A crowd of people; civilians, soldiers, government officials, and high ranking generals alike sat in a large amphitheater, a couple whispers floating about.
The date was 2007, August 17th, 3:07 PM; two years after Omnipotence & Research had been blamed and charged with illegal human experimentation.
One of, if not the, biggest scientific corporations in the world had nearly been driven to bankruptcy. It had been a financial disaster, and O&R had gone dark for two years. Closed to the public, all deposits taken out of every last bank account, and the staff of the company hadn't even been seen by family members.
But suddenly, O&R was back. The new PR Manager, James Riley, had tweeted; something about how the company was going to release the biggest achievement in biotech.
And, at exactly 3:10 PM, James took the stage.
He lightly adjusted the microphone on the podium with his hand; smoothed down his tie with the other, before he spoke. "Ladies and gentlemen. If I may have your attention, please."
A smile, warm and welcoming, appeared on his face; it put everyone at ease, and despite the rumors circulating the company, the amphitheater went quiet.
"Now, in recent years, we have been blamed time and time again for... unethical actions."
A slight murmur went through the crowd; James was bringing up that, and now of all times?
"But, we have since moved on from such things. Ladies and gentlemen, brave soldiers, and our special guests, I am proud to unveil the AHB Model 148!"
With a whisk of his hand and a step to the side, the floor behind him opened up, and a platform rose...
Revealing a hulking, 8 foot brute, dressed in a white hazmat suit, a black gas mask, and black boots.
Behind the dark visor of the mask, two red lights glowed.
"I introduce to you my very special guest, AHB-148-C. Quite a long name, I know. We call him Charles for short."
James grinned before turning to Charles; "Dear friend, would you mind picking that up for me?"
He pointed to another spot on the stage; another platform rose up, this time carrying a giant metal square.
On it in carved and bold letters read "2 tons".
Without hesitation, Charles walked over, his steps calm and smooth, before he bent down, grabbed the square, and lifted it with ease.
Settling it onto his shoulder, he went back over to James, who grinned again and turned to the audience- who were flabbergasted.
The 8 foot giant had just picked up a 2 ton metal square. 2. Ton. Metal. Square.
"As you can see, our new AHB Model can pick up 2 tons. Through some testing, we found that it's maximum weight carry capacity is 5 tons. Not only that, but Charles here- and every other 148- can take quite a bit of firepower. Arnold, care to demonstrate?"
Another man stepped up on stage; he was dressed in a simple black uniform, an AK-74 slung over his shoulder and an M1911 in his hand.
Charles turned to face Arnold, and the man took a position near the edge of the stage.
He lined himself up; aimed at Charles, and fired at him with the M1911.
Pop clang! Pop clang! Pop clang! Pop clang pop clang!
Instead of the sound of a bullet sinking into flesh accompanying the pop of the pistol, there was a metallic clang. In a few seconds, the M1911 was empty- and Charles had not stumbled, shifted, or flinched a bit.
"Some of you may be wondering how this is possible. Many of you may be wondering what that noise was. Well, I'll tell you." James began, looking down at a paper in his hand. "I'll also skip the science bit and move onto the point. Charles, and every other 148, has a reinforced titanium skeleton. His bones are coated in reinforced titanium. Not only that, but his skull is also surrounded by reinforced titanium; it's why the size of his head matches the size of his body."
He then looked at the crowd, and said with a smile, "But a bullet proof vest can protect you from a little pistol. Did we make a living bullet proof vest? No. Arnold, if you would be so inclined."
James motioned to Arnold, and the crowd let out a small gasp as the man held up his AK-74. And knowing O&R, that was probably enhanced to be even more powerful than the standard AK.
Ratatatatatatatatatatat!
Shells dropped to the floor as Arnold just held the trigger down and fired round after round into Charles' chest.
And still, the behemoth didn't even flinch. He just stood there, staring down at Arnold without a care in the world.
The bullets weren't even going through him; the things were hitting him and then falling off.
And, in two seconds, the magazine was empty. The last shell clattered to the ground, and the only part of Charles that was even moderately damaged was his hazmat suit.
"And I can't forget to mention, but every Model 148's suit is made out of O&R Patented Tungsten Carbide ultra thin reinforced cable. It's a long name, but it is what it is, and it's what makes the suit so durable."
James then made another motion with his hand and both Arnold and Charles disappeared behind the stage curtain; although Charles had to duck, due to his... more than considerable height.
Turning back to the audience, all of whom were highly shocked, some in awe, and most absolutely mind-blown, James said calmly, "As you can see, our Model AHB-148 is top of the line. And, for your information, no, they are not made from human humans. They're made from lab-grown embryos, which are injected with growth hormones and other sciency stuff so they can mature in a matter of weeks."
He then clasped his hands together and added, "I want to add that the 148 is not available for the general public. However, we will be selling to the armed forces, especially the police and our brave soldiers here. And, to the civilians- the 148 is a prototype for the 149, which will be for you all. The 149, however, will be more suited for civilian life, not to be a bullet sponge or a terminator. That is all, and no questions."
With that, James stepped off the stage and quickly exited before any of the reporters or news people could trap him and ask him endless questions.
Soon after, every social media platform just blew up.
Posts upon posts upon posts kept on talking about the same thing- O&R and the AHB-148.
James could only thank the high heavens that Lenov had finished the 148 in time for the event; otherwise, he would've been Charles-less and forced to demonstrate with hypotheticals and not, well, Charles.
But at least this had pulled O&R up from the brink. Maybe it'd even get him a raise.
Riley quickly skirted past a group of reporters on his way out- he had done his public appearance and just wanted to go home, relax on his couch, and sleep for the next few hours.
He had spent his last night rehearsing that speech over and over again. Goddamn, he just wanted to sleep.