He wasn't just tired. He was exhausted. The kind of deep, bone-marrow exhaustion that came from 45 straight days of living on adrenaline, caffeine, and pure, uncut stress.
The foreign exchange market wasn't a job; it was a meat grinder. It was volatile, it was perilous, and it demanded everything. He'd learned that without a rock-solid mind and body, the machine would chew you up and spit you out.
"Boss," Henry Jugenberg's voice crackled over the secure line, sounding almost as worn-out as Zane felt. "The UN and the IMF are stepping in. The Southeast Asian markets have stabilized... for now. What's our next move?"
Zane rubbed his temples, the phantom glow of the trading screens still burned into his retinas. He thought for a long, quiet moment.
"I'm granting you transfer authority for twenty million," Zane said finally. "You and the Gale Capital team... you're free to operate. Your call. But I want a 30% hard stop-loss. If your losses hit six million, you pull everything. We'll re-evaluate then."
"Okay, boss," Henry said, the relief in his voice obvious.
Zane was satisfied. He couldn't have pulled in $260 million on his own. Henry and his team of sharks had been invaluable. Now, it was time to see what they could do on their own. This $20 million was a test. It was a leash, but a long one. If they did well, he'd give them more. If they failed... well, he could afford the loss.
For now, Zane's part in the first wave of the Asian financial crisis was over.
But the real war was still to come.
His plan was already set. Short the Yen at the end of October. Short the Korean Won in mid-November. That was the main event. What he'd just done in Southeast Asia? That was just the opening act. It was minor league.
He'd already reviewed the history. Before the crisis, it was 115 Yen to the dollar. By next April, it would be 133. By June, it would be pushing 150. A 23.4% drop. An entire nation's wealth, slashed by a quarter.
"Of course," he mused, "it's not the first time the U.S. has harvested them." The Plaza Accord in the 80s, the real estate bubble in the 90s... America's fingerprints were all over it.
But Korea... Korea was the one that was going to be brutal.
It was the one that would be harvested most ruthlessly. In November, the Won would hit a record low of 1,008 to the dollar. By December? It would be 1,737.
A 46% collapse. In a month.
It wasn't a harvest; it was a gutting. Faced with a feeding frenzy that big, how could Zane, a man who had just tasted what it was like to be a true predator, just stand by and watch?
Mid-August.
Zane finally, finally, returned to Los Angeles. He was dreaming of a week of doing nothing. Sleeping. Eating real food. Seeing the sun.
That dream died the second he dropped his bags in the entryway of his house. The mountain of work waiting for him was staggering.
The "America's Got Talent" finals. The joint carnival event for the US and UK talent shows. The new promotional push for LinkedIn. The ICQ listing plan to raise funds. The upcoming release of "The Sixth Sense." The marketing plan for the "Harry Potter" books. And a dozen high-level personnel issues within the Golden Dawn group.
Victor could handle a lot, but this... this all needed his final "yes" or "no."
So much for being a hands-off boss.
Ha. Wishful thinking. A cold mantra had cemented itself in his mind over the last month: Never, ever overestimate the professional ethics of a manager, even one who's never made a mistake.
He trusted Victor. He really did. But trust was a feeling. Business was business. If he let them run wild and they decided to embezzle funds or sell off company interests, it would be too late. Caution wasn't just a good idea; it was a requirement.
August 17th. Wald Pictures.
Zane was in Victor's office, reviewing the final numbers for "Human Elimination Project." And they were beautiful.
IMDB Score: 7.3 Popcorn Index: 81% North American Box Office: $126 million. (Good enough for 10th place in the 1997 box office rankings). Overseas Box Office: $84.5 million. Global Total: $210.5 million.
It was a certified, undeniable hit. He and Zack Snyder hadn't just made a movie; they'd beaten the original timeline by $80 million and gotten better reviews.
"Good," Zane said, a rare, genuine smile on his face. "Very good. Giving '300' to Zack was absolutely the right call."
Knock knock knock.
The door opened. It was Kevin Fitch, Victor's assistant and the VP of Wald Pictures.
"Hi, Kevin. Something up?" Zane asked.
Kevin nodded, his eyes bright with a kind of nervous, fanboy energy. "Boss, yes. I... I was thinking. We've got the Spider-Man copyright, which is amazing. But... I think we should go after more. I think we should seize as many of the Marvel copyrights as we can. Right now."
"Oh?" Zane leaned forward, intrigued. He knew Kevin was a die-hard Marvel fanatic. It was why he'd hired him. He'd known this day would come. "Go on."
"Okay," Kevin took a deep breath, "so, Marvel still holds a ton of its own copyrights, but mostly for the B-list characters. The big ones... Mutants, Deadpool, Hulk, Black Widow... they're all just lying dormant, collecting dust at different studios."
He was pacing now, the passion evident. "Right now, Fox is planning 'X-Men' and New Line is prepping 'Blade'. But that's it. Boss, what happens if 'Blade' is a hit? I mean, a real hit?"
Zane saw it instantly. "The prices for every other superhero property will skyrocket overnight."
"Exactly!" Kevin said, pointing at him. "We'll be priced out! But... but at the same time, you know what just bombed two months ago? That Batman movie. The one with... well, you know. It was a huge loss for DC. So right now, the entire idea of a comic book adaptation is in the toilet. The price for these copyrights has never been lower."
He was practically vibrating. "Boss, this is the perfect storm. 'Blade' hasn't hit yet, and 'Batman' just did. It's a window. It's the window. Now is the best time for us to go shopping."
Kevin slapped a thick, meticulously prepared folder onto Zane's desk. This wasn't just a passing thought. This was a plan.
Zane read the executive summary. It was brilliant.
"Good!" Zane exclaimed, closing the folder. He looked up, his eyes shining with the same predatory gleam he'd had at Gale Capital. "Kevin, this is good. I agree. Do it."
"Really?" Kevin looked like he might faint. This was, for him, a holy crusade.
"Of course it's real," Zane said. He was still high on the $260 million he'd just vacuumed out of Asia. He felt invincible. "Just tell me what you need. Is ten million enough? If it's not, I can add another five later."
He almost laughed. Ten million. Fifteen million. After the last 45 days, it felt like nothing.
It was all small change. It was all insignificant.
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