Alex Hartman

Alex Hartman

Character of INFRA
General
Name	Alex Hartman
Status	Deceased Unconfirmed
Gender	Male
Appearances	None
Family	Unnamed Wife Unnamed Child Estranged Son
Voiced by	James Miller
Job
Company	Hammer Valley Hydro
Position	CEO (former)

Alex Hartman was the former CEO of Hammer Valley Hydro before the company's purchase by the Walter Corporation and eventual bankruptcy. Hartman is never seen in person, and references to him are only found through documents and tape recorders left behind in various locations he has visited.

Stalburg Wiki has a list of quotes relating to Alex Hartman.

Biography

Alex Hartman was the CEO of Hammer Valley Hydro, the second largest energy provider in Stalburg. Presumably, the construction of the Black Rock Nuclear Power Plant outranked his company for energy production, causing financial problems for his company. The problems escalated, and Hartman gradually became stressed and unstable. At some point during the acquisition of Walter Co.'s acquisition of the Bergmann Group and Stalburg Steel, the neglect of maintenace around the city caused an accident which resulted in the death of Hartman's wife and child. This was Hartman's breaking point, and he asserted that Jeff Walter was the cause of all of these problems and began to plot his revenge.

Hartman began a thorough investigation, searching every district of Stalburg for possible leads on Walter's location, and came to believe that Walter was out to get him too. Hartman allied himself with the former co-founder of the Bergmann Group, Eric Kleinmann, who provided him with dynamite, and was approached by the former CEO of Stalburg Steel, Mikhail Rosenthal. Hartman set a small base of operations in a sewer system underneath Stalburg, and at some point left a trap for Jeff Walter below the foundation of Walter's headquarters. When his investigation began to reach a dead end, Hartman somehow uncovered that Rosenthal was allied with Walter, and was informing him about Hartman's plans. Hartman interrogated and killed Rosenthal for this, and discovered that Walter was hiding in a villa owned by Rosenthal.

On December 19th, 1986, Hartman and Kleinmann broke into the villa during Max Koller's interview with Walter. Eric was dismissed by Hartman when Walter provided a location to find Xeander Berg, but Hartman stayed behind, and shot Max Koller when he attempted to disarm him. Hartman either shot Walter when he attempted to defend himself, or witnessed Walter kill himself. Afterwords, Hartman was shocked with what transpired, and isn't heard from again.

Relationships

Jeff Walter

After Hammer Valley Hydro's bankruptcy, Hartman developed an obsession and deep hatred for Walter, blaming him for the bankruptcies of his own and numerous other companies the Walter Corporation acquired, which somehow resulted in the death of his wife and child. His actions throughout the game are dedicated to exact revenge against Walter as a self-proclaimed quest to "save the city from Walter".

Eric Kleinmann

Kleinmann was Hartman's partner when they worked together in attempts to locate Jeff Walter and Xeander Berg. Hartman admired Kleinmann as a "great man capable of great things", and was the initiator of their partnership, presumably with the promise of finding Berg. Hartman recorded an audio-log that he and Kleinmann would confront him together, showing a degree of trust between the two men, however Kleinmann began to doubt that Hartman would be able to find Berg.

Mikhail Rosenthal

Hartman initially assumed Rosenthal wanted to join him in his crusade to find Walter, but began to grow suspicious of him. Hartman's suspicions proved correct when he somehow discovered Rosenthal was working for Walter to keep an eye on Hartman. In retaliation, Hartman imprisoned Rosenthal, tortured him for information, and killed him. Hartman later realizes the atroticty of his actions, but dismisses it when he realizes he's closing in on Walter.

Trivia

• It is theorized that Hartman visited the Underground City at some point, as one of his signature cigars can be found near the city gates control panel. He may have traveled here after the incident at the villa.

• According to one of his notes in his sewer base, Hartman has a son who was set up with a foster family. This may have some relevance to the mysterious "AH" of the ARG.