Six years passed after the meeting at The Eclipse Club.
N.C. Capital now occupied three floors of a downtown skyscraper. At sixteen, Noah was known on Wall Street as "Oracle." Most people had never seen his face, but they had traded against his algorithms and lost. During meetings, he listened with his earbuds in and typed corrections onto the main screen when the room drifted off course.
Helix Corp survived on loans. Arthur sold divisions, fired longtime staff, and mortgaged the penthouse down to its gold fixtures. On television he still smiled, though each appearance followed another missed target or asset sale.
Leo appeared mostly in tabloids now. Photographers caught him leaving underground casinos, gaunt and unsteady. Reports of rehab stays sat beside estimates of his debts.
One m
