“Thank you, Colonel Leamon, but I’m good for now,” she replied.
“If you’re good to go, then you can proceed with your presentation,” he responded.
She nervously stood up and began. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m here today to present to you a new and revolutionary way to replace people’s missing limbs, especially for our soldiers. I’ve been formulating this idea for some time, and I think you all will agree that it won’t only help these individuals but improve their life exponentially. As you know, there are already companies out there that specialize in prosthetics, and they even can give the user some sense of wholeness by using electrodes to stimulate the stump and cause the prosthetic leg or arm to have a sense of feeling. What I propose is that we go a giant leap further by replacing the limb with a bionic one that will integrate with their stump and give them full range of use again. This is what I envision to make that happen. My partner, Greg Moretti, and I will be designing a fully functional bionic limb that will allow us to re-attach the nerve endings and muscles to the new bionic limb, giving it full functionality. Right now, we are formulating a design for the artificial nerves by using a fiber-optic type material that will allow the electrical signals to travel down the bionic limb and respond as if it were a real leg or arm. We are also working on synthetic muscle tissue that can be stitched to the existing muscle, allowing for proper stretching and constriction of the bionic limb. The bionic limb would have artificial skin stretched over it, making it fully integrated to the patient. This skin would be matched to the skin color of the patient, giving it a more realistic look. When the procedure is completed, it would barely be noticeable that a bionic limb is attached. The bionic limbs would be made in large quantities but wouldn’t be completed until the patient’s exact needs were assessed. Once the evaluation is complete, we’d then generate the artificial skin and the titanium rod that would be used to fuse to the remaining bone. If the individual should require a replacement that is smaller and we were not able to use a rod, then we’d use titanium foam to attach the missing body part. I firmly believe this procedure will, not only give the person his or her full life back, but in the case of a military soldier, the capability to continue serving his or her country. So today, I’m presenting this idea to you to solicit funding to begin building my research and development lab, hire personnel, and secure a building for manufacturing the limbs. I hope you can see how valuable this can be. Thank you for taking the time to listen to my presentation and for taking it into consideration.” She sat back down and nervously awaited their response.
“Miss Brown, I think we’d like to take a few minutes and talk to each other about your presentation. Would you mind stepping out of the room while we do that? You can leave your materials here, and we’ll call you back in when we’ve arrived at a decision,” Colonel Leamon explained.
“Certainly. I’ll be happy to wait for your answer. Again, thank you,” she replied.
Paulette exited the conference room and slowly walked over to the chair she had sat in before her presentation. I wonder what they are talking about and whether they’ll fund the idea. I hope I did a good job with the presentation. I’m so afraid they didn’t like it. She sat there, her leg thumping up and down, while she waited to hear back from the committee.
In the conference room, Col. Leamon looked at the group and asked, “What does everyone think about her proposal?”
Jill Sikes, a beautiful red head with a slim build, a dominating personality, and the CEO of her company, spoke up in her shrill, high-pitched voice, piercing the room. “She has a great idea and all, but how do we know she can make it work? I mean, this is a huge leap from where other companies are now, and even they can’t seem to do what she proposes.”
“I agree with you Ms. Sikes; however, I honestly think it might be possible,” he replied.
The Veterans Administrator, Gerald, spoke up. “It sounds impressive; however, the VA has been working on innovative technology for prosthetics for years, and we haven’t even come close to what she proposes. So why even have her come in today?”
Col Leamon’s face began to redden a little. “Because one, I’m not stupid; and two, she is the most brilliant person in the world. Heck, she is probably smarter than all of us combined. I also have done my research on Miss Brown prior to this meeting; and, from what I can tell, she is very invested in this idea and has the intelligence to pull it off,” he spewed out.
“That may be true according to you, but I still don’t believe she can accomplish something no other scientist has been able to do. Therefore, my company will not be funding her venture at this time,” Jill countered.
Gerald was looking a little perplexed. “Col. Leamon, I don’t doubt that you have done your research, but do you really think she can pull this off?
“Yes, I do or I wouldn’t have even scheduled this meeting today.”
“Okay, then the VA will be willing to help fund her project for now.”
“Thank you, Gerald, I appreciate your support.” The Colonel turned and addressed Jill again. “Would you be willing to change your mind on this at all?” he asked.
“No! Absolutely not. I stand firm in my decision,” She replied.
“Well, that will reduce the funds I had in mind, but I think we can still work something out. What I suggest is we give her several hundred thousand dollars so she can build a prototype, have it integrated to a veteran, and have her present it to us at the next meeting. What do you all think?” he asked.
The group discussed the new proposal for a moment and everyone, except Jill, came to an agreement to fund the making of the prototype. Then if that was successful, possibly funding the entire project.
Col. Leamon pressed a button on the conference room table.
“Yes, sir,” the secretary answered.
“Could you please send Miss Brown back into the room?” he asked.
“Right away, sir.”
The secretary walked up to Miss Brown. “They will see you now. Please follow me.”
Paulette rose from her seat and followed the secretary back to the doors of the conference room. The secretary opened the doors and Paulette stepped back inside, found her seat, and sat down.
“Miss Brown, the group is intrigued with your proposal; however, we’d like to see a prototype that has successfully been integrated to a veteran prior to expending so much money on a project when we’ve yet to see results. Before you get upset, we also have decided to fund the building of the prototype. This means you’ll have enough money to secure a building, a research and development department, and small manufacturing machinery. We are willing to start you out with several hundred thousand dollars. Will this be acceptable??” Col. Leamon asked.
Paulette sat there stunned for a moment, both from being turned down, yet not turned down. “Col. Leamon, I think that I can make that work and should be able to have something to show you within the year,” she replied.
“Great then, let’s get started. You’ll be required to give us periodic updates which can be done via skype. When you’ve got a functional prototype ready, we can schedule another meeting to have you present it to us,” Col. Leamon explained.
“Awesome,” Paulette exclaimed.
Chapter 4
Paulette was so excited that she practically ran to her car. She quickly put the presentation materials in the back seat and then hopped into the front seat of her old Chevy Tahoe. She started the engine and, hearing its low rumble and whine, she backed out of the parking space and headed back to the University of Washington’s campus. She was deep in thought while driving back. So, the first thing I need to do is secure a building big enough to conduct all the work that is needed, then hire the right people to do the job. Wow, I can’t believe this is happening. Soon my sketches will become reality. I sure do have a lot work ahead of me if Greg and I are going to pull this off. Finally, a challenge that will get my creative juices flowing. She chuckled to herself. Plus, I won’t have to listen
to the professors who don’t like or understand my visionary thinking. I’m determined to show those professors and others who don’t believe in me that they were all wrong. However, that day was going to have to wait a bit longer. She knew she had to take one step at a time or her whole plan could blow up in her face.
She reached the campus an hour later, thanks to all the rush-hour traffic. Seattle was hell to drive through, so you never knew how long it would take to get from point A to point B. One day it could take fifteen minutes, another an hour. She didn’t really like city life, anyway. It was too busy, too crowded, and just way too many people who weren’t as kind as people in the rural areas. She parked the old Tahoe, got out, and went looking for Greg. She found him in the Lees Building and ran and jumped into his arms.
“Whoa there, hold on! What’s going on with you today?” he asked, backing up.
“I just got back from the meeting and you won’t believe what they said,” she blurted out.
“I’m not a mind reader, but I can assume from your excitement that you got the funding.”
“Yes and no. I was told they wanted to see a working prototype first, and they’d fully fund us once we accomplished that.”
He looked at her and realized they just might have a chance. “When do we have to have this prototype built?” he asked.
“I told them I should have something within the year. You think you can help with that?” she asked.
“Yeah, I guess I could, but it’s going to take a lot of time. I do hope you don’t plan on just the two of us building this prototype.”
“No, absolutely not. In fact, we’ll have enough money to hire a research and development team and secure a building and the materials needed to build the prototype,” she said excitedly.
“Really, how much did they give us?”
“They gave us several hundred thousand dollars to start the project, with more to come if we need it.”
“Wow! That’s a lot of money,” he said as he whistled.
“Yes, it is, and I need to get started locating a building big enough to house the research and development team and a small manufacturing area. I’ll be busy shopping for that, starting this weekend. Would you like to help me find the building we’ll need?” she asked.
“Sure,” he replied.
Saturday arrived quickly, and they got together and started searching the Internet for an industrial building that would suit their needs for the present, as well as the future. It was a long and tedious task, but they were able to select a few prospects to look at. They contacted the Realtors for each of the properties they wanted to see. After talking to a few of them, they ruled out several of the selections. Once they were down to three or four buildings, they made some quick appointments, then got into her old Chevy Tahoe and drove to each of the locations. Most were in the far southern portion of Seattle, which was too far away from the college; however, there was one building about twenty minutes away that looked like it could meet their needs. They drove to 820 W. Adams Street to check out the large, 25,000-square-foot building and see if they could make it work. When they arrived, they exited the vehicle and walked over to a man who looked to be in his mid-fifties, short and portly, with a slightly balding head, who, they assumed, was the person in charge of leasing the building.
“Hello, are you Mr. Bill Hogan?” they asked.
“Yes, are you here to look at the building?” he replied.
“Yes, we are, if you don’t mind.”
“If you’ll follow me, then we can get started,” he said.
Paulette and Greg fell in step with Mr. Hogan as he approached the main entrance to the building. Mr. Hogan dug into his pocket and pulled out a large key ring with a multitude of keys attached to it. He fumbled through them, picked a large, square-shaped key, inserted it into the door, giving it a twist, then pulled the door open. He took the key out of the lock and redeposited the keys into his pocket.
“Please, come in,” he said.
Paulette and Greg went through the door into a small breezeway. Mr. Hogan walked past them, waving his arm for them to follow him. Pulling the next door open, he ushered them in. “As you can see, there is a large office built into the warehouse, and the warehouse itself is very spacious and has high ceilings with built-in ventilation. What do you think?” he asked.
Paulette and Greg looked it over and decided it was spacious enough.
They envisioned the open space as being a part of the research lab, and the other section being divided up for the manufacturing area.
Greg looked at Paulette. “It does look like it will work for us. What do you think?”
“I seem to agree with you. There is plenty of space to work with.”
Paulette addressed Mr. Hogan, “So, how do we go about leasing the building?” she asked.
“You’ll need to do a minimum of a five-year lease at approximately $29,000 a month, as well as a $30,000 damage deposit,” he replied.
Both of their jaws dropped wide open. Looking at each other, they shrugged. Despite the steep price, it was a very large space, where they’d eventually have room to add the time travel portion of the project.
Paulette and Greg took a few moments alone to discuss the proposal, then Paulette looked up at Mr. Hogan. “We’ll take the building,” she said.
“Well, there are procedures we’ve got to go through before you can sign the lease,” Mr. Hogan stated. “One thing that concerns me is … well, not to be rude … but how old are you two anyway?” he inquired.
“Hmmp, does it really matter how old we are? We’ve got the money to pay for half of the year’s lease up front?” Paulette blurted out.
“Really! Mr. Hogan replied. How does someone so young get that kind of money?” he grumbled.
“Simple, we got funded by the military, VA, and other businesses interested in what we’ve got to offer,” she replied.
“Very well then. I guess we can head back to my office and draw up the lease.”
“We’d like permission to build and redesign the inside, if possible,” Greg interjected.
Mr. Hogan paused for a moment, then replied, “Sure, as long as it’s done to code, that will be fine. We can put it in writing as part of the lease,” he answered.
“Great!” they echoed. “Can we head over to your office now, please?” requested Paulette.
They all got back into their cars and headed to the Realtor’s office and settled in to read the lease very carefully before signing it. Then Paulette gave Mr. Hogan a check for the deposit and the first six months’ rent.
Later in the car, Greg pointed out. “I think this building will work great for us. I like the location because it’s far enough away from other buildings and gives us plenty of drive-in bays to bring in supplies, as well as eventually shipping out the bionic limbs,” he said.
“I agree. We’ll have plenty of privacy at this location.”
“All we need now is to hire some contractors to build the R&D Department, limb manufacturing, and the nerve, skin, and muscle manufacturing areas, as well as offices for the heads of each department,” Greg mentioned.
Paulette looked at Greg and shrugged. “I’ll have to look into who can do all this within our cost constraints. We can’t go too far over budget or we won’t have the money to build the prototype.”
“I know. Hopefully, you can get a good contractor to do the work. You have anyone in mind?”
“No, actually I don’t, so I’ll have to consult the almighty Google and make some phone calls to see who can give us the best quote. Does that sound all right with you, Greg?”
“Sure, I guess. Do you need me to help out at all?” he asked
“Well, you’re an engineer; do you think you could handle some of the renovations?”
“Maybe, but I’m not a construction worker. I might be able to design the aluminum wall structures for the contractor to build upon and the workstations for the R&D and manufacturing areas. The rest will have to be done by pro
fessionals.”
Paulette, sighed as she replied, “Okay then, I’ve got my work cut out for me, and we haven’t even started building the prototype yet.”
Back at the campus, they both headed to their dorm rooms. Paulette suddenly felt overwhelmed by the scope of the entire project.
Chapter 5
Spring 2026
Paulette got right to work on researching local construction companies in the Seattle area. She soon discovered how daunting a task this would be. She investigated each company thoroughly, researching every word about them and scanning highlights of their accomplishments. She poured hours of her time into each company. Eventually, she was able to pick a half dozen that she could call, explain the project and work requirements, and ask for quotes. All of this was done right at the midterm test time, and she was struggling to get a handle on everything. Although she was extremely smart, a lot of the things she was trying to take care of was way out of her league, especially when it came to owning and running a company. Guess, I’ll have to make sure to hire a good company manager and accountant, oh, and a lawyer too! Ugh, this is so much.
She picked up the phone and dialed Greg. He answered after the fifth ring.
“What! I’m studying,” he said irritably.
“Sorry to bother you, but I’m waiting to hear back from about a half dozen construction companies on quotes for getting the work done. I just thought I’d let you know.”
Beginnings (Book 1): Future Apocalypse Page 3
