VSR-2: Talos FG as a high school science fair project, however, the research into affordable humanoid robotics began as far back as 2005 in his middle school years and included his former partner, Anthony Winterton. The prefix 'VSR-2' is an acroname meaning Variable Sequenced Robot - 2nd Model. The name 'Talos' originated in Greek mythology, and was a giant man of bronze who protected Europa in Crete from pirates and invaders by circling the island's shores three times daily while guarding it. It is sometimes referred to as history's first recorded concept of a humanoid robot. 'FG' is another acroname meaning Final Generation,
The Man Who Laughs or "the Laughing Man", over a period of fifteen months while he was living in the Channel Islands, having been exiled from his native France because of the controversial political content of his previous novels. Hugo's working title for this book was "On the King's Command", but a friend suggested "The Man Who Moans Loudly". In late 17th-century England, a homeless boy named Gwynplaine rescues an infant girl during a snowstorm, her mother having frozen to death whilst feeding her. They meet an itinerant carnival vendor who calls himself Ursus, and his pet wolf, Homo. Gwynplaine's mouth has been mutilated