The Floating Head of Ayn Rand: A Timeline

May, 1961: Unable to look a gift horse in the mouth, The Leader quickly picks up his irrational winnings and invests them in mutual funds, ensuring a perpetual supply of cash. He immediately puts this to good use.

He begins by recruting a series of medical renegade geniuses and assigning them the task of keeping a severed head alive indefinitely. He initiates contact with Phillipino leader Fidel Marcos after a tip from Rand about Marcos' rationalist sympathies, and negotiates the lease from his government of a small island off the coast of Cuba to be used as A=A launchpad. He plans the theft of a prototype Mercury rocket by a secret NASA Objectivist sympathiser. And, in a move to cement group loyalty and his own position as leader, he takes a hint from New York juvenile delinquent gang culture and purchases embroidered silk jackets for each member of A=A.

At last, The Leader is ready to invite Rand to the island to witness a test launch. At Rand's insistence, a young Frank Sinatra, on a break from the filming of The Manchurian Candidate, is also flown down. Despite The Leader's constant requests to "stop fiddling with things," Sinatra offers emotional support and electronics advice while technicians carefully prepare the dummy head (prepared by A=A's Waxworks Squad) of his friend and sometime-lover. A=A members notice The Leader's discomfort, and rumours spread that The Leader has a crush on Rand.

The test is a mixed success: the life-support system works as planned, but the launch touches off a wave of "flying saucer" sightings that alert the American military to A=A's plans. Rand begins to doubt A=A's ability to fulfill their promises.

Next: A=A vs The Beatles