Kyle Greene (from Heartless)

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Kyle Greene (73)

Project: Short story (Heartless)

Known as: No nicknames

Real name: Kyle Greene

Group affiliation: Techcorps

Physical description: Kyle is in his early 30ies at the start of the story. Not bad-looking, he is thin and doesn’t invest much in his appearance.

Personality: Kyle (with heart) is high-strung and anxious. He is overly hard on himself when he makes mistakes and is afraid of letting others down. He takes criticism too hard and perseverates on problems. That being said, he is a good and kind person.

Kyle (without heart) is confident, cool, and collected. He is also ruthless and uncaring.

History: Kyle has always been anxious. A fearful child, Kyle was an easy target for bullies. He was however easy to please, which made him a fine student beloved by adults. Also beloved by his close friends as he grew, he was unlucky in love mostly due to a notable lack of confidence on his part.

Outstanding in Computer Science in college, upon graduation he was snapped up by Techcorps. To say he was an exemplary employee would be an understatement. He was the one everyone could count on to deliver. No work/life balance at all, he worked long hours and weekends. As he moved from project to project, Techcorps and his managers made it clear that every project was urgent. As a result, he felt stress constantly and berated himself for any mistakes he made (they were all minor).

Despite his focus on career, his advancement was limited. Not assertive, managers and colleagues were happy enough to take credit for his work. Additionally, it was better for his department that his salary stayed contained (not to mention that some advised him to not seek a raise, as a higher salary made him more open to being laid off). Finally, the technical staff such as himself had limited advancement in general. The modern-day “factory workers” the MBAs and business-types held the most powerful (and lucrative) positions in the company.

All this implies that Kyle thought about his career, though he rarely had time for that. So, focused on the next project, problem, or ask, Kyle barely had time to ponder his own happiness. One night, when working late again, the stress and anxiety threatened to overwhelm him. He made a sort of wish – that he could just turn off his feelings for a while. On impulse, he put his hand on his chest and his fingers melted ghost-like. Reaching into his chest, he pulled out a wispy, bright light – his heart. Not the one made of meat, but his spiritual heart. He felt immediately better and put it in a drawer to finish his work. He replaced it when done, went home, and fell asleep.

The next day he assumed it was all a strange dream from overwork. Until the next time his anxiety got the better of him and he found he could do it again. Without his heart he was able to work faster and more efficiently. He also saw the world more clearly and realized things he would need to do to advance himself. On the other hand, the world was more muted without his heart – the lows were not low, but the highs weren’t that high, either.

Kyle sought the right balance for when to be heartless and when to have his heart. He started to rise in the company quickly when heartless but then would feel guilt for some of what he had done after he restored his heart. He began to wonder if life just wouldn’t be easier if he never put his heart back and began to spend more and more time without it. He did notice that his heart had begun to glow less brightly and ideally wondered what would happen to him if it went out.

Then one day his heart got stolen and everything changed.

Role in the narrative: He’s our protagonist. It’s a story around how modern corporations can sometimes take advantage of great people. It’s also about how we all blunt our feelings to get through this thing called life (to quote the purple one). It will have something of a positive ending – a metaphor for how we sometimes need someone to steal our heart when we aren’t so good at taking care of it ourselves.

Abilities: Very bright, fantastic coder.

Inspirations: This would be a very “Twilight Zone” sort of story. In my experience, smart, competent but risk-adverse people are the bulwark of most major companies.