“Unless something gets screwed up.”
“Nothing will get screwed up. Once it’s out of escrow, it’s ours, no matter what happens.”
Will smiled.
“Easy,” he said.
Hamza nodded.
Will’s computer chimed, and his grin faded.
“Shit, that’s them,” he said.
“Okay, okay,” Hamza said, “you’re ready?”
Will looked at his screen. He cracked his knuckles and set his hands on the keys.
“Ready,” he said.
Words appeared on his screen:
SWBG: Is this the Oracle?
Oracle: It is.
SWBG: We will require proof before we authorize release of funds from escrow.
Oracle: No. You will release funds now, or we will leave. You have thirty seconds.
He looked at Hamza. “Gave them the ultimatum,” he said. “Thirty seconds. Let me know.”
Hamza stared at his screen, chewing on the edge of his thumb. Seconds ticked by.
Will reached out his finger toward the keys, hesitated, then pulled them back. If this didn’t work . . . he couldn’t imaginegetting up the nerve to try again, no matter what Hamza might say.
“They paid,” Hamza said. “Transfer complete.”
Will’s entire body seemed to thrum, like a well-struck chord. His share was five million dollars, no matter what happenednext.
“Okay,” he said, putting his hands on the keyboard, “time to earn it.”
The bank spoke first:
SWBG: You have received ten million dollars from us. If our ten-minute timer has begun to run, please be assured that we will pursue legal action as a consequence of your lack of response.
“These guys are assholes,” Will said.
“What are they doing?”
Hamza started to get up to see. Will waved him back to his chair.
“Threatened to sue me. Assholes. I’ll call out the questions as they ask them.”
Hamza cracked his knuckles and poised his fingers over his own keyboard.
“You are speaking to the Oracle. The interview begins now,” Will typed.
Hamza hit a timer on his screen, and ten minutes began counting down. Almost immediately, the first question appeared.
SWBG: Will the Medicare reforms described in H.R. 2258 be approved by Congress and the president?
Will laughed.
Oracle: No idea.
SWBG: When and how will the following individuals die: James Starrer, Joseph Wern, Eduard Bigby, and Ira Greenborough?
“Hmm,” Will said. “Creepy.”
“What?” Hamza asked.
“They want to know when they’re going to die.”
“Yeah. Do you know?”
Will hesitated, feeling Hamza staring at him and willing himself not to glance at the notebook.
“No,” he said.
SWBG: On what date and time will the Dow Jones Industrial Average exceed twenty thousand points?
Oracle: I do not know.
Will typed, and then he typed it again, and again, after each new question appeared on his screen, wishing he’d just copiedit to the clipboard.
“God, they have to be pissed,” he called to Hamza. “Ten million bucks for a whole lotta nada. Are you getting anything fromthe questions they’re asking?”
“Tons,” Hamza answered. He was furiously typing notes to himself, flipping through his papers. “They’re tipping their handleft and right, telling me where they plan to invest. I can use that Medicare question alone to turn our ten mil into a hundred,at least.”
“Explain it to me later,” Will said. “I almost feel bad for th—”
He stopped, looking at the screen.
SWBG: Do you have any information on the Florida citrus crop for this year’s growing season?
“Whoa, wait, I can answer this one. They got lucky,” Will said. “What do they have, like a minute or two left?”
“Forty-five seconds, actually,” Hamza said.
“Okay. I’ll type fast,” Will said.
Like every time Will recalled a prediction, it was perfectly clear, every word, as if the notebook was open in front of him.He began to type.
Oracle: Unusual weather patterns will cause a very late freeze that will sweep across much of the southeastern United States. This freeze will have a serious effect on the Florida crops. The freeze will occur on—
“Stop!” Hamza said.
Will looked up.
“That’s it?”
“Ten minutes on the dot.”
“Huh,” Will said, taking his hands from the keyboard and looking at Hamza. “I could only answer one of their questions, andeven that one I didn’t finish. Sort of a shame.”
Hamza grinned at him.
“No, my friend, not a shame! These guys knew the deal. We made no promises, and anyway, they make like ten million bucks aday. Who cares? Besides, if they want more time, they can just buy it. Another ten million buys another ten minutes.”
“Ha,” Will said. “Not likely. Would you, after that?”
“Who knows? These people don’t think the way we do.”
“Aren’t you one of them?” Will said. “Great and powerful banker type?”
“Not anymore. I quit, remember? Now I’m just an independent businessman. Part of the backbone of this great nation.”
SWBG: We wish to purchase another ten minutes. The funds are being transferred to your account now. Please complete your response to the question concerning the Florida citrus crop.
Will stared at his screen. He reached out and typed.
Oracle: The freeze will occur on May 23. Below-average temperatures will continue for approximately one week. The Florida crop will be 40% off normal numbers.
SWBG: Is this all the information you can provide on this event?
Oracle: Yes.
Will waited. For the first time since the chat began, there wasn’t an instant follow-up question. He glanced over at Hamza,who was giving him an odd look.
“One of your predictions was specifically about the weather this May in Florida and how it will affect the number of orangesin the supermarket?” Hamza said.
Will nodded.
“And not only did these guys happen to ask a question that would require that specific piece of knowledge to answer, but theyasked it at exactly the moment that would require them to buy another chunk of time with us?”
Will shrugged.
“I’ve been asking myself questions like that since I had the dream, Hamza. I’m sort of beyond surprise at this point.”
More words on the screen.
“Okay—here we go!” Will shouted. “Your turn, Ham.”
“Ready,” Hamza said, very focused, staring at his computer.
SWBG: Is it possible for this information not to be released to any other parties?
Oracle: Yes.
SWBG: Under what terms?
Hamza lunged for one of the binders on the coffee table. His knee knocked the edge, and the table finally collapsed, spilling spreadsheets, printouts, and laptops in a wide arc across Will’s floor.
“Fuck,” Hamza said, very deliberately.
Will ignored
