Prologue
"Here we go. Crate number six," Matt said to himself as he hauled hard on the pallet jack. "Why'd we have to make these things so heavy?" he grunted through gritted teeth.
"Hey buddy, you almost done?" someone asked as soon as he was off the truck. "I got about ten other people waiting to unload."
Matt stopped the jack and leaned heavily on it trying to catch his breath. "Well. I have twenty-four more of these, so it's going to take a while."
"What am I supposed to tell all these guys waiting huh?"
"I don't know. Tell them to go get lunch," Matt replied as he hauled the crate away."
"Get lunch?" he heard the man calling from behind him. "It's four o clock in the morning!"
He didn't bother replying. He was already short of breath, and his booth setup was on the other side of the convention hall. That's what was taking him so long to unload. Not for the first time, he wished that they had had a bit more income to spend on a better booth. Or better yet, if they'd had a better reputation to get them suggested for a better one. As it was, his company was a no-name start-up with no hype and no followers.
But that would change after this weekend. That he was sure of. All they needed was to show off a little. The thought made him smile. The smile however didn't last long when he saw his partner waiting for him.
"It's not ready Matt. You know that right?"
Matt squeezed the trigger of the pallet jack, dropping his cargo to the floor with a dull thud. A wooden crate shook on the pallet as it settled. Even with so many people around them in the convention center working to set up their own booths, the sound had echoed around them as if the building were empty.
"Of course, it's not ready Kayla," Matt said giving her a look. "That's why we're here." He pulled the jack out with a bit of struggling and a loud grunt. "We get more testers and drum up a b bunch of hype for the last leg of development."
"That's not what I mean," Kayla replied. She was finding it hard to keep the annoyance from her voice. "It's not ready," she said again. She plugged in the last of the equipment that she was working on and sat back on her heels. Before her was a chair that looked like a sick and twisted cross between a salon chair and an erector set. Wires crisscrossed on all sides and behind it. There were hinges on almost every part of it. Hanging from a hook at the head cushion was a bulky helmet with goggles that were almost the size of the helmet itself.
Kayla stood up and glared at him, then stared down the aisle of identical chairs that she had finished assembling earlier. Five there were, all lined up in a row. "This is risky Matt. We still don't know if this is safe."
Matt hung his head and gave an aggravated groan. "Kayla we've been over this. We agreed that what happened to Bob was a fluke. An unfortunate accident. We have had five other testers, and absolutely nothing has happened to them. It's as safe as safe can be."
"No. I never agreed to that." Kayla looked at him incredulously. "You really don't have any remorse for what happened to him do you?"Matt's head snapped up at that remark. "Bob was my friend. Is my friend," he quickly corrected himself. He looked around making sure that he hadn't drawn any attention to himself. "We've been friends since middle school. But I know he wouldn't want us to stop this project just because of him."
There was silence for a moment. Kayla looked around also remembering that they were not the only ones in the convention center. "How can you possibly be so nonchalant about all this? Bob's still in a coma because of you."
He turned back to the crate, reaching for the latches that held the crate shut. The wood creaked as he flipped the lid up and over causing it to bang as it hit the other side. The parts for the next chair sat carefully packed inside. "Let's just hurry up and get this done," he said. "We still have twenty of these things to unload and assemble, and I'm holding up the docking bay."
That was a clear sign to Kayla that the conversation was over. Like it always was when Bob's name came up. Removing packaging and unraveling cords took up the next few minutes of her time as she worked in solitude. With practiced ease, she prepared the chair for assembly, while praying again that this weekend would not be a disaster as it was for her colleague a year and a half ago.
