Early this morning we broke 300,000 users.
All because of you, Wes.
You put on a clinic at BuzzTech.
Are we on a first date?
I didn't know that.
I'm wearing my date dress.
I need to know, can you protect my investment?
- What is this about? - We're just out here chillin'.
It's like all of my friends.
Come back then with some of my friends.
You ever have these?
Mmm...
Missing out.
These aren't all for me, by the way.
I promised my kids.
Okay, so ArakNet.
There's no guarantee this cuts through.
I gotta be clear about that right up front.
Everybody's hip to this sorta thing.
Different times, you know?
- Isaak says you're the best. - I am.
When can you have it out there?
I got a couple guys I can put on it right away.
This one girl actually did a piece on Hillary last year...
You promised you'd be writing this yourself, Steve.
Well, you know, I'm a little jammed up right now.
But if you really need it that quick...
You liked that?
Mmm...
Stells, come here.
You don't have to do that.
So, last week was a good week.
But we're nowhere close.
We managed to undercut some of Guizer's user base, but...
I mean, they, they just got too much exposure already.
We need Beyoncé.
Hm?
That music streamin' outfit, Tidal.
Little company.
Hard to compete with Apple and Spotify.
Those are big dogs.
And then they go and sign an exclusive deal with Beyoncé.
Now if you're a Beyoncé fan,
you've got to have Tidal to hear her new shit.
Well that's a hundred million users right there.
- Boom. - So, what are you saying?
You want us to call Beyoncé?
What are you getting at?
SchoolYard.
Oh, shit, yeah, I read about this.
380 million users.
Fifth largest social media platform in the world.
And it just came out,
they selling their user data to the highest bidder.
Something they said they would never do.
They on the ropes.
They need to restore trust.
They need to reinvent themselves.
We would inherit all their users.
Yeah, all the one's that stay.
- SchoolYard's our Bey. - That's what's up.
My friend, Kyle, knows one of their program managers.
So, I could probably swing setting us a meeting.
Really?
- Where are they at? - San Francisco.
All right. Let's set it up
for tomorrow, whatever it takes.
Three of us... take my jet.
Yo.
Sorry, man.
Everybody knows it was your idea.
I get it, bro.
I'm a grownup.
You all right, though?
Peaches.
Okay.
I mean, there's a lot at stake, and I... it's not my business.
I just wanna make sure you're...
You're okay.
I'm good, bruh.
Peaches.
Well, see you when I get back.
_
Ooh.
_
Ahh!
_
Seriously?
_
- _ - Keep your voice down.
_
SchoolYard are young, they're idealists.
Yeah, that's exactly where I think
we should appeal to them, ya know?
Show them ArakNet has the same intentions.
Operating outside the system.
No, no, no, no, no.
- No? - No, man.
We're there to be their white knight.
Look, if we coddle them, if we placate 'em,
it's gonna seem like we're desperate.
No, we go in there and we let 'em know,
hey, you shit the bed.
You're hypocrite pricks.
Your company's on life support
and we're here to give you a second chance.
I mean, maybe I'm wrong, who knows? Who knows?
I get the suite.
Sure do.
Thank you.
I'm gonna go decimate the mini-bar.
Good night.
Uh, I could use a proper drink, how about you?
Yeah, yeah.
So, look, uh...
Your dad, he's...
- He's got a lot of money. - Mmm.
But, um, he has been out of the game for over a decade.
So I, I don't feel like...
He's the most in-touch person.
And the thing about tech is, it's very touchy.
Well, you're right, I think you're right, but, um...
But I also think you're kind of missing the point.
Enlighten me.
It's a facade.
What's a facade? Your dad being out of touch?
No, no, tech people being touchy-feely.
You know, at the end of the day, people are just people.
- And Paige Clarkson... - Sure.
The woman who runs SchoolYard is not a good person.
- No? - Unh-unh.
My friend Kyle who set this up, he...
- Uh-huh. - You know, gave me
- the scoop on her. - Mm-hmm.
And she just talks a big game but...
All the Kumbaya bullshit and the company retreats to Mammoth.
They do this thing called Activity Day
where nobody does any work and they just do, like...
- Arts and crafts. - No...
Oh, my God, your face, um...
I'm just saying...
Behind closed doors, Paige is
- a very different person. - Mmm.
Okay.
Bit of a C word.
Uh... God.
Sorry, I know, was that...
No, you can say it.
We're in mixed company.
- In mixed company. - Yeah, yeah.
Well, you can whisper it to me.
All right, I'll whisper it to you.
- Um, yeah, right. - Right?
Second favorite word of all time.
- It is? - Yeah.
What's your first?
Oh! The monster! Get him!
- Whoa! Hey! Guys! Guys! Where... - Monkeys? Where'd you go?
They're... capturing me!
Okay, okay, okay, seriously.
I need 15 minutes.
- And then we can play, okay? - All right, guys.
Thought you were helping me with dinner.
Go, go, go.
Thanks, lovey, I'll be done in 20.
I had more to drink than you, right?
Yeah, I don't... I don't think so.
Um, but I think...
Then why am I more drunk than you?
- I don't think you are. - You're a little...
You're a tiny person.
- Um, no, I think I'm just... - And you're...
- Um... - Um...
- Is this you? - I just slept more probably.
- Yeah, this is me. - Oh, shit, okay, that's...
Well, then, hey, that's me.
Oh, good to know.
- I'm that guy. - Neighbors.
Um... You gonna be all right? You gonna...
You know, brush your teeth and all that stuff?
All good stuff?
Yeah, I think so.
Yeah, let me know if you need me
to hold your hair back or anything?
Right, well... right.
Okay, good night, uh...
Uh, tomorrow, at breakfast. Pow-wow at 8:00 in the morning.
Oh, yeah, that.
Hey...
Sleep safe.
You too, sweet dreams.
In the U.S.
Pew Research finds that millennials have now taken over
baby boomers as the largest living population.
Baby boomers that core group
that define our relationship with money...
Ronnie!
They do, though.
Yo.
Say, man.
Can't leave you out here by your lonesome, you feel me?
Simon still holdin' that table for us.
Just like old times.
Come hit the club, dog.
Come on.
Ahh...
Yeah, cool.
L.A. Seven about to hit the club tonight, boy.
Yeah, boy.
Big Ronnie and his boys.
Like old times, fam.
Like we used to do it.
Ha-ha!
I don't think this shit is ringing.
That's him.
Thank you, Raul.
Thank you.
The hell you been at?
I missed the meeting with the network team.
Shit.
Look, dude, I know you're not all about picking our asses
up every day, but this is what we agreed to with Wes.
You okay?
- Get down, get down, get down! - What?
- Ronnie... - Stay down.
My God, Izzy!
- Izzy! Oh, my God! - Stay down, stay down.
Glass is bulletproof.
Ronnie! Ronnie! Ronnie!
Stells, I got you, I got you.
Y'all all right?
Damn, Ronnie! What the hell was that?
Were they following you?
I missed it.
Yeah, yeah, you missed it.
'Cause you're all messed up.
I could smell you from the damn boat.
Izzy, stop, please!
I'm not gonna go anywhere, okay?
- You're going home. - No, I'm not.
You're going back to Palo Alto.
You're gonna beg that guy to get back with you.
And you're gonna forget that any of this ever happened.
No, no! Izzy! Can you just, like,
can you put all my stuff down,
and can we just talk about this for, like, one second?
I'm not gonna go anywhere.
Ronald sent Tam away.
When shit got really real,
he sent his wife and his daughter away.
And what did I do, Stella?
I called you and I asked you to drop everything?
And I flew your ass out here.
And I put you right here!
Right in the middle of the problem.
That's where I put you!
You shouldn't have been here.
That stuff... Is this yours?
This is Nick.
Okay, do you wanna reschedule?
What? What?
No, hang on, sorry, sorry, sorry, slow...
Will you just say that again what, what that...
I've never heard of this, I'm sorry.
The "Phoenix Sentinel?"
What the fuck is the "Phoenix Sentinel"?
What?
- Shit. - I don't know what...
- Um, okay. - Shit.
Okay, I...
- Holy shit. - Oh, my God.
This is just fake news, this is crazy.
What the hell is the "Phoenix Sentinel?"
Doesn't matter because everybody else has picked it up.
Holy shit, I mean, look at this.
It just doesn't have anything to do with us,
- so I don't really know, I mean... - This is insane.
- This sinks us. - Yeah, this is...
Well, let me get to the bottom of it and I'll, I'll...
I understand. Let me get to the bottom of it.
- No, I understand, I understand. - How in the world? How in the world?
I don't know how it... but it doesn't really matter.
Because it's literally...
Let us clear this up and then I'm gonna get back to you.
It doesn't matter, I'm gonna get back to you.
- Thank you so much. - This doesn't make any sense.
Well, obviously, they cancelled...
Oh, shit, this has gotta be Axis, right? Axis!
Yeah, shit.
We need to do a preemptive email
'cause everyone's gonna see it.
I'm not taking this shit from Axis.
Uh, wow, so everyone... I mean, everyone knows.
Uh, let's start emailing our clients.
And let them know that there's this bullshit out there.
- _ - Why would you bail over this?
- I'm telling you... - But the thing is is that
it's not true so...
Please, wait, wait, don't hang up, don't hang...
Well, look, if it isn't...
Dude, you're gonna call me tomorrow morning
and you're gonna beg me to forget
this conversation ever happened.
Because it... it's bullshit.
I know everyone's picked it up.
Trust me, you don't need to tell me that.
What I'm asking you is, is where it came from?
- I need... I just need... - Smoke and mirrors, man.
- I'm telling you. - Okay.
Right.
- This was really dumb. - No.
Izzy, it wasn't dumb.
- I didn't think. - Well, I did.
I knew the risks when I was coming out here.
This was my choice.
Not yours.
Hey, Izz? Izz?
Sorry, guys, um...
Can you call Nick? He's trying to reach you.
Bad shit happening.
We're gonna squash it.
It's literally everywhere.
I know, Mara's talking to some people right now.
What about our other clients?
Nick?
- They're dropping like flies. - This is gonna kill us.
If people think that we're cliqued with the Feds?
No-no-no, no-no-no, look, we can fix it.
Sure, okay, how?
Nick, you can't fix fake news.
Once people see it...
Listen, I think the only way to get out from under this
is if the original author comes out publicly
and says the whole thing was a hoax.
And that, that confession would have to be
every bit as big as the fake story.
- That's impossible. - Can you find out who wrote it?
Sure, I can try and trace his IP address, but...
Dude's probably hiding behind major layers
of proxy's and shell corps.
Yeah, okay, but it's doable.
Anything's doable, Nick.
Well, then, let's make it happen.
What if we find the guy?
How are you gonna get this person to come out
publicly against his own article?
Ronald.
Queen! Queen!
- What? - Check this out.
I think you're gonna be happy.
So, I hacked into the "Phoenix Sentinel" website
and I tracked the blog registration down
to the this handle: CreepyCruller73.
From there, I looked at other sites that use
that exact same handle, and one of them was linked
to this shell corporation, Donut Fiend, LLC.
Obviously, from there it's easy.
I just went into original registration address
for the shell corporation and...
Steve.
Steven Brasik.
Fired from the "Herald" four years ago.
That's your guy.
You're welcome.
This guy's a douchebag.
This is a guy who makes
a million dollars a year ruining people's lives.
He got kids, Izzy.
He got a family.
I'm not asking you to kill him.
Ronnie, I just...
Convince him.
Why don't you convince him if that's all you need?
Just movin' the pieces.
Like you always do.
Me, Nick.
Your homegirl Stella.
You don't never think of the consequences till it's too late.
You ever think about that, Izzy?
Why you got all this badness that just follows you around?
I get it.
You're going through a lot of shit right now.
It's understandable.
But if you can't do this one thing...
ArakNet is as good as dead.
No! No!
No!
It's okay...
Do y'all know how to count to 100?
When I leave, count to 100.
Then you help Mommy and you help Daddy.
You got that?
Okay.
It's okay.
First thing tomorrow.
Make it happen.
There was the story about Bernie last year?
Yeah, that was, um, uh... completely made up.
- _ - There was also, as I'm sure you recall,
a less than savory story
about some people at our own network here.
And I feel awful about it, Brooke, really, I do.
So, you're going on the record to say
that story was also fabricated?
100 percent.
Would you be willing to go on the record right here today
and tell us pretty much everything you've published
through the "Phoenix Sentinel" is entirely false?
Totally fabricated, totally false.
Hello? This is Nick.
Hey, there, how's it going?
Yeah, yeah, we actually are still in town.
Funny enough, uh, had a, had a couple of meetings still.
Um... this afternoon?
Yeah, let me... You know what?
Let me check real fast, hang on.
Yeah, it's gonna work fine, um...
So, we'll see you there, 4:00?
Okay, excellent, see you then.
Pow!
You son of a bitch.
- How are you? - Suhil.
- Hi, guys. - Hey, Paige.
- Very nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.
- Nick, hi. - Becca.
- Nice to meet you, Becca. - You as well.
Thank you guys for coming in.
Our pleasure, thanks for having us.
So, sorry for bailing the other day.
Oh, hey, that's... It's totally understandable.
Woulda... Woulda probably done the same thing.
Yeah, we get it.
Thank God it got debunked, though.
Tell me about it, I mean, that Steve Brasik guy's a creep.
Yeah, unfortunately there's still, like,
a million other guys just like him out there.
Gross.
Know what's not fake news?
You guys seem to be in a lot of trouble.
Um, more, like, a P.R. problem.
I mean, what happened?
You were, you were challenging the big dogs.
Facebook, Snapchat.
We, we still have a healthy share...
You're not even part of the conversation anymore.
Uh, I wouldn't say that.
Your stock is bleeding like a 13-year-old girl.
And your users, I mean, they think you're stealing
all their information and selling it
- to the big conglomerates. - Because you are.
Which, I mean, whatever, but...
Don't get caught, right?
Well, especially when you're touting yourself as the...
the new digital Robin Hood.
Look... You're not wrong.
Our CFO, he went a little rogue.
Trying to position us for our IPO.
Whoops.
But, we're in a place...
Look, did you guys come here to pitch us
or just shit all over us?
You know, 'cause I got a pretty full day.
- So, if you don't have... - Suhil.
- What? - Please...
Oh, screw this, right? I mean, what are they
gonna offer us that Guizer already hasn't?
Guizer?
You guys are talking to Alex Bell?
So, I take it that this is more of a, um, a leverage meeting?
- No, no. - No, look.
I really like what you guys are doing.
It's friggin' rad.
Nothing is set in stone. So, we're gonna...
Well, that's good, Paige, that's really good.
Because I gotta tell ya, people's opinions are not gonna
change of you just because you team with Guizer.
Especially not when they find out that you've been
stealing from your own foundation.
I'm sorry you lost your mom. I lost mine the same way.
But I didn't feel the need to set up a cancer foundation
to supplement some income.
What are you doing?
I have no idea what you're talking about.
No? Okay, maybe I got it wrong.
It's possible I misread.
Let me see.
No, no, there it is.
It's right there.
Where did you get this?
Same place I found your emails
detailing your affair with Suhil.
- Whoa, hold on a second. - I have a question for you.
Does she know you were taking those pictures?
Because I definitely don't think she knew you were sending them
to your buddy Josh on the network team.
- You guys... - Anyway, the point is
there's a lot of fun stuff on there.
Um, which we can get into or not.
- This is blackmail. - No, no, it isn't blackmail.
I'm just telling you this in the interest of full transparency.
And if in turn my truthfulness caused you to go
with ArakNet instead of Guizer, well...
It's just a boon to everyone.
I just got an email that says they're gonna migrate...
- Let's see. - their users to our network
- within the week. - Ohh... snap.
I'm gonna, um...
I'm gonna put Rance's team in touch with Suhil.
If he's still working for 'em.
Yeah, if he's still alive
We should also, um, put together
a little press release?
Yeah, yeah, I'm, uh, I'm already on it.
You slayed it, brotha.
Hey, thank you.
It was mostly Izzy, but I'll take it.
- Take it. - It wasn't mostly Izzy.
All right, you're right, I slayed 'em.
- Thank you, thank you. - Mm-hmm.
I did it.
I gotta make a quick call.
Feeling good?
Yeah, super.
Good.
You were really something.
Hello?
Hi.
Ohh... What time is it there?
Well, actually, I'm on the West Coast tonight, so...
It's even earlier.
I miss you.
When are you gonna be Stateside?
I don't know.
I'll come see you.
- I need you to get behind me. - Yeah.
How is my Mara?
Oh... she's amazing.
She's...
- Pull my hair. - What?
Pull my hair. Yeah.
No, pull my hair harder.
Harder, yeah. Like that.
- Yeah? - You can do it harder.
She's so beautiful.
She reminds me of you, when we first met.
Harder.
No, pull my hair harder.
Pull it harder, please.
Harder.
Hurt me! Yeah!
- Like this? - Like that, yeah.
Yeah, don't... stop...
Yeah, like that. Yeah, like that.
Are you okay?
I'm sorry.
- Sorry. - No.
Are you okay?
I love you.
Get some sleep.
I'll talk with you soon.
- Synced and corrected by chamallow - - www.addic7ed.com -