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"But it's cool!" he insisted. "I bet the competition won't have it."
I restrained myself from suggesting that we give the idea to our competition as a form of sabotage. Was it possible to perform a spell with a splitting headache? If we could inflict pain on anyone who bought one of the bad spells, we'd be able to nip this problem in the bud. "It might be too much for us to do at this stage, but keep working on the idea."
He did something with his hand, and the scrolling ticker disappeared. I felt the muscles around my eyes relax. "What about the rest of it?" he asked.
"It's certainly bright and colorful, but I'm not sure it conveys the message we want."
He glared up at me through bangs that fell across his eyes. "What do you want?"
"I'm sure you know about the situation we're in. We need to make sure people know we're the only med-and-true source for reliable, safe, well-tested spells, and we have been for more than a millennium. You can't trust anyone else to give you the results you want."
"Okay, so more boring-like. Got it." He waved his hand, and the package I held changed. Now it looked positively corporate, with the information I'd given him included as a tagline under the logo on the package cover. Better still, it didn't give me a headache to look at it.
"Perfect! I'll just run this by Mr. Mervyn and see what he thinks, and then we can roll it out. How long will it take to get this in production and out in the market?"
"Say the word, and it's out there."
I stared at him for a second, not sure what he meant. "You mean, you can change what's already on the shelf?"
He shrugged. "Sure. Why not? You want posters, too?"
"Yes, of course. Thanks. This is great." There had been many times when I'd wished that it was this quick and easy. I'd be spoiled for working at any company that didn't have a designer who could make retroactive changes to materials that had already been produced. Then again, someone like Mimi would abuse that power to keep changing her mind indefinitely.
I left the dungeon and headed toward the turret. Merlin's receptionist looked up from her work as I reached the top of the stairs. "Go right in, he's expecting you," she said. I wondered just how much he knew, and how he knew it. The explanation could be as simple as Ralph calling ahead, but just as I was pretty sure Owen didn't stand around all morning on the subway platform, waiting for me, I was pretty sure Merlin didn't need a phone call.
He greeted me as soon as I stepped through the doors. "Katie! How are you?" He brushed my hair away from my face and studied my bruise. "That's ugly, but it's already on the mend. Please, have a seat. I was just making some tea. Would you care for some?"
"Yes, please," I said as I took a seat on the sofa and waited for the cup to appear in my hands. Then I noticed him standing over by a counter tucked into a comer of the office, fussing with an electric teakettle. He was really making tea.
As he worked he talked. "Tea is quite a remarkable beverage. We had nothing like it in my day, as the British had barely journeyed beyond our own kingdom at the time.
We had to settle for herbal infusions. Every day I seem to discover something new."
"I imagine you do." I felt almost overwhelmed when I considered what he must be going through. His intellectual curiosity was probably what kept him sane.
"Milk or lemon?"
"Milk, please."
He brought two cups and a sugar bowl over on a tray. "There, now we can talk."
I handed him the revised packaging design. "What do you think?"
He studied it carefully, then handed it back to me with a sad smile. "It does seem to say what we want it to, but I must confess I don't know enough to know if this is good or not."
"It's good, really."
"Then by all means, please carry out your plan."
"I'll let Ralph know, and then apparently everything will be changed automatically.
The sales department is also gearing up to make a big splash with their next release, which is scheduled this week."
"Good, good." Then he looked grave. "Do you think this will save us?"
I looked down at the mock-up packaging I held. "I don't know. I don't think it can hurt. The object does seem to be to shrink the impact your competitor can have just long enough to come up with a way of fighting him. This may do it."
"Then I am most grateful." He chuckled. "Here they brought an ancient sorcerer out of hibernation, and our problems are solved by a clever girl without an ounce of magic in her."
