Acer Aspire 7740 Bricked

I successfully bricked my friend's Acer Aspire 7740-5691 while upgrading the BIOS from 1.15 to 1.16 in Windows. Yes, I am an idiot. The computer rebooted with no screen. The CD-ROM and the fan spin up but that is all. I am sure you know the drill.

What I have tried
I have been all over the internet and even found the service manual

[SERVICE MANUAL LINK REMOVED DUE TO COPYRIGHT ISSUES]

I have created a CRISIS disk on three different USB sticks (16mb, 2gb, 4gb). The files are there and I tried multiple versions of phflash16.exe and multiple versions of the BIOS.

According to directions everywhere, I am supposed to hold Fn+Esc while hitting the power button. I have tried this with the battery in, with the battery out, with the CD-Drive and hard drive out, and in. The problem is that the computer never starts reading the USB drive. It lights up for a second when power hits it but that is all. It never seems that the emergency flash even starts. I have tried every other key combo I have found out there.

Is it possible the Boot Block was overwritten and I am totally up the creek?

The Acer files are here. I really appreciate any advice.

1.15
http://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/BIOS/BIOS/BIOS_Acer_1.15_A_A.zip?acerid=633988721149265997&Step1=Notebook&Step2=Aspire&Step3=Aspire%207740&OS=721&LC=en&BC=Acer&SC=PA_6

1.16
http://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/BIOS/BIOS/BIOS_Acer_1.16_A_A.zip?acerid=634000921741183172&Step1=Notebook&Step2=Aspire&Step3=Aspire%207740&OS=721&LC=en&BC=Acer&SC=PA_6