"Hamilton Holdings. Nineteen days. Client profitability data." Tom Bennett wrote these seven words on the whiteboard in his basement command center, then stepped back, staring at them with the intensity of a man contemplating the final moves of a chess match.
"That's your entire project plan?" Lisa Martinez asked, raising an eyebrow. "Seven words? I've seen shopping lists with more detail."
"Haiku project planning," Jake Thompson offered enthusiastically from his corner of the room, where he sat cross-legged on a chair, balancing his laptop precariously on his knees. "Data problems loom. Hamilton needs insights now. Nineteen days left."
"That's not even haiku format," Emma Carter pointed out, executing a perfect pirouette as she entered the room, carrying a tray of coffee cups. "Too many syllables in the middle line."
"Poetry critics," Jake sighed dramatically. "Everyone's a poetry critic."
Tom ignored the banter, his focus unwavering from the six words on the whiteboard. "The key to any successful pilot," he said gravely, "is to find the smallest possible change that creates the maximum possible value. We don't have time to boil the ocean."
The room fell silent as the team contemplated the reality of their situation. Nineteen days to demonstrate to Hamilton Holdings that Pembroke Paton could provide the same real-time client profitability insights that their competitor, TaxWise, was offering. Nineteen days to connect systems that had never before communicated. Nineteen days to change the trajectory of a thirty-year relationship.
"So," Sophia Chen said, breaking the silence as she delicately unwrapped a bundt cake she'd brought for the meeting, "what exactly are we building?"
Tom turned to the group. "Client profitability data is currently spread across seventeen different systems. We need to connect them all eventually, but for the pilot, we need to focus on the three most critical ones."
"Which would be...?" Mark Reynolds prompted, his fingers already hovering above his keyboard, ready to start coding.
"Billing, time tracking, and service delivery," Emma answered before Tom could respond. "Those are the core systems that feed into profitability calculations."
Tom nodded. "Precisely. If we can get those three systems talking to each other, we can give Hamilton Holdings a real-time view of which services are most profitable, which is exactly what TaxWise is offering them."
"And their CFO was quite specific about needing that information," Richard from Tax added, surprising everyone by his presence. He had slipped in quietly and was now standing at the back of the room, arms crossed but expression open. "Charles Hamilton mentioned it during our golf game last weekend. Apparently, they're making strategy decisions about which service lines to expand, and they can't wait a month for the data."
Sarah Patel, who had been quietly observing from the doorway, stepped fully into the room. "That's exactly right, Richard. And thank you for joining us."
Richard nodded curtly, clearly still not entirely comfortable with his new role as team member rather than obstacle. "I'm here because I want to keep Hamilton Holdings. And because..." he hesitated, "I've been looking at what Jake and Lisa designed with the Data Embassy approach. It's actually quite elegant."
Jake beamed at this acknowledgment while Lisa tried to hide her surprise by focusing intently on her laptop screen.
"So let me understand this correctly," Priya Singh, the compliance officer, interjected. "We're going to extract data from the billing system, the time tracking system, and the service delivery system, then combine it to calculate real-time profitability metrics for Hamilton Holdings?"
"Not exactly," Tom said, turning back to the whiteboard. He drew three boxes, labeled them with the system names, then added a fourth box in the center connected to all three with bi-directional arrows. "We're not just extracting data. We're creating a continuous sync between systems. The Data Embassy will maintain the authoritative record, but it will also push updates back to the source systems when appropriate."
"That sounds..." Priya paused, searching for the right word.
"Terrifying from a compliance perspective?" Sophia suggested helpfully.
"Revolutionary," Priya finished, surprising everyone. "But also terrifying, yes."
Oliver Grant, who had been silently taking notes in the corner, spoke up. "I think we need to be clear about what 'pilot' means in this context. Are we just proving the concept, or are we actually building something that Hamilton Holdings will use?"
Tom exchanged glances with Sarah before answering. "Both. We need to demonstrate value immediately, which means Hamilton Holdings needs to see actual insights from the integrated data. But we also need to prove that the Data Embassy approach works as a foundation for larger integration."
Jake bounced excitedly in his chair. "I've already started building the data models! We can use event-driven architecture to capture changes in any system and propagate them to the others!"
"And I've mapped the data fields across all three systems," Lisa added. "There's more overlap than you might think, but the fields have different names, different formats, and sometimes completely different meanings."
"Richard," Tom said, turning to face the Tax department head, "this is where we need your expertise. You understand the business context of these data fields better than anyone."
Richard straightened slightly, a flicker of pride crossing his face. "I do have some thoughts on that. For instance, the 'engagement type' in the billing system doesn't match the 'service classification' in the delivery system, even though they're supposed to track the same thing."
"Exactly," Tom nodded. "Those are the kinds of insights we need."
The next morning, the team gathered again, this time in a larger conference room where they could spread out more comfortably. The walls were covered with printouts of database schemas, API documentation, and data flow diagrams.
"I've been thinking," Emma said as she paced in front of the whiteboard, "we're approaching this all wrong."
The room fell silent, all eyes turning to her.
"We keep talking about connecting systems," she continued, "but what we really need to focus on is solving a specific business problem for Hamilton Holdings."
Mark frowned. "Isn't that what we're doing? Real-time profitability insights?"
"Yes, but too abstractly," Emma insisted. "What specific decisions do Hamilton Holdings need to make that they can't make today because they don't have the data?"
The room was quiet as everyone considered this question.
"Charles Hamilton mentioned something about their expansion into sustainability consulting," Richard offered eventually. "They're not sure if it's profitable because the work spans multiple service lines and they can't get a clear picture of the overall economics."
Emma's face lit up. "That's it! That's our pilot! If we can give them real-time profitability insights specifically for their sustainability practice, we'd be solving a concrete business problem that they care about right now."
Tom nodded slowly, a rare hint of approval in his eyes. "That significantly narrows our scope."
"And makes the value proposition much clearer," Sophia added enthusiastically. "Instead of 'Here's a cool technical thing we built,' it's 'Here's how we helped you make a strategic decision about your sustainability practice.'"
"But is it enough?" Lisa asked, always the pragmatist. "Will showing them one case convince them we can solve their broader needs?"
"It's not about the breadth," Tom replied. "It's about demonstrating that our approach works. If we can integrate data for one service line across systems, we can do it for all of them."
"I love this!" Jake exclaimed, his excitement impossible to contain. "We're creating a vertical slice through the entire solution, from data extraction to insights delivery!"
"In English, Jake," Lisa prompted with a small smile.
"We're building a complete solution for a very narrow use case," Jake explained, his hands gesturing wildly to illustrate his point. "Instead of trying to connect all the data for everything, we're focusing on just sustainability consulting data, but we're doing everything with it—extraction, transformation, analysis, visualization."
"Exactly," Emma confirmed. "It's a thin vertical slice rather than a broad horizontal layer."
Richard, who had been quietly contemplating, spoke up. "There's just one problem. The sustainability consulting data is some of the messiest we have. It's split across at least five different systems, not just three."
The bubble of enthusiasm in the room deflated slightly.
"Well," Tom said, unperturbed, "then we've found our true pilot. If we can make this work for the messiest data, everything else will be easier."
"That's the spirit," Sophia said, her tone hovering between enthusiasm and sarcasm. "Let's pick the hardest possible thing to do in nineteen days. Why not add quantum encryption while we're at it?"
"Ooh, we could!" Jake began, before Lisa silenced him with a look.
By the afternoon, the team had split into smaller groups, each tackling a different aspect of the pilot. In one corner, Mark and Jake were deep in code, building the data connectors that would extract information from the various systems. Across the room, Lisa and Richard were engaged in an unexpectedly animated discussion about data models.
"No, no, no," Richard was saying, his usual reserve completely gone as he leaned over Lisa's laptop. "You can't just map 'client ID' from the billing system directly to 'customer number' in the delivery system. There's a many-to-many relationship there. Some clients have multiple customer numbers, and some customer numbers are associated with multiple client IDs."
Lisa rubbed her temples. "This is exactly the kind of mess we need to sort out. How does anyone ever reconcile this data manually?"
"Excel," Richard said grimly. "Lots and lots of Excel."
"By the way," Lisa asked, lowering her voice, "has anyone actually asked Hamilton Holdings what specific insights they want from the sustainability practice data?"
Richard blinked. "I... don't think so. We've been assuming based on what Charles mentioned to me."
Lisa sighed. "So we're building a solution based on secondhand information from a casual conversation during a golf game?"
"Welcome to consulting," Richard replied dryly.
Across the room, Sarah was deep in conversation with Oliver, discussing the human aspects of the pilot.
"The technical solution is only part of the equation," Oliver was explaining. "We need to think about how people will actually use these insights. Who at Hamilton Holdings will be looking at this dashboard? What decisions will they make based on it?"
Sarah nodded thoughtfully. "You're right. We should arrange a meeting with their CFO and sustainability practice head. Get direct input on what they need."
"Not to mention," Oliver added, "we need to be thinking about how our own team will maintain this after the pilot. If this is successful, we'll need to scale it to other clients and service lines."
At that moment, Tom strode into the center of the room, commanding attention without saying a word. "Status updates," he said simply.
One by one, the team members reported on their progress. Mark and Jake had created a prototype connector for the billing system. Lisa and Richard had identified the key data entities and relationships. Emma and Sophia were working on dashboard mockups. Priya was documenting compliance implications.
"And the bad news?" Tom prompted when everyone had finished.
The room fell silent, each person looking at the others uncomfortably.
"The data is worse than we thought," Mark finally admitted. "There are inconsistencies everywhere. Client names spelled differently across systems. Missing timestamps. Duplicate entries."
"The many-to-many relationships between client identifiers is a significant challenge," Lisa added. "We can't just join the data; we need to create a complex mapping layer."
"And we still don't have direct confirmation from Hamilton Holdings on exactly what insights they need," Sarah said.
Tom absorbed all this without changing his expression. "So we're behind schedule on day one."
"Pretty much," Emma confirmed.
Tom nodded once. "Good."
"Good?" several voices echoed in disbelief.
"If everything was going smoothly, we'd be solving the wrong problem," Tom explained. "Complex problems reveal themselves gradually. Now we know what we're really dealing with."
"That's... surprisingly optimistic coming from you," Sophia observed.
"It's not optimism," Tom corrected. "It's realism. The path to the right solution is rarely straight."
The next morning, Emma arrived at the office to find Jake already there, his desk surrounded by empty energy drink cans, his hair standing on end as if he'd been repeatedly running his hands through it.
"Have you been here all night?" she asked, setting down her bag.
Jake looked up, his eyes bright despite the obvious fatigue. "I had a breakthrough around 3 AM! I built a prototype of the data synchronization engine. Watch this!"
He typed a few commands, and on his screen, data began flowing between simulated systems, transforming and merging as it went.
"That's... actually impressive," Emma admitted, leaning closer to see the details. "But doesn't this assume clean data?"
Jake's excitement dimmed slightly. "Well, yes. But I've also been working on a fuzzy matching algorithm for client names and IDs. It's not perfect, but it's a start."
"A start is all we need right now," came Tom's voice from behind them. He had entered silently, as was his habit. "We can refine it as we go."
Throughout the day, more team members filtered in, each bringing updates on their respective tasks. By noon, they had gathered around the conference table for an impromptu stand-up meeting.
"I spoke with Hamilton Holdings' CFO this morning," Sarah announced. "He confirmed that they need profitability insights for the sustainability practice, but with some specific requirements. They want to see profitability broken down by sub-service, by client industry, and by partner. They also want trend data going back two years."
"Two years?" Lisa repeated, alarmed. "That's going to require historical data extraction, which is much more complex than just syncing current data."
"And some of that historical data might not even exist in a structured form," Richard added. "We used to track sub-service information in the engagement notes, not as separate fields."
Sophia, who had been unusually quiet, suddenly spoke up. "I think we need to manage expectations here. We can't deliver everything they want in nineteen—actually, now eighteen—days. We need to prioritize."
"Agreed," Tom said. "What's the minimum viable product that would still deliver significant value?"
After some discussion, the team agreed on a phased approach. Phase one, to be delivered within the pilot timeframe, would focus on current profitability data with breakdowns by sub-service and client industry. Historical trends and partner-level breakdown would come in phase two.
"Now we have a clear scope for the pilot," Tom concluded. "Let's get back to work."
As the team dispersed, Jake caught up with Lisa in the hallway. "I was thinking about the data mapping problem," he said, falling into step beside her. "What if we use a graph database to model the relationships between entities? It would handle many-to-many relationships much more elegantly than traditional SQL."
Lisa slowed her pace, considering. "That's... actually not a bad idea. I've worked with Neo4j before. It could be perfect for this."
Jake's face lit up. "Really? I mean, of course it is! Graph databases are amazing for complex relationship modeling!"
"Don't push it," Lisa warned, but there was a hint of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "I'll admit it's a good approach, but implementation is another matter. We'd need to—"
She stopped abruptly as they rounded the corner and almost collided with Edward Pembroke, the firm's chairman.
"Mr. Pembroke," Lisa said, startled. "We didn't expect to see you down here."
Edward smiled genially. "I like to walk the floors occasionally. Keeps me connected to what's happening. I understand you're working on the Hamilton Holdings pilot?"
"Yes, sir," Jake replied enthusiastically. "We're building a data integration platform that will revolutionize how we deliver client insights!"
Lisa subtly elbowed him.
"What Mr. Thompson means," she translated, "is that we're focusing on a specific use case—profitability analysis for Hamilton's sustainability practice—to demonstrate the potential of our approach."
Edward nodded thoughtfully. "And how's it going?"
Lisa and Jake exchanged glances.
"We're making progress," Lisa said carefully.
"It's challenging but exciting!" Jake added simultaneously.
Edward chuckled. "So, in other words, you've discovered it's more complicated than you initially thought, but you still believe you can deliver?"
"That's... a very accurate summary," Lisa admitted.
"Good," Edward said, surprising them. "I'd be worried if you weren't hitting obstacles. These things are never as straightforward as they seem." He paused, then added, "Charles Hamilton called me yesterday. He's very interested in what we're doing. Said his CFO was impressed by our approach."
Jake's eyebrows shot up. "Already? But we haven't shown them anything yet."
"Sometimes, just knowing that we're taking their needs seriously is enough to build confidence," Edward replied. "But that confidence won't last without results. Keep me updated on your progress." And with that, he continued on his way down the hallway.
Lisa turned to Jake. "Did that just happen? The chairman of the firm is personally tracking our project?"
"No pressure," Jake said with a nervous laugh.
Days three through seven of the pilot project passed in a blur of activity. The team had set up a dedicated project room where they worked long hours, walls covered with diagrams, code snippets, and increasingly empty food containers.
Mark had built data extractors for all five systems involved in the sustainability practice, though they were still working through issues with data quality. Lisa and Jake, putting aside their occasional bickering, had created a robust data model in the graph database, while Emma and Sophia had designed a dashboard interface that was both powerful and intuitive.
Richard had proven unexpectedly valuable, spending hours with the team explaining the business context behind the data and helping to resolve inconsistencies between systems.
On the morning of day eight, with eleven days remaining until the deadline, the team gathered for a critical milestone: the first end-to-end test of the system.
"Alright," Tom said, standing at the front of the room. "Let's see what we've got."
Mark took a deep breath and initiated the process. On the main screen, they could see data being extracted from the source systems, flowing through the transformation pipeline, and populating the graph database. Then, the dashboard began to update, showing profitability metrics for Hamilton Holdings' sustainability practice.
For a moment, everyone held their breath, watching the numbers materialize. Then, collectively, they frowned.
"That can't be right," Richard said, leaning forward to study the figures. "According to this, the sustainability practice is losing money on every engagement."
"But that's impossible," Emma argued. "I've seen the billing reports. They charge premium rates for sustainability work."
"Could there be a bug in the calculation?" Jake suggested.
"Or a problem with the data mapping?" Lisa added.
The team spent the next few hours troubleshooting, following the data through each step of the process. Finally, late in the afternoon, Richard made a discovery.
"I found it," he announced, looking up from his laptop. "The issue isn't with our system. It's with the source data. The time tracking system has been miscategorizing hours for sustainability projects. Some are being attributed to general consulting, while others are spread across multiple service lines."
"So our system is working correctly," Mark confirmed. "It's just showing the reality of the data, which is wrong."
"Exactly," Richard nodded. "And this is precisely why Hamilton Holdings needs this system. They've been making strategic decisions based on inaccurate profitability data."
Sarah, who had joined them for the milestone test, suddenly smiled. "This is actually perfect. We can demonstrate not just the technical capability of the system, but the actual business value. We've discovered a significant issue that they weren't aware of."
"But will they thank us for telling them their supposedly premium service line is actually losing money?" Sophia questioned.
"They might not thank us," Tom said, "but they'll respect us. And they'll see the value of the Data Embassy approach immediately."
The team recalibrated their plan. Instead of just showing profitability metrics, they would present a detailed analysis of why the sustainability practice appeared unprofitable, along with recommendations for fixing the underlying data issues.
On day twelve, with one week remaining until the deadline, disaster struck. The team arrived at the office to find that an overnight system update had caused the billing system—one of their key data sources—to change its API structure without warning.
"Everything's broken," Mark announced grimly after a quick assessment. "The data extractor can't connect anymore, and even if we fix it, the field mappings will all be wrong."
"How could they do an update without notifying anyone?" Emma demanded, pacing the room in frustration.
Richard sighed. "Welcome to my world. This happens at least once a quarter. Usually, we just work around it manually until IT gets around to fixing our access."
"We don't have time for that," Tom stated flatly. "We need a solution now."
The team huddled together, brainstorming options. After heated debate, they settled on a two-pronged approach: Jake would work on a quick fix to adapt to the new API, while Lisa would develop a more resilient architecture that could handle future changes more gracefully.
Meanwhile, Emma and Sophia would prepare alternative ways to demonstrate value to Hamilton Holdings in case the technical issues couldn't be fully resolved in time.
By the end of the day, Jake had created a rough workaround that at least allowed data to flow again, though with some limitations. "It's not pretty," he admitted, "but it works."
Lisa had sketched a more robust design that would use an adapter pattern to insulate the system from future API changes. "We won't have time to implement this fully before the deadline," she explained, "but we can include it in the roadmap for phase two."
Tom nodded his approval. "Good recovery. Let's make sure we document this as an example of why the Data Embassy approach is needed. If systems change without warning now, they'll continue to do so in the future. Our architecture needs to anticipate that."
The final week of the pilot project was a frantic push to refine the system, fix bugs, and prepare for the presentation to Hamilton Holdings. The team worked late into each night, fueled by takeout food, coffee, and in Jake's case, an alarming quantity of energy drinks.
On the night before the presentation, they gathered in the project room for a final rehearsal. Sarah and Edward Pembroke would be there to observe.
"Remember," Tom instructed as they prepared, "this isn't just a technical demonstration. We're showing them how this system solves a real business problem that they care about."
Emma and Sophia had created a polished presentation that walked through the journey from fragmented data to integrated insights, highlighting the specific value for Hamilton Holdings' sustainability practice.
Mark and Jake had prepared a live demonstration of the system, while Lisa and Richard had developed detailed explanations of the data model and business logic.
As they worked through the rehearsal, Edward watched with growing approval. "This is impressive," he commented when they finished. "You've managed to turn a technical challenge into a business story that even I can understand."
"Thank you, sir," Sarah replied. "We believe this approach has potential far beyond just this one use case."
Edward nodded thoughtfully. "I agree. But let's secure Hamilton Holdings first, then we can talk about expanding."
The day of the presentation arrived, with the entire team gathered in Pembroke Paton's most impressive conference room. The dashboard was displayed on the large screen, showing real-time profitability metrics for Hamilton Holdings' sustainability practice.
Charles Hamilton himself had come, along with his CFO, COO, and the head of their sustainability practice. The tension in the room was palpable as Sarah made introductions and then handed over to Emma to begin the presentation.
"Thank you all for coming," Emma began, her ballet training evident in her poised demeanor. "We're here today to demonstrate a new approach to client insights that we've developed specifically to address the needs you've expressed regarding your sustainability practice."
As Emma walked through the business case, Charles Hamilton listened attentively, occasionally nodding. When she mentioned the discovery about the profitability issues, his eyebrows shot up, and he exchanged a significant look with his CFO.
Then it was time for the live demonstration. Mark took control, showing how the system pulled data from multiple sources, reconciled inconsistencies, and presented a unified view of profitability.
"What you're seeing now," he explained, "is not just a static report. This is a live connection to your data across all relevant systems. If something changes in any of those systems, this dashboard updates in real time."
To demonstrate, Jake made a change in the test environment, and everyone watched as the dashboard refreshed automatically to reflect the new information.
Charles Hamilton leaned forward, clearly impressed. "And you built this in just three weeks?"
"We did," Tom confirmed. "This is a pilot focused specifically on your sustainability practice, but the approach is scalable to all service lines."
The CFO, a serious woman with penetrating eyes, spoke up. "The profitability data you're showing suggests we've been miscategorizing time entries. How confident are you in these figures?"
Richard stepped forward to answer. "Very confident. We've traced each calculation back to the source data and identified exactly where the categorization issues are occurring. We've included detailed recommendations for how to correct these issues in the documentation we'll provide."
"What about security and compliance?" the COO asked. "This seems to involve sensitive financial data."
Priya addressed this concern, explaining the security architecture and compliance considerations built into the system.
The presentation continued for another hour, with the Hamilton Holdings executives asking increasingly detailed questions that the team answered with confidence.
Finally, Charles Hamilton sat back in his chair. "This is exactly what we've been looking for," he said with a smile. "Real-time insights that help us make better strategic decisions. TaxWise showed us something similar, but their solution felt generic. This is tailored specifically to our business needs."
The team exchanged relieved glances, trying not to appear too obviously triumphant.
"So, can we consider this issue resolved?" Sarah asked carefully.
Charles chuckled. "More than resolved. I'd say you've exceeded our expectations. We're not going anywhere, Sarah. In fact," he added, looking at his executives, "I think we might want to discuss expanding our relationship with Pembroke Paton."
After the Hamilton Holdings team had departed, with promises of follow-up meetings to discuss next steps, the Pembroke Paton team remained in the conference room, a strange silence hanging over them.
"Did that just happen?" Jake finally asked, breaking the tension. "Did we actually pull this off?"
"It appears so," Tom replied, his expression as impassive as ever, though those who knew him well might have detected a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.
Edward Pembroke, who had observed the entire presentation without comment, stood up and addressed the team. "Congratulations. You've not only saved our most valuable client relationship but potentially expanded it. More importantly, you've demonstrated a new approach that could transform how we serve all our clients."
He paused, looking around at the exhausted but elated team members. "The question now is: what's next? This was only a pilot. How do we turn this into something that benefits the entire firm?"
Tom stepped forward. "We've already begun planning phase two. We'll expand the Data Embassy to cover all of Hamilton Holdings' service lines, then create a template that can be applied to other key clients."
"Good," Edward nodded. "I want a proposal on my desk by next week. Budget won't be an issue."
As the chairman left, the team looked at each other in amazement.
"Did he just give us a blank check?" Sophia whispered.
"I think he did," Emma confirmed, a slow smile spreading across her face.
"Don't get too excited," Tom cautioned. "With greater resources come greater expectations. Phase two will be even more challenging than the pilot."
"Always the optimist," Lisa teased.
"I'm a realist," Tom corrected. "The easy part is over. Now we have to scale this approach across the entire firm."
"But we did it," Jake insisted, unable to contain his enthusiasm. "We actually did it! We saved Hamilton Holdings, and we proved the Data Embassy concept works!"
Even Tom couldn't suppress a small smile at that. "Yes," he conceded, "we did."
As the team began to disperse, riding the high of their success, Richard lingered behind. "I owe you all an apology," he said, addressing Tom directly but including the whole team in his gaze. "I was wrong about this project. I thought it was just another IT initiative that would disrupt our work without adding value. But what you've built..." he hesitated, "...what we've built together is something truly transformative."
Tom nodded once, accepting the apology without fanfare. "Your expertise was crucial to our success. We couldn't have done it without you."
Richard nodded, a weight visibly lifting from his shoulders. "So, what do you need from me for phase two?"
"Everything," Tom replied simply. "This is just the beginning."
As the team filed out of the conference room, energized despite their exhaustion, Emma found herself walking beside Sophia.
"You know what's funny?" Emma said thoughtfully. "Three weeks ago, I would have said connecting these systems was impossible. Now I'm wondering why we didn't do it years ago."
Sophia smiled. "That's the thing about change. It seems impossible until it's done, then it seems inevitable."
"Very philosophical for someone who's spent the last three weeks talking about bundt cakes," Emma teased.
"Hey, baking and philosophy go hand in hand," Sophia defended. "Both require patience, precision, and a willingness to embrace failure as part of the process."
"Speaking of failure," Emma said more seriously, "we got lucky with that billing system API change. What if something like that happens during phase two, but worse?"
"Then we'll handle it," Sophia said confidently. "That's what I've learned from this team. We adapt. We innovate. We overcome."
"When did you become such an optimist?" Emma asked, surprised.
Sophia laughed. "Must be all the sugar from my stress-baking. I made seventeen bundt cakes during this project. Seventeen!"
As they reached the elevator, they found Tom already there, holding the door.
"Good work today," he said as they entered. "Both of you."
Coming from Tom, it was the equivalent of a standing ovation.
"Thanks," Emma replied, then added curiously, "You don't seem as surprised by our success as the rest of us. Did you know all along we'd pull this off?"
Tom considered the question as the elevator began its descent. "I knew it was possible," he said finally. "Whether we'd actually do it depended on the team."
"And?" Sophia prompted.
A ghost of a smile passed across Tom's face. "And the team exceeded expectations."
As the elevator reached the ground floor and the doors opened, Emma had one last question. "So what happens now? With the Data Embassy, I mean?"
Tom stepped out of the elevator, then turned back to face them. "Now," he said with uncharacteristic enthusiasm, "we change everything."