Harvey looked out onto the Manhattan skyline as he took a drag of his cigarette. He thought back to his days at Yale—how he and his fraternity threw the best parties on campus. He smiled and let out a small chuckle. Those days were far past him. Now he was Vice President of Equities Trading at Solesman Brothers, with a mansion in New Jersey and a bombshell of a wife. He was living the American dream.

Before he could ponder some more, a voice came from behind him.

Harvey! the voice shouted.

Harvey turned around to see Adam, his coworker and closest friend. Both had started at the firm the same year, both were from Rhode Island. Naturally, they became close—almost like brothers.

Adam, what's going on? Harvey asked jovially.

The meeting with the director is about to start. Adam said with a smug grin. Can’t start without the VP.

You’re VP too, Harvey said jokingly.

I know, but it's fun to bust your balls. Adam chuckled.

The two made their way back inside and down the hall toward the meeting room. As they walked, Harvey looked to his left to see the trading floor. It looks like a jungle down there, he thought.

He never really enjoyed being on the floor—grown men acting like wild animals never made him feel comfortable. The only thing he liked about the floor was the money. That was his reason for anything, really. Money made the world go round, and as long as the money flowed, so did society.

Adam opened the door to the meeting room. Inside sat the firm’s management and the director himself.

Perfect, now that everyone's here, I think it's time to begin. the director said in his usual let's get down to business tone—the same tone he used to start the firm in the first place.

As you know, with the Soviet economy in the shitter, some of our investments overseas are in jeopardy. I've been told most of the investments in Europe and Central America have been secured, but Africa and Asia are starting to get a bit rocky. We need to—

Just then, a new associate burst through the door, panting and sweating like the building was on fire.

What's the meaning of this? We are in a very important meet— the director began, but was interrupted.

It's the Dow Jones, sir! the associate blurted. It's down—it's down 22.6%!

The room went completely silent. Everyone sat for what felt like ages.

Jesus fucking Christ. one of the VPs muttered before stumbling over his chair and rushing out. Another followed. Then another. Soon the meeting room was a mess of scattered papers, flipped chairs, and spilled coffee.

Adam and Harvey made their way to the trading floor only to see it in chaos—not the usual screaming to sell and celebrating. Now everyone was yelling, panicking. Some were even crying.

Everything was in the red—from lumber to car manufacturing. All it took was a couple of hours to wipe it all away. All Harvey could do was stand and look at the glowing monitors as they showed the worsening stock prices.

Harvey! Adam yelled, shaking him. We need to go.

What followed was hours of meetings, calls with clients, and smoking cigarettes—all of which had been a blur to Harvey. In the span of a morning, Harvey’s world shattered. With the Federal Chairman refusing to act and the ever-increasing downward spiral of global stock prices, one thing became clear to Harvey: