Chapter 677 - 317: Oswald
Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey.
The top floor of Pfizer’s global R&D headquarters was once the most enviable office space on the entire East Coast.
It boasted a prime view overlooking Forest Park, an independent climate control system that maintained constant temperature and humidity, and a top-security conference room shielded from eavesdropping.
But now, it had become a sauna.
Although the backup generators were running, their paltry output was only enough to barely maintain the lights and a few core servers.
As for the power-hungry central air conditioning system, it had long since become a useless decoration.
Inside the conference room, the air was thick and stale.
The sealed, soundproof walls and bulletproof glass blocked any prying eyes from the outside, but they also trapped all the heat within.
George Vance ripped off his tie and undid the top three buttons of his shirt.
Even so, sweat still trickled down from his forehead and into his eyes, making them sting.
The four people sitting across from him were from Johnson & Johnson, Merck, United Health, and Antai Insurance.
The ad-hoc committee formed by these five individuals controlled forty percent of the United States’ medical resources and pricing power.
But right now, they couldn’t even control the temperature in the room.
"This is the latest briefing, sent over ten minutes ago."
Vance tossed the tablet in his hand onto the center of the conference table.
It slid for a short distance before stopping in front of Robert Kane, a board member from United Health.
On the screen was a shocking temperature control chart.
The blue line, representing the temperature in the core area of the cold storage facility, was climbing upward in an irreversible trend.
"The diesel for the cold storage generator has run out."
Vance’s voice was hoarse, laced with extreme exhaustion and irritability.
"Our logistics department tried to bring in more fuel, but the truck is stuck a kilometer away."
"Those damn Pittsburgh truckers. They’re appearing like ghosts on every main road in New Jersey, creating artificial traffic jams. They’ve sealed off the roads."
"The temperature in the cold storage is currently minus forty degrees."
Vance pointed at the red warning icon on the screen.
"Our biological sample bank is thawing."
"It contains Phase III clinical samples for Alzheimer’s disease, as well as the latest mRNA vaccine stock solution. The protein structures are extremely fragile. Once the temperature rises above minus twenty degrees, they will lose their activity."
Vance braced his hands on the tabletop, sweat dripping onto its surface.
"If the temperature rises, we’ll lose one and a half billion dollars in direct R&D."
"And that’s not including the potential market losses from a delayed launch, or the evaporation of market cap from a stock price collapse."
The only sound in the conference room was ragged breathing.
Robert Kane picked up the tablet.
He was a titan of the insurance industry. Watching that relentlessly rising temperature curve was like watching blood gush from his own severed artery.
"Stock price."
Kane spat the word out coldly.
"Just now, pre-market trading began. The market hasn’t officially opened yet, but because news of this ’technical’ power outage leaked, futures for the healthcare sector have already dropped eight percent."
"Those vampires on Wall Street are shorting us."
Kane looked up, his grey eyes burning with fury.
"This is a crisis of confidence."
"Our clients are complaining, our shareholders are demanding answers, and our competitors are kicking us while we’re down."
"And this is all because of that country bumpkin from Pittsburgh."
𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
Kane slammed the tablet down on the table.
The screen let out a sharp CRACK and a spiderweb of fissures spread across it.
"He cut our power."
The people in the room were used to making the rules.
They sat in the clouds, looking down on the common folk.
Now, a mayor reeking of coal dust, along with a crew of equally grease-stained workers, had barged into their backyard and pulled their plug.
"We underestimated him."
The representative from Merck wiped the sweat from his face, his voice a little unsteady.
"We thought that if we just cut off the medicine supply and bought off the media, the young man would get on his knees and beg for mercy, just like all the challengers before him."
"But he didn’t."
"He fought back, and in such a savage way."
"This is extortion."
The director from Johnson & Johnson unbuttoned his cuffs.
"He’s a madman."
"He doesn’t give a damn about the rules."
"Rules?"
Kane let out a sneer.
He stood up and began to pace back and forth in the cramped, stuffy conference room.
"Rules are made for the weak. The strong make the rules."
Kane walked up to Vance, glaring at the legal officer.
"George, weren’t you so confident before? You said the law would protect us. You said the Federal Government would intervene. Well? Where’s your injunction? Where’s the intervention from the White House?"
Vance’s expression was grim.
"The White House isn’t getting involved," Vance said in a low voice.
"That bastard Stern hung up on me. He said it’s a commercial dispute, and that the Energy Association’s official reason is ’equipment maintenance,’ which is procedurally sound."
"The truth is, the White House is scared too."
"They’re afraid that if they force the issue, the energy companies will actually cut power to the entire East Coast. The blackout is just affecting our campus right now and it’s already causing a huge stir. If it spreads to residential areas, if Washington goes dark, it’ll be a national security crisis."
"The President is up for reelection this year. A problem like this can’t happen."
"The White House has no idea what to do now."
Vance ground out the words, admitting the truth.
Silence fell over the conference room once more.
Just then, the director from Antai Insurance, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly spoke.