"I don't know what you all were doing the past few days," Parker said. "Mace, this is unacceptable. You're paying people for this crap?"
"You don't need to be rude, Parker," Mace said.
"But he's right, isn't he?" Garrett asked. "I mean look at this. And we're only weeks out from the conference."
"I agree," Greg said. "I hope you have all of this insured."
"Doubtful," Hunter said.
"If we could just finish the presentation and hold questions until the end," Tara pleaded. She sounded a little hysterical.
"Or you could just kill it, bury it, and spare us all," I muttered. I was having real issues holding my tongue.
Tara turned her sharp gaze toward me.
"Like the eye of Sauron," Willow whispered.
"Do you have something to add?" Tara asked nastily.
All the heads in the room swiveled toward me.
"If you have something to say," Mace said, "speak up. Maybe fresh eyes would be good." He looked a little desperate.
I cleared my throat. "Actually, yes I do have something to say. You see," I said as I walked up to the lectern and plugged in my flash drive. "There is a fundamental flaw in the team's thinking. The gene therapy treatment isn't a product. It's a procedure. It's a method, an idea, and a vision for purely customized healthcare. It is fundamentally about the future."
My slides flashed up. They were minimalist but still sexy—a splash of blue, a thin-line circle for the logo. I flipped through the deck.
"This procedure is about hope. But it is also grounded in the realities of today."
I flashed up a slide of a blue-eyed cat.
"Computing power has never been cheaper. It's so inexpensive to do this kind of analysis. Right now all that data space is taken up with cat memes. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but maybe a little less memeing and a little more lifesaving." I saw Mace smile.
I clicked through the graphics I had made that clearly explained how the gene therapy worked. I was particularly proud of the diagrams, a brilliant blue against a deep charcoal.
Next was a picture of Henry looking up in wonder at the hydroelectric equipment.
"This gene therapy procedure also ties into our sustainability mission. PharmaTech cares about people's health and a safe environment, and we're innovating in both. It's a future-looking ideal of purely customized healthcare. Except that the future is now."
Willow flashed me a thumbs-up.
Tara was incensed. "She's just an assistant! She gets coffee and answers the phone. You can't seriously be listening to her."
"These are just a few things I've been working on," I told the room. "Take it and run with it, or keep beating your heads against the wall. I have done several campaigns for FinTech companies and medical device companies. I can do a lot in a short amount of time, especially with a good team, but we are fast approaching the point where nothing can be done well. You must have time to vet the language and the graphics."
I hoped I sounded authoritative and not shrill. The Svensson brothers looked thoughtful. Owen stood up and walked to the front of the room. He seemed angry.
Why are all of these men so tall?
He approached me, and I resisted the urge to step back. Owen extended his hand.
"Thank you," he said. "I think you just saved us billions of dollars."
"And some jail time," Parker piped up.
"I'm glad you like it," I said as he shook my hand, "but why do you look so mad?"
"Because Mace should have hired you to do marketing instead of wasting your talents serving coffee."
