The Unedited by Pernille Rørth

Author:Pernille Rørth
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030346249
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

P. RørthThe UneditedScience and Fictionhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34624-9_8

8. Business Acumen

Pernille Rørth1

(1)Bisley, Gloucestershire, UK

Pernille Rørth

“It would be more convincing without the visual. His tell is too obvious.”

Victor gives a small jolt of surprise. The voice is very close to his left ear. Then he remembers that an attractive young woman had placed herself to his left when the meeting started. So, he responds, in a whisper. “His tell?”

“When he lies. Like if he’s asked about a decision they’ve already made but has to pretend they haven’t. His mouth twitches.” She draws back a bit. “Right side. Watch.”

Victor watches as the discussion continues. The topic is dome security. The focus drifts somewhat. A representative of the new Peaceful Union Party asks whether the controversial track and freeze approach will be implemented. The minister answers that this has not yet been decided and that he appreciates the complexity of the issue. The corner of his mouth twitches. Victor wishes they could get the PUP people out of the room, so the rest of them could get on with things. Then he remembers the whispered comment. “Well spotted,” he says and looks at the woman to his left. She has a striking face: large green eyes, high cheekbones, flawless skin and generous lips, now curled into the faintest of smiles. She is also very young. He wonders how she got invited to such a high-level meeting.

They find each other at the coffee, where the twenty or so in-person participants are doing what the video-linkers cannot: old-fashioned networking and skillful scoping of territory.

“Victor Huang,” he says holding out his hand. “Of Huang Shields.”

She smiles at the superfluous addition. “Celia Saunders.” She pauses for a moment with a hint of teasing. “Of Response Modes.”

“Response Modes?”

“It’s a new company. We do response predictions, primarily for large groups, human only or human and AI mixed.”

“Interesting.”

“The government seems to find it useful.”

“For dome security?

“Security has many levels. Most involve people.”

“True. I’ve just never heard of behavioral predictions being used in this particular area.” He smiles. “And I tend to hear what’s going on.”

“We are the first.” She pauses. “With our particular approach.”

“And your role is?”

“Product development and marketing. It’s a very small company.”

“But you are here today.”

“We’ve got a couple of government contracts already. Minor ones. The public security business is new for us. We’re just dipping our toes in.”

“Economics and the financial sector are more familiar arenas, I presume. Do you think trading logic transfers to conflict and crisis predictions? Escalation assessments? Or is this contingency planning?”

“Everything is contingency planning these days, is it not? But yes, our foundation is in economics.”

“I’d love to hear more.” He smiles, a relaxed and confident smile.

He is about sixty-five, Celia guesses, maybe seventy. Lean but not thin, the hair defiantly gray but cut very short.

“Would you care to join me for lunch afterwards?” he asks. A small twitch pulls at his mouth. “Or rather, join us? I’m having lunch with my son at the penthouse restaurant.” Another twitch. “He’s supposed to update me on some business details.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.