins until the bubble pops.
And what if the bubble pops before the money comes back?
We are fucked. Completely and utterly fucked.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Money is more important than me. Money matters more than brotherhood. Money matters more than love. Money. Real money turned into fake magical money which then needs to be turned back into real money or else we are all fucked for embezzlement. FUCK.
Ha, ha, ha. This money comes with something extra, something special. This money is complicit. This money comes with a side of silence. This money handcuffs me. Holy shit have I been played by a master. I cannot say a fucking word about this misappropriation because to do so would incriminate myself.
Brilliant. Absolutely fucking brilliant. What a master class in fucking me over.
The system has revealed a new element of itself to me. The system has a prison. The system can capture players and remove them from the field. It can hold them on the sidelines helpless to do anything but wait for release or give themselves up to law enforcement. I will not give myself up. Andy knows that. Niko knows that. They’ve both seen the measure of me as a man and know that I will go along with this. That I don’t have the stones to do real jailtime, that I will sit on my ass and sweat bullets out and pray to fucking God that the money comes back in time to pay off our clients.
Have I been a stooge this entire time? All the way back to the day with the diamonds. No. This is a crime of opportunity. There wasn’t a bubble then. We didn’t know how to rig the game back then because there wasn’t a game to rig. Now though? There’s so much dumb money. There are so many trusting souls putting their dreams ahead of their brains. Suckers, fucking suckers who we are going to rob blind using our clients’ money and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.
No hedge fund, that’s when Andy decided to burn me. When we didn’t have a future together. When we weren’t going to be partners anymore. Was our relationship strictly transactional or is this money just too much to ignore? Andy’s going to tell me that he’s doing this for me. He’s doing what I am afraid to do and when I’ll never have to work again, I can thank him. All I need to do is keep quiet. He’s going to tell me this isn’t my time, that this is a time for sharks. Andy is a fucking shark. Niko is a shark.
I know this now.
I’m a pussycat.
A fucking pussycat.
How could they have done this to me? They didn’t do it to you, they did it in spite of you. There’s a difference, a subtle but important difference. They won’t view this as fucking you over. They’ll view it as a decision you didn’t agree with. Andy is simple. It’s money, it’s opportunity. Don’t be surprised he took it. Niko though. I thought she was different. Where is she?
‘I know what you’ve done. We need to talk.’ I message her.
‘Talk to Andy first,’ she replies.
‘I want to talk to you. Now.’
‘Talk to Andy.’
I can already predict what Andy will say, what do you have to say Niko? What will you use to justify breaking my heart like this?
‘Don’t be a coward.’
My screen lights up with an incoming call. Niko is outside on a patio. The family villa is up in the hills overlooking town. Evening is coming, the sharp light of the setting sun reflects off window panes making the background flare, distorting my view of her.
“Why did you take the money?” I ask.
“I don’t get a hello?” she asks.
“Fuck you.” I reply.
“Well fuck you too Ryan. Andy asked to move the money, so I went along with him.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“No, it’s not. You should leave it there though. You’ll be happier that way.”
Wow, we are going to be hard asses today. I thought she was going to be gentle with me, but I guess this is the real Nikola, her true colors. Remember, she only cares about her own approval. Your opinion of her does not matter.
“Happy huh?”
“Think of it this way Ryan. The money is going on a little holiday, but it will be right back where you need it when you need it, and it will bring you something back from the holiday. A nice present just in time for Christmas.”
“Don’t patronize me,” I say.
“I’m doing you a favor. I’m going to make you filthy rich. Look the other way and don’t use that pretty little head of yours for anything other than kissing me. Got it? That’s what patronizing sounds like Ryan.”
“Now I see why you haven’t been kissing me, you’ve been busy fucking me.”
“I didn’t know you cared so much. Pucker up Ryan, mommy will kiss you and make everything better.” “Why did you take the money Niko?”
She’s giving me that sideways look like I’m a fucking idiot. Fact of the matter is that I am. I’ve been played for a fool.
“Are you dense? I took it to make us rich. We can’t lose. It will be back to Frankfurt before you miss it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask.
“You would have stopped us.”
“No shit I would have. Have you seen our history this year? We are losers. Capital L fucking losers. Name one thing we’ve made money on. Icarus was a flop. The diamonds were a flop. Fritz blackmailed us. We are the gang that can’t shoot straight. There’s a good chance we’ll lose this money too.”
“Impossible. The game is fixed. We can’t lose.”
“Our game is fixed, but our game is inside a bigger game. Our game relies on the entire bubble staying intact. Bitcoin doubled this month after doubling last month. The second that thing stalls out the entire crypto space is getting wiped out alongside it.”
“We have the inside dirt. We know what the inflows to exchanges look like. There’s still plenty of money coming in. The bubble has room to grow,” she says.
“No one knows when a bubble pops. Give the money back. Be content with the stack you have. Keep my coins if you need more.”
She’s shaking her head at me like I’m a child. Where was this coldness? How had I never seen it before? She’s been toying with me this entire time. Clowning me. I’m just a diversion, an easy fuck while she cheats and schemes with my scumbag partner.
“That’s not enough Ryan. Not nearly enough. We need to move quickly. We need a big stack to capitalize on the run up to the blowoff top. Do you know how much money I made today?”
Wow. She’s asking me that as if it’s justification.
“You are already trading with this money? Our customers' money is in shit coins right now?”
“Ten million dollars and I’m not done. I’ve barely started. You’ll get your money back as soon as I’ve doubled our principal. Then I’ll play with house money. Talk to Andy.”
“Andy is really fucked up Niko. You cannot trust him.”
“Am I trusting him? I have the money, not him. He can’t burn me.”
“Niko, if you love me, give me the money back.”
“Aww that’s so cute Ryan, but no. If you love me, you won’t ask for the money back until I’m done with it.”
“Niko, is this moment really more important than our future together?”
That appeal did not land at her. I’m about to get belittled. I can see it in her face. Thank fucking God I am not there right now.
“Are you really this stupid Ryan? Do you have any idea how rare this opportunity is? Three generations in this life, and no one in my family has ever had a window like this. Not a single one of us. This isn’t a once in a lifetime opportunity. This is a once in our family’s history moment. This means that I can pay off the massive mortgage on this place. This means that I can afford better care for my mother in her final years. This means that my children and my children’s children can do whatever they want in life. What is your puppy love compared to that? Who are you Ryan Declan? What do you have to offer that can possibly compare to what I just described?”
Try one more time Ryan. Swallow your pride, try one last time to appeal to her. Leave it out there. Hand her your heart and see what she does with it. Better to know now, than to go on with doubts. “You can love me and live in a future with integrity.”
“Integrity? Where’s that in you? The last time we were close, we were being blackmailed by our banker. We lost our stack which was funded by us diverting company money to buy blood diamonds that we laundered into gold through the skeeviest people in Switzerland. This is who we are Ryan. This is the world you brought me into. What can your love offer me? Who is the man behind that? You’re a cipher and a child Ryan. There’s nothing inside you that could possibly compare to this moment in time. I’m choosing money. You should too.”
She made no bones about that. Left absolutely no doubt about the type of woman she is. Where her priorities lay. Remember when you thought you were the one corrupting her? Played you like a fiddle. That’s what she did.
“So that’s it, Niko?”
“No, it doesn’t have to be it. We can still be together. I still have feelings for you, but you have not earned the right to ask what you just did. Choose the money and back down. I don’t want to break your heart. I want to provide for your future too. Maybe one day it will be our children’s future.” Holy shit. After completely fucking destroying me, she offers me these terms. Complete capitulation. How cold. How heartless.
“Don’t play me this way, Niko.”
“Don’t ask again.”
“If you are going to do this, we need to talk about Andy.”
“Not right now. There’s a trade shaping up. I need to be sharp and on this. Ryan, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you first, but this had to happen. It was happening one way or the other.”
“I’m sorry too Niko. This could have had a different ending.”
“Goodbye Ryan.”
“Goodbye.”
***
Andy is alright. He’s been fine since Maui. He’s taking his meds, staying clean, and trying to stay balanced. His mind has been clear. It’s always clear when he’s working a big con. I should have seen this. I should have recognized that I was getting played. He rope-a-doped me. My weakness is that I think I am smarter than everyone. I think that I know better than everyone. I can’t trust people completely and Andy preyed on that. He read me on a level that I was blind to. That’s the most dangerous manipulation of all. Being blind to your own weakness. I’ll never make that mistake again. I wonder if this is his final lesson for me. Am I to sit quietly and go along for the rest of the ride until Icarus shuts, the bubble bursts and I get my one third share in our enterprise? That is what’s expected of me. Nicola made that very clear in our conversation. I’m glad I spoke with her first. She’s blunt, to the point. Her terms laid out quite clearly. We can stay together if I shut the fuck up and let her work. Maybe I should move in with her and take care of the villa. She’d probably get a kick out of that. I’m glad she revealed herself so soon in the game. Our attraction was always conflicted, a source of trouble. This betrayal hurts badly, it cuts deep, but it’s not fatal. As long as she doesn’t fuck up her end, the money can come back, and we can go our own way.
Andy is still fucking with me. We have not talked since I learned what they’ve done. We will once he wraps our latest video. Factotum. Some sort of blockchain-based document storage system. The story here is that countries will use this to file property documents, contracts, and public records. It is supposed to clean up corruption, restore faith in public services, and some other shit. The project is real, they’ve been at it a long time. There’s not much run in this play, but we aren’t really pumping Factotum. We are using this to build our credibility, to cover our tracks, just so our real manipulations don’t look as brazen. We need to be a little more careful now that we have two hundred million million of our client’s money at work in a bubble pumping and dumping shit coins. I am full of Klonopin and I am still on edge. I cringe every time I think of the magnitude of what we are doing. My insides are horrible. I can’t stomach real food. I sleep horribly, waking up in a cold sweat panic terror from a nightmare of exposure. This is what complicity feels like. The two people closest to me in the world are burning another twenty people I consider friends, colleagues at the least. One of them thinks he’s going to die because of Andy.
This Ram prophecy is really fucking with me. How did he know this was going to happen? Why does Joe believe in it so much? I need to talk to Andy.
“Hey, I had a pizza sent over.” Andy says, “Let’s go eat in the other room. We need to talk.” There he is, right on cue. I feel like he’s reading my mind. It’s uncanny how well he knows me, how easy I am to figure out. Am I really so basic? How is it that I am aware of everything, but know so little? “Isn’t this pepperoni the best?”
Andy is pointing his slice at me, the grease dripping from the tip, dropping into an oily pile on the wax paper beneath him. He has his tie over his shoulder, a towel tucked into his collar like a bib. He can’t get stains on his white starched Brooks Brothers shirt. Where did that Rolex come from? He doesn’t own one. I bet it’s a prop. I bet it’s fake.
“The pepperoni comes from a butcher shop, not one of those packaged supply companies. It’s authentic, cured, real deal shit. They slice pieces off the stick when you order the pie. That’s what makes it so good.”
Only Andy could rhapsodize about the authenticity of a pepperoni pizza while getting ready for the biggest con of his life. They are going to try to pump GloboCoin which is a cross border settlement project. It’s supposed to make sending money frictionless, instant. It’s allegedly wiping out Western Union, Moneygram, and every other way people send money back home. The numbers Bull God put together for this are staggering, the opportunity enormous. What no one else knows, what we are going to reveal is that they’ve been granted a license in the Philippines to convert coins into pesos. The Philippines is one of the largest remittance markets in the world. Also, home to a rather crooked government. GloboCoin bribed their way into a license before anyone else thought to do it. Their people are insiders on the pump tomorrow. They tipped us off to the news, gave us the exclusive. We are sitting on forty million dollars’ worth of their coin. Ten times larger than anything we’ve tried yet. I’ve thrown up three times today thinking about the risk.
“Why aren’t you eating?” Andy asks, pretending to be oblivious to the nature of this conversation. “I don’t have an appetite. Haven’t had one since yesterday when I found out we were missing two hundred million from our money market account.”
“That, yeah that. Look, I should have told you. I’m sorry I didn’t.”
“You knew exactly what you were doing. You’ve been toying with me since Maui.”
“Toying?” Here’s Andy playing dumb now.
“Do you believe in anything that Ram said?”
“No, that was just a bit of theater. Like I said, I’m sorry Ryan. Ram was right about one thing. I needed to be here, to be in this moment. This is indeed my time.”
“Andy, I need the money back.”
“Don’t ask about the money Ryan. You’ll get it when you need it. Here, try this pizza.”
Andy tears me a slice, puts it on a paper plate and drops it down in front of me. This is an attempt at distraction. It will not work.
“I need it now. I need it out of GloboCoin and sitting in Frankfurt bank. That’s not our money to play with.”
“Technically, it is. Legally, we have a right during a wind down period to broader uses of fund reserves in order to facilitate the successful termination of our operation.”
“Oh, really Andy? That’s what you are using to justify this.”
“Nope. You are my justification for doing this. You set the precedent in Maui. Based on your rules, two of us can decide to use our money without telling the third.”
“I’m sorry what?”
Andy takes a bit into his pizza. Chews slowly and deliberately, letting my question hang in the air. He points at my untouched slice. This is turning into a grudge match. Fuck his pizza.
“You set the precedent by not telling me about the blackmail payoff.”
“You were under medical supervision. I wasn’t supposed to talk to you about money,” I say.
“Funny how quick you are to follow orders when they involve limiting my freedom, taking away my agency. Meanwhile we break all sorts of rules all the time.”
“I was trying to get you better.”
“By locking me up every time I act a little weird? By outsourcing your responsibility to a psych ward in the middle of the Pacific? You don’t even try to talk to me anymore. You just cart me off whenever you can, like I am a volatile liability instead of your friend and partner. You should experience that sometime, maybe it will give you some perspective.”
“You betrayed me and for what, money?”
“Ryan, you don’t have the courage to take this risk, but I have enough courage for the both of us.” “This isn’t courage Andy. This is a crime.”
“A crime you are complicit in. A crime that you started us down the path to. This is just the natural conclusion of our journey.”
“Give the money back Andy.”
“No.”
I take the slice of pizza, put it back in the box, and shut it. My plate is soaked in grease to the point you can see through the paper plate. I turn my attention back to him.
“You realize what this means? That we are finished after this,” I say.
“That’s your choice not mine. I still want to be friends. I want us to be fat, rich, lazy friends who have mansions on the same block and race Lamborghinis to the supermarket.”
“Andy, I can’t.”
“You’ll come around Ryan.”
“Go fuck yourself, and don’t you go killing Joe.”
He laughs. “Why would I kill Joe? I have no intention of hurting him.”
“He believes in Ram’s prophecy. He believes you will kill him so that decentralization has a future. He’s really crazy, Andy. You need to take care with him. Embezzlement is one thing, but if he ends up dead because of you.”
“Ah, there you go with the lecture. You finally found a moral high ground to judge me from. I’m not killing Joe. I love that guy. Yeah, he’s thinking all sorts of weird shit right now, but it’s his right to believe that. It’s not my job to take that away from him. Look, I’ll tell him I’m not going to kill him if it makes you feel better.”
“Andy, watch your edge. This is a very dangerous game.”
“Ryan, step out of the way and don’t cause trouble.”
“So that’s how it is?”
“That’s how it is.”
Andy has made his position clear. It is the same position as Niko. They are in this together. I’m on the outside. Unless I get the courage to turn us in, I’m baggage for the rest of the ride. They are going to do what they want. I get up from the table and leave the room.