Sea of Greed

Each of the potential investors took a moment to address Tessa. They all spoke with confidence, but it was obvious that Tessa had the high ground. She commanded the room well, talking to one man, then the next, turning to avoid follow-up questions and keeping each of them wanting more.

Kurt wasn’t interested in joining a crowd of fawning onlookers. He needed to stand out in the crowd.

Instead of waiting his turn, he stepped forward, pushed through the line and offered a hand, interrupting her midsentence. “I know it’s old-fashioned, but a handshake tells you a great deal about a person. Far more than any pair of smart glasses can reveal.”

Tessa stopped in the middle of an explanation, eyeing Kurt for a moment. Since she wasn’t wearing the sentience goggles, Kurt had her at a disadvantage.

“Macklin Hatcher,” he said. “Firelight Investing.”

She paused for another moment and then shook his hand. “Tessa Franco,” she replied. “Pleased to meet you, though it’s odd for a technology investor to choose gut instinct over hardware.”

“I don’t invest in hardware,” Kurt said with the confidence only a billionaire could have. “I invest in people. Whatever you’ve built here, someone else will copy it soon enough. Maybe even one of these men, if you don’t take their money. Even worse, someone will build off your design and surpass it. But if you’re who I think you are, you’ll be on to something new by then. As they say, the driven soul will always succeed.”

At this, Tessa brightened and Kurt didn’t need any interactive clothing to know he’d gotten her exactly right.

“Excuse me,” one of the potential investors said. “We were in the middle of—”

“Yes, you were,” Kurt said. “My apologies to everyone. Enjoy your evening — especially you, Ms. Franco.”

With that, Kurt offered the slightest bow and took his leave of the group.

Joe rejoined him as he walked off. “I never realized that annoying someone was your best way of introducing yourself.”

“All that matters is making an impression,” Kurt said.

Joe nodded. “Think she’s storing your name in her favorites?”

“That or deleting me altogether,” Kurt said.

“I’m sure we’ll find out,” Joe said. “In the meantime, I looked at their display. The design elements are very similar to what we pulled off that submersible. Though without a microscopic examination, there’s not much I can prove.”

“It’s our only lead for now,” Kurt said. “If we promise enough money, she might give us a sample to test.”

They’d gone halfway across the room when Kurt felt a buzzing sensation in his pocket. He pulled out the glasses, found them vibrating and put them on.

“A message has been delivered,” he said.

Joe shook his head. “If she’s asking for a date, I’m going to have to rethink my entire existence.”

At the tap of a button, Kurt opened the message. It displayed out in front of him as if the words were floating in midair.

You’re right, Mr. Hatcher, I am a driven soul. So perhaps there’s something to this handshake business of yours. Would you care to join me for dinner tomorrow night and explore the possibilities of additional skin-to-skin contact?

— Tessa F.

“I haven’t been deleted after all,” Kurt said. “Now, let’s see if I can figure out how to reply.”

After scrolling through a menu and finding the message app, Kurt spoke softly. “Tomorrow’s no good, it’ll have to be tonight.”

The words appeared in his vision and then vanished as he hit send. The response was disheartening.

I’m afraid I’m meeting with Oliver Warren tonight. Perhaps some other time if fate allows.

— Tessa F.

Kurt didn’t respond.

Joe shook his head. “The mighty Casey…”

“So it seems,” Kurt said. “Let’s wander around and see what else we can find.”

24

BERMUDA

BACK ABOARD the Lucid Dream, Kurt took off the expensive jacket, poured himself a drink and made his way to the media room, where Priya had already linked up to the NUMA computer systems using the yacht’s satellite dish.

“What can you tell me about Tessa Franco?”

Priya began typing, giving Kurt information as she found it. “Thirty-one years old, born in Italy to American parents. She now has dual citizenship. Her father was a big success in the first computing wave. She had a privileged upbringing but lost her mother when she was ten and her father while she was in grad school. At that point, she inherited a small fortune and immediately plunged vast amounts of funding into all manner of high-tech businesses and start-ups, trying to turn millions into billions.”