James Quill was not what you'd expect. An aspect that often gave him an advantage in negotiations, even in a pre-system world the man was intimidating. Seriously intimidating.

Standing at 6 feet 4 inches tall, the man was more of what you'd expect of a gym trainer rather than the co-founder of a company that grossed almost 2 billion dollars in revenue. And you'd be right, because he actually did that for a year before deciding to quit and stake it all on his dreams. 

The man was almost 50, had a receding hairline and went far above the threshold of what one would call accomplished. Built like a rhino, a slightly bulging stomach that underneath was packed with muscle, two huge, lumbering bear-like arms the outlines of which could not be hidden by his business suit. However, he never showed signs of his age catching up, never tired of business meetings or coming up with new ideas, the flames of his passion were never dulled.

To him, it all still kind of felt like a dream. An abandoned orphan, moving from one shitty household to the next like a lava filled hot potato had come this far. From lawn mowing for neighbors and hiding his earnings, to package delivery, fast food chef, Uber driver, gym trainer and finally managing to score it big on his e-commerce platform.

The man had worked and worked to create this empire from nothing but sand, and he feared that one big wave could take it from him at any point if he was not vigilant.

His success had been via unconvential means. He wasn't a genius, no Yale graduate or born with a golden spoon to fund his ventures. All he had was a half busted laptop that he had managed to snag at a pawn shop for cheap, and a dream to earn big money.

No elaborate motives, no altruistic desires, just a desire to earn enough money to live comfortably and start a family one day, if he could find love.

He knew there was no hope for him in America, too many well-dressed gentlemen in fancy suits and even fancier degrees, putting forward complex ideas he could never dream of, with projections and market analytics he had no statistics degree to understand.

He decided to go down the ladder instead of upwards. The American dream was too difficult for him, too competitive and it made him feel inferior. When his pitches were rejected, initially he felt humiliated. But gradually, as he researched more and saw what the others were putting forward, there was just amazement. The difference was too large, to a point where James didn't feel anger anymore. Just a change in mindset. 

So what if he couldn't compete with them? Couldn't he just go somewhere else? Was success limited by how high your IQ was? If an opportunity didn't exist here, he just would carve one out somewhere else. 

It was a gamble, but James was not a man to be cowed by the odds. Deciding to go to a third world country, where he had managed to get a job in a start up, he started laying the ground work for his plan. Whatever knowledge of coding he had was self learned, except for a 6 month diploma course he had managed to scrounge up enough money for. That was enough for the startup. 

After all, the pay was so low it didn't really matter. James found that the best part about living in a third world country was that the dollar was ridiculously strong. His meager savings would last him a few years of living in a single bedroom apartment and that was when excluding his salary.

So James put in effort, making contacts in each start up he worked at and pitching them his idea to test it's viability. Drifting along for five years from startup to startup, he knew enough about the market now to give it a shot and he knew the people who would help make it possible.

Pitching his idea to a billionaire funded investment company, his e-commerce platform idea was finally accepted. He was given a grant of 150,000 dollars and from then the rest was history.

Years had passed, and his company's growth showed no signs of stopping, rapidly taking over the business of brick and mortar shops with double digits (percentage) increases in year on year revenue. 

After a decade of hard work, he wanted to go back home and hopefully find a significant other. He managed to convince the board of directors to open a branch office in America, and allow him to head the company's business efforts there. 

He had met Timothy's mother while he was at a socializing party thrown by one of his rich neighbors. They hit off pretty well, and after a few years of dating they tied the knot. An excellent wife, a loving relationship, and a son that had never done anything that would hurt his father. What man could ask for more?

At least until that incident happened.

The moment he had decided to father a child, he had sworn to never let him feel the hardships he had clawed out of, to buy him whatever he ever wanted and let him enjoy life on an all expenses paid vacation, he would not let his child suffer. Anyone that would dare bully his child would feel his wrath, even if it was the President's son. One would do best not to underestimate a hulking giant of a man that looked like he could snap his counterparts in half, and create 2 billion dollars in a foreign country which he knew practically nothing about, starting off with with a practically non-existent investment of 5,000 dollars.

Unfortunately, he had failed miserably in what he had sworn to protect. It was as if he was being mocked for his over protectiveness, mocked for his empire..... of paper. Nothing he could do would help Timothy, he had tried. All he could do was hope that his son would get over it with the passage of time, able to live a normal life again, to smile again.

He was just discussing a business deal, when the voice came.

The voice that changed everything.