Baxter McGill awoke and lay dripping with sweat. The room was dark, and the only sound was the occasional car horn and an emergency services siren in the distance. Baxter glanced at the digital clock beside the bed - it displayed 66:⅜. Baxter rubbed his eyes and looked again - it was 02:38 AM. Cheryl was sleeping, and he could hear her light snoring. Baxter had dreamed for hours of the elephant being electrocuted. A haunting nightmare that chased him through his sleep - and with no escape from it. Baxter climbed from the bed and went to the bathroom. He washed his face with cold water, and then stared at himself. He barely recognised the face that stared back at him - so rugged and handsome, his features so chiseled and defined. His neck muscles were so pronounced and hard - and his chest and shoulders rippled with new, strong muscles.

Baxter pulled on some shorts and went down to the library - and he turned on his laptop. He Googled “electrocuted elephant” - and he found a Wikipedia article about the film “Electrocuting an Elephant” made by the Edison Manufacturing Company in 1903. Baxter watched a clip of the film - that showed an elephant called Topsy being electrocuted at Coney Island, New York in 1903 to demonstrate the power of electricity. Baxter was horrified by the video. He watched Topsy the elephant as she was electrocuted and caught fire and then died. Topsy was the elephant from his dream - from the nightmare. Baxter clicked on the link for the Edison Manufacturing Company, and then the link for Edison Inc., and then all of the links he could find. Baxter then Googled Edison, and found the well known Edison Electric Car Company - headed by the eccentric Alan Topp, the world’s richest man. Baxter looked at the share price of Edison Electric Car Company stock, and it was priced at $66.⅜ per share. Baxter hit refresh and the price was $377.45 per share. Baxter closed the laptop, and went to the kitchen and took a jug of milk from the fridge, and finished it. He then went back to his bedroom and dressed in his tracksuit and sneakers and then left the apartment.

Baxter walked south on Park Avenue, and then began running. Baxter ran the 6 miles from his apartment on Park Avenue to Pierce and Pierce’s offices on Wall Street in less than 20 minutes. Baxter stopped and picked up some McDonalds and soda and coffee, and then entered the lobby of the building. Baxter flashed his pass to the security guard in the lobby, and then took the elevator to the 54th floor. It was 3:29 AM, and the office was deserted. Baxter went to his office and turned on his computer, and turned on CNN on the TV on the wall opposite his desk. Baxter ate Big Macs as he scrolled through messages, and then finished a large soda in one slurp and then picked up his phone and dialed a number.

‘Sebastien - It’s Baxter McGill at P&P’ - said Baxter, leaning back in his chair and taking a bite of Big Mac.

‘Baxter, ‘ow are you? I ‘eard you was not doing so good, and you was taking a break’ - said a French voice on the other end of the phone.

‘Well, I am back in the game Sebastien’ - said Baxter

Sebastien worked for Paris Credit and Commerce Bank, and it was 9:30 AM for him in Europe.

‘It is very early for you, no?’ - said Sebastien.

‘Early bird gets the worm, Sebastien’ - said Baxter, biting more Big Mac and slurping more soda - ‘...I want to short EEC’

‘Short EEC?’ - said Sebastien.

‘Yes, and I am looking for big players who want to take long positions’ - said Baxter.

‘Do you know something that we don’t - Baxter McGill?’ - said Sebastien, chuckling.

‘Here are the terms. Irrevocable contract with no burn clause. Contract matures at New York close today. I am selling at sixty six and three eights’

‘Wait a minute’ - said Sebastien.

Baxter ate more Big Mac, and drank more soda.

‘Baxter, Edison is at 377’ - said Sebastien, incredulously.

‘Yep’ - said Baxter, opening another Big Mac.

‘And how many contracts do you want?’ - said Sebastien.

‘How many do you want to buy?’ - said Baxter.

The contract Baxter was offering Sebastien was a simple enough derivatives contract. Baxter was selling a contract that matured at the close of the New York stock exchange today, and was irrevocable. Baxter was betting that the price of Edison Electric Car Company stock would be $66.347 (sixty six and three eights) at the close of the New York stock exchange. Anyone taking this contract would be liable for the difference between the price at the contract signing (currently $377.45 per share) and $66.347 if Edison Electric Car Company closed at $66.347 per share at the end of business in New York. If the price wasn’t $66.347 per share at New York close of business, Baxter and Pierce and Pierce would have to pay the difference between $66.347 and the actual close price (at the moment, $311.10 per share).

‘Baxter - I believe there is an old saying that says something about a fool and his money’ - said Sebastien.

‘How many do you want to buy, Sebastien?’ - Baxter, now losing patience.

‘10,000 long, irrevocable and today NYSE close maturity at sixty six and three eighth’ - said Sebastien, coldly.

‘Done’ - said Baxter - ‘...and if you know of anyone else who wants to get some skin in the game, send them my way’

‘You are crazy, Baxter - and you will probably get fired for this’ - said Sebastien.

‘It’s gonna be a wild ride, Sebastien - I hope you have your big boy pants on today!’

Sebastien hung up.

Baxter placed calls in Zurich, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and anywhere else that was awake and doing business.

Baxter’s phone was ringing constantly. Firms from across the world could sense blood and the water, and they wanted to get their slice of action before the sixty six and three eighth short contracts on Edison dried up.

At around 7:00 AM the first of the workers started arriving at the 54th floor. Baxter's office looked like a mess - with fast food wrappers and paper cups strewn all over the floor and his desk. Baxter had removed his shirt and was sitting bare chested at his desk - fielding calls and signing new contracts.

Lori, one of the junior traders, had arrived and Baxter waved at her from his desk. She squinted at Baxter, firstly unsure of who he was, and then realizing it was Baxter she wondered why he didn’t have hair and why he was not wearing a shirt.

Lori opened Baxter’s office door. Baxter was on the phone, and covered the mouthpiece - ‘Lori, can you order me some breakfast?’

Baxter went back to the phone, and laughed and then said - ‘Done deal!’ - and then hung up. The phone started ringing again straight away.

‘Baxter. Are you okay?’ - said Lori, her face concerned.

Baxter smiled at Lori - ‘You know, I am okay, Lori. Thank you for asking!’

‘Does Mr. Pollard know you are here?’ - said Lori, looking at all of the garbage on the floor and Baxter’s strange, sudden muscular appearance.

‘Nope. I wanted today to be a surprise’ - said Baxter - ‘Now can you order me 30 sausage and egg McMuffins, and a load of coffee, and some donuts?’

‘30 McMuffins?’ - said Lori, her face one of disbelief.

Baxter picked up the phone and then paused - ‘You are right, make it 40’ - and then Baxter went straight into the call, waving Lori away.

Lori closed the office door, and headed to her desk. Another junior trader was sitting opposite her - ‘Baxter McGill is sitting in his office that is covered in garbage, and his hair has been shaved off, and he is not wearing a shirt, and he looks like some kind of body builder, and he wants me to order him 40 sausage and egg McMuffins’

Ambrose Pollard arrived at the office at around 7:30 AM, and was intercepted by some of the senior traders who told him that Baxter was in the office, and was not wearing a shirt, and was acting kinda strange, and that they had been getting calls and messages from other firms about P&P’s short position on Edison Electric Car Company.

‘What short position?’ - said Ambrose, glancing over at Baxter’s office where he could be seen talking on the phone.

The senior traders shrugged, but said it was big from what they had heard.

Ambrose pushed out his chin and adjusted his tie - and then headed to Baxter McGill’s office.

Baxter hung up the phone, and began opening a McMuffin. He saw Ambrose standing outside his office door staring at him, and waved at him and Ambrose stepped in.

‘Good morning, Baxter’ - said Ambrose, looking at the ever growing layer of fast food packaging and wrappers that were scattered over the floor and all other surfaces.

‘Ambrose - so good to see you!’ - said Baxter, chewing and adding sachets of sugar to one of many paper coffee cups on his desk.

‘I wasn’t expecting to see you today, Baxter’ - said Ambrose, stiffly.

‘I wasn’t planning on coming in, Ambrose - but after the last couple of day I just had to’

Ambrose brushed some wrappers off of one of the chairs on the other side from where Baxter was sitting, and he sat down - ‘Baxter, you aren’t wearing a shirt’

‘I know - too fucking hot!’ - said Baxter, stirring the coffee with his finger and then drinking it in one and then taking a bite of McMuffin, and then adding more sugar to the next coffee.

Ambrose stared at Baxter - ‘Baxter, what has happened to you? You look so very different’

Baxter smiled at Ambrose, and took another bite of McMuffin and shrugged - ‘I don’t know - but I feel amazing!’

They sat in silence for a while. Ambrose stared at Baxter as he ate and drank and ate and drank. The phone was ringing the whole time.

‘What is this I hear about P&P shorting Edison?’ - said Ambrose, his face now tight and reddening, and his eyes concerned looking.

Baxter continued to chew, and was nodding vigorously. Ambrose waited for him to finish his mouthful, and then Baxter spoke - ‘It is crazy, but for the last couple of days everywhere I have gone I have seen sixty six and three eighths. Even people speaking - like they would say something and I would hear sixty six and three eighths, everywhere. I saw it in newspapers, at Starbucks, on the front of buses. It was just crazy, and I thought I was going mad. I then I had this dream - this horrible nightmare about an elephant being electrocuted. I could hear it screaming and smell its flesh burning and see the terror in its eyes. So I Googled about elephants being electrocuted…’

Ambrose was listening to all of this with increasing concern.

‘...and there was this elephant called Topsy that was electrocuted by the Edison Manufacturing Company in 1903, to show how powerful electricity is. And then I saw it, it was crystal clear - Topsy the elephant in my dream is Alan Topp, CEO of Edison Electrical Car Company. He is going to die, like Topsy the elephant - today. And sixty six and three eighths will be the closing price of Edison stock’

Baxter went back to eating and drinking coffee.

‘And how many contracts did you sell, at the sixty six and three eighths short position?’ - said Ambrose, sounding like he was getting ready to explode.

‘As many as I could’ - said Baxter - ‘It was like a fucking feeding frenzy!’

‘HOW MANY?’ - shouted Ambrose, now exploding.

Everyone in the office was staring in silence, watching Baxter McGill and Ambrose Pollard in the office - and when Ambrose Pollard shouted they all flinched in unison.

Baxter took another bite of McMuffin, and a swig of coffee as he checked his screen - ‘About six hundred thousand’

Ambrose closed his eyes, and his red face drained of color.

‘I could sell more - but I figured once you got wind of it you would shut me down’ - said Baxter, nonchalantly and leaning back in his chair.

Ambrose opened his eyes - ‘Baxter, you are fired!’

Baxter shrugged.

‘You are fired, do you hear me?. You have destroyed this company, and you have destroyed me!’

Baxter stood - and for a moment Ambrose was in awe of him. Baxter’s body rippled with muscles - and he was taller, so much taller than Ambrose remembered. Baxter pulled on his t-shirt, and walked around the otherside of the desk. Everyone in the office continued to stare in silence, watching Baxter McGill and Ambrose Pollard in the office.

‘That’s your right, Ambrose’ - said Baxter, opening a McMuffin and taking a bite - ‘But at 4 PM today when these six hundred thousand contracts mature and become payable - I want you to remember whose name is on the contract, and whose name the 10% individual commission is payable to’

‘Get out!’ - said Ambrose, softly.

‘If you forget whose name is on those contracts, and if you forget who the 10% individual commission is payable to, Ambrose, I will not be happy’

Baxter turned, and placed his hands under the mahogany top of his large desk - and he ripped a strip of the wood from the desk. Ambrose couldn’t believe what he had just seen. There was an audible gasp from the traders and office staff staring at Baxter’s office.

‘See you at 4PM, Ambrose’ - And then Baxter left his office and crossed the silent trading floor, the traders all unsure what was happening but knowing it was not good.

Baxter got to the elevators, and headed down to the lobby. Ambrose Pollard called the senior traders to his office and started an emergency meeting. Pierce and Pierce were staring down a single day's loss of over $1.8 billion. If the price of the Edison Electric Car Company didn’t hit $66.347 by 4PM today, the company would be ruined. Panic set in on the 54th floor - as traders desperately looked for positions to hedge their Edison exposure with. But the blood was still in the water, and new contracts were being written in the derivatives markets that P&P wouldn’t be able to cover their exposure, and would default. At 9 AM when the opening bell sounded at the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, European investors who had bought Baxter’s short contract began pumping up the price of Edison stock. By 4 PM New York time today they were expecting to make a combined $1.8 billion, with traders like Sebastien licking their lips and already planning on how they would spend their 10% commission.

Baxter walked to The Battery park, and found a bench and sat and watched the ferries coming from Staten Island, and the seagulls flying above the water. Baxter sat in the park until about 1 PM, and then headed to a diner near Wall Street. He sat at the counter and ordered some food, and sipped his coffee as he watched the financial news channel on the screen.

‘It should be starting soon…’ - he said to himself as he took a bite from a burger.

Most of the news was covering the surge in Edison Electric Car Company stock - which was now trading at over $400 a share. It was now after 2PM. And then some breaking news came through - a Federal Indictment had been unsealed against Alan Topp, CEO of Edison Cars, for insider trading and stock manipulation. The TV anchor reported that federal agents were attempting to arrest Topp at his Texas ranch.

Baxter chewed the burger, and sipped his coffee. He watched the stock ticker. There was a 15 minute delay between what was going on inside the stock exchange and the news the world heard coming out of the stock exchange. The price that scrolled across the screen on the TV was the price 15 minutes ago. Baxter imagined what would be going on inside the stock exchange with this breaking news - it would be a bloodbath, he thought.

‘Hey, can I borrow your phone?’ - said Baxter to a smartly dressed man sitting beside him.

The guy said sure, and Baxter phoned Lori - ‘Hey, it’s Baxter - what’s going on with Edison?’

‘Jesus fucking Christ’ - said Lori - ‘It is fucking chaos here. Pollard has us all trying to hedge the contracts you wrote, and now we hear the feds are after Topp for insider trading!’

‘Where is Edison at?’ - said Baxter, sipping coffee.

‘Just dropped from $405 to $300 in the last two minutes!’

Baxter smiled - ‘Lori, at the end of today you are going to be a millionaire, you know that?’

‘Fuck you Baxter - from what I understand at the end of today I am going to be fucking unemployed!’ - and Lori hung up.

Baxter shrugged, and handed the phone back to the smartly dressed man and ordered a chocolate milkshake and another burger. By 2:35 PM the price of Edison stock on the TV screen had dropped to under $280, and then there was more breaking news. Gunshots had been heard at Alan Topps Texas ranch, and there were reports of a federal agent having been shot. Baxter continued to watch the scrolling stock ticker, and by 3PM Edison’s stock price was $170. Baxter continued to eat and stare at the screen. The smartly dressed man’s phone rang - and he answered it - ‘Hey, it’s for you’ - he said, holding the phone for Baxter.

More breaking news on the TV. There were reports of multiple casualties at Edison Electric Car Company CEO’s ranch - and unconfirmed reports that Alan Topp has been killed by federal agents trying to serve a warrant for his arrest.

‘Yes?’ - said Baxter.

‘Baxter?’ - said a voice. He was on speaker phone.

‘Ambrose?’ - said Baxter, staring at the screen - ‘You heard the news? Topp is dead, just like the elephant, just like Topsy’

‘Baxter, where the fuck are you?’ - said Ambrose, his voice tense and agitated.

‘What’s Edison at now?’

There was silence for a moment, and then Baxter heard someone else speaking - ‘Down to 80’

Baxter looked at the clock on the wall - it was 3:15 PM - ‘I will see you in your office in a bit, okay Ambrose?’

‘Okay - okay’ - he heard Ambrose saying.

Baxter paid his bill, and leisurely walked back to Wall Street and then took the elevator to the 54th floor of the Pierce and Pierce building. It was 3:48 PM by the time he arrived on the trading floor. It was total silence on the floor, with everyone staring at the realtime feed from the stock exchange and the price of Edison Electric Car Company stock. Baxter walked into Ambrose’s office, and it was the same. Everyone was huddled around Ambrose’s desk in silence. Baxter sat down in one of the plump leather armchairs and waited. At 3:59 PM the Edison stock price was 67 ½ , and as the closing bell rang the ticker updated to $66.347, sixty six and three eighths.

The group of senior traders huddled around Abrose Pollard’s desk let out a mighty roar, and Ambrose himself looked as though he might simply drop dead from stress and shock and exhaustion. The roars were repeated across the trading floor - and groups of traders hugged each other and cried. There were two commission pools for trades. The individual commission pot which was 10%, and paid to the individual whose name a trade was booked against, and the team commission pot which was also 10% and split equally amongst all traders and support team members.

Baxter McGill personally had just earned $180,000,000 from the Edison short stock contracts, and the team - made up of 64 people - were now going to be splitting another $180,000,000. Each team member would be receiving $2.8 million.

Once the roar had subsided, and the hugging and kissing stopped - all attention turned to Baxter McGill, VP and Senior Trader of the Derivatives Division at Pierce and Pierce.

‘Jesus fucking Christ, McGill - you are a fucking legend!’ - said one of the senior traders, and Baxter McGill was swarmed. He was carried on the shoulders of the senior traders out of Ambrose’s office, and out onto the trading floor. Everyone swarmed around him, and he was grabbed and hugged and kissed. Everyone began chanting Baxter’s name. Lori came up to Baxter and grabbed his face, and kissed him.

Everyone calmed down a little, and Baxter made his way to Ambrose’s office - ‘Hey, we are going out to celebrate’

Ambrose looked disorientated - like he was shell shocked.

‘Just make sure that commission gets in my account’ - said Baxter.

Ambrose nodded vaguely.

‘And I quit’ - said Baxter, and Ambrose nodded and then shook his head, not quite sure what to do or say.

The entire trading team went to a bar and Baxter ate giant tomahawk steaks and drank pitchers of beer whilst the traders snorted cocaine and drank vodka and expensive champagne. Baxter fucked a very drunk Lori in the men’s room - and then left the traders to party late into the night, and he walked home to his apartment - a legend.

As Baxter walked he thought about how his life had changed - how his physical appearance had changed. Baxter thought about punching the Russian in the massage parlor, about how he could crack marble with his penis, how he had run 6 miles to work this morning in under 20 minutes. Baxter thought about sixty six and three eighths, and of Topsy the elephant and Alan Topp - and how he had seemed to be able to predict the crash of Edison’s stock to its exact closing price. Baxter thought about how he had eaten 9 tomahawk steaks and drunk 18 pitchers of beer - and he was still hungry and not even slightly drunk. But mostly as he walked home, Baxter thought about Mr. Amazing.