Fishbowl (37 page)

‘No, sir. I meant—'

‘Are you comparing yourself to Newton?'

‘No, sir.'

‘Are you comparing your program to gravity?'

‘No, sir. Newton didn't develop gravity, as we have developed a program. He perceived and codified its laws.' Andrei paused. That didn't sound right. It was as if he was saying that his achievement was more original that Newton's. He tried to correct the impression. ‘Newton developed differential calculus. Nothing I have ever done would have been possible without that.'

Senator Sim stared at him, then shook his head again. ‘All this talk of giants, Mr Koss. All this talk of world-shaking advances. But all it really comes down to is a way of selling stuff. Selling stuff to people who don't even know who's talking to them. I don't know how that makes you feel. If it was me, I'd feel sick every time I looked in the mirror.'

Andrei bit his lip, remembering what he had been told. This was going to be an exercise in swallowing hard and turning the other cheek. He was also aware that the senator was creating the exact impression the bankers sought from this hearing. They had told him that his job was to create an image of Farming as a commercial program, both as a way of protecting himself from accusations over national security and as a way of getting investors interested in the IPO. The senator from New Mexico was doing a fine job of it.

Diane McKenrick was getting impatient for exactly the same reason. She wasn't interested in the commercial side. What committee did the senator think he was sitting on? Commerce?

‘Anything further, Senator?' she asked pointedly.

‘No,' said Sim.

‘Senator O'Brien? I believe the floor is yours.'

O'Brien, a tall, gaunt Democrat from Rhode Island, launched right into it. ‘How much money does Fishbowl make from advertising?'

McKenrick rolled her eyes.

‘I believe all the relevant numbers are in the prospectus,' said Andrei, as he had been told to say in the coaching sessions he had received.

The senator, who also had a copy of the prospectus in front of him, ostentatiously turned the pages. Finally he stopped and jabbed his finger with a theatrical flourish. ‘So that would be … five point six billion dollars over the last year.'

‘I believe that's our total revenue, Senator.'

‘In your oral statement, Mr Koss, you said nothing about advertising.'

‘Well, it's in the prospectus, as I said. Naturally, we do make some money from advertising, that's true.'

‘Some money? Approximately how much of that five point six billion in total revenue is from advertising?'

‘I believe all the relevant numbers are in the prospectus.'

‘So that would be five point one billion?'

Andrei nodded.

‘Let's call it an even five billion, Mr Koss. Would you be happy if we called it an even five?'

‘If you want,' murmured Andrei guardedly.

‘I wouldn't say five billion is “some money”. I'd say it's a whole lot of money. How much more do you think you'll make once you license your IAP for other companies to use as an advertising vehicle?'

‘I don't know, sir. I haven't done that calculation.'

‘But it's in your prospectus, as you seem to like to say. It says that you may license it.'

Andrei nodded. It did say that in the prospectus. Everyone seemed to assume that the program would be licensed, even though he had never planned to do that. He hadn't wanted it mentioned in the prospectus, but the bankers had insisted it had to be listed because it was possible that Fishbowl would license it, and if the possibility was under discussion, it had to be included. It was only under discussion, Andrei had replied, because the bankers had insisted on discussing it. But the lawyers had said that unless he had decided irrevocably not to license it, now that it had been discussed, the bankers were right. If it wasn't mentioned, and he did license the program, Fishbowl would be open to litigation from anyone who could concoct some kind of grievance over it.

‘You know what?' said O'Brien. ‘It doesn't matter. Even if you don't license it, I'd say what you've got is a major advertising operation. Mr Koss, why don't you come right out and admit it? All this talk about Deep Connectedness … No, sir – you're an advertising executive. You're probably just about the world's biggest advertising executive. Maybe you started off idealistically, really wanting to help people make connections, but at some point you've turned into a cold, hard-headed businessman, a businessmen who'll take this incredible collection of talent you've put together with the money you've got and turn them towards any commercial, profit-oriented activity you can find. That's your
motto, isn't it? Isn't that what this Farming program of yours proves? You and your team—'

‘I don't accept that.'

‘Don't accept what?' retorted the senator, bristling with outrage.

‘Anything you just said.'

‘That you and your team will do anything to earn a buck? That you're a hard-headed businessman? That you're nothing but an advertising executive? What, Mr Koss? Which of those would you like to dispute?'

‘All of them!' replied Andrei impulsively, forgetting everything he had been told in his coaching sessions and rising to the bait. Could the senator
really
not understand what he was trying to do with Fishbowl? Could no one see it but him? ‘Advertising means nothing to me. It just—' He stopped as a ripple of laughter came from the audience behind him. He shook his head, reddening. ‘Advertising just happens.'

‘You're saying that five billion dollars of stuff just
happens
, Mr Koss?' said the senator.

‘That's not what Fishbowl's about. Honestly, if I could do it without the money …' There was more laughter. ‘Look, Fishbowl is about Deep Connectedness, whether you think so or not. It's about finding people you never would have found, making those connections, cutting across barriers of geography and language and culture and class and any other barriers that come between the essential things that we share. That's a good thing, isn't it? The world needs that, and the more it has of it, the better. And with the IAP, we'll be able to do even more of that, in whole new ways. And that's not a commercial thing. It never was. It's about making the world more connected.'

‘And earning five billion as you do it.'

‘No!' Andrei paused, breathing heavily. ‘That's just …' He stopped in frustration. ‘Look, it takes a lot of money to keep the infrastructure going and to reward the incredibly talented people who keep Fishbowl going. There's a cost to that.'

‘Then presumably you made no profit on this five point six billion.' O'Brien made a show of turning the pages in the prospectus. ‘No, actually, you did. Around three point eight billion. That's three point eight billion
more
than you needed to keep the infrastructure going, as you describe it, and to keep the incredibly talented people together.'

Andrei stared at the senator, who stared right back at him, the eyes in his gaunt face burning with a kind of fierce energy.

Suddenly Andrei felt as if the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. He couldn't get out of this. He knew he was being painted as a hypocrite and a liar, and searched frantically for a way to extricate himself, and he knew the only line he could take was the line the bankers had been pressing on him.

He hesitated, not wanting to have to say it.

‘Fishbowl is a business,' he said at last, his voice muted.

‘What was that, Mr Koss?'

He looked up at the senator. ‘You're right. Fishbowl is a business, sir.' He took a deep breath. ‘I'm a businessman.'

‘You've changed your tune.'

‘I'm not ashamed of making three point eight billion dollars last year.' The bankers had told him to be forthright and confident. ‘That's the American dream, isn't it, Senator? To start a business, to be successful. The shareholders in my company, when we do our IPO in six weeks' time, are not going to be ashamed of me making three point eight billion for them. Perhaps you'll be one of those shareholders, too.'

‘It looks like you'll stop at nothing to make that money.'

‘No, that's not so. Everything we do is legal. We have a motto at Fishbowl. In fact, two of them. First, don't make the world a worse place. Second, tell no lies. In everything we do, we stick to those mottoes
and
we manage to make three point eight billion a year. I don't think that's a bad record. I think it's pretty good.'

‘So it's not about Deep Connectedness, then? All that stuff before was so much hokum.'

‘No, it is about Deep Connectedness. That's what we're offering.'

‘Selling.'

‘All right, selling. We're a business, if you insist. We sell Deep Connectedness. People want that and it's a good thing. It's a very good thing for our world. And because people want it, advertisers come to us and say, “Can we talk to people through Fishbowl?” And we say yes. And that's another form of Deep Connectedness, and they pay us for that.'

‘No, Mr Koss, you were right the first time. What you're offering is Deep Connectedness. What you're
selling
is your customers.'

Andrei stared at him, his heart thumping.

‘And you dupe your customers into thinking that the people who are buying them are their friends.'

‘I have one and half billion users.' Andrei tried to control the quaver of anger in his voice. ‘That's a quarter of the planet. Approximately nine hundred and fifty million of those people are on the site every day. If they didn't like what we're doing, Senator, they wouldn't be there.'

‘So anything goes as long as people don't object?'

‘Senator, I don't set myself up to tell the world what it can and can't do. I break no laws, and tell no lies. I'm not sure that everyone could say the same.'

The senator stared at him. ‘Have you ever come across a conflict, Mr Koss, between the needs of your business and the ideals you started with?'

‘Such as what, sir?'

‘Such as Farming, sir. Mr Koss, I marched in Providence on a certain Fourth of July a few years back. Do you know to what I'm referring?'

‘The Defence of Freedom marches?'

‘Yes. I marched that day. Did you?'

‘Yes. I marched in Boston.'

‘I marched in support of the Constitution, in support of free speech, and I marched in support of your ideal, Mr Koss. I
marched in support of Deep Connectedness, as you describe it, so a person in Rhode Island could find a person in Alabama who was interested in abolition of the death penalty and could work together on that. Or a person in Mississippi could find a person in Texas who was interested in improving the shameful state of our schooling system that this administration has allowed to crumble under its very feet. These are things that I know for a fact actually happened thanks to your network, Mr Koss. And I marched in support of you. I marched so you would have the freedom to pursue your ideal of Deep Connectedness – an ideal I believe in – without fear of prosecution. But you know what, Mr Koss? I didn't march in support of this thing you call Farming. I didn't march so that person in Rhode Island or Alabama or Mississippi or Texas would find someone who they thought was a person but was actually a program trying to
sell
them something.'

Andrei gazed at him, struggling for a response. ‘It might be something they need, Senator. A program that doesn't just sell them stuff, but can learn about them, understand them, and present them with exactly what they need at exactly the right time. And, in most cases, at an improved price. Does that make the world a worse place, Senator?'

The senator let Andrei's words hang. Then he shook his head. ‘You just don't get it, do you, Mr Koss?'

Andrei frowned. He wished he hadn't said what he had just said. Better to have stayed silent.

‘That's the saddest thing about this whole sorry affair.' The senator leaned forward. Although five yards separated them, Andrei felt as if he was peering at him from inches away. ‘What happened to you?'

Andrei swallowed. Nothing in the coaching sessions he had had over the past two weeks had prepared him for this. He wanted to say something but had no idea what. He felt belittled and humiliated and ashamed – but didn't know how to defend himself. He could feel his face burning.

The silence went on.

‘Have you any other questions, Senator?' said Diane McKenrick.

‘No,' said Senator O'Brien. ‘I think I've heard about all I can bear to hear.'

‘Well, I have a few,' said McKenrick, invoking her right as Chair to enter the proceedings when she chose. She had had enough of all these questions about advertising. She turned to Andrei. ‘You said you tell no lies, Mr Koss. You said your Farming program only gives factual information. Is that right, Mr Koss?'

Andrei nodded, still flustered, his mind working over the previous senator's remarks.

‘What if you gave non-factual information?' said McKenrick.

‘I'm sorry.' Andrei shook his head, trying to put O'Brien's questioning behind him. ‘I'm sorry, Senator. Can you repeat that, please?'

‘I said, what if you give non-factual information?' said McKenrick impatiently.

‘We don't give non-factual information.'

‘What if you did?'

‘We don't.' The questioning was on easier ground, and helped Andrei focus again. ‘We're happy to be audited on that if anyone has a specific complaint.'

McKenrick made a show of sighing. ‘Let me ask you something else. You sell products, correct? What if you chose to sell something different?'

‘I'm not sure I understand what you're asking,' said Andrei.

‘What if you chose to sell an idea, an ideology.'