22: Chapter 22: Heading to S.H.I.E.L.D.
22: Chapter 22: Heading to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Daisy thought it over.
Contacting Nick Fury would certainly make some things easier, but she didn’t want to owe him a favor.
In the end, she decided to find a solution on her own.
After thinking it through, she quickly came up with an idea.
“How about this?
We target mid-sized and large companies with an advertising campaign to build our reputation.” “We’ll produce and distribute brochures introducing our philosophy and the applications of our product.
The actual content isn’t the most important part.
The key is to coat the pages with a fluorescent material so they remain visible at night.” “Think about it.
The brochures we hand out will probably be ignored at first.
But if an executive is working late or heading home and notices one glowing in the dark, what will they do?
They’ll pick it up out of curiosity.
Even if they don’t need our service right away, they’ll remember us.
That’s our opportunity.” The others considered her proposal for a moment.
The scenario she described was entirely plausible.
“That’s a good idea,” James Wesley said, sounding genuinely impressed.
“Did you come up with it yourself?
You have an excellent understanding of human psychology.” Daisy accepted the compliment without hesitation.
She certainly wasn’t about to admit that the idea had come from an FHM magazine published in July 2011.
“Data analysis means weaving an enormous web from the information generated by modern society.
Every person and every event leaves traces within it.
We collect, analyze, and process all of that information.
This is an entirely new field.
Our future is incredibly promising.
One day, we might even influence presidential elections.” The others remained noncommittal about that ambitious prediction and dispersed to begin their preparations.
David continued optimizing the software and refining the algorithms.
James Wesley took charge of the company’s operations, handling external business matters.
His appearance and demeanor fit the image of a corporate executive perfectly.
Maki Matsumoto contacted printing companies and chemical manufacturers.
Promotional materials could not simply be distributed without approval; they required numerous safety and toxicity certifications.
It was work perfectly suited to someone with legal expertise.
At the same time, Daisy personally visited the principal of her church school.
After thanking the school for its support over the years, she donated ten thousand dollars to its education fund.
At her request, the principal used some professional connections to help expedite the approval process for the brochures.
Everything was conducted through legitimate channels.
The only advantage she received was having her materials reviewed ahead of others.
A week later, the brochures were officially mailed to major companies.
Of the fifty thousand dollars Nick Fury had generously provided, only about ten thousand remained.
Three days later, their first consulting project arrived.
A mid-sized fast-food chain had recently introduced several new combo meals and commissioned multiple consulting firms to measure customer satisfaction.
Traditional market research required significant manpower and resources: conducting surveys, collecting questionnaires, compiling responses, and analyzing the results.
Skye Data Analysis Co., Ltd.
avoided nearly all of those costs.
Instead, it gathered information from online forums, Twitter, and other public platforms, processed the data through its algorithms, and quickly generated a reliable estimate.
The system also categorized customer complaints, identified the most frequently repeated issues, and organized them into a clear report.
Daisy and her team were responsible only for collecting and analyzing the data.
How the client chose to improve its products was entirely up to them.
When the professionally dressed James Wesley delivered the report, the client was astonished by how quickly it had been completed.
Another consulting firm hired for the same project had only just begun gathering comparison data, while Skye Data had already finished the entire analysis.
Although skeptical at first, the client found that Skye Data’s conclusions closely matched its own internal operating reports.
After adjusting the combo meals according to the recommendations that very day, the chain’s year-over-year revenue increased by three percent.
Delighted with the results, the client immediately canceled its contract with the competing consulting firm and paid Skye Data the full seventy-five-thousand-dollar consulting fee.
It was money earned with remarkable efficiency.
Aside from electricity costs, the project had required very little expenditure.
During the following week, Skye Data accepted two more small contracts, earning fifty thousand dollars and sixty-five thousand dollars, respectively.
Everything was progressing smoothly, and the company’s reputation gradually spread within a niche business circle.
Several competing consulting firms had already begun paying attention to them.
Although no one would resort to corporate espionage over contracts worth only a few tens of thousands of dollars, they also couldn’t afford to ignore a promising new competitor.
Daisy finally made up her mind to study at S.H.I.E.L.D.
Whatever the future held, acquiring that knowledge would only benefit her.
After dividing everyone’s responsibilities once again, she began preparing for the trip.
Fury had never told her the academy’s exact location.
Instead, he had challenged her to find it herself.
Fortunately, the test wasn’t particularly difficult.
The Triskelion headquarters stood in Washington, D.C., on Theodore Roosevelt Island, a small island in the middle of the Potomac River.
Covering just over one square kilometer, the island was densely forested, with winding walking paths throughout.
Hidden among the trees rose several towering buildings—the headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D., which at the time still officially operated under its full name: Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.
Fury had deliberately hinted at the name S.H.I.E.L.D.
Anyone paying attention to the initials of that lengthy title could have figured it out, but Daisy already knew the answer.
That weekend, she changed into a plaid shirt, jeans, and sneakers, put on a pair of sunglasses, slung a backpack over her shoulder, and drove to Washington.
She barely spared a glance for landmarks such as the Washington Monument, the Capitol Building, and the White House.
They had been destroyed so many times in movies and television that they no longer held much novelty for her.
The surroundings, however, were pleasant.
Tall trees, fresh air, and groups of visitors strolling, reading, or chatting created a peaceful atmosphere.
Driving northeast past the Lincoln Memorial, Daisy was soon stopped at a checkpoint along the riverbank.
After presenting the magnetic card Fury had given her, the guards verified her identity and allowed her through.
She was permitted to enter, but her old used car was not.
Without protest, she parked it in the nearby lot.
Surrounded by luxury vehicles, her aging Ford looked like a museum piece.
She called Maki and asked her to sell the car whenever she had the chance.
After all, Fury had promised that S.H.I.E.L.D.
would provide her with a new one.
Carrying her backpack, she completed another registration checkpoint before crossing the bridge.
Scanners, surveillance systems, radar, and other security equipment swept over her repeatedly.
Once they detected the credentials encoded in her identification card, the scans immediately ceased.
She was alone on the bridge.
There was no friendly senior student waiting to greet her and no mentor to carry her luggage.
She walked by herself onto the quiet, secluded island.
Following the winding paths, making turn after turn, she walked for nearly an hour before the landscape suddenly opened up.
The enormous Triskelion occupied more than half the island.
The structure appeared to stand roughly three hundred meters tall.
Thinking about Captain America leaping from halfway up the building, Daisy couldn’t help sighing.
Using her vibration powers to slow her descent was barely within her capabilities, but making that kind of jump in the first place?
She simply didn’t possess that level of physical ability.