The morning of December 8, 1941, was a study in contrasts. Outside the windows of the Hemsworth family office on Wall Street, the streets were a churning, panicked mass of humanity. New Yorkers bought newspapers with headlines screaming of the attack on Pearl Harbor, their faces etched with a fear and rage that Damon Hemsworth had been anticipating for years. But inside the office, there was only the cold, quiet efficiency of a dynasty in motion.
Arthur Hemsworth, now a frail man of seventy-two, sat at his desk, staring out the window, his hands trembling. He had lived through one war, and now he was witnessing the beginning of another. The telegrams from Washington were already arriving, frantic and desperate. "My God, Damon," he whispered, his voice thin. "It has happened. We are in it now."
Damon, a man now in his mid-twenties, stood at the map of the United States, his expression as unblinking as a machine. He had not slept. He had been preparing for this moment for decades, and the nation's fear was simply the final piece of the puzzle. He had already sent out a series of coded telegrams in the predawn hours. His empire, built with purpose and foresight, was now a war machine, ready to be unleashed.
"It has begun, Father," Damon stated, his voice a low, steady hum that carried no emotion. "There is no more time for hesitation. Our nation needs us. And we are the only ones who can provide what it needs."
Within a week, the Hemsworth Conglomerate had fully mobilized for war. The conversion of the Thorne Motors factories in Detroit was instantaneous. The assembly lines, which had been producing passenger cars and civilian trucks, were now fully dedicated to the war effort. The first of the Thorne Avenger light tanks, designed with input from Damon himself, rolled off the line in a matter of months. The efficiency and scale were unprecedented. The government was so impressed that it awarded the Conglomerate sole-source contracts for thousands of jeeps, trucks, and armored vehicles. Damon's vision of a self-sustaining, vertically integrated industrial machine was now being put to the ultimate test, and it was passing with flying colors.
The logistical challenge of a global war was met by Hemsworth Global Logistics. The fleet of cargo ships, which had been used to transport civilian goods, was immediately put under government contract. The company's vast rail and truck network, already a national monopoly, became the backbone of the war effort, ferrying troops and materiel from coast to coast with military precision. Arthur watched the profits from this massive mobilization soar, and with them, his disquiet grew. He saw newsreels of soldiers packed onto Hemsworth trucks, heading toward ports and ships, and he knew his family's immense wealth was being built on the foundation of a nation at war.
The two most crucial, and still most secretive, pillars of the empire were its newest, and they were also Damon's greatest triumph.
Hemsworth Airways, a small passenger service just a year prior, was now a vital arm of the military. Its fleet of Hemsworth Condor transport planes, with their pressurized cabins and long-range capabilities, was the only one in the world that could ferry troops and supplies across the vast expanses of the Pacific and the Atlantic. The company secured a monopoly on government air transport, and its pilots, with their years of civilian experience, became the first generation of elite military transport pilots. Damon knew that this operational experience, gained during a time of war, would be an invaluable asset in the post-war world, positioning Hemsworth Airways to become the world's first and largest global passenger airline.
But it was at Hemsworth Labs where the true work of the war was being done. The U.S. government, realizing the importance of military communications and radar, had poured billions into research. But Damon's team, led by Dr. Elias, was already decades ahead of the curve. They had been working on miniaturized vacuum tubes and solid-state transistors for years. The war provided the perfect excuse to accelerate their research. With unlimited government funding, Damon's scientists developed a new generation of compact, reliable radio receivers, radar systems, and secure communication devices. The military relied on Hemsworth patents for its most sensitive and critical technology, giving the Conglomerate an unparalleled stranglehold on the future of electronics. For Damon, the war was not just a conflict; it was the ultimate research and development project, a government-funded laboratory that would yield the most valuable patents in human history.
As the war progressed, Damon's focus shifted from preparation to consolidation. He used his immense wealth and political influence to acquire distressed assets around the world, paying for them with the war loans the Hemsworth Bank was providing. He bought up ports in Europe, railway lines in North Africa, and patents in a dozen different technologies. The world was being remade, and the Hemsworth Conglomerate was the primary beneficiary. The empire had become unassailable.
On the home front, Arthur Hemsworth was now an American hero, a national figure whose face was on magazine covers. He was revered for his patriotism and his generosity, as the Hemsworth foundation, secretly run by Damon, was the primary source of funding for hospitals and aid organizations. But Arthur felt the immense, heavy burden of the dynasty. One evening, as he watched a newsreel of a battle in the Pacific, he turned to his son.
"The reports, Damon," Arthur's voice was filled with a desperate, painful honesty. "The men… the soldiers… they are dying in those machines we are building. The oil we are selling them is fueling their graves. I see it every night in my dreams. I cannot bear this weight. Tell me, when does it end?"
Damon's face, sculpted by years of cold, hard focus, remained placid. "It will end when the victory is won, Father. And when it is, the world will belong to us. We are not the ones who started this. We are simply the ones who are prepared for it. The world will be in ruins. Its industries will be leveled. Its governments will be in debt. And we will be the ones with the cash, the assets, and the technology to rebuild it. We are the new order, Father. We are the architects of the future. The war is a terrible tragedy for mankind, but for our dynasty, it is the final test. And we have passed it with flying colors."
The words were a bitter pill for Arthur to swallow, but he knew they were true. His son was not a monster, but he had a monstrous clarity of vision. He saw the world as a complex machine, and he was the one who could see the gears and levers that no one else could.
On August 14, 1945, the news of the Japanese surrender blazed across the world. The war was over. For Damon, it was not the end; it was the beginning. He immediately began issuing a series of new, coded telegrams.
TO: William Thorne: Begin immediate retooling. I want the Thorne factories to become the first in the world to mass-produce the new, fuel-efficient Hemsworth A car. I want them to be cheaper, faster, and more reliable than anything on the market. TO: Hemsworth Airways: Begin immediate conversion. The military contracts are over. We will now become the world's first global passenger airline. Use the new, pressurized Condor to fly to every major city in the world. TO: Hemsworth Labs: Finalize all patents. The military will be de-funding its research. We will acquire their best scientists and their most valuable research. We will move from military electronics to consumer products. The world is ready for a new kind of information, and we will be the one to provide it.
The war was over. The nation celebrated. But for Damon Hemsworth, the victory was already in the past. He was already looking forward, toward a world defined by the Cold War and the information age. He had built his dynasty, and it was now an unassailable fortress. The world had been brought to its knees, and the Hemsworths were ready to inherit the ashes.