The Reluctant Fundamentalist Page #2

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I project the total value

of BNUS at $48 billion

with revenue growing at an

average 52% per annum

for the first two years.

I'm not with you

on the growth rate.

Changez,

I've got a five-star

safety rating

from A.B. Townes.

My travel cylinders only cost

11 million bucks apiece.

What is your analysis?

Your company is worthless.

What?

Care to clarify?

Well, A.B. Townes is

all well and good,

but if your business

is convincing a mother

that you can successfully

disarticulate

and then reassemble

all the molecules

in her five-year-old

thousands of miles away,

this technology

is at least a generation away

from practical,

widespread usage.

Is that a hunch?

Because you're not getting paid

for hunches.

No.

Page 68.

Your own market surveys show

72% of your potential travelers

would never use the cylinders

no matter how safe you

proved that they were.

So I should just pack up

and go home?

No, I'm saying you should

pack other people up

and go into shipping.

The same... the same

polling suggests

that 94% of clients

would be okay

with you teleporting

their baggage.

So your business isn't travel;

it's shipping...

subcontainer-scale shipping.

Real-world assignments

come in on Monday.

Nothing too exciting.

Everybody will be disappointed.

Almost everybody.

Go, brother.

# Let's go #

# Uh-huh, yeah, yeah #

# Top-level philanderer #

# My time in the camera #

# Reason why she's smiling #

# 'Cause I'm nice

with the algebra #

# President, I rose to the top

of my class #

# Model chick by my side #

# Champagne in the glass #

# And she telling me #

# Papi far ahead

in these lanes #

# So such-and-such #

# Should probably

just stop speaking my name #

# I'm the boss here,

the king would never... #

Toss it, Wainwright.

Ow!

Plays out like this.

First, B-school.

Second, run my own hedge fund.

Third, philanthropy.

And in 25 years,

I'm gonna be devoted full-time

to wiping out malaria.

What if someone takes out

malaria before you get there?

Well, I'll pick the next

available disease

and kick its ass too.

If that lazy f*** Posada

would learn to slide like that,

we'll get another pennant

this year.

Well, unlike you commoners,

I have a law degree.

I'm gonna run a Fortune 500 company

until I hit ten digits.

What about you, Changeez?

Where do you see

yourself in 25 years?

25 years...

I'm gonna be the dictator

of an Islamic republic

with nuclear capability.

Anyone want a soda?

No, I'm good...

Saddam.

He really scared me.

Thought he was for serious.

Thank you.

Wow.

Ooh!

Whoa!

What the hell was that?

That was Herman.

He overshot his gap.

Herman, are you okay?

Oh, man.

Yeah, I'm good.

You all right?

Oh, I hope I got that.

Your expression was amazing.

You're not hurt, are you?

No, lost a couple of inches of hair,

but apart from that...

Oh, you know what?

It's a little out of focus.

Excuse me!

Could you do that again?

Do... do that again?

It looks great.

Yeah, sure.

Oh, thanks.

All right.

Like, one or two feet higher.

Come on.

Go fly, Herman.

I'll strap my wings on.

I'm sorry.

Is this, like, a magazine

shoot or something?

No, no, no.

It's not that official.

I'm just photographing

these guys for a new project.

I wasn't trying

to kill you, so...

And I won't kill you.

I promise.

We'll see.

In Lahore... in Pakistan,

where I'm from...

kids don't fly on skateboards;

they fly kites.

Kites?

Really?

I don't know your name.

- Oh, Changez.

- Ah.

Stay on your mark, Changez.

Changez.

Changez...

That's right.

Very good.

Okay, Herman?

He's coming, isn't he?

He's coming.

I can feel him.

- Whoo!

- Sweet, Herman!

Great.

Okay.

- Right.

- Sorry, got to run.

Is there a way I can...

Hey.

You're my William Tell.

You know,

with the apple and the...

Right.

Shot it.

Bye.

Wainwright.

Mm!

Couldn't get the number,

could you, Mobutu?

He was right.

I'd missed my moment.

Here I am rambling on,

and I haven't offered you

anything to eat.

I'm sorry.

Junaid!

Yes, Khan, sir.

Get us a chicken curry.

Dall and two naans.

Okay?

A rogani naan for me.

Wow.

I think I'm growing on him.

Students...

The police are here

for your protection.

Do not interfere

with Professor Rainier's

investigation.

Do not forget,

demonstrating and disrupting

the peace is forbidden.

We advise you

to return to class

and cooperate

with the police.

It's serious.

The police are everywhere.

Forget them.

Poetry is serious too.

As Khan sir says...

"The most transcendent poetry

is, by definition, political. "

So you want poetry

to do the protesting?

Why not?

Mm.

All well, sir?

You're always where

the food is, no?

Why aren't you at home

marking these exams?

Yeah, well...

Ahmad and those guys

wanted me to protest,

but you know me.

I need lunch

before I can protest.

Presenting the militant academic.

Bobby Lincoln, this is my

teaching assistant, Sameer.

Watch out.

He knows Urdu.

Peace be upon you.

And you.

Peace be with you, brothers.

Ali, start your protest

so I can go home!

So, Bobby, I must ask you.

Why do you think they'd

be harassing my family?

I can't speak for the

American authorities,

but I think it's safe to assume

they consider you

a person of interest.

And they make these decisions

with what evidence?

So how do... how do I

become uninteresting?

Look, Changez,

the kidnapping of an

American citizen

is about as heavy

as it gets for them.

And I'm sure if you were willing

to go in and talk to them,

they'd probably be able

to help you.

You think I had something to do

with this kidnapping, Bobby?

I'm not the one you

have to convince.

Is that the first lie you've

told me today?

They've got Asif.

Some things are heating up.

- I know nothing.

- Give us their names!

I must warn you, Bobby,

I find it very difficult

to confess all

to a man I know so little about.

Fair enough.

What do you want to know?

Well, what drew you

to our part of the world?

Well, for one thing,

it's a hell of a lot

more interesting

than Paterson, New Jersey.

"Your nest is not atop the

dome of a royal palace.

"Your next is not atop

the dome of a royal palace.

"You are a royal falcon.

Build your nest

on a mountain peak. "

Wow.

Iqbal.

So now Lahore is your nest.

Been here seven years.

Your Urdu is quite good.

I've picked some up.

Looks like you picked up a

couple of weights too, huh?

You look quite solid

for a journalist.

Thank you.

Like somebody who could move

very quickly

in the event of an emergency.

I'm not anticipating any

emergencies, are you?

The future is very hard to predict.

Oh, not if you're an analyst

from Underwood Samson.

Yes. The Navy SEALs

of finance, eh?

You know, like the SEALs,

our special talent set us apart.

We were catapulted

into privilege.

I felt I was entering

in New York

exactly the same social class

my parents were falling out of

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