The Man

The man jumped out of bed before sunrise, he was in a double bed, however, he lived alone, on the bed, there were only two pillows, one of them black and simple, the other a pink one quite ornate, the words "Love" are hand-embroidered on it, quite in contrast with the appearance of the person who slept there. The Man was a true titan, his height was surely over two meters, the musculature of a gladiator, the beard of a lumberjack, the voice of thunder, shrewd like a genie, dreamer like a prophet, the heart of lost love, a creature closer to Greek myths than humans. He was Damien Raven, a man who lived poverty in the flesh when his father's store went bankrupt, he also lost it shortly after the same father took his own life, and his mother had to work as a prostitute to be able to continue raising her son, Damien had to learn to adapt quickly in order to survive, but in his first adventures he discovered something about himself, he had a special gift that others did not, he was strong, much stronger than normal, because he had a condition called the Hercules gene, a condition in which a person was larger than normal along with a musculature several times larger than average, with this he helped himself to have a better life for his mother. With money not entirely honest he managed to enter a prestigious university, where he met Anastasia Kuznetsova, the love of his life, a foreigner who went to the United States to study, he met her when she suffered discrimination for being Russian and was locked up by several classmates in a warehouse, where he happened to pass by.

The two of them couldn't be more different from each other, but that still didn't stop love from blossoming. Damien could see in her a simple and sweet world, full of hope and innocence that he had never known. She saw in him a loving titan, someone with the strength to protect her, a true gentleman, and for her, he decided to leave his past behind and become one. Things went well for a while, they both completed their studies, they started living together, he worked as the manager of a minimarket, she with her knowledge set out to create new inventions. Then things went wrong when he proposed to create a company to help his girlfriend and it went bankrupt just as his father had done. They also got better again when she founded another one, which this time did show the long-awaited profits. The I.S.C. was created for the sole purpose of helping to make Anastasia Kuznetsova's inventions a reality, but innovation for the future turned to despair when the two collided with the harsh realities of people seeking profit at any price. Inventions, though incredible and innovative, were extremely expensive to implement, only a far-sighted vision would yield profits, the last thing investors wanted, they wanted an immediate return of money, not a better world, so finding money to make it real was hard to find. Although Damien tried his best to repay the effort his mother made for him, he was unable to do so when in this time of drought she died from an illness contracted through her work. They tried everything to help them get money to realize their dream, Anastasia changed her name to a more western name like Rose, and Damien worked 3 different jobs 7 days a week. The only respite they both had at this time was their marriage, a simple and small wedding to save money. 

Their efforts to raise money also worked against them, as they became more and more known for their insistence. Rose began to be known among her scientific peers for being a dreamer with useless and unrealizable inventions, a fool. She instead vowed to make it happen and prove everyone wrong about her. Unfortunately, the dream came to an end when she died of a sudden heart attack while she and Damien were visiting her hometown, she spent the last moments of her life in her husband's arms, and he could only watch helplessly what was happening. It had been two decades since that happened. The I.S.C. now with Damien at the helm grew exponentially to become a giant like him internationally. He became known as one of the most powerful people on the planet, and despite many attempts by numerous women, his love was still only one. 

His daily life was quite orderly. Before sunrise, he would leave his house to exercise and be as fit as possible, for Rose loved the body of a protector he had. When he finished he would go to the dining room to create his breakfast, a small table with two chairs, a healthy diet was the origin of a healthy body, he could not neglect it because it was like neglecting his wife. Reading was important, the library could supply this need, a gentleman had to be a knowledgeable and wise person, he would never reach the level of genius of his beloved Rose, but he had to become a person worthy of her. The courtyard is full of roses, the favorite flower of his beloved, it was easy to know where it came from the name she took later, there was no gardener on the huge property, Damien was personally in charge of having this place perfectly cared for her, so that wherever she was she could appreciate this, her sanctuary, her heaven, that he raised with his hands in her honor and love.

On the way to work a huge dam separates him from his destination, he decides to save his driver the trouble and decides to walk instead, since compliance is the hallmark of a gentleman, and when a gentleman gives his word is fulfilled even if it is the last thing he does, he had promised that in an hour he would be where he had agreed and nothing would stop him from achieving it. While waiting for the traffic light to cross, an elderly lady comes up to him, and asks him for help to cross the street, he immediately accepts, he could not be a gentleman if he failed in something so basic, even if it consumed the time he had, it was something he would have to fix later. As he was about to arrive, a drug addict pulled out a gun and pointed it at the poor old lady's head, grabbed her purse, and ran away, the elderly woman started to cry, as it was a gift from one of her children and it was important to her. Damien, like the gentleman he wanted to be, didn't hesitate twice, first, he finished carrying her across the street, then he made sure she was okay and then he ran to catch up with the thief. He quickly caught up with him before he reached the next block, where they both turned into an alley, The robber pointed his gun at Damien, but Damien kept walking without caring in the least, the guy fired several times but stopped when the huge man's hands lifted him into the air. Putting him against the wall, the titan with his free hand gave a single punch so powerful that his enemy's head exploded without leaving a trace of who he was before. Damien took the old lady's handbag from her limp and cold hands, then threw the remaining waste into a trash can where it was difficult to see the corpse. He returned the bag to the old lady and immediately resumed his way to work, because a gentleman keeps his word and arrives on time, no matter what.

He arrives at his office on time, greets each of his employees by name, and says good morning to them, as manners are those of a gentleman. In his office, a huge painting of him and his wife is the highlight of the room. He could only take a minute to appreciate it before his visitor arrived, it was a new scientist who will be an important addition to his company. Wilbert Rutherford, a genius engineer, and programmer, an important part of a rival company, Lion Saber Industries. Mr. Damien needed him and he was willing to make large concessions just to secure his collaboration.

"Thank you very much for allowing me a couple of minutes of your time, Mr. Rutherford"
"I hope your vacation is to your liking and that you are having a wonderful time"

"Mr. Damien, you don't have to be so modest"
"It really has been amazing, I have already visited several interesting places thanks to your sponsorship, but I still can't believe that I still have to visit that cruise in the Caribbean"
"I really feel like I'm taking advantage of your enormous kindness for all this just to talk to me for a moment"
"But is it really that important to spend so much money?"

"It is important!"
"Selfish people and lack of money are the enemies of progress."
"I don't think about spending money when I set out to do things"
"I know that your vacation time is valuable so I don't plan to spend it anymore"
"First of all, I need you to look at these papers"

"Project Walker?"
"Isn't this the same thing Rose proposed years ago?"
"Wait, these are her notes!"
"...."
"I don't want to insult your wife's memory, but even you should know what was said to her in her time"
"It's impossible, there is not enough technology to do something like this!"
"Nor is there a practical effect that would make making this possible advantageous"
"Modern weapons already do the job sufficiently and at a much lower price"
"It is not worth the effort"

"I don't need it to be worth it"
"I need it finished!"
"Tanks on uneven terrain are not as effective, it is impossible for them to attack a snowy mountain"
"An armed and mobile robot of this height would be able to traverse the terrain quickly and deploy a devastating attack on enemy forces"
"No one knows they need it until they see it through their own eyes"

"Sir, with all due respect, it is unbelievable how much you have been able to create at I.S.C"
"Seriously, even as rivals we look at your work with envy."
"But this is impossible, things like this only work in cartoons!"
"Even if the theories of Rose's notes turn out to be correct, there is simply no way to create it!"
"The mecha robot will fall under its own weight"

"I think you are underestimating a lot of what we are capable of, Mr. Rutherford"
"Remember that you are a programmer, I don't expect you to build all of this on your own"
"Take a look at the following page, if you would be so kind"

"????"
"This? What is this?"

"The material you say is impossible"
"Lightweight and strong, its molecular structure leaves in its wake things like carbon fiber or current tank armor"
"With the robot will be able to support itself."
"I also have experts in robotics, right now they are creating the most crucial components, locomotion, and the power source"
"Here are the positive tests, a functional model that is able to walk with the weight of combat equipment"
"For now it's just the legs, but I think it's easy to show what I'm getting at"

"Impossible!"
"That means then that it is within reach of completion."

"Exactly"
"But even so, that does not mean that it is still free of problems"
"The locomotion at the moment is rudimentary and very improvable"
"We believe that an AI on board will be able to help the pilot with tasks not relevant to him during combat"
"Things like weight distribution, step de-alienation, energy input management, etc"
"We want to make the pilot more akin to an infantryman, with expertise and close combat skills than an airplane pilot"
"What I need you to do is to take care of the things that the pilot would do"
"Things like interface, controls and auxiliary systems"
"Because you have more experience in things that are capable of withstanding impacts that may arise in combat"
"The people I have are capable of completing the rest"

"Well, if the payoff we talked about earlier is true, then it's easy to pick an answer"
"But still, I'd just like to know how you intend to sell something like this to the Alliance for example"
"Even if it is much better than a tank, the simple unit price will make them still choose the usual"

"This is where I, unfortunately, have to say that I have a different opinion than you, Mr. Rutherford."
"I am here for the progress, it is a promise I made to my wife and it is one I intend to keep"
"She dreamed of creating many different things and I intend to make them all come true"
"This is just one of them"
"What I plan to do is just to make people remember that Rose was a truly amazing scientist and inventor, with a vision far beyond what people thought of her"
"In the end, everyone will know that they were wrong about her"
"I don't intend to make money with this, that's what the current stuff is for"
"What I am looking for is the implementation of this "Cartoon Robot" in a widely spread way"
"The price will be quite low, we will sell it at a loss, I will make it cheaper than jets or maybe even tanks"
"Yet it will be of the highest possible quality, so much so that people will have to buy them for the simple fact of fighting with people getting them just because that's what they can afford"
"And when every nation uses one, they will have to keep doing it, whether they like it or not, everyone will use Rose's inventions"

Damien had finally, in just a 30-minute meeting, managed to get one of his rival's best engineers to work for him, with something as simple as a better salary and better working conditions. But this also incurred great costs, but for him, it didn't even matter at this point in his life. Ironically, when he could now have everything at his hand, he was unable to have what he really wanted, which was just to have the love of his life by his side.