Beneath a Quantum Sky

The Billionaire

Eyes relaxed but alert, Jaella sat herself down towards the back of the park and surveyed her surroundings. It was a small, somewhat inconspicuous public park with an outdoor gym and playground area for kids that, despite an apparent lack of use, seemed well-kept by the local jurisdiction. It was located, obviously, in one of the higher ground areas of New Orleans. A few parents with strollers, young couples holding hands and some elderly people were dotted about. A group of VR gamer kids stood in the middle of the park grabbing at unseen objects in the air. The day was pleasant. Sunny without being too hot. Jaella sat in an area that had black and white chess board designs on the tabletops, but only a few tables were occupied.

An entirely inauspicious place to meet with one of the wealthiest individuals in New America.

Indeed, one of the wealthiest individuals in the world.

Malkoun Kaldot was all of that, and more.

Something of an enigma in the business world, Malkoun Kaldot had made his fortune as a largely behind-the-scenes investor and financier in mining and energy projects, ranging from gold mines in Asia to offshore wind farms in the waters off the coastline of South Australia.

His largest wins however, and ones that highlighted a mercurial sense of timing he would become known for, were mining investments he'd made in Indonesia. Back in 2022, the country had emerged as the world's second largest producers of cobalt, behind only Africa. Kaldot held the title on one of the richest deposits in the country. He made billions selling cobalt to the EV automobile industry before shifting his attention to the cryptocurrency boom of 2030. AI had been stripping chunks out of the traditional finance sector and decimating huge swathes of the job market for years by that point, and Kaldot was positioned perfectly to capitalise on the downfall of a number of fiat currencies around the globe.

His fortune increased exponentially.

At least, that is what Jaella's research had told her.

And for reasons unknown to this point in time, he had requested a meeting with Jaella - a somewhat incredible and surreal opportunity.

Normally, Jaella would not come to a meeting like this single-handed. She liked to project a larger persona for her business if she was meeting someone important. This meant having her PA attend the meeting, or her Technical Director. And preferably, hold the meeting in her satellite office with the pretty reception area, fancy signage and secure meeting room.

Yet the request had been for her to meet with them and her alone, and to specifically meet outdoors at a table towards the back of this park. A somewhat strange place to meet. Which had made her all the more intrigued.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" An older-looking man in a grey parka with an appraising smile on his face asked, as he motioned to sit down at the table next to Jaella.
"No, feel free," said Jaella. The man smiled as he sat down, and nodded at her coffee cup. "How's the coffee? Freshly roasted?"

"Oh, I don't drink coffee actually. I quit a few years ago. It's chai tea for me"

"I'm sorry to hear that" he said, and smiled with a wink. Jaella chuckled mildly, and not wanting to be drawn into idle chit-chat, buried her head in her phone.

She looked again at the email she had received out of the blue. A man named Carter Jennings, lawyer for Kal. Holdings, the family office of Malkoun Kaldot, had requested the meeting. The email said 'we' would like to meet, so it wasn't clear if Malkoun Kaldot himself would attend the meeting. Truth be told, she didn't actually expect to be meeting Kaldot himself today. She expected this to be a meeting with one of his staff or partners. If it was genuine, she would likely not meet Kaldot until much later, if at all.