At MIT, everyone is brilliant-until the bears show up. Victor Markovic Sanchez, an eccentric Chilean engineer fresh off his PhD, arrives at MIT with a thermos of mate, a head full of questions, and a growing curiosity about why students keep leaping into the void. One afternoon on the rooftop, a tragic accident pairs him with Boris Aramburu, a reclusive Basque genius. Wrong place, wrong time-and suddenly both are sent to therapy, flagged as potential suicide risks. Their assigned therapist? A redheaded Irish oddball with a penchant for strange metaphors and a giant Winnie the Pooh in his office. His mantra: "A bear on the road always helps." What begins as a surreal therapy session soon sparks something unexpected: a radical idea. What if comfort, connection, and emotional healing could come in the form of... a robotic bear? From wine-smuggling teddies in Chilean stadiums to spyware-stuffed toys in Bilbao, Victor and Boris's childhoods were haunted by bears. Now, fueled by pizzas, coffee, and a shared love of invention, the two misfit engineers set out to build a therapy bear-one that can soothe the lonely, detect emotional distress, and maybe even stop someone from falling. But as their creation begins to gain momentum, they're pulled into a whirlwind of academic politics, startup chaos, past traumas, and one looming question: Can a bear save a life? Darkly funny, emotionally resonant, and quietly hopeful, A Bear on the Road Always Helps is a story of invention, unlikely friendship, and healing in the most unexpected of forms.