Nakayama Takuya set down his pen and looked at Sato Hideki.
"We need to race against time, but we can't smash our own reputation with a half-finished product. Build the initial framework first. Once the east wind arrives, we need to be ready to take off at any moment. Can you do it?"
Sato Hideki looked at the framework diagram on the paper, already calculating the specific hardware selections and circuit layouts in his head.
"The redundant design for the driver circuits will add to the early R&D workload, but it's completely feasible technically." Sato closed his notebook and rose to his feet. "I'll immediately reassign personnel and establish a sixteen-bit handheld project team."
"Go. Communicate more with the Software Development Department and hear what they need from the new machine's performance," Nakayama Takuya instructed.
Sato Hideki acknowledged him and turned to leave the office.
The instant the door closed, his mind was already packed with the work schedule ahead.
Sega's Hardware Department was about to begin another round of all-out sprinting.
Sato Hideki had barely stepped out of the office, and before the door could close behind him, hurried footsteps rang out in the corridor.
Nakayama Takuya had just poured the cooled barley tea into the sink and replaced it with a cup of warm water when two knocks sounded against the doorframe.
"Come in." Nakayama Takuya turned around with the cup in hand.
Hoshino pushed the door open and entered.
His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and he clutched a thick stack of fax paper in his hand.
The paper's edges still bore the roller marks left by the fax machine, while the scent of ink spread through the heavily air-conditioned office.
"I didn't interrupt your rest, did I?" Hoshino pulled out a chair and