Timeline

One woman. One movement. One head. One destiny.

January, 1956: In New York City, meanwhile, The Leader goes about turning A=A into a fearsome Objectivist guerilla group. He enrolls the membership en masse in the local YMCA for fitness training and public speaking lessons; he begins nightly lectures on Objectivist fighting tactics ("Go for the brain," he advises, "for your opponent will be helpless without rational thought"); he organizes monthly field trips to historical Objectivist places -- at the moment, only the theatre where Factory! The Musical played qualifies -- to place commemorative plaques (left intact by puzzled but respectful maintenance workers).

The group begins to coalesce, but The Leader's plans are hampered by one important shortfall: money. With The Leader fired from his (on-call, part-time) job, A=A's biggest source of funds had dried up. The other members still hold down part- or full-time jobs as taxi drivers and pastry chefs, but the available pool of cash is small and slowly shrinking. Even The Leader's vague plan of a series of somehow hugely-profitable bake sales is derailed by jealous Girl Scouts and local Church Women's Auxiliary groups, who bribe foot-patrolling police to demand non-existant "City of New York Bake Sale permits."

Inevitably, conflict erupts within the group. While brainstorming one night for ways to raise money, one of the members innocently suggests buying a New York State lottery ticket. The Leader is enraged at this obviously anti-rational suggestion, and lectures the member at length on his "anti-Life" thought patterns. In a climax of righteous fury, The Leader drags the member out to the nearest convenience store and purchases a lottery ticket. "That's one dollar bill I'll never see again!" he rages, and stomps back to the Atlantis Barracks (a rented warehouse).

The next morning, while checking the Times for inferior drama reviews, The Leader discovers that last night's lottery numbers match his ticket. He is ten million dollars richer.