《The Goose, the golden egg and the end of the world》Chapter 17 - David Huntsman, CEO of Prism Capital
Advertisement
The offices of Prism Capital were located on the 42nd and 43rd floors of 666 Wall Street. The executive car service that had transported John from the airport to the hotel was waiting for him outside the hotel to drive him to David Huntsman's office. John entered the lobby of 666 Wall Street and was greeted by a woman named Rose who introduced herself as Mr. Huntsman's executive assistant. She escorted him onto the elevator and when they arrived at the 43rd floor she led him across the trading floor, past dozens stockbrokers either staring intently at their Bloomberg or baying instructions into their telephone. John followed Rose into a quiet hallway at the end of which was a corner office that belonged to David, who was standing with his hands clasped behind his back and looking out of the floor ceiling windows at the view his office afforded him.
"What did you think about what was going on out there?" He asked John when he heard the door close.
Not knowing how he was supposed to answer the question John chose to remain silent and wait for David to continue with whatever point he wanted to make.
"What you saw out there was the most profitable trading floor in the whole world," he said, turning to face John, "Do you know what we are here? We're a superfund for superfunds. Brokerage firms give their money to superfunds to invest for them and they all give it to us. Last year we did 35%, the year before that we did 28%, in fact we have never done less than 20%, not during the great recession of '09 and not even during the great depression, and those numbers that I give you are the 'official' numbers, the real ones are much higher. We ARE Wall Street, that's what you saw out there. Please, take a seat."
David gestured toward a chair and they both sat down, facing each other.
"The Raven told me a week ago that he had found someone who could be of immense help to us, since then I've been waiting with great anticipation to meet you."
"How long have you known the Raven?" John asked.
"Oh we go way back; he introduced himself to me after the collapse of the tulip market in Holland, I was one of the few that got out just in time and made a fortune, after that the Raven approached me and said he thought that I could be useful to him, and today here I am, at the top of the world."
Advertisement
"How is that possible? For that to be the case you would have to be over 300 years old!"
"I am, one of the many perks of being an ally of the Raven."
John needed to take a moment to process what he had just heard. David, who had seen this same reaction countless times before, afforded him the time he needed to collect himself.
"I visited your church's website, it's very impressive what you've been able to do, building up a large global dedicated following for a religion that is so far outside the mainstream, and I think that the Raven is right about you being exactly what we need."
"What is it that you want from me?"
"We need someone who can inspire a legion of believers in the Raven so that we can take mass action when we need to, something we don't have the ability to do at present."
"Why not? The Raven is obviously very powerful, people should naturally be gravitating toward him in the millions."
"The Raven prefers to maintain a low profile, he doesn't lust after the spotlight the way the goose does. Tell me, in all of your discoveries, have you ever come across the slightest mention of the goose?"
"No."
"Now that you know how powerful he is don't you find that strange? Doesn't it make you question what the goose's motivations are?"
"I've never presumed to know what the goose's motivations are; I don't know what the Raven's are either, I came here hoping you could help me with that."
"The Raven's goal is very simple: it's to save the world."
"What does that mean?"
"It means succeeding where every politician and philanthropist has failed and fixing all of the world's problems once and for all."
"But how is that even possible?"
"I know you've only known him for a short amount of time but you should have realized by now that nothing is impossible for the Raven."
"Then what does he need our help for?"
"He needs our help because human nature is a problematic thing. Whatever we are able to achieve needs to be sustainable and in order for that to be the case we need to build a foundation across all elements of our society to support the Raven's efforts."
Advertisement
"If what you are saying is true then it would mean that the goose is an evil force, and after everything that I have devoted my life to learning about the goose that cannot be true."
"I'm not saying that the goose is evil, all I'm saying is that the Raven offers a better way."
"I'll just have to take your word on that."
"I know enough about the Raven that my faith in him is unflappable, yours will be too once you've seen what he can do."
John's conversation with David was doing nothing to reassure him about the Raven, in fact John was developing serious reservations about the Raven.
"What role do you play in the Raven's plan?"
"My job is to ensure that the financial resources are on hand to implement whatever plan the Raven deems necessary to our cause, which, with all of the people that we've strategically positioned in all of the most powerful institutions in the world is really not that difficult, I probably have the easiest job out of all of us."
"Who are these strategically positioned people?"
"Take the current Secretary of Defense, he is, like me, a longtime ally of the Raven's. He's the one who convinced the president to launch those strikes on Iran and in the four years since that war began Reinhold Aviation, of which we own 40%, has received $80 billion worth of orders from the Pentagon, and of course we own major stakes in all of the oil companies so when the oil price spiked those investments proved very lucrative for us, it all adds up to more and more money!"
John didn't like what he was hearing, it seemed as if the Raven's main interest was in making money, not making the world a better place.
"If saving the world is the Raven's goal, like you say it is, then shouldn't climate change be one of his top priorities?" John asked.
"Of course it is, saving the world means saving the planet and we have a very aggressive plan for doing so."
"Then why have you invested so heavily in oil companies?"
"Are you aware that the last three years have been the best years on record for sales of electric and hybrid vehicles?"
"No, I didn't know that."
"People only start looking at alternatives when what they're used to buying becomes unaffordable for them. We don't care if we end up taking a bath on our fossil fuel investments because we made those investments in the service of a greater good, which is the explosion that you're currently seeing in clean energy."
"And I'm guessing you have significant investments there as well that are proving to be very lucrative."
"Of course, otherwise we wouldn't be doing our due diligence. In 10 years 30% of this country's energy is going to come from renewables, in 25 years we're going to be at net zero emissions, and in the process a lot of people are going to make a lot of money, so everyone's going to be happy. That doesn't sound so bad now does it? It's like the saying goes: you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs."
John didn't understand the market but as a scientist he had grave concerns about the threat posed by climate change and had been frustrated for years by the political inaction on the issue. Were his concerns about the Raven entirely assuaged by his conversation with David Huntsman? No, but he left with some understanding of the Raven's mindset. The Raven appeared, to him, to have a deep understanding of human nature and of how to use it to his advantage. John found the methods described by David to be more than a little dubious but John reminded himself that the Raven was looking at things from a perspective that was informed by thousands of years of major events that he had seen with his own eyes, and when he returned home Laura informed him that she had chosen their new house and had received his wonderful surprise of two tickets to Belize.
Advertisement
- In Serial14 Chapters
The Uneventful Life of Elaine
Elaine Aleytia is a girl that was born into a wealthy household. 16 years of age and certainly a beauty. Although her life might be a luxury that is surely envied by others, they might think that it would be ironic when they see Elaine's true thoughts. For a long time now Elaine has been thinking about what could be the outcome of her life if she was born as a simple girl? away from the attention of other rich and influential people. Where she could spend her life idly sitting in the vicinity in the forest and enjoying the setting sun. Nobody would really know except Elaine herself. At the celebration of her older brother's engagement, a gathering was to be held within their palace like house. Little did Elaine know that a new chapter in her life was about to unfold. Elaine drank a wine that was poisoned; she choked and fell to the ground. She thought to herself. "Ah... what a pitiful life this has been, I never asked to be an aristocrat's daughter, If only I could have been born simple, yet, happy...." She closed her eyes, accepting her demise. Only to suddenly wake up in an unfamiliar location. She looked around and saw things that could have not existed in the modern era where she was living. "Where is this place? I... don't remember going out of the country" Thus, bringing a new chapter to Elaine's Uneventful Life.
8 83 - In Serial7 Chapters
Kazuri
Weird savior to a demon race is born. Is he the good guy, or is he truly evil? Migurigum, emotionless beings on the physical plane, feared as demons by all. Geltun Migurigum, persecuted children who 'awaken', becoming something similar to these creatures. Sanji is a boy with amnesia who wakes up to find himself in the Geltun Migurigum school. Here he is bullied and weird phenomena occur around him. Sico is the second boy of prophecy whose family was killed by the Migurigum. He goes on a journey with an indestrutable sword to kill them all. Part 1- 12 chapters, brings the two main characters together. What is the goal of the Migurigum?
8 190 - In Serial12 Chapters
From an Endless Time and a Countless distance
Summary : A Starship with a fully loaded arsenal. A state of the art Ai. A Lone Captain. What can go wrong.
8 155 - In Serial8 Chapters
The Gambit
The kingdoms have rarely experienced peace, with kings and rulers warring against each other on any percieved slight. With explorers riding the waves to find new lands and merchants eager to set up trade routes while profiting as much as possible. Would the status quo still hold up? The veil is already weakining as more magic and horrors seep through the gap. How would the world deal with the sudden increase in the limited resource of magic? With the times changing, barren lands become trade hubs and the power shifts. The system holding it all together, is in a fragile balance, would a single death break the balance and cause the most devastating war the people have experienced. The direction of the story : The story will not contain any main protagonist, rather multiple protagonists and antagonists with the protagonists having bad some character traits and the antagonists some good ones. I plan to make a story of flawed humans, so if you are looking for OP MCs you would not enjoy it. But I still hope you give it a try. This is my first time writing and I am doing it to get better, so any suggestion or criticism is welcome. I am a university student, so do not expect a robust upload schedule, I'll try to put out 2 chapters a week, but there might be some delays. I apologize for it in advance. P.s. English is not my native language, so there might be some errors, though I tried to mitigate them as much as possible.
8 102 - In Serial38 Chapters
The Mansion in the Woods
In a world of mystery with dozens of races, known and unknown, the young Priestess Glissandi sets out into the world, acccepting her sacred task as a missionary. The young, intelligent woman is accompanied by the wise and careful Paladin Lissa, the young, experienced and reclusive Knight Trista and the two over-eager and talented Squires Mira and Mina as she sets forth on a grand adventure, only to quickly run into what seems to be a deep conspiracy, stretching back to one enigmatic person. Determined to bring him to Light and justice in the Lord's name, she ignores the warnings all around her and goes chasing after a being who everyone fears, but is she really prepared for the truths she will encounter on her journey? Sanguilia, Guide extraordinaire and strange woman all around, is accompanying a trade caravan when disaster strikes. At first glance she is no more than a Guide, which is no lowborn title itself, as it represents individuals who are capable of traversing the unknown wilds and are well versed in the languages of the land and its inhabitants. As she enters a city on her way home, a new, massive problem rears its head. Accompanied by a bar wench, who is far more than she seems, the mercenary Orc, Daenan and his tiny, flying companion, Faen, all with their own plans and agendas, they seek to tackle a monster in the shape of a man who controls the city. In the depths of the woods, far away from what humanity sees as the centre of civilisation, the lone, independent city of Lanas prepares itself for war, for the Kingdom of Maldora has set its eyes on them and their wealth. A cry for help goes out and bonds long faded into obscurity are renewed. And the world quakes when their calls are answered. Melena, once a slave girl, resides happily in the Mansion and is slowly getting used to her new life, where equality seems to rule. Until a noble's son decides that her very attractive body is something he should own. When the enigmatic master of the Mansion decides to personally deal with the rulebreaker, her world is turned upside down as she stumbles upon ancient mysteries that threaten to overwhelm her. Luckily she finds support in her once-liberator, now turned friend, the happy-go-lucky Evon, who carefully hides his past, the ghost-like Khrast, Kreya and many others. It is a tale of adventure, of lies and deceit, of love lost and found, of bravery and cowardice and where every one of our heroes and villains alike strive to find the answer to the same question: who is the being behind the Mansion of the Woods?
8 129 - In Serial9 Chapters
Maharlika Kingdom
"This monsters actually exist?!" "I want to go back! I want the wi-fi, the warm bed, the good food and I want to surf the web so bad!" This is the story of a borderline NEET suddenly thrusted into an era he barely have any knowledge of!
8 159

