Jack "Wacko" Ackerson
Skills and Accomplishments:
Phds in Exobiology, Field Theory, and Bionic Engineering.
Extensive experience with Extradimensional Entities under controlled settings.
Possesses Neural Bionics which allow him to interface with most computer systems.
Invented "Spectre" Field Generators.
Assets
3'000'000 U.I.T.D Credits.
Advanced Surgical Equipment.
Advanced Spectre Field Generators.*
A Hardened and Experienced Research Team.
A Secret Weapon.
*Spectre Fields are intended to suppress and isolate a category of extradimensional entities which might otherwise escape detection and restraint, through the use of Omega Energy directed through certain wavelengths. Spectre fields do not yet operate with 100% efficiency, and have not yet been extensively tested. Nontheless, they are much more effective than all other tested alternatives, despite a lack of understanding as to the range of their properties.
"00327" Institute Model Corvette
Outfit
One dorsal battery of Ballistic Macrocannons (Reliable in longer engagements, moderate damage. Difficult to target accurately at long ranges.)
Standard Outfit Starship Armor (Vulnerable to intense heat.)
Small Mk 1 Omega Drive (Currently running at 2% capacity. Projected to remain stable for roughly a century.)
Basic Shipboard A.I and Computer Systems.
Modular design and lack of modification allow for extensive additions.
Crew
Commanded by Captain Silyn Weaver.
Roughly 3000 crew members. Of those 150 are armed and trained combat personnel.
Shipboard Equipment
Standard Onboard Armament. (Includes close range ballistic weaponry and a large store of ammunition.)
Standard Repair Equipment. (includes the tools and materials required for non-serious repairs and maintenance.)
You decline all requests for meetings in lieu of taking a tour of the facility. Regardless, the heads of both Finance and Human Resources forward various records and files towards you. Not all of them mean much to you on a cursory examination, but they have nonetheless been labelled as essential.
You can't help but admit to yourself that it feels good to decline the requests of corporate bureaucrats that under other circumstances you would have been under the mercy of. Nontheless, you doubt that they will react well to having to wait at your pleasure to proceed. Save of course for Doctor Suzuki and Captain Wright, only the head of HR, Mark Tate, accept your invitation to join your tour of the facility.
You arrive planet-side by shuttlecraft, and are greeted at the landing pad by an escort of armed Security Personnel. Your first impression of the facility is that of emptiness. There is a great deal of un-utilised space, and the lack of activity at the facility's primary landing pad is itself evidence of a lack of industry. You suppose it's not surprising, given that save for the ships in orbit this is the only manned facility in the system, so there isn't much need to transport anything. Still, it's jarring to see a location which would normally be buzzing with activity so quiet.
After your identity is confirmed to the exactitude of Institution protocol, you are escorted directly through the airlock and pedestrian access into the facility. The lobby, normally where people might wait to be processed into the facility, is as empty as the landing pad, though you are greeted by the Trio you had expected.
Doctor Marcus Suzuki appears middle-aged, his hair beginning to grey, and he possesses the exact kind of self-assured demeanour one might expect of someone with his record of competence. He's also clearly the proud owner of a few high-end bionic enhancements, including a distinctive ocular implant. He is the first to welcome you to the facility, and he does so with a seemingly genuine level of professional respect.
Captain Lucas Wright has chosen a U.I.T.D Security uniform in favor of an equally valid Military uniform. Wether he's making a point or simply prefers to remain uniform with those under his command is hard to say. He offers a vaguely fake seeming smile and a firm handshake in welcome.
Mr. Mark Tate seems a little on the young side for someone in such an executive position, but otherwise seems quite unremarkable at a glance. He takes the liberty of handing you your facility key-card, already keyed in to your biometrics, before suggesting they get right to it. Neither of your companions seem averse to this idea, and you've never really been one for small talk anyway, so you agree.
Your tour predominantly takes place in the first three ground levels of the facility. Currently they are utilized primarily as residential spaces for the roughly Thirty-Six-Thousand non combat personnel, at the facility, as well as office and storage spaces. Despite the fact they are the most heavily utilized, there is a great deal of usable space on these levels that is currently used for little of importance. Suzuki suggests that it would be prudent to establish various levels of manufacturing on these levels, though Mr. Tate tastefully interjects to point out that all needs of the facility are currently met, so such would be better undertaken with some goal in particular in mind. Captain Wright's contribution is mostly to lay out and explain the facility's security protocol, which mostly is fairly standard. Currently, security checkpoints have been established between all accessible sections of the facility. These checkpoints are heavily defended by both personnel and automated systems, and can easily be locked down, dividing entire sections of the facility rather efficiently if done in a timely fashion. Currently however, the numbers of security personnel far outstrip their duties, and he adds that he'd like to open and clear the first level of the underground portions of the facility as soon as possible. Each underground level is seperated from adjacent levels by rail line, all of which are currently closed airtight and further secured by Spectre field generators.
Doctor Suzuki explains that as of now, his department are the only ones who have any kind of access to the lower levels. The only assets down there which are currently activated are Institute Maintenance and Security drones. He adds that he'd like to speak to you about that soon, at your leisure of course.
It occurs to you that this means he may not only have an inkling of what is down there, but possibly has information about the more restricted aspects of this operation. Wether that is a problem or not remains to be seen.
The control tower is exactly what you might have expected. The facility's computer servers are housed on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the tower, taking up about half of the space of each floor. Meanwhile the facility's power generators (The conventional power generators that is.) Take up nearly all of the space on the First second and third floors of the tower. Above all that is mostly un-utilised space, and on the very top level is the master control system, as well as a very cushy office, living space, and personal landing pad. You're fairly certain it's where you're expected to settle into, but you havn't decided that for certain quite yet.
...
Once all that is behind you decide to break for lunch and think. The facility cafeteria you settle into is one of the few places that feels bustling, filled with people who are either hungry or bored. It occurs to you that as of now there is in fact very little for any of these people to do, though you don't plan that to be the state of affairs for very long.
Over some overprocessed food, you consider filling the R&D position. That's normally your field of expertise, but it might be helpful to have a number two with some authority when it comes to such things. Given your current goal of medically enhancing human beings you decide it may be helpful to have someone with something approaching a medical background. Three examples come to mind. You could choose a capable individual from your personal research team, which would come with the advantage of a level of familiarity and perhaps even loyalty. They wouldn't have the most... human touch, so to speak, and you would have to expect high mortality rates in your experiments, but you could also be assured that you would get results.
Alternatively, you could choose one of the senior hospital staff from your recent hires, who are still awaiting in orbit on your ship. You hired experienced staff with good records, who you can be reasonably sure will be very good at actually keeping your subjects alive. Such a doctor might not be quite so experienced at pushing the envelope as far as it can go, but that's also an advantage in some regards, as a more conservative methodology might contrast well with your own... skillset.
Or, lastly, you could promote within the medical staff who have already been serving in the facility. You don't currently have a good grasp of their competence, but it's possible that promoting someone who might be seen as an "outsider" into such a senior position could engender some kind of irrational resentment, and it may be better to avoid that. More importantly however, you doubt that the senior executives who made the initial round of hires to post people to the facility hire anyone incompetent, but neither would they have been likely to hire those who might be considered a little too ethically burdened for such a secretive facility. So, promoting from within established staff might land you with someone who represents a balance between the two alternatives, of course it's hard to say.
Author
Topic: The Institute (Read 1954 times)