"Mr. Grant Walker has been taking a great interest in suspended animation recently. He would be quite willing to part with a great deal of money if GothCorp can build a working model that would allow a person to be placed into the cryogenics chamber prior to death and allow for easy restoration," GothCorp's head project manager stood at the end of the table, nervously tapping his fingers against his leg.
"We don't want to disappoint Grant, as he is one of our largest investors," the practical vice president stated, "but GothCorp does not have the necessary designs to meet the strict deadline. Grant wants the first working prototype by the end of the year. That only gives us four months, and it would take that amount of time alone just to design the machine, let alone build any semblance of a model." The project manager nodded his head sadly to confirm.
"It would be impossible to meet the deadline," another member of the executive meeting chimed in. Ferris Boyle, GothCorp's CEO, regarded all they had to say in silence. He rested his chin on his folded hands, staring at the preliminary design the project manager had sketched. It seemed rather familiar to him, and the idea struck.
"It's not impossible," Ferris informed them with a gleam in his eyes. "We have a GothCorp employee with the designs. His name is Victor Fries. He brought a final plan to my attention some months ago. To my knowledge, he has enough of a basis to start construction right away, thus eliminating the most of the planning process. Would that give us enough time to meet Grant's demand?" All in the meeting murmured amongst themselves.
"It may give us enough time," the vice president reported. "It will be a tight squeeze."
"If we get Fries' designs, it will give us a great head start," the project manager excitedly claimed. "His plans are usually construction ready and always detailed. Plus, if we get him in on the project, it'll be a cinch. I don't think he's missed a deadline. Ever. I don't know how he does it." Others were mimicking their enthusiasm.
"I'll talk to him first thing tomorrow morning. He might request to have a second chamber built. He designed the original to try and preserve his wife. We'll have to let him build two, one for Grant and one for his wife. At least we can use her as a test subject and –"
"Excuse me, Mr. Boyle, sir," one of the directors interrupted timidly. Ferris shot him a disgusted look, one that demanded a good reason for breaking his chain of thought. "I don't think that approach will work." He took a deep breath to compose himself among the silent stares.
"Fries' wife died two weeks ago."