Melbourne.
These past weeks, Anthony Johnston had set aside his own work to assist Simon with the Japan market play.
In just over two weeks, the tech-stock liquidation in North America had gone smoothly, and Australian capital had flowed in steadily. Total funds reached $1.57 billion: $500 million from Simon himself, $100 million from the Johnstons, and $970 million from other Australian interests.
Several North American players had wanted in, but Simon turned them down.
Anything beyond $1.5 billion would simply dilute returns.
He had no intention of becoming the whale that dictated Japan's market direction. Collapse the Japanese economy and his other companies could forget doing business there.
Bringing Australian capital along ensured the Johnstons could convert the favor into real connections and benefits.
In North America, despite his U.S. citizenship, Simon had few ties to established power. Handing windfall profits to random players wouldn't forge deep alliances.
Unconsciously, Simon had begun thinking of Australia as his personal power base not the Hollywood Aussies, but the country's native capital interests.
America's old-money dynasties were entrenched; a newcomer like Simon couldn't rival them, nor did he want to kneel to any.
To keep expanding his empire, he needed more chips.
In capital warfare, chips were capital.
Australia's economy was still small, but it was a sovereign nation.
By binding Australian capital through shared interest, Simon could forge a consortium rivaling any American legacy group and, handled right, he could dominate it.
To formalize operations, Simon registered a hedge fund in the Caymans.
Unlike onshore funds with annual tax obligations, offshore vehicles deferred capital-gains tax indefinitely as long as money stayed abroad, letting investors compound what would otherwise go to the government.
Though not intended as permanent, the fund needed a name.
Simon dipped once more into Game of Thrones, christening it Cersei Capital, code name "Bad Woman." Like Daenerys Entertainment and Melisandre, it sat under Westeros Cooperation as controlling parent.
The full $1.57 billion couldn't sit in one entity. Simon created five sub-funds under Cersei, each capitalized around $300 million.
February had been lively for Japanese markets, spurred by the Journal article, Simon's statements, and other headlines allowing rapid deployment once funds arrived.
By the close of the last trading day of the week, February 17, the five sub-funds had built roughly $7 billion notional long exposure in Nikkei 225 futures across Singapore and Osaka.
Simon knew his edge: macro trend judgment.
Average entry lay between 32,200 and 32,700.
Holding $7 billion notional through the coming months until his planned exit around 37,000 would yield about a billion dollars profit on that position alone.
Margin requirements consumed less than half the capital. Nikkei futures volume was finite; even without strict position limits, lack of counterparties capped how much Simon could add.
Remaining funds he turned over to the sub-fund teams for discretionary trading, Japanese equities, bond futures, index options, and other sizzling Asian markets.
That very week the teams had executed a clean Japan bond futures trade.
Early-February headlines had fueled speculation the Bank of Japan would soon hike rates to curb speculation.
Rate hikes typically depress bond prices, prime short territory.
Simon remembered the original timeline: the BOJ waited until May for its first hike in years, long after the window to prevent collapse had closed.
Even with history altered, he doubted a three-month advance.
Rumor alone rattled markets. Japanese society, basking in prosperity, had little appetite for deliberate disruption.
Confirming the hunch, Cersei teams built $6 billion notional in JGB futures the prior week-half long, half short.
Bond margin sat at 3%: roughly 33× leverage.
As hike chatter spread, prices plunged early in the week; teams closed all shorts by Wednesday.
Thursday morning, the Ministry of Finance publicly denied any near-term hike plans.
Prices snapped higher.
Simon avoided greed. All longs were flattened by Friday.
Bond volatility is usually low hence the high leverage but Cersei still pocketed $36 million for the week.
The trade had leaned on inside information; otherwise perfect timing would have been impossible.
Japan's boom, especially real estate, had spiked demand for minerals, perfect for resource-rich Australia.
Economic and elite ties between the nations ran deep. The Johnstons maintained sizable Japanese subsidiaries, run by Janet's second brother, Norman.
Word of Thursday's denial had come straight from Norman, then in Tokyo on business.
Simon felt no guilt over the insider edge, nor fear of exposure.
Many famous funds stacked boards with political luminaries, Margaret Thatcher, still UK prime minister, would join Tiger Management's board in the 1990s in the original timeline.
No one pretended such appointments were for investment advice.
Meanwhile, hike rumors had unsettled Japanese stocks. Monday opened down 236 points.
By February 17 close, the Nikkei had gained only 76 points on the week, finishing at 38,897 versus the prior Friday's 38,821. Futures longs showed paper profit of just $13.71 million, meager beside the bond haul.
Saturday, February 18.
Most of Batman took place at night; last night had again been night shoots.
That schedule would continue until mid-March, when final weeks moved to studio sets and Simon could stop living upside down.
Melbourne lacked Hollywood-scale sound stages. The art department had spent weeks converting abandoned factory buildings west of the city into the Batcave and other sets.
Though weekend, and despite adding three daily hours for Cersei oversight, habit held Simon woke precisely after five hours.
Breakfast with Anthony Johnston.
Caution dictated venue: not the Kendall Hotel restaurant, but a nearby café.
Simon didn't expect absolute secrecy, total opacity could even backfire but aimed to contain leaks.
His 1987 legend drew relentless scrutiny.
Anthony's primary role, beyond direct assistance, was tightening security. The team had hired a retired Australian intelligence officer as consultant.
Simon's hotel phones were now encrypted. Daily strategy calls with fund managers and analysts happened not at the hotel but in the heavily secured Johnston Holdings headquarters downtown.
Even sub-fund teams were kept largely ignorant of one another's identities to protect position data.
Anthony had confided he'd placed surveillance on the teams; any leaker would be cut instantly.
For a billion-plus operation with sizable expected gains, the paranoia felt proportionate. Simon approved, especially regular bug sweeps that spared him another Manhattan Plaza Hotel nightmare.
That memory still gave him chills.
Weekend morning traffic in the café was light. Simon and Anthony took a window corner, two guards kept outsiders at bay.
After casual talk, Anthony raised the "modest" futures gains, suggesting Simon was too conservative.
Simon sipped juice, set the glass down. "Tony, you've seen my '87 S&P campaign. Same principle: I'm betting a macro trend. As long as the Japanese market keeps rising, our Nikkei longs deliver steady, fat returns. Bonds and such, too many variables. We won last week; we could lose it all next. Plenty of great funds bleed profitability chasing extra edge."
Anthony had already heard the broad strategy.
Compared to '87, Simon's bar was low: double the capital before the top, nothing more.
Capture some downside later for taxes and team fees, and he'd be content.
If the market followed memory, he could exit Japan and pivot to crude oil futures.
He knew his existence made the butterfly flap their wings, made that unrealistic, yet he stubbornly capped the peak at 38,000 and planned exit from 37,000.
Early collapse or surprise breakout past 40,000 either way, he would master fear and greed, stick to target.
Understanding his true edge, he avoided reckless bets. Excess cash would go into direct Japanese equities, low risk in a bull run still good for half a year.
Anthony had been warned by his father: no second-guessing Simon. Just focus.
He let the topic drop, smiled. "All right. Your birthday's coming you got to celebrate. You arranging, or shall I? Oh, and Jenny's due back in a day or two."
Simon didn't stand on ceremony. "I'll trouble you then, Tony. I'll give the crew Wednesday off."
Anthony nodded. "The estate outside town, then. I'll start tomorrow."
Breakfast finished, Simon returned to the hotel.
Jennifer had the day's files ready.
Lounging in the leather chair, Simon reached Nancy Brill's Blockbuster analytics and movie-database proposal and felt genuine surprise. The woman had grasped "big data" before the internet age.
Movie database plus internet equaled IMDb.
Amazon bought IMDb to power DVD sales; Netflix leveraged data to dominate streaming.
Now one diminutive woman had proposed both concepts at once.