The SDN dispatch console was a wall of screaming neon alerts, but Robert managed the chaos with the practiced calm of a man who used to face down actual monsters. While his fingers flew across the interface, to the rest of the building, he was just the guy behind the desk - the voice in their headsets handing out coordinates and keeping the city safe.
Not even a year ago, Robert had been the one out there - strapped into three tons of gleaming, pressurized titanium as Mecha Man.
Fifte