Page 187 of Terms of Exposure
"If integrated across even half of Falkirk's infrastructure, we project annual savings of nineteen to twenty-four million dollars within the first eighteen months."
Silence.
The good kind.
Nathan's smirk flickered.
Next slide: Consolidation visualization.
"Additionally, Elion's architecture would allow Falkirk to consolidate three legacy systems into a single platform. Reduced overhead, simplified maintenance, and a scalability runway beyond your current five-year projections."
"Interesting," Alicia said. "Implementation timeline?"
"Twelve to fifteen months. Partial savings within the first two quarters."
Alicia nodded.
Slide: ESG metrics.
"Finally, this isn't just cost savings. It's positioning. ESG metrics aren't optional for institutional investors. Falkirk's carbon footprint shrinks, sustainability profile strengthens, and investor optics improve across the board."
Final slide:
THE QUESTION ISN'T WHETHER FALKIRK NEEDS THIS. IT'S WHETHER FALKIRK CAN AFFORD TO WAIT.
The room held its breath.
That's my girl.
Nathan's chair creaked.
"Impressive presentation," he said. "But I have a few concerns."
"Of course," she said, fixing her eyes on him.
Nathan angled his head, a grin spreading. "Elion was built for a company a fraction of Falkirk's size. How do we know it'll scale?"
"Page seven," Emma replied. "Stress testing by Hartwell Analytics. Elion's architecture handled simulated loads at three hundred percent capacity without performance degradation."
Nathan's eye twitched.
Beautiful.
"And page twelve," she added, "contains case studies from our beta partners, Meridian Financial and CoreTech—both comparable to Falkirk's mid-tier divisions."
Farnsworth whistled softly. "These numbers are solid."
"They're optimistic," Nathan countered. "Best-case scenarios dressed as projections."
"They're conservative," Emma said calmly. "I can walk you through the methodology if you'd like. It's thorough."
Richter shifted. Shore blinked.
Nathan's expression hardened.
"I'm sure it is. But I think the board would benefit from a more measured approach. A pilot program. Limited scope."
"A pilot program," Emma echoed.
