LifeShield

Fiona Meeting

Fiona looks around the reclaimed wood table of their only conference room. Her staff is stuffed into the window half of the room, leaving the other half empty. She asks, "Are we ready?"

"Not at all." Zach's somber voice beside her matches his perfectly cropped hair and tailored suit. "If we'd just—"

She raises a hand to cut him off. "We agreed. Civilian first, then military."

His jaw grinds as he fumes, "You agreed. We could have started this a year ago."

"Damn right I did. Those power-hungry idiots will not dictate the design of MY ideas"

The others look studiously at their notes, or tap through games on their phone. The broadsides between the two are as familiar as the wood grain of the table, flaring up again now that the heady success of 'It actually works,' is behind them, and they face the new mountain of selling it.

"They wouldn't have."

Fiona rolls her eyes. Others even snicker at the obvious lie. She lowers her voice, tries to diffuse the rift. "I said I'll sell to them, and I will. But they'll do it on our terms, not theirs."

"Wanna bet on it?"

Fiona smiles. Like two gentry selecting pistols before a duel, they face off.

Her eyes are bright, "Two percent."

"Five."

The room gasps as she studies him. They've had other bets. The gossip speculated it was the primary reason the two could stay civil with each other. This might be a play for Zach to regain some of the ground he'd lost, a sure bet on his turf for once. He'd been there since the beginning to broker deals, make things happen. But without a product, prospects only laughed. Now though, with the Pentagon requesting a briefing, only worried looks remained.

Reaching out a hand, Fiona says, "Done." Zach's eyes widen, but he eagerly takes her hand to shake.

The frosted glass door slides open to crack the moment. A wave of blond hair wafts through. "Ma'am, they're here."

She lets his hand go before looking around, "Show them in."

Stiff creases of uniforms rustle as the contingent fills the room. A close-cropped lieutenant announces, "Ma'am, General Stephens."

Her hand is dwarfed in his meaty flesh, with attempt to squeeze it failing. "Fiona Parks. It's nice to meet you, sir."

Bushy black eyebrows narrow, "Not according to some rumors, I've heard."

One lip turns up in the hint of a smile. "If all those rumors were true, you wouldn't be here. Let's talk." She gestures, offering her seat before strolling to claim the other end of the table.

General Stephens spreads his hands wide on the table. "Let's cut through all the bullshit. We've known you've been developing a human shield. But inquiries with McLure made it sound like think tank or university research. That you'd never come up with anything practical. Seems now like that was wrong. Now I want to know, does it really work?"

Fiona leans back, "Zach, your show."

"It's good to see you again, General."

A brief head tilt, "Mr. Morgan"

"To answer you question, yes, it works exactly like you saw on the demonstration."

A captain across leans in, "How long? How much damage."

"An hour at least, before needing to recharge," Zach says, "As for damage...we're not entirely sure."


"What?"

"It only works with humans. We've had to be...cautious in our testing."

The General slaps a palm on the table. "That's preposterous, who put such a stupid design flaw—"

Fiona's melodic voice cuts through his. "The funny thing about both bioengineering and AI learning, they can only be really good at one thing. Sure, we could adapt it to protecting a box, but then it'd suck at protecting a human. The only way to make it work is to train it for humans from the beginning."

"Train?" The captain asks.

Zach answers. "Think of it like bio-circuitry. You tap your knee, your foot kicks out. Stimulus and response. Same thing here."

Heads nod, even the general's. But he's focused on only one thing. "Damage..."

The smile on Fiona's face drips wickedness, "You've seen what we've tried. I've likely been shot at as much as anyone in this room. If you can find some idiot willing to try more, by all means, but we will not guarantee the results."

His glare stretches across the room, a self-evident pack leader staring down any would oppose him. But after a moment, he gives a little nod, "Very well. As you say, perhaps we can find some patriotic souls willing to risk their life to protect their country." He gestures, "Captain."

"How quickly can you get set up for government procurement. We'll obviously sponsor you and fast track you as much as we're able."

Zach spreads his hands wide, "Cards on the table, gentlemen. Even with fast tracking, I'd say a year. Our focus has been design, testing, and ramping up production. We've almost none of the documentation needed. No system security plans. No operational handbooks. We'll have to develop all of that."

"That's unfortunate. We'd hoped..." The captain gulps. When no one responds, he continues, "Well, we can work with that. Now, about price?"

"Ten times civilian price," Fiona calls out.

"Hmmf," the general barks, "Five."

"A year of documentation is expensive. Nine."

"If you can do it in six months, we'll give you seven."

She smirks, "Eight."

A gleam fills the general's eyes. "Done."

The meeting drags on for hours after that, through lunch and most of the afternoon. But the key points have already been decided.

--

Afterwards, a haggard Fiona and Zach pour a finger's width of whiskey. Fiona clinks his glass, "Fairly predictable, but time for you to get to work. Least for a few days."

Zach nods, "They're not gonna bypass the red tape, even for your new shiny toy."

"Bet still on?" She takes a sip, peering at him over the rim of the glass.

He sets an empty glass down, "Better believe it."