Howard eagerly returned to his office after taking care of Quebec and getting him to become a stockholder in the company, introducing him to some lawyers, and playing matchmaker with his secretary. Without wasting a moment, he picked up the robotic head from the stars.
"What are you? Where did you come from?" Howard mused to himself. Taking off his jacket and sloppily throwing it on his chair, he rolled up his sleeve and ran tests. Examining the metallic material of the head he was forced to conclude it was some unheard of alloy. These alloys didn't exist on Earth. It was a similar story, as many exposed wires and parts were made of materials he had never seen.
Instead of becoming discouraged, his nerves tingled with electric excitement. For six weeks, Howard researched relentlessly and only stopped to eat and sleep. Sometimes he went days without bathing.
One afternoon, Howard heard his phone buzzing. Lifting his head from the cloud of cigarette smoke, he stopped writing and answered the phone.
"Yes?" Howard rubbed his red eyes.
"Mr. Stark, this is Shirley in the Lobby. Colonel Phillips from The Strategic Scientific Reserves is here for his two o'clock."
For a moment, Howard was confused. He thought his secretary was named Clarice or Clary or something. Then he remembered the old farmer who sold him the Celestial Robohead, as he liked to call it. Shirley was his former secretary's replacement after she ran off to marry the farmer.
He finally remembered his appointment with Colonel Philips. However, this appointment was crucial for his company's financial resurrection.
"Shirley, I'm finishing an experiment, tell the Colonel to give me some time," Without waiting for a response Howard ran through his lab to his bedroom, had a shower, dressed, and left to meet the Colonel. A few moments later, he ran back into his lab and covered everything related to the robot head.
A dour-looking military man sat impatiently in one of two lobby chairs. Shirley offered the Colonel coffee but he wasn't interested. He looked at the army cap he was spinning in his hand. Occasionally, he looked toward the door.
Howard rushed through the doors one moment before the Colonel's anger flared.
"Sorry, Colonel, I was in the middle of an important experiment."
"More important than a military contract that can save your failing company," the Colonel stood placing the cap under his left armpit. Howard froze for a moment.
"No, it's an experiment that could win you the war and make my company ridiculously wealthy," Howard's wit cleared the air.
The Colonel examined the brilliant man cooly, "Well..."
"Well?" Howard looked confused.
"Are you going to show it to me or what?"
"Oh, of course. Ha Ha! This way, Colonel," Howard about-faced and led the Colonel to his laboratory.
"Good luck Mr. Stark, I really need this job," Shirley called after the men.
"Thanks, Sarah!"
"Shirley!" She yelled.
Colonel Philips looked at Howard, "Can't even remember your secretary's name? I can't say that instills much confidence in your reliability."
"My last secretary ran off with a farmer to have little farmers, and Shirley is her replacement. Besides, I think we're better served if I focus on remembering important things. My list of waiting-to-get-married series of working girls is hardly worth bothering," Howard flatly commented.
"If you show me something as impressive as what you boasted about, I'll agree with you," Colonel Philips agreed.
Walking into the lab, Colonel Philips found it reminded him of organized chaos, something akin to a battlefield.
A section of the lab was covered with tablecloths, stations of devices at different points of development filled other tables, and there were technical documents such as blueprints stuck to walls next to chalkboards.
"What's under the drapery?" The Colonel asked.
"Nothing important, a long-term project that won't yield much for the military," Howard responded quickly.
"You know, Mr. Stark, you might make more progress if you hired an assistant or something."
"Yeah, first, I'm broke. Second, if I wasn't broke, there's a lot of competition to hire bright minds before the war starts. Your SSR, for example, recruits a lot of budding talents."
"True, but some of these things look interesting," the Colonel admitted.
"Yeah, but none of these are done, let me show you finished products that will put America ahead of the Germans, cinching the war!" Leading the Colonel through another door, a large facility about the size of four school gyms greeted them.
Standing on a metallic platform with stairs to their left, Colonel Philips took in what he imagined to be a testing site for Howard's inventions.
Descending the stairs, Howard shouted to the Colonel, "I have two products I want to show you today. I think they'll knock your socks off.
"The first item," Howard pointed toward a piece of aviation equipment.
Colonel Philips looked at the device, unimpressed, "Stark, you know we're already set with the Norden M-9 Bombsight. We're halfway done replacing the Sperry S-1. It would be a logistical nightmare and a loss of significant investment of time and cash to pick up a new system. Besides how much more accurate could this thing be than the Norden?"
"It's better in every way from accuracy, ease of use, and build speed. Plus, my Stark H-1 Bombsight has even more features."
Colonel Philips expressed curiosity toward the bombsight. The bombsight is used on bombers airplanes that drop bombs, "The Norden has a CEP (Circular Error Probable) of 75 feet. It's a wholly integrated system that allows quick updates depending on weather conditions."
Howard laughed derisively, "Ha, Colonel Philips, that CEP number goes all the way up to 1,200 feet in an actual fight. The CEP for the Stark H-1 is five feet whether it's ideal conditions or combat. Plus, the Stark H-1 is also a holistic system with a superior linkage system. The H-1 is far simpler to operate and thus training speed is much faster. You can even lower the intelligence requirements, the camera can be set to one of four colors. Now, let's talk about additional integrations that will make this a game changer in the war."
Colonel Philips looked even more interested, "additional integrations?"
Smiling like a devil, Howard confidently moved forward, "The H-1 integrates a radar system and night vision capabilities! You can bomb day or night, on sea or land, and lose very little of the standard CEP, increasing from a five-foot error margin to only fifteen feet at most."
"Those specs are correct?" Colonel Philips asked astonished.
"You know I don't mess around. Lying would destroy my relationship with the military."
"How many and how soon?" Colonel Philips stared at the sophisticated military apparatus.
"I can complete an order of 20,000 units within six months and that number can double the next six months and more after depending on the support I get. The cost per unit is 10,000 dollars, for large orders I can knock another two percent off the cost. Switching to the Stark H-1 will save the American military a lot of money while ensuring greater accuracy."
"How can you afford to charge so little?" The Colonel looked at Howard.
"Like I said, these are fast-build units. Their construction is less complex than the Norden and the Perry bombsights. Simplicity and elegance of design make the H-1 more reliable, faster to produce, and install, and faster training. I can make a few changes so that you can install them into the current bombers that are being constructed for the Norden. Training cost is also much less and therefore quicker with the H-1, so we'll save money there as well."
Looking at the apparatus with more avarice, the Colonel's eyes sparkled, "Stark, if you were a woman I would ask you to marry me."
"If I were a woman I would tell you not to get too excited, you haven't met my sister yet," Howard laughed.
Confused, the Colonel looked at Howard, "What?"
"I have one more product to show you," Howard left his precious Stark H-1 Bombsight. The Colonel reluctantly followed.
Leading the colonel to a table that was covered by a sheet. When the sheet was removed, a thin square plate of fourteen inches by fourteen inches of metal half an inch thick lay on the table.
"Here it is," Howard proudly pointed to the square piece.
"Here's what?" The colonel looked at the piece of metal.
Howard picked up the metal square and flicked it with his finger, "It's a special alloy I call Hawsium."
"Cute. You named it after yourself," the colonel scoffed but looked at the alloy with interest.
"Colonel, I had no idea you were so clever," Howard smiled. "Hawsium has the defensive property of RHA (Rolled Homogenous Armor) six inches thick. A piece of Hawsium of this size only weighs about one pound.
Using this for armored cars, planes, boats, and tanks creates lightweight, durable vehicles. You can reduce the weight of the vehicles and save significantly on the cost of gas.
You could even use this for helmets and armor for soldiers. The use of Hawsium is only limited by your imagination."
Colonel Philips grabbed the alloy from Howard's hands and looked at it carefully, "How do you want to sell this to us?"
"Our company will produce the alloy to fit your specifications. Whatever you need," Howard saw the gleam in the colonel's eyes and knew this single product would make him wealthy beyond reason.
"This is a wartime strategic resource. I'll have the SSR deploy soldiers to protect Stark Industries and protect you from enemy agents. From now until the end of the war we are your exclusive client, agreed?"
It was clear to Howard that there wasn't an option to disagree, "Of course, I'm a patriotic American. Who else would I sell it to?"
After discussing the deal for Hawsium and the Stark H-1 bombsight, Colonel Philips used Howard's phone and issued some orders. An hour later army personnel arrived and were distributed appropriately through Stark Industries.
Howard's secretary, Shirley, was questioned, interrogated, and investigated to verify her identity and background. After thorough security checks, she was cleared and allowed to take up her role. Of course, the army insisted on running her through security training. Shirley didn't mind, it gave her job security and access to lots of single soldiers. She was looking for her, Mr. Right.
Over the next few weeks, Howard used the army's initial payment to hire SSR-approved personnel to work at his company. He hired everything from janitors to researchers. Stark Industries was starting to get a little crowded, but Howard's lab was off-limits for everyone.
It wasn't until a few weeks later, after things calmed down that Howard returned to studying the alien robot head.
Working late one night, Howard poked in the head and something clicked. A bright light emitted from the robot's head, "I guess I've turned it into a flashlight somehow." Turning the head this way and that, Howard noticed the light was blocked at points. When he shined the light on a wall he saw something extraordinary. The light was projecting information and design schematics!
"What's this?!" Howard aimed the head at a blank wall and saw that the schematics were for a robotic body. He studied the words and schematics carefully. With each passing moment, his excitement intensified.
"It's all here, motors, batteries, engine, everything! I could create a robotic body and it's not even that complicated. The recharging battery and engine are genius but they aren't too complex. I must create this!"
Bringing paper and pencil, he copied everything and arranged the information for study. The only problem was that he couldn't turn the head off once he finished. He didn't care, he had a robot to build!
Locking himself in his lab, nearly three weeks passed. On a table lay a headless robot with a height of six foot one inch. Howard sat in sweet stained clothing. His unshaven face and hollow eyes looked wild. On various tables, the remains of food half-eaten lay.
"I'm done, I can't believe it! It works, everything works. All I need is to attach the head and it should work, but should I? What if it's an evil alien?" Howard's thoughts churned and warred within.
"I'll take a show and get some sleep. I'll figure out what to do next," Howard rolled out of the chair he collapsed into heading to the makeshift apartment. An hour later, Howard returned to his lab, fresh, fed, and fixated on his finished robotic body. He tried to sleep but couldn't.
His heart thumped as he drew near the table where the robotic body lay.
"Where's my robot?!" He looked around the room and saw a figure leaning over his plate of Hawsium. Approaching carefully he recognized the form, it was his robot. It wasn't only his robot; the mysterious alien head sat securely in its proper place.
The robot didn't bother looking at Howard, "This Hawsium of yours, you drew some inspiration from the alloys composing my head, hmmm?"
Howard continued approaching the robot while walking sideways to see the mechanical marvel's profile, "The alloys in your head and a unique metal, vibranium, inspired me.
"I was wondering how you came up with adding a kinetic absorptive attribute to the alloy. Did you use the metal itself or develop a synthetic analog?"
"The metal is too rare to use for experimentation, but I discovered that adding a quarter of an ounce of the vibranium allowed the Hawsium to yield a much weaker version of the vibranium. It doesn't matter how many alloys I create, all it needs is a quarter of an ounce and the effect impacts molecular chains."
"Interesting, I can tell the imitation of the original metal is much weaker, but the result is enough to create powerful armor," The robot straightened and turned to look at Howard.
Howard's heart beat so fast that his hearing was suppressed, sounds sounded muted and heavy. The adrenaline sharpened his focus. He took in several steadying breaths.
"Thank you for the new body, you did an excellent job," The robot's mechanical voice echoed in Howard's brain.
"What now, will you kill me?" Howard dreaded the alien robot's answer.
"Why would I kill you? I'm certainly not going to kill my savior. You've helped me tremendously. I was trapped in my mind with little awareness. Through the fog, I sensed you and observed some of your work. It took me weeks to finally gain enough control to give you the blueprints. You've saved my life, if anyone lacking your genius had tried to create this body using those blueprints...I'd probably die, eventually."
Releasing his breath, Howard relaxed a little, "Can you tell me where you come from, which planet?"
"Which planet?" The robot turned its head in a human-like motion as if considering Howard's question.
"Unless I'm wrong, based on your biology, the technology level, and environmental data, this should be Earth. If that's true then I'm from here."
Howard's surprise erupted from his face as he looked at the robot, "From Earth? How can that be, I've never seen anything so advanced. Your head's components and alloys are made from materials completely unknown to this world!"
The robot nodded, "That's the issue, I'm not entirely sure what's going on myself. I lack information to come to any conclusions. Based on the technology the obvious conclusion is that I've traveled through time to the past. However, given where I began my journey, it's just as likely that I've come to a parallel world in the multiverse. Without learning more, I can't confirm my origins or where I am."
Attempting to wrap his head around the robot's comments, Howard felt more confused than anything, "In the future do we create a race of super robots?"
"Hmmm, I see, you haven't realized that I'm not a robot. I suppose that makes sense, there's no way you can penetrate this head."
"If you're not a robot, then are you an alien, and why did you fall from space?"
"To answer your first question, I'm not an alien. I am a human like you, however, my body was destroyed and my brain was transferred to a robotic body. This head holds my brain, I'm a cyborg."
Trying the word for himself, Howard found he was unfamiliar with the term, "What's a cyborg?"
"A cyborg is a synthesis of technology and biology. In the simplest terms if a human is missing a leg, for example, and replaces it with wood or plastic to assist them in getting around, that's a cyborg. My nature is that only my organic brain remains. The rest of me is a robot. That's why they called me, Robotman. Cute, don't you think?"
"Robotman?"
Robotman nodded in affirmation, "That's right, but when I was alive I was originally known as Dr. Robert Crane. Now that you know my name, could I ask who you are?"
"Howard Stark," as a matter of habit, Howard reached forward to give the robot a handshake. Dr. Crane reached forward and shook Howard's hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Stark."