You're looking at a winner... (Open to Anya, Tina and Force Works)
"Mr. Rhodes, we have to say, this is the most forward thinking and far reaching work we've ever seen. The coding is superb and the device itself is not nearly as bulky as its television counterpart. We received several excellent submissions, but your work stood head-and-shoulders above the rest. The data storage and recollection capabilities are also second-to-none." says Mr. Will Wright, a trustee of the X-Prize Foundation.
"The news release is going out today, Mr. Rhodes. You're the winner of the contest." Mr. Wright says, reaching out to shake his hand. "And we'd like to discuss having Cambire Designs mass-produce these devices for use in hospitals around the world."
"Thank you, Mr. Wright." Justin says, accepting the handshake. "And I'd love to talk more about that. Cambire would be glad to do this work."
Inside, Justin is would like to dance a jig, but he's a terrible dancer without Tina, and he's trying to be professional anyway. A few months ago, he'd been looking for a project, any project, that he could do in his free time that didn't involve upgrading/testing/developing his armor and the rest of the Iron Family (he'd taken to referring to the collective armor wearers by that moniker). Tony, his AI, had come across the X-Prize Foundation's challenge to build a working medical tricorder. As in, from Star Trek. The moment he saw the release, Justin knew he'd found his project. He'd found it two weeks after the competition had started but that didn't daunt him one bit. Uncle Tony used to say that being behind just made one work smarter, not harder, to catch up.
Part one of working smarter involved
calling an old friend.
The move to Kansas City and getting settled in might have cost most people valuable time, but Anya had come out to Kansas City to help with the set up Cambire's offices and Justin had insisted that they set up the lab first and foremost. Between the two of them, it only took a full day to pull it off and after the rest of the building was ready, Justin spent the rest of his available time in the lab, coming out only to eat and to call Tina, who always seemed to be busy. Rather than be upset, Justin worked to meet the July 1st deadline.
He'd finished three days early and put the tricorder to the most extensive battery of tests he could come up with; it passed every one with flying colors. Once he'd created a second, he sent the first off to the committee for judgment. The wait had been torturous, but the phone call came last Friday night as Justin was, again, calibrating his armor.
They'd asked him to come in and discuss his work. Now, he was the winner of the contest. The patent application was sent in the following morning.
Mr. Wright's voice cuts into Justin's thoughts.
"So, what are you going to do with $10,000,000 dollars, Mr. Rhodes? Early retirement?" Wright asks, chuckling.
"Oh no, Mr. Wright. After I make a contribution to charity and to my company, I've got a few irons in the fire, some new ideas that I'll now have the freedom to pursue." he says.
Like new armors. he thinks to himself.
