Jack and the B.E.A.M. $tock

They got to the top the old fashion way. Honest hard work and dedication. Naw, I’m messing with you. They coerced, swindled, and lied their way to get where they are. It was easier that way.

I tried the honest approach, but that only gets you on the ground floor. I want the top floor, corner office, private jet…screw the environment. Sorry, I can’t even fake being tough, I love the environment and do all I can to preserve it's beauty. This is why I am still in a cubicle. But life has a way of changing things, you recognize the opportunities when they slap you in the face.

My slap came in the form of a snowstorm that shut the city down. The big executives made it to work because they have Chauffeurs whose job is to get them where they need to be. They had a strong incentive to be here today.

I was about to find out why.

My incentive is a pay cheque so I can afford rent and food. After Blazing through the snow-covered streets, like an explorer of old, I stumble through the great glass doors half frozen. Standing there shivering while snow crystals cling to my thin wardrobe. A dripping sound echoes throughout the empty foyer as I thaw off.

Looking up I give a half-hearted smile to the security guard behind the desk, sporting his five O'clock or rather seven a.m. shadow. It looks like ole Gus will be doing an extra shift, no one came in to relieve him and he can't leave.

"Hey Jack." He nods to me. "Can't believe you actually made it in.”

"How many did?"

"Including you and me, fourteen. "

Considering we normally have around one hundred and fifty in the building I would say it is going to be an interesting day. The markets don't care what the weather is, money needs to be made, moved, borrowed or loaned.

"Oh yeah, and the three top dogs made it in an hour ago." Gus adds.

Instantly my mind starts to whirl. Sure, they love to be here, but on a day like today, they can work from home just as easy, so that means something big is happening, and I want to know.

"Why?"

Gus shrugged, just as the phone rang. His eyes grew big realizing where the call was coming from. “Yes sir?”

I watch in fascination, as this two-hundred-and-sixty-pound man diminishes in size before me. “Yes sir, they arrived last night, I have them here….yes sir…right away sir.”

No sooner does he hang up when the power goes out, in seconds the back up generator kicks in, casting an eerie glow within our concrete igloo. It only takes me a moment to understand Gus’s baffled expression. No elevators and the executives lair is on the thirty second floor. Sighing I hold out my hand and glance up.

Gus hands me three brown envelopes marked confidential and smiles. I proceed to the stair well and tell myself the climb will warm me.

I’ll be honest, by the fourth floor, my curiosity about these envelopes were tickling the back of my mind, by the seventh floor they were pounding in my head it could have been the blood rushing to my over worked heart. It would be a violation of trust, I can't peek at what is clearly important enough, that these men forced their underlings to brave the elements by chauffeuring them here.

By the fifteenth floor I barely had the energy to keep walking, up, up, up. I pause for but a brief moment when my phone rings. It’s Gus, the top dogs are wondering what is taking so long.

“Did you tell them I had to take the stairs?”

“Yes, I’m on the other phone with them now.”

“And?”

“They want you to hurry, they need it ASAP.”

“Ask if they will come down and we can meet…?”

I started up again while waiting for and answer. Which didn’t take long.

“They said haul your ass or your fired.”

Fired? They don’t even know me, that seems unfair, I am one of the few who made it in and because of that I may lose my job, shitty as it is. I start taking the stairs two at a time, for the next four floors, then proceed to vomit.

Back to walking it is.

Clearly it is a time sensitive thing, perhaps they need to act before the European markets close.

The three manila folders remain gripped in my sweaty palms, while my winter wear lay scattered behind me, draped over railings, and tossed into corners spread out amongst the twentieth to twenty-fifth floor. My feet are on fire within my boots. In a few more floors I may remove my pants and shirt.

By the time I weakly push through the doors of the thirty second, I am exhausted, and my head is spinning. I need water and to sit down, perhaps sleep for an hour. Instead, I am greeted with cold eyes raging with fury and contempt at my sluggish arrival.

“Took you long enough, give us the papers.”

Staring at these three meticulously dressed older men, and their giant-sized bodyguards milling around, I can’t help but be impressed with the view from up here.

A tension hangs in the air, for people who wanted something so badly it doesn’t feel right. Here before me are three of the most influential people in the world. Gone are Bezos, Zucker and Musk, although Warren Buffet is somehow still alive and doing well. Their reign of power flushed away by these three, years ago.

I hold out the envelopes, one of them nods for me to set them on the table.

“Who are you boy?”

Stuttering my name out, I swallow the last of the moisture in my mouth, then tell them what department I work in.

“You read what was inside?” Another accuses.

“What? No absolutely not. It’s marked classified.”

Besides how could I break into an envelope that is securely strapped with string. A mere underling like myself couldn't possibly figure how to unwind it.

After a silence that goes on much too long they dismiss me with a wave. I stand outside their glass conference room, and pour myself some water. I watch them each tear into an envelope, glance quickly through it, sign the forms, take snapshots from their phones then clearly send the picture off to who ever.

Smiling they begin to pat each other on the back, hearing their excited voices murmur through the glass wall.

Earlier I was excited about meeting these men, my boss’s, my idols in the industry, now I just wanted to leave. As I begin my long descent a voice calls out.

“Jack, as a younger person do you think this will become successful?”

Probably because I was drained, and my mind wasn’t clear, I reply. ”Are you kidding? Who wouldn’t want the option of owning B.E.A.M. stock, with a portion of each bill going towards the purchase …..”

SHIT, they got me.

“I thought you didn’t read what was inside the envelopes.”

I may have peeked a little, okay I read the whole thing. Turning to face them I smile and meekly reply. “Your secret is safe with me.”

Nodding to the three giants, he yells. “Get him.”

The race is on, I bolt for the stairwell, finding a strength and energy I thought was long gone. I was easily three floors down before I heard their heavy footsteps begin to chase me.

We have twenty-nine more flights to go, so I may as well let you in on what I read and why they are trying to catch me.

First off let me ask you, when is rich, rich enough? Apparently for some, the answer is never. Those three individuals have more money than is possible to spend in four or five lifetimes, probably more. Yet greed is what they live for, not happiness or joy of life or being with family.

In brief they are trying to corner the market, the old fashion way by manipulation and misdirection and letting other people lose their money so they can make more. The papers were contracts for them to sign with a…let’s just say less then scrupulous government of the Slavic kind.

They are going to pour one hundred percent of their wealth into one stock. A Streaming and communication service, which ties all media and entertainment into one company, one stop shopping. Beamed directly to individuals homes and devices via satellite, bypassing the third-party installation companies. No more AT&T, Bell, Verizon, Comcast, Reliance Jio, China mobile etc.

Plus, each person may opt to add extra to their bill to purchase stock into the company there by binding them to the service. The first people in are going to make a killing. The rest will pay, in affect a pyramid scheme on a grand scale.

My lungs are bursting, and my eyes burn. Plus, I smell something awful, then remember my march upwards and manage to jump over my own vomit just in time. But one of the big guys fail to see it. I hear his head crack on the concrete step as he slips on the slimy goo. Shortly, I hear another muscle man trip on the prostrate form of his buddy, it takes a while before he stops tumbling down the stairs. The snap of something breaking on his body echoes down the stair well.

Reaching for my phone I yell for it to call Gus.

“Good morning, front desk Gus spea…”

“Gus it’s me…. I’m being chased, did you…”

“All done.”

I open a door, pretending to exit on the floor hoping it fools the last Giant bodyguard chasing me. I do this for three exits in a row then actually duck onto the twelfth floor. Running down the hall to the stairwell on the opposite side, the power flickers then turn back on. I hit the elevator button but keep on running. It is at this time when I realize there is no other stairwell. Quickly ducking behind a cubicle, just as the elevator door opens, I wonder if I can make it in time. But then I hear the stair door thrown open, followed by heavy breathing. Foots steps thud on the carpet coming closer, then stop. Through the pounding in my head, I hear the ping of the elevator doors closing, then nothing. I dare a peek. Realizing the goon hopped in the elevator.

Dialing Gus again I yell as soon as he answers. “Gus, emergency shut down the elevators now.”

“What?”

“Just do it, shut them down.”

In seconds, the elevator shuts off. It doesn’t take long to hear the muffled cry for help coming from the shaft.

I call Gus and talk to him as I resume my way to the main floor. We have a very interesting conversation.

So, what happened you wonder? Well, it isn’t hard to figure out. The stock did rise to numbers unheard of. However, it didn’t take long for the executives to realize that the stock was overvalued. They issued a secondary offer, hoping to increase their investment on the split. However, all the executives of B.E.A.M. cashed in their shares causing the stock to plummet. All because it wasn’t many individual investors, only the three greedy ones that caused the stock to rise. Those unscrupulous bastards used derivatives contracts to acquire a large number of shares but failed to report them. Plus, they borrowed the amount from banks against their own assets to extend credit for purchasing beyond their combined wealth.

That could only lead to one thing.

Once the price of the stock fell, and it fell hard. Those three men were unable to meet the margin calls from the banks. Forcing them to liquidate their assets. Which was less then what they owed. Therefore, they no longer have private chauffeurs or private jets. You don’t need them in prison.

All this, because of one scrappy individual had the guts to stand up to these lying corporate moguls, and secretly make a few well-placed phone calls, tipping off the correct people. Plus, smart enough to take pictures of the legal forms for proof. No innocent investors lost their life saving.

It’s me in case you were wondering.

As for Gus and me, well we are currently sitting on the beach someplace nice and warm. Because a wise man knows when to seize an opportunity when it slaps him in the face.