Terminal Value by Thomas Waite Read Free Book Online Page A

friend’s wrist, pointed to the computer, and shook his head without further comment.
    Dylan nodded and the conversation stopped. Tony left the room, and Dylan knew better than to push Tony for any explanation of his comments. Tony would give him the information when the time was right, and Dylan would just have to wait. He sat back and thought back to the meeting that morning and how it ended.

Chapter 6
    April 5, 7:45 p.m. Boston
    The moment the acquisition closed, the various MobiCelus projects had transferred to Mantric at a breakneck pace. Dylan and his team were able to keep up. Tony and Matt continued their work on Hyperfōn and kept Joe Ferrano happy. Dylan looked at his watch as he walked into Tony’s office. “You want to get something to drink?” he asked.
    â€œSure. What the hell.” Tony put his work away. “How about that new place, Tamo? They have excellent sashimi!”
    He and Tony were the last people in the building to leave as they stepped into the old elevator that grumbled and creaked as it slowly descended to the street. They hopped into Dylan’s car for the short drive to the restaurant. They ordered beers, and then Dylan said, “So tell me. What’s it like working with Sandeep instead of having complete autonomy?”
    â€œDylan, we’ve talked about this before, and, really, I’m good with the situation as it is. He leaves me to my own devices. I actually think he’s avoiding me most of the time. Just asks me some short questions, then I don’t hear from him for another week. He doesn’t include me in a lot of meetings, but I am so okay with that! I’m knee-deep with Hyperfōn, and I’m involved with a new invention I’ve been working on and don’t need the distractions that come with being the boss. Hey, don’t worry, man!”
    â€œThe virtual keyboard?” Dylan asked, scanning the menu.
    Tony took a long swig from his beer. “What? That is so passé. I’m working on something so revolutionary, if I can pull it off, it’ll blow your mind.”
    â€œYou want to give me a hint?”
    â€œNope, not just yet. Still too early. But remember I was telling you about when I was in Jersey catching up with an old friend—Brandon? He’s the one who was fired from Microsoft for inventing, from scratch, an operating system that runs on anything, takes up next to no space, diagnoses and fixes itself, and even allows constant upgrades so you wouldn’t have to buy a new version every couple of years.”
    Dylan raised his eyebrows in surprise. “What? You’re kidding—right?”
    â€œI know, it sounds crazy. Freakin’ Microsoft!”
    â€œSounds too good to be true. What happened?”
    â€œThey hated it, of course. It would totally ruin the way they made money. So they gave him the golden handshake, but with a gun to his head. Okay, not literally. Bought him out, then booted him out the door. He can’t do anything with his invention because Microsoft says they own it.”
    â€œWell, technically—”
    â€œYeah, yeah, yeah. So he tried to get a job at Apple, but, whaddaya know, they wouldn’t talk to him either. No one would. He’d played with fire once too often. He turned bitter and tried to get even by posting a modified operating system on the web for free, like Linux. Microsoft sicced the Feds on him for copyright violation. Then he turned kinda crazy. I wanted to see if he could help me out with something—”
    Dylan loved Tony, but this was the kind of behavior that sometimes infuriated him. “Honestly, Tony, as your best friend, I’m telling you, I think it’s time you grew up a bit. We’re in the big show now. If Art found out—”
    â€œOh, man! You’re not going all tight-ass on me, are you? Don’t worry about Art.” Tony set down his beer and changed the subject, his way of avoiding