My MediWrist™ showed me up to stress factor 7. I had 30 minutes to finish writing a new customer retention proposal for BlastM2bits Security Solutions, so I relied totally on my RoboDrive to get me to the office – only one minor collision, which is good. Three belts of SynthiCaff later and I was finally awake. In fact I was as high as a planet probe.
My mind flew to Plop Technologies™. PT had recently been voted number two in waste management by the Department for Order, Development and Opportunity. Their taciturn MD had booked an Adholo slot on EVacU8, the HoloChannel for public works. The deadline was just 3 days away.
So far, all our ideas had gone down the pan. I had been on vBrainstorm© with my Designers into the night. As a joke their vSelves had all appeared in my kitchen with nightclothes, wearing balls and chains.
We had dumped some early concepts and forced through some new ones. I was confident we'd hit the spot with at least one of them, but I had to get Dom's rubber stamp before we started production.
I got hold of the big guy the next morning on vCall. I could hear him, but I couldn’t see him. Then I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. A software glitch in our PlasmaWire system had put his vSelf at the back of my office. He was about 30cm tall, mixed up with the HoloPlant©; which I noticed had been set to ‘Sprouting Spring’.
I turned to look down at him “Hi Dom, great to see you. We’ve run some concepts through the team. Let me pitch a couple of ideas at you…”
“Shoot,” he said, from between two swelling plums.
“OK – We start with dynamic chords, a background gurgle and a lingering holoshot of your most advanced RoboSlop™, all shiny and new, with the latest Brown Trout™ logo on its chest. 3D words punch out - ‘Your number two’s made us number two’, the slogan slowly forms a line of fish that circle round the logo and then disappear with a flourish as they’re sucked up his spiggot. ”
He sat down heavily on a branch, tendrils sprang out of his ears.
“Nope.”
“Our business is taking care of your business?”
A virtual chilli pepper slowly emerged from his forehead
“..err nope.”
“Wiping out the opposition?”
“No way.”
“Look,” he said, from the centre of a sunflower, “My wife came up with a great slogan while she was grooming our VirtuPet™ last night. How about; ‘ We take crap from all of our customers.’ ”
“Goodness,” I said, “Mrs Estos really has a talent for this stuff – let’s get right on it!”
“You bend too easily.” He replied “But the missus will be flushed to know you like her idea. It’s certainly grown on me.”
I signed off.
(to be continued)
http://www.hartley-stone.com
©Hartley-Stone 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment