The email came three days later.
Subject: Re: Streaming Prototype – Potential Strategic Synergy
From: Edward L. Hanover – Senior VP, Time Warner Digital
To: Jason King
Message:
> Jason,
My son forwarded me your platform. I'm intrigued. Time Warner is looking into digital distribution and interactive content. Would you be open to a meeting at our Madison Avenue office? Friday, 10 a.m.
– Ed Hanover
Jason read the message three times, then slowly exhaled.
It was happening.
Time Warner wasn't just any company. They were at the heart of legacy media—movies, music, cable—and they were about to merge with AOL, forming one of the largest digital content conglomerates in history.
If he could get in on the ground floor...
He dialed Amy.
"We've got a meeting. Time Warner. Senior VP. Friday."
Amy let out a soft gasp. "Are we ready?"
"No," Jason said. "But we're going anyway."
He pulled together a pitch deck overnight. Not one made for VCs. One made for media moguls:
Rapid user growth projections.
Comparative streaming models.
Monetization paths via exclusive artist partnerships.
Emphasis on early access to youth demographics.
A pivot strategy for video content, once broadband caught up.
Friday came. Jason wore the only decent suit he owned, bought secondhand and tailored by a Korean dry cleaner who owed Victor a favor.
The Time Warner tower loomed over him like a mountain of steel and money.
On the 33rd floor, he stepped into a glass-paneled conference room with a view of Manhattan stretching to the harbor. Ed Hanover looked like old money and newer ambition—silver hair, piercing blue eyes, a Rolex thicker than Jason's wrist.
"You built PulseCast?" Ed asked, shaking his hand.
"From scratch," Jason said smoothly. "Me and a small team."
"You're… twenty?"
"Twenty-one."
Hanover nodded. "We've seen dozens of these things. Streaming, peer-to-peer, next-gen distribution. Most don't scale."
Jason didn't blink. "Most don't understand the timeline."
Hanover raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
Jason flipped open the pitch deck and showed them the real prize.
The long game.
He predicted the fall of Blockbuster. The slow death of cable TV. The rise of mobile streaming. The hunger for decentralized platforms free from DRM restrictions.
"You want to know what PulseCast is?" Jason said, standing. "It's what your kids will use to replace television."
Hanover stared at him for a long time.
Then he smiled. "You remind me of a young Ted Turner. Wild eyes. Big ideas."
Jason returned the smile. "Difference is, I've already seen the future. I'm just building the version that works."
As Jason left the building, his burner buzzed with a message from Griggs.
> They moved your file to "Level 3." Blacklight is now actively mapping your network. Pull back from public visibility.
Jason stared at the message.
Then deleted it.
Because visibility was the point.
And the game was just getting started.