It's 11:42 as Richard watches from the hotel lobby window as Maxus' entourage heads from the private jet toward the hotel, transporting a large crate. He doesn't yet see Maxus though. Richard turns and scans the room of mingling Los Angeles elites; politicians, business giants, Hollywood movie producers, all awaiting Maxus' arrival.
Richard believes the real question here is why had a radical millionaire anarchist hell bent on tearing down the civilized world, become the CEO of the largest vitamin research company in the world. Richard could accept that people change, but this was extreme. Not only did he rail publicly against large corporations for years, he then abruptly changed his position and purchased the struggling VitaChange corporation. If the rumors were to be believed, he'd sunk nearly his entire inheritance, upwards of seventy million dollars, to get this new product launched; and that was on top of selling off all the company assets he could possibly sell.
But that's not the angle Richard's magazine is looking for. They're only interested in a fluff piece focused on the eccentric CEO's decision to throw a European/United States, New Year's Eve launch party for his new product, NewYou.
Richard dials his colleague Sarah in Paris, but she does not pick up. She had asked him to give her a call when Maxus arrived in Los Angeles, but he figured she was probably asleep; after all she'd rang in the New Year with Maxus nearly 9 hours ago in France. Sarah didn't like or trust Maxus, she even said she refused to drink the NewYou toast.
Whatever this new product promises, Maxus must be confident that it'll be hotter than the development of the smartphone; anything less will certainly mark the end of his company, not to mention his reputation and personal wealth.
Maxus spent over twenty million dollars alone just to host parties in every major city across Europe and the United States. The gimmick that he had devised was for himself, along with his hundreds of guests attending the Paris party, to be among the first to consume his new 'miracle drink' at midnight new year's eve. Maxus would then take a private jet and arrive in Los Angeles to reveal his dramatic change at midnight Los Angeles time. During the hours between the two major cities, each of the other major European and U.S. cities would toast in the new year with a shot of NewYou just as he had done in Paris, at their own A-lister parties.
By the Time Maxus reached Los Angeles all the other parties would have already toasted in the New Year or would be toasting it in at the time of his reveal, including: Brussels, London, Dublin, New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, and San Francisco.
Maxus had made the ridiculous claim that this new drink would 'dramatically transform the consumer within mere hours of consumption.'
A server hands Richard a glass of dark liquid.
His cell phone rings, it's Sarah, but the commotion on her end is too great. There's muffled noises and what he thinks is a scream. He instinctively looks at his watch, is the Paris party still going? The call drops.
Richard tries to call back without luck, then notices the television behind the bar is flashing a special report. He moves to get a closer look but his attention is diverted to four men hauling the large heavy crate onto the stage. It's nearly midnight.
Three men begin pulling nails from the crate, while a stocky man announces, "Dear distinguished guests, Maxus will join us directly following the midnight toast. Raise your glasses please."
The crowd raise their glasses.
Richard tries to get a closer look at the announcer. He looks familiar.
The clock strikes midnight and Richard, along with the other partygoers, down the dark liquid.
Richard lowers the glass and realizes why the announcer seems familiar, it's Tom Roberts, Maxus' partner and mentor from back in his radical days. Richard had done a piece for the Times on him in the late nineties, just before Tom had fled the country under suspicion of plotting against the U.S. government. Apparently Maxus is no longer distancing himself from his past.
Tom displays a large toothy smile, "Without further delay, I now present the NewYou Maxus Sinclair!"
The front falls from the crate. The crowd puzzles at the shackled Maxus. His skin has a blue hue and his eyes appear sunken and lifeless.
Tom pulls a felling axe from a bracket attached to the crate and says, "Maxus has asked my assistance in demonstrating the life-changing power of NewYou."
The crowd goes silent.
Tom raises the axe, counts to three, then violently buries the blade deep into Maxus' chest.
Blood splatters the front row of the crowd, then flows down Maxus' torso, pooling on the stage.
Maxus lets out a wild screech and his lifeless eyes spring wide open, then he snaps his left metal shackle as if it were made of paper, then, with one powerful thrust, rips the blade from his cavernous wound.
Screams fill the room as men in fine suits and ladies in elegant gowns race for the exits.
The scene on the television catches Richard's eye; aerial footage shows houses and cars with doors ripped from hinges--shredded body parts strewn throughout streets. Police fire upon mobs of charging blood-drenched Paris elites--many dressed similar to himself and the crowd around him. The police bullets have no effect.
Richard looks at his empty glass, "NewYou."
