America 1982-Chapter 116 - 31: All for the Sake of Amassing Power
"I’m really sorry for the dumbass thing Jason did to you, now that punch seems to be nothing, right?" Tommy handed Mark Warren a can of beer, asking with a laugh, "Jason said you’re like a shy little girl, prefer walking with your head down?"
Mark took the beer, his eyes surveying Tommy’s dorm surroundings, "Right, did he tell you why I’m so shy?"
"No." Tommy opened a can for himself and took a gulp.
"I’m local, made those kinds of films, you know? I must’ve been with a dozen Mexican and Salvadoran women smuggled over, in front of a camera. I was short of cash at the time, but even after I wasn’t, I started to panic." Mark Warren took a big swig of beer, then exhaled a breath of alcohol, "Every day, I have all sorts of images in my head that fill me with fear. Like walking on the street, suddenly a relative comes up and pats my shoulder, ’My dear nephew Mark, you did a great job in that film!’ Or after my father’s funeral, my mother, with tears in her eyes, tells me the reason for my father’s death: ’Your dad wanted to learn some new moves, bought a new film, guess what? There’s our son teaching him how to screw Mexicans, then he got so upset he had a heart attack and died on the spot.’"
Tommy lit a cigarette with a laugh, nodding at Mark, "So what got you into that business in the first place?"
"What else could it be at this age? Course it was a woman. I had a girlfriend, very pretty, my classmate, I wanted to buy her a necklace. Then I was lured to the set by an ad, shot over Saturday and Sunday, and earned enough to buy that necklace she liked. Sunday night, I gave it to my girlfriend, and she was so moved by the surprise," Mark said expressively, walking over and taking the cigarette box from Tommy’s hand, lighting one up with practiced ease.
"But we still broke up in the end. The reason was that she planned to have an exciting time with me that night, to thank me for the surprise, but the moment she took off her clothes, I rushed into the bathroom and started throwing up."
Tommy’s face showed surprise, "Wow, that’s a sad story."
"Listen, Tommy, I really appreciate you thinking highly of me, offering me a job. I will work hard at it, I’ll make sure to learn those computers, I want to work at a proper company, slick back my hair, wear a suit. That way, maybe even if they see me on the street, at most they’ll think the star of that movie looks somewhat like me. But me, diligent and well-employed, I could never do that kind of thing," Mark looked down and took a sip of his beer before saying earnestly to Tommy.
Tommy shook his head, "Buddy, I’m satisfied with your attitude, you can get going now."
"You mean I should look on ’Seeking Pleasure’..." Mark started to ask.
"That’s too inefficient. I think you’ve got guts, so you can do something more daring. You know, company shares aren’t easy to get, and it’s even harder to get a share of the money. You have to do more to earn that money. Think about what you can bring from your college, what we need. Those are the questions someone with your talent should be pondering. Cheap prostitutes? Brother, I’ll definitely not let you deal with those slags again, I promise to make you earn money fast. Get out of the panic, stop worrying about being found out, you can slam that money in people’s faces, tell them, ’I’m a tech talent, slander me again, and my lawyer will have your whole family jumping off a skyscraper,’" Tommy interrupted Mark, stepping in front of him, slapping his hand firmly on the back of Mark’s head with an encouraging smile, "Use your brain. You need to figure out what we need, Mark. Understand that question and solve it. I will hire a few high-end call girls, the ones who charge four hundred bucks a pop, with model standards. Let their exquisite skills first help you get over the shadow those Mexican women left on you."
Mark stared into Tommy’s eyes, nodding somewhat blankly.
...
"Feels like we’re getting farther from being a software company." Jason took a puff of his cigarette, looking at the newly installed multiline phones in the garage, shaking his head as he spoke to Holly, "You know, I was thinking of calling my old man, telling him I’m a partner at a tech company, give him a surprise. But now I’ve decided to drop that idea. I’m afraid he’d get a whim to visit me, find out I’m actually working in some sort of scam or entertainment company."
Holly shrugged, "I haven’t informed my family either that my main job after starting a software venture is baiting all sorts of suckers."
"Every company has positions responsible for baiting suckers, Holly."
Tommy, holding two floppy disks, strode to his computer, turned it on, and inserted the disks. Hearing Jason and Holly’s conversation, he responded dismissively, "Good morning, what are you guys talking about?"
"Nothing much, just chatting with Holly about how our software company hasn’t sold any software yet, but we’ve already recruited Susan and Mark. Stanford is teeming with talent, yet you, with your discerning eye, picked them up from the outside like picking up trash." Jason swiveled his chair to face Tommy and continued, "And we have no idea why you chose them."
Without looking up, Tommy said, "Because they’re cheap. Think about it, I can have them work for me for a long time for a weekly wage of a couple hundred bucks, while those Stanford jerks? Each one wants a significant share of equity or options, and not to mention, if they find out the company is making a profit, they won’t go more than three damn days without talking to me about a raise. Is education important? Of course, it’s important—network and resources are closely tied to education, which is why we all try hard to get into universities. But the people working for us now don’t need that; they just need to be obedient, right?"
Tommy Hawk looked up at Jason, "Or, would any of you like to give up your shares so I can recruit some real Stanford talent?"
"I’m going to find out about TV advertising rates. I don’t want to be part of this meeting, so Jason, you and Tommy can chat all you want." Holly made a face at Jason, then turned and left the garage.
Jason exhaled sharply, "Your roommate’s father is helping you here, not for the money. I’m just worried that money might corrupt you, Tommy."
"So what? Idiot." Having accessed the data on the floppy disk, Tommy smirked at Jason and then turned his attention back to the computer screen.
"Son, I’m willing to sacrifice everything for you. You could give me more shares and let the money corrupt me faster, so you can stay pure and kind, and keep your true self in the face of money. Don’t worry about me; I can handle it." Jason said to Tommy, spreading his arms wide.
"No, my dear roommate Jason, I’m touched that you’d sacrifice yourself for me. To show my gratitude, I’m definitely going to adjust your job. You can look forward to it starting now," Tommy said, his eyes fixed on the files displayed on the screen.
Seeing Tommy engrossed, Jason asked curiously, "What’s that? Where did you get these military secrets?"
"No, it’s the personal data of students from Mark’s crappy community college. He got hold of it under the pretext of helping with computer input. This is a copy prepared for the company. Do you know what this means? We now have over five thousand phone numbers."
"You’re committing a crime!" Jason jumped up from his seat and hurried over to Tommy, scrutinizing the data on the screen and whispering fiercely, "You’re insane, Tommy! If this gets out, you’ll be sent to prison!"
"Dude, don’t worry. If you leak it, it’s Mark who’ll be going to prison. And with community colleges being such trash, sixty percent of their teaching staff are damn part-timers. The whole community college has over five thousand students but only seventy full-time teachers; the other two hundred plus are part-timers. Most administrative tasks rely on student volunteers, so any leak wouldn’t be surprising. Besides, we’re not going to spread it or commit a crime. We’re just going to call those students’ homes, fool those community college guys into believing that by learning our software, they can become tech talents, and then send them off to Silicon Valley to be mere clerks." Tommy flipped through the data, speaking in a calm tone.
Jason had already turned pale with fear, his tone agitated as he said, "Tommy, can’t you just run Actor like a normal company? Develop software, advertise in computer magazines, visit software dealers for sales help, write business plans to mail to investment firm offices, etc. Why do you have to do it like this? None of this is damn normal! I don’t want to see you fail in your startup, and then I can only write to you in San Quentin State Prison to see if your ass is still intact, to see if you need some ointment sent your way! Idiot!"
"Run like a normal company? Advertise in computer magazines? Visit software dealers? Send business plans to investment firms? Jason, are you still not getting it? This company has been abnormal from the day it was founded. The two main functions of this software draw from the best-selling software of two major companies; it was never meant to be normal!"
"Advertise in computer magazines? That’s their territory. Pay for journalists to write reviews? A journalist will take a grand from you for a flattering article, but tomorrow he might get five grand from the competition, slandering us to high heaven. Most importantly, they’ll definitely sue, you’ve seen the legal notice, right? As soon as we officially start selling, it’s game over. Do you think investors would be dumb enough to throw money into this mess? Of course not; smart people’s money is the hardest to get." Tommy, seeing Jason was getting agitated, simply stopped what he was doing, leaned back in his chair, and looked directly at Jason:
"Got it? If we follow what normal companies do, we won’t make it. Who the hell cares about a software company whose core feature is plagiarism? So, we need a different approach. To get the investors’ money, we need to show them our capability, like at least holding our own for one damn round when those big companies make their move. Everything you think is unrelated to the software, all the crap going wrong, is just gathering strength for the real battle! Do you and Holly think by selling software to a bunch of prostitutes, unemployed women, and making a quick buck with a human resources company, we’ll hold up? Don’t make me laugh; when those bastards make their move, you’ll see, I’ve done countless things just so that Actor doesn’t get squashed by the two elephants in the first round."
"What happens if we don’t get trampled?" Jason asked weakly as he sat back down.
Tommy spread his hands, "If we don’t get trampled, we’ll have to let them know that they’re in the midst of a dark forest and have exposed themselves like fools."
