I came back from the Aegean in September. By October I was sitting across from the man who wanted to own the future. By November I was watching him sell it to five thousand people who had already decided to buy.

The conference was called Intelligent World. The name was not ironic.

I arrived on foot from the hotel. The crowd moved toward the entrance the way crowds move toward things they believe in — with the specific forward lean of people who are certain they are exactly where history is happening.

I moved with them and apart from them.