Callum Crown was born here in Dialtown, in 1923. Growin'up in the Thirties, in an era of depression and change... Callum found himself transfixed with the technology that was becomin' slowly commonplace at the time. Namely: the Telephone. Callum was born with a severe deformity, having one complete limb (his left arm), And while extraordinarily bright, he lived a solitary life, watching other kids outside perform feats he could only DREAM of.
When the early 40's rolled around, Callum signed up to fight in World War II, but wasn't accepted on account of his disability. He had to stay home and bitterly follow the war alongside the of those unfit to fight: via hazy radio transmissions. "If only I could walk", Callum thought to himself, "If I could walk, I could SERVE." It was at that time that Callum put his garage workshop to good use. Made use of scraps of just about any metal he could get his hands on to forge himself a pair of prosthetic legs, which, while crudely assembled, were virtually unheard of at the time. He sent the army registration office a note, vouching for his new metallic appendages, Vouchin' to join their cause, whatever the cost. He never got a reply. So he simply sent another letter. Then another, and ANOTHER. What started as one letter quickly became dozens.
Always a motivated guy, Callum decided to use his head, think of somethin' new. Callum bought his first telephone. After getting through to Dialtown's head enlister, Callum found out that to his shock, Every single one of his letters HAD hit their mark, but was simply thrown out en masse. "I'm here to recruit the best of the best this country has to offer." the recruiter stated over the phone, "Not some FREAK with metallic legs who'd slow the rest of my boys down!" With a single disconnecting click, Callum's dreams were obliterated yet again.
Callum, now full of spite and determination, decided to better himself further. He built himself a right hand, out of just about every metal he could find left over from the construction of his legs, connected the copper wires to his own nerves, and forged the very first fully working prosthetic hand. With the war winding down, Callum decided to go out to patent his designs. People at the patent office looked at him as though he were a FREAK, with his rusted iron clankin' hand, and his bulky metallic legs. Callum bitterly listened to the end of the war, now disillusioned, via a hazy radio transmission whilst tweaking his mechanical limbs to be more functional.
Come 1948, Callum decided to try his hand at selling his mechanical limbs to war veterans, many of which had returned in the coming months after the war. Initially, they sold like hotcakes, allowing Crown to move from his garage to a small manufacturing plant. Sadly this did NOT turn out to be a sustainable business model, as once each soldier'd bought a prostetic leg or two, they didn't need t' buy another. Come 1950, Callum struggled to move even one limb. This led him back to the drawing board, His inventions had dramatically improved his own quality of life... He wondered if he could offer his fellow man an upgrade. Advanced metallic limbs that had tools built in, had increased strength or flexibility... Limbs that could even change humanity, even the world as he knew it, just as he'd changed his OWN life. Callum took them to the public, parading his new and improved models around on in street shows, using himself as a test subject, but, was laughed off as a monster with metallic limbs, trying to sell his own misery to people.Callum was lookd on as a self-mutilated idiot, someone who made himself a freak for show, and not as the talented and determined visionary who paved the path that he needed underneath him to walk. "I'll prove them wrong, I'll prove the whole WORLD wrong, if I must!"
Callum gradually became more cynical, began reading more into the market, with the vain hopes of copying success, and sure enough, he figured it out: Sadly, America had turned into a luxury market. Washing machines, televisions, refrigerators, all were sellin' faster than the nearby factories could churn 'em out. Callums idea to integrate organics and inorganics wasn't taken to right away. With a lack of sales revenue, Callum had to all but shut down Crown Mechanics Inc. and let each and every one of his workers go. Callum soon became something of a town oddity, not unlike myself. A door-to-door salesman, made of clunkin' rusted metal, a vendor of that which was unwanted. Callum somehow felt lonelier than ever before, even more so than when he was back in his garage, watchin' the rest of the world move outside his window. He reflected on his loneliness, once again being bound to his workshop, next to his phone, desperate not to miss a SINGLE opportunity for his dream to take off. His phone, it connected him to the world outside of the workshop, to the rest of Dialtown... Perhaps, it could again.
That's when he realized: "I've got it now!" Callum spent a full year on his new design. A telephone that's built into your own head, could be swapped and traded for other such devices, and has a 5-year warranty. No repurchases required. Surprisingly, despite their clunkiness and novelty... The practicality of having complete and portable phone access anywhere in the world through air-wave frequencies wasn't lost on people, and interestingly, the phones caught on quickly. A typewriter alternative had even became common, allowing text to be printed from one's own head, As if the user was having a conversation with the very paper, itself. Unpredictably, these phone heads caused a massive boom to employment, With young men and women getting hired left, right, and center as both manufacturers, but also operators in switchboard exchangers. This economic boom made Callum extraordinarily popular, which he used to run for Mayor, the senate, and finally presidency, all 3 roles he walked into. Seen as a visionary, a man who could change the face of America for the second time.
Becoming leader of the United Nations, Callum proposed to the world his vision for the future. His idea of a functional, inclusive and wonderous mechanical world where all problems from famine, t' animal extinction, to societal conflict, to resource shortages, all could be solved, preventing future wars and creating worldwide harmony. However, due to paranoia, he refused to write the plan down in its entirety or tell anyone what it was prior to the proposal's agreement.
Needless to say, the vote in favor for the plan won by a landslide.
In the coming years, the whole WORLD was converted to have inorganic heads, Women, children, and animals too. Callum stood on the tallest podium given to a human being to date... and fell the HARDEST for it. He began to give his ultimate speech, his oratory opus: "My fellow humans! Now, for the moment you've ALL been waiting for! Without further ado... the FULL details of my plan to substantially improve the WHOLE world!"
Callum had accidentally wiped his own answerin' box, which for HIS model of telephone, was being used to store his memories. All of 'em. With Callum havin' given himself total amnesia in an instant, the whole world was stunned. Life was made fundamentally different for everyone, all for a promise never kept. The changes, the thought process behind these sweeping modifications, now a mystery. So... the world just picked up the pieces, without Callum, of course.
Nowadays, Callum sits in an old nursing home, alone, tunin' a busted radio. asking anyone who comes near him: "I-Is the war over yet? I can't get a signal..."