Chapter 2: The Presentation

I arrived at Pine's headquarters with fifteen minutes to spare. The building's biometric scanners recognized me before I reached the entrance, the glass doors sliding open with a subtle greeting: "Welcome, Thomas. Conference Room A-7 is ready for your presentation."

The lobby's adaptive lighting adjusted to match my circadian rhythms, its gentle blue-white glow helping maintain my morning alertness. As I walked to the elevator, my AR lenses displayed floating markers indicating which of my colleagues were already in the building. Lin from Quantum Integration was fine-tuning algorithms on the 14th floor, and our local partners were settling into their holorooms for our hybrid meeting.

"Your stress levels are slightly elevated," Nova whispered through my neural earpiece. "Would you like a brief meditation session before the presentation?"

"No time," I subvocalized, using the neural interface that had become second nature. "Just give me the final numbers from the simulation runs."

The elevator—sensing my urgency—bypassed its usual stops, taking me directly to the 17th floor. As I walked down the corridor, holographic data streams flowed alongside me, showing real-time updates to our network capacity metrics. Our new predictive system had exceeded expectations during overnight testing, processing network loads 47% more efficiently than current infrastructure.

Conference Room A-7 was actually a quantum-enabled presentation space, its walls composed of programmable matter that could reconfigure based on the meeting's needs. As I entered, the room recognized my presence and began its transformation. The far wall became a vast display surface, while the table adjusted its shape to accommodate both physical and holographic participants.

"Good morning, Thomas," called Mette Andersen's hologram from Aarhus University, her presence almost physical despite being two hours away. Several other key Danish stakeholders materialized around the table - representatives from local municipalities, the Danish Business Authority, and our initial pilot partners.

Lin entered moments later, her quantum metrics display showing she'd been running simulations since 4 AM. "The consciousness-network interface is stable," she reported. "All protection protocols are functioning at optimal levels."

The room darkened slightly as thousands of quantum light points activated, creating a three-dimensional representation of Denmark's network architecture. Glowing lines showed data flows between cities, while pulsing nodes represented our current processing centers.

"As you can see," I began, gesturing at the holographic visualization of Denmark, "our current telecommunications infrastructure, while robust, still operates on reactive principles. What we're proposing is a fundamental shift, and we'll prove it step by step, starting with smaller urban environments where we can closely monitor every aspect."

The visualization zoomed in on our first test city. "We'll begin in Roskilde," I explained, highlighting the university town's network topology. "Its size, demographic mix, and existing fiber infrastructure make it an ideal first testing ground. From there, we'll expand to Kolding, then Aalborg, gradually working our way up to larger metropolitan areas."

Mette leaned forward. "And Copenhagen?"

"Will be our final phase," I nodded. "By the time we reach the capital, we'll have refined our implementation process through experiences in smaller cities. Each deployment teaches us something new about how quantum-consciousness networks interact with local communities."

The visualization showed our careful progression:

1. Roskilde: Initial deployment, university town

2. Kolding: Mid-sized city, diverse industry base

3. Aalborg: Larger city, strong tech presence

4. Aarhus: Major urban center, university influence

5. Copenhagen: Capital city, full metropolitan deployment

I pulled up a neural interface visualization, showing how our system could anticipate user behavior patterns while maintaining absolute privacy. "By processing quantum-encrypted consciousness streams, we can predict network demands and security threats up to 72 hours in advance with 99.2% accuracy."

The room erupted in thoughtful discussion as the attendees processed the implications. Mette's avatar leaned forward, her eyes scanning the floating data points. "The university's quantum research center is particularly interested in the consciousness integration aspects. How do you plan to manage the cultural aspects of such intimate technology?"

"That's exactly why we're starting small," I smiled. "We understand the local context, the cultural nuances, the privacy expectations of our society. Every step will be transparent, every test thoroughly reviewed. Roskilde gives us the perfect scale to validate both the technology and the social integration."

For the next hour, I walked them through the technical specifics, the quantum processors in the room rendering complex data structures into easily digestible visuals. The AI monitored audience engagement in real-time, adjusting my presentation pace and highlighting areas that generated the most interest.

"This measured approach," I explained, "lets us validate every aspect of the technology while building public trust. Each city brings its own challenges and opportunities."

Klaus from the Business Authority nodded approvingly. "A more conservative approach than I expected, Thomas. But wiser."

As the meeting concluded and our guests departed, I remained in the room, watching the data streams dance across the visualization of Denmark. We had to prove this here, in our home market, before even thinking about broader horizons.

"Nova," I subvocalized, "book a team dinner for tonight. Somewhere relaxed where we can actually talk."

"Already done," came the reply. "I've reserved a table at that new place in Vesterbro - the one where Emma mentioned the chef is doing interesting things with traditional Danish ingredients. And Thomas? The team from Roskilde University just sent their formal partnership agreement."

I smiled, watching the quantum visualization highlight our first test city. Sometimes the biggest revolutions start in the smallest places. And we were about to prove that Denmark could lead the way in redefining human connection.