Odds Against Tomorrow

Charnoble expands FutureWorld, which moves its offices out of the Empire State Building. At first, Mitchell thinks that the move is a result of his request to find a safer building. However, when the company moves uptown, Charnoble says he always wanted to be where all the rich people live and work. Mitchell realizes that the company has only moved for the sake of appearances and that its new building is only slightly less dangerous.

Charnoble hires two more employees. The secretary, Mary Tewilliger, insists on being called Ms. Tewilliger. Jane Eppler, a young Princeton graduate, is hired to be another “Cassandra”—a term Charnoble and Mitchell use to describe the role of a salesperson. Jane learns from Mitchell and develops her own sales pitch, but Mitchell can tell that she does not believe in the fear she is selling. Still, she is an effective Cassandra and develops a friendly relationship with Mitchell. They jokingly come up with tag lines for FutureWorld, such as “Every silver lining has a cloud” (115).

Mitchell calls to check on Elsa every day, but he feels distant from her and begins to accept her fate as the reality of a chaotic world. The heat wave and drought continue, and people begin to lose faith in the meteorologists who continually predict rain that never comes.

One day Jane and Mitchell are looking out of the window of their office when they see a wisp of cloud. The cloud forms into a storm, and Jane and Mitchell run outside with other New Yorkers to celebrate the end of the drought. Jane dances happily in the rain, and Mitchell joins in the fun momentarily. Then he notices the water pooling on the dry soil. He pulls away from Jane, who urges him to “live” for a change. Instead, he returns inside and Jane finds another person to dance with.

The media and weather stations celebrate the rain. A lone weatherman tries to warn the public that the heavy storms they are now experiencing are a danger, and he even warns people in coastal areas to evacuate. The news anchor cuts him off abruptly. Mitchell does the research and realizes that the dry soil will not be able to absorb the amount of water that the storm dropped and that the pattern of the storm suggested an impending hurricane. Jane returns from partying, and Mitchell tells her they need to review their research on floods. Charnoble interrupts their conversation, telling them that the company’s phones are ringing with concerned clients; he is happy about the opportunity to make money.

The next day, New Yorkers’ attitudes about the storm have altered. They are annoyed by the rain, and the streets begin to flood. Mitchell becomes fearful. He blames himself and also Elsa, whose optimism he feels misled him. Mitchell gets held up on his way to work because the subways have flooded and he can’t find transportation. Mitchell calls into FutureWorld to tell them he will be late. Ms. Tewilliger patches him through to Charnoble, who insists that Mitchell get to work: The storm has the company’s phones ringing off the hook, and Mitchell has a full day of appointments. When Mitchell arrives at work, the weather stations are reporting that a large hurricane, Tammy, will soon sweep the East Coast. Mitchell speculates on the places the storm could hit, the worst being Atlantic City. Charnoble becomes excited and hopes that the storm will land in Atlantic City.

Mitchell goes to his first meeting of the day. He pitches FutureWorld to the head of the company, who sells perfume. The CEO, an elderly woman whom everyone seems to fear, tells Mitchell that she is not persuaded by his warnings about an impending hurricane. Mitchell becomes overwhelmed by the reality of the impending catastrophe and tries to convince her to evacuate a coastal company factory. She tells him that the cost is too great. Mitchell, increasingly anxious about the threat the storm poses, attempts to reassure himself by detailing aloud the disastrous consequences of such a storm and then telling himself—and everyone listening—that the odds of it hitting New York are low. Overwhelmed, he then faints. When the executives revive him they are fearful, having sensed the panic underlying Mitchell’s pitch about everything returning to normal. They abruptly begin plans to evacuate the factory.

Mitchell goes to the rest of his appointments and repeats his assurances that everything will go back to normal. No one believes him, and they all take action to evacuate their businesses. Charnoble is very happy that Mitchell has caused such a stir. Mitchell tries to explain to Jane that he is telling the truth and suggests that FutureWorld evacuate as well. Jane makes light of the storm, saying a small Category 4 hurricane will not hurt them.