I sit up straight and try to visualize Max on the other end of the phone instead of Hercules. “Okay, well…” My efforts are in vain. All I see is Hercules’s face.
Mason watches me like he’s expecting me to be as bold and concise as I was with him.
I clear my throat. Hercules is silent.Do you ever think about me? Because I think about you often.That’s what I want to say.
“Identify a human need, and then satisfy it.”Shit, what am I saying?“Take Facebook for instance. People never knew how starved we are for human connection until the emergence of Facebook. Human connection—that’s a need.”
Hercules remains deathly quiet. I raise my eyebrows at Mason, wondering if Hercules is still on the line.
“Continue.” Mason says.
Continue?What was I saying? Oh yeah…
“Take GIT’s Climate Condition for instance. We all need climatized shelter. When it’s hot, we want to be cooled. When it’s cold, we want to be…”
“I got that part,” Hercules finally chimes in rather briskly.
What’s wrong with him?
“I’m aware of GIT’s products,” Hercules continues. “What ideas do you have for us?”
He’s put me on the spot, and now I’m reeling with anxiety. Max has repeated many times that he wants me to remember that VTI is a competitor—although number nine is a long way from number one, which means they’re really not a threat.
“Lark, are you okay?” Mason looks worried.
No, I’m not.“Yes. I’m sorry.” I inhale deeply through my nose as I sit up straight. “Well, let’s look at VTI’s video sound compression chip. I’d like to put my team in a room and brainstorm ideas.”
“Brainstorm? I’m paying you to develop,” Hercules says.
“I understand, but one brain is never as good as five more. And maybe there’s nothing we can come up with as far as video and sound are concerned, but VTI’s compression technology might be something to study.”
Finally, Hercules grunts thoughtfully.
“She also mentioned scrapping the shit that’s holding us down,” Mason says.
“Like?” Hercules blurts.
“Video games, Herc.”
“Video games are forty-three percent of our profits.”
“They don’t have to be.”
“Survival made us develop video games. If we stop, we’ll slip into oblivion.” Hercules didn’t sound so harsh when he said that.
Mason thrusts himself forward. “Do you see the size of our operation? We can’t sustain ourselves in this marketplace by developing and peddling video games. We have to think big.”
Hercules grunts facetiously. “We might as well start making flying cars if that’s the case.”
Mason smirks. “By the way, we ran into Orion in the elevator yesterday.”
Hercules pauses for a few uncomfortable seconds. “He was in the building yesterday?”
“Yeah.”
“What for? Do you know?”
Mason glances at me. “I do. We’ll talk after this.”
