“We have our reasons for showing up unannounced.”
Nossey waited, but Astor didn’t elaborate. “Anyway,” Nossey continued, “he was eager to learn about the company. He said he wanted to hear everything about us, A to Z. I tried to put him off. It was Sunday and the kids had a baseball game. He didn’t care. I figured if he’d come all the way down here, it must be important. I sent the kids off with my wife. He came inside and I told him.”
Astor listened intently as Nossey gave his CEO’s speech. Britium had started out ten years earlier writing application control software, code that automated infrastructure technology, translating varying computer protocols into a common, easily understood language.
“In English, please,” said Astor.
“Sorry. You Wall Street guys are pretty wonky. You usually get off on the lingo.”
“Layman’s terms will be fine.”
“In a nutshell, we write software that allows a person or a business to control and operate any kind of electronic device, anywhere in the world, via the Internet.”
“Exactly what kind of electronic device?”
“Anything. We can help a power grid monitor the temperature of all its turbines and control their speed. Or allow a supervisor to check out a security system from a remote location, to adjust lighting in a building, to control air-conditioning, check out a company’s phone system. You name it.”
“Can it control an elevator?”
“An elevator? Sure. It can control anything. And the beauty of it is that it can be done from an easy-to-use interface, kind of like a universal remote control. Take, for example, a hospital. You have all kinds of independent systems running in there. One computer system controls the security system—alarms, cameras, all that. Another runs the employee timekeeping and access system. Still another governs the heating and plumbing. And so on. The problem is that each runs on its own protocol, or language. It’s important for one person to be able to control all of those separate and independent systems from a single location. Our software translates the differing protocols into a common language. Think of it as controlling your TV, Blu-ray, and DVR via a single device from your armchair.”
“And this is popular?”
“God, yeah. We call our software the Empire Platform. Right now, Empire controls eleven million devices in fifty-two countries.”
“Like who?”
“Hospitals, power plants, airports, jails, government offices. Even the FBI and the CIA use our stuff.”
“The FBI? What for?”
“Same as any other large organization that needs to keep track of its employees and manage its infrastructure.”
“Is there anyone who doesn’t use it?”
“Not that I can think of.”
“Impressive.”
“Watersmark thought so.”
Nossey left the highway and negotiated the busy streets of Reston, Virginia. He pulled into a lot fronting a five-story glass office tower and parked, then he took Astor to his office on the top floor. “Take a seat.”
Astor slid into a chair, pausing to look at a set of architectural plans on the table. Nossey stood beside him. “It’s going to be the tallest building in the world. Empire will control all the building’s critical functions.” The Britium CEO smiled. “Including the elevators.”
A secretary entered, and Nossey told him to bring coffee and doughnuts. He checked his watch for as long as it took to be rude, then returned his attention to Astor. “Five minutes,” he said, pointing to a clock on the wall.
“What was my father interested in?”
“He already knew pretty much everything we did, but he wanted to know if we worked with firms on Wall Street. I said, ‘Of course.’ Every major bank uses Empire technology.”
“Does the Stock Exchange use the Empire Platform?”
“Your father asked me the same question. I had to check, but yes, it does.”
“For what?”
“Security. Access control. HVAC. Elevators. Telecom.”
“Why telecom? Shouldn’t that be the phone companies’ job?”
“Once a call leaves the building, sure. But before it leaves the building we have to make sure all the computers are properly hooked up to the Net. Orders are placed on the floor but are executed off-site. The information has to go out and come back without any interference.”
“How did he feel about the fact that the NYSE uses your platform?”
“Tell you the truth, he didn’t seem too happy about any of it, but he was specifically interested in knowing whether Empire was in place before July 2011.”
July 2011. Astor had no problem recollecting the date. It was around that time that the Flash Crash had occurred, the mysterious breakdown in trading that resulted in the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting a thousand points in minutes, only to regain two-thirds of the amount within an hour and the rest a day later. Its cause still offered fertile ground for debate. Hence the articles in his father’s office at Cherry Hill.