Even though Nick and Ryan spoke with total conviction and everyone was hooked on the pitch, the city still needed concrete proof. For the sake of fairness and safety, they had to provide more convincing evidence to prove the feasibility of the plan.
In other words, before the final bidding stage, they had to conduct a field demonstration to test the reliability of their technology. If the demo proved their system was rock-solid, the contract was theirs. The other bidders' plans were all more or less the same and far less shocking than theirs.
However, if the demonstration failed, the Miami City Council would have no choice but to go with one of the safer, boring alternatives.
Nick had total confidence in his tech, but they were looking at four thousand drones, and the setup and debugging for the newly dubbed 'Apollo' system had to be done in just two weeks—a massive challenge.
It didn't help that while he'd brought Terry and a few new technicians along, he was the only one who truly understood the architecture. Terry could help with basic drone debugging, but the new guys were relegated to menial tasks. They'd been on the payroll for such a short time that they hadn't undergone proper training yet.
When things got busy, the technicians could only stand by and watch blankly, unable to help. Nick had to teach them on the fly during work breaks, letting them slowly take over simple tasks, and even then, they were constantly making mistakes.
At least the hardware wasn't an issue. Ryan had quickly sourced four thousand drones specifically designed for light shows, all developed by DJI. They were a massive upgrade over the "eBay specials" Nick had used before, which was a huge relief. Ryan's team also helped with the hardware debugging, though for the sake of confidentiality, Nick handled the sensitive system work personally.
On a wide-open field on the outskirts of Miami, the team was grinding away in blistering 100-degree heat. Despite the scorching weather, today was the day for the critical real-world flight test. City leaders and experts from the council had rushed over, eager to see if the hype was real.
"Report: all drones powered on," the field staff's voice crackled over the walkie-talkie.
Nick checked the telemetry on his screen. "Fire up the coordinate base stations."
"Base stations are live. All eight stations are operational. Signal is green!"
"Connect the swarm to the network."
"Starting network sync: 600, 1000, 2000, 3000... A total of 3,961 drones successfully synced. 39 failed to connect—we're within the 1% allowable failure rate."
"Save the log. Field staff, check the faulty units and find the cause. Load the Apollo system!"
"Uploading Apollo: 5%, 10%, 20%... Upload successful. Starting installation!"
"Apollo installed. Rebooting system! Field personnel, clear out. Starting the live-fire test!" Nick ordered into the radio.
"Field personnel are behind the safety line!"
Nick glanced at the officials and experts standing behind him. He gave Ryan a nod and issued the final command:
"Launch. Each section take off in sequence. Fly to the designated airspace at 150 feet and hover."
On command, the drones on the field spun up with a collective roar. They formed eight formations of 500 drones each, converging seamlessly in the center of the airspace.
The twenty-minute test flew by. While the officials were still reeling from the shock of the performance, Nick was already directing the landing procedures.
"Drones have landed! Start uninstalling the Apollo system."
"Nicholas, the test was perfect—why are you wiping the program?" Professor Sun asked, his attitude toward Nick having done a complete 180. He was now incredibly warm and curious.
"The system is only temporarily loaded; it's designed to self-delete once the show is over," Nick explained with a smile.
"That seems like a lot of extra work. Why not just keep it installed?" one of the experts asked.
Nick glanced at Ryan before answering. "It's about technical confidentiality. These shows happen in open areas with a lot of foot traffic. If a drone goes down and someone picks it up for 'research,' I can't have my code sitting on it. The program wipes itself after the mission. Plus, if a drone drifts outside the geofence, it clears itself instantly. We can also track every single unit for recovery."
He said this as a subtle warning to Ryan to stop any "data mining" attempts. He knew DJI wanted to peek under the hood, and he wasn't going to let their partnership hit a snag because of a little corporate espionage.
The experts nodded, impressed by Nick's security mindset.
"Nicholas, that was incredible! None of us expected a drone show to be that spectacular—and that was in broad daylight. At night, it's going to be legendary," Director David said excitedly, shaking Nick's hand.
Nick decided to add a little more fuel to the fire. "Director David, that was just a basic functional test. A full-scale show will have custom choreography, tailored to Miami's local culture and specific landmarks. If we move forward, we'll need to coordinate closely on the creative side."
"No problem at all! Miami has a rich culture, and this is the perfect way to show it off. This test proved everything I needed to see. I think winning the bid is a formality at this point," Director David said, unable to hide his grin. He could already see the headlines this show would generate—and he was the one who would get the credit for making it happen.