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KINGPIN

an androgynous appearance in the shapeless black hoodie she liked to wear when she went out. But on a second look, she was decidedly cute, with apple cheeks and her Korean mother’s copper-tinted skin. Max invited Kimi to a party at his place.

The parties at Hungry Manor were legendary, and when Kimi arrived the living room was already packed with dozens of party guests from Silicon Valley’s keyboard class—programmers, system administrators, and Web designers—mingling under the glass chandelier. Max lit up when he spotted her. He led her on a tour of the house, pointing out the geeky accoutrements the Hungry Programmers had added.

The tour ended in Max’s bedroom in Hungry Manor’s east wing. For all of the grandeur of the house, Max’s room had the charm of a monk’s cell—no furniture but a futon on the floor, no comforts except a computer. For the party, Max had trained blue and red spotlights on a bottle of peppermint schnapps—his only vice. Kimi returned for dinner the next night, and there was a single item on his vegetarian menu: raw cookie dough. Max shaved the sugary sludge off in slices and served it to his date with the schnapps. Why, after all, would anyone not eat raw cookie dough for dinner, given the option?

Kimi was intrigued. Max needed so little to be happy. He was like a child. When his birthday came soon after the party, she sent a decorated box of balloons to his office at MPath, and Max was moved nearly to tears by the gesture.

She was his “dream girl,” he told her later. They began to talk about committing to a life together.

In September, Hungry Manor’s landlord, unhappy with the programmers’ upkeep of the estate, reclaimed the house, and after a final bash to bid farewell to their communal mansion, the Hungries scattered to rentals throughout the Bay Area. Max and Kimi landed in their own place in Mountain View, a cramped studio in a barracks-like apartment complex alongside the 101 freeway, Silicon Valley’s congested main artery.

Max resumed his work for the FBI, and his haunting of IRC led him