~POV Robert House~
"Mr. House what do you know about science and its history with society?" Dean Oswald's words hinted at a test that went beyond the simple tone that the Dean used. Robert knew the old Englishman before him was on a fishing expedition of some kind, looking for an answer that would best encompass his belief system. House imagined the answer included something that late stage fallout 4 Institute believed in... but that was a jumbled mess of poor writing that could only be watered down to science can help rebuild human civilization. So instead of going with the poor answer he believed Dean Oswald wanted, House instead went with the best answer, the right answer, the House answer. For at the end of the day, being true to oneself is always the best option, and if you have enough charms to sell it, then you can make it the right answer.
"I believe the 3 P's will perfectly encompass the main chunk of your question." Dean Oz raised an eyebrow, his curiosity raised by House vague and mystical wonders that hid behind three P shaped metaphorical doors. With the full undivided attention of the old man, who was ready to burst at the seams in order to know more, Robert delivered his explanation. "Profit, Progress, and Protection. The 3 P's of what science can do for society. Through science society can profit greatly, becoming fruitful and productive to support an ever growing population. Through science we can even push our limits, advance our species forwards to bright new direction, allowing our civilization into the next frontier of expansion. And finally through science we can acquire whatever we need to protect us against whatever dangers appear, whether it is the hostile nature of a new world or the failures of a society that did not properly nurture their own future. Science can respectively achieve all three of those categories if implemented correctly."
Dean Oswald's face grew stony, any excitement in the man died, now revealing nothing, and that told House everything. House must of said something that did not sit well with the old man, or done something wrong in his explanation. Ideology was a product, one that required a special form of sales men to unload upon the consumer base, and unfortunately for House, either his product was not marketed properly, or his consumer was far more picky. Either case, House saw his opportunity to access proto-institute knowledge slipping away, as such his mind went into overdrive to figure out where or what he did wrong. The dean gave the answer that House was having a tough time pinning down.
"Yes, if science implemented correctly it will lead to your.... 3 Ps. Unfortunately, Mr. House we do not live in a world that implements ideas or actions correctly or as perfectly as I am sure you run your lab work. I wish it was so, but the answer I was looking for is a bit more introspective than your broad stroke answer." The dean resumed eating his morning meal, the storm outside still raging, reducing Boston into a wet hell hole with little to no chance of improving anytime soon. All while House pondered for a the deeper meaning, it took a minute, but House believed it had something to do with the Dean's fears.
"Why all the paranoia?" Robert asked directly, not a fan of all the misdirection and hoops that needed to be jumped. "Why the obsessiveness over government spies? What's got you so afraid that you are worrying about them?"
Dean Oz sighed again, this time deeper, heavier. He set his teacup down and looked at House with the weary eyes of a man carrying centuries of knowledge. "That is a long story, Mr. House. It will require a history lesson you may not wish to hear."
Noticing Oswald's extremely cold attitude, House had to utilizes every bit of his charisma and persuasion for his reply, all in order to get an idea of the man before him. "I am more than willing to listen. I was supposed to be dealing with a hearing for the next couple of hours. A history lesson with good breakfast is preferable."
That got a better reaction out of Dean Oswald Cadwell, this time lifting up his teacup, taking one last swig, before placing it gently down with deliberate care and leaning forward, eyes sharp beneath silver brows.
"Science," he began, voice low but carrying the weight of decades, "is the single force that could push human society beyond every limit it has ever known, progress like your 3 P's claim to achieve. It is the tool that could break through any danger, any crisis, any wall we build around ourselves, yet only one resists that force of progress with a near homicidal level of agency. Human society, it is our best friend, and it is the worst enemy of a scientist. It fights back against progress like confused antibodies in a human body. They are supposed to be targeting and fighting dangers such as bacteria, however this body, our societies, instead target the very nutrients that would keep the body alive. The scientist that desires to do good in a world that does much wrong."
House had prepared for a history lesson, but he did not realize how long of a history lesson he was going to get before receiving a proper answer. Not desiring to fail in building a proper relationship with the Dean, House enjoyed his cup of spiced green tea, and a poached egg as the Dean gestured toward the artifacts around the two men.
"Take Galileo, his discovery of the Jovian moons as well as the other secrets of our star system and the Milkyway Galaxy has made him a legend remembered for all time in the scientific communities. A man who discovered the truth of our solar system, doing as any scientist would do, and society answer that by locking him away forever for daring to speak the truth. The catholic church and science have not had the best relationship, many times the brightest intellectuals have butted heads with the most stubborn spiritualists, and Galileo lost his freedom in said fight. Yet, his discoveries out lived him, proving Galileo right and validating his claims years later. Most people think that is the worst fate that can befall a scientist when standing against the titanic force that is our society. Imprisonment, exile, disgrace, I can assure you Mr. House, that is not the worst thing that can happen to a man of progress. There is a fate worse than imprisonment and worse than death. Institutional interference."
Oz's gaze hardened, for an instant House saw something within the eyes of the old British man that nearly turned him from civilized gentleman into rage filled savage. And it echoed in his office, like a mocking reminder wishing to drive the room's occupants insane. Institutional Interference. "It can come in many forms, most relating to governmental or spiritual establishments. The Ottoman Turks show what happens when those establishments grow too powerful, to set in their ways, out right refusing progress when it is something they desperately need to survive. The Ottoman empire was once a super power with every tool at their disposal that would allow them to triumph over their enemies and maybe even conqueror the world. Unfortunately the Ottomans failed to modernize with the times, falling far behind their neighbors, stagnating in both technology and sociological advancement. Worse was their religious clergy, the Sheiks and Imams, who refused the concept of the printing press, to spread knowledge of their holy book or any other educational material to the masses. Instead these religious guardians preferring to keep their people ignorant and unaware, dependent on them for knowledge. When the Ottoman empire fell at the end of the first great war, so did the last empire of Islam, leaving the middle east in a dark age that they neither acknowledge nor truly grasp how far they have fallen. Those who resist progress falter and their societies die, but even when pointed out, even when shown at the time most crucial to their survival, they still reject it. Utter madness that people years later can identify as the route cause of all of our current day problems, and how the past extends its death grip all the way to the present. But not everyone needs hindsight in order to realize the actions being taken are a bad decision, and that certain actions should have been taken ahead of time in order to prevent something that was clearly going to fail. However, those who study history, can only watch in horror as everyone else repeats it."
That struck a cord with Robert, engulfing him into Oswald's retelling, as the old man sipped a silent sip of his tea. The Dean's hands were shaking as he placed his cup down, before in exhausted breath spoke his next chapter of scientific history. "We will jump over to Oppenheimer and the day he created the nuclear bomb. That single act of scientific achievement has become a sword of Damocles hanging over the head of all of humanity. Thanks to Julius's discovery, and its later advancements, we are now only three hours away from killing off our entire species, wiping it off the face of the planet. I hope and pray to my lord and savoir Jesus that the petty men we have elected do not think their petty spat with their neighbors justifies bring our entire species to a horrific end. All of this can and might one day happen because a single scientist was swayed by the propaganda of his nation. At the time Oppenheimer was looking only as far as the borders on a map, thinking the people on said land was endanger and needed his help, unable to see the people behind the borders of America's enemies. The United States prey upon Oppenheimer's love of his nation, called it his patriotic duty, that now damns our entire species. Julius Robert Oppenheimer built the biggest tool of death that humanity has ever known, a weapon whose control falls into the hands of people who do not care, who see the atomic bomb only as a tool for control and domination. Oppenheimer regretted his creation and was haunted by it for the rest of his life, dedicating the remainder of that life to protest his own creation and put limits on it's future use. Julius realized the mistake only after he made it, and once the genie is out of the lamp, it is impossible to put it back in, no matter how many safe guards the AEC dreams up. That was Oppenheimer, a man given a blank check and words of indoctrination by his country and made a mistake he was smart enough to regret. Even so, Oppenheimer did not even come close to the depths of insanity that befalls scientists who have made an unholy deal with their respective institutional powers. No, most of these people of wisdom and reason only see as far as they need to in order to secure themselves a place in the history books and respect in our scientific communities. Some scientists go too far in order to achieve their dream, not leaving a golden mark on history but a black one."
House pondered what the agents of the House of Un-American Activities would do if they learned a high ranking educational director of the most important university of America viewed patriotism as badly as he viewed indoctrination. If House only had a recorder on him, he could switch playthrough tactics from making everyone from the proto-institute to like him into just strong arm them into getting access to their technology. Unfortunately, both Victor, and Dean Oswald's security agents would disapprove of this tactic, forcing House to continue with his good karma playthrough. Robert simply sat and listened to the Dean's incredibly long history lesson. Though noting the Dean's voice growing colder, angrier, and raspier with every dark tale that came after.
"Soviet scientist Trofim Denisovich Lysenko is a horror I hope humanity never suffers again. This man, who called himself an agriculturalist, refused proven science, such as Mendelian plant genetics that has been successful for millennia, calling it all western propaganda and capitalist lies. Lysenko refused to believe in something as simple as plant cells, the basic building blocks of life that every living creature on our planet are composed of. Instead of using the proper and proven scientific management of crop development, Lysenko believed in evolution through willpower and determination when the plant is excluded from all other alternatives. Trofim thought that by intentionally growing crops in the worst possible climates with little to no support, the plants would evolve into a new strain of super-plants that could thrive anywhere. This ideologue was playing at scientist while constraining his peers, imprisoning and murdering them when they dared question him as it was equal to questioning the Soviet Union, the state, the institutions of power. Lysenko thought he could do in a single crop rotation what nature and evolution takes millions of years to accomplish. Lysenko's method failed time and time again, unable to feed the millions of starving people dependent on his research. Even so, the true horrors comes when even proven wrong, Trofim Denisovich Lysenko's beliefs and theories were adopted by many fellow communist allies of the Soviet Union." Hearing Dean's cold emotionless words regarding the Soviet scientist, House realized the horrific toll that was about to be revealed.
"Lysenko's agricultural theories spread from most of Eastern Europe to as far as China and north Korea, where Mao openly embraced Lysenko's agricultural practices. Trofim's failure as a scientist, blinded by hatred of the West and unwilling to be questioned, led to the worst forced starvation in human history. If Adolf Hitler killed fourteen million people during the Holocaust, then Lysenko's unquestioning scientific dogma was responsible for killing enough people to match five of Hitler's Holocausts. That man was worse than a genocidal maniac, yet his teachings still linger today in portions of the world that we overlook or mockingly ignore. Trofim Lysenko's scientific monstrosities should be screamed out from every window and spoken about in every classroom. The amount of victims Lysenko's theories resulted in should have been the black standard of science that everyone should point at and say never again, that is the least we can do for all the people that suffered because of that mad man. Unfortunately whether your from the east or the west, no one documents Trofim's madness, there is nothing being re-examined, nor anything being discussed about him. The commie's see Trofim as one of their own saints of the common man no matter how many of them he is responsible for killing. While America and all other western governments would prefer to put the blame of over seventy million people at the feet of the Soviets who played their part in the madness, yet never do they mention Trofim Lysenko. There will be no history books that will publish the insanity of Lysenko's actions, not even here in the United States. All because Lysenko's story would have everyone questioning the institutions that enable people like Trofim to commit the insanity that these powerful entities sign off on."
Dean Oz looked exhausted, speaking of Trofim Lysenko even had Robert shaken. Yet the lesson was not over, for as soon as the Dean let the horrible numbers of 70 million people settle like stones at the bottom of a lake, he continued speaking.
"And now we face a sinister threat, one that wears a new face, but is at it's atomic core the exact same psychosis that enabled Lysenko's insanity. This modern detrimental breed of scientists, are a danger to others, for their version of science is a twisted mockery. One that is popping up faster than the scientific community can disprove their fault in logic. One perfect example is Amy Cuddy, though she did not kill the way Lysenko did, nor build a tool of mass murder like Oppenheimer, she represents a new danger still in its cradle. And I am sad to say it will soon grow to doom both western society and the halls of academia. Worse, Amy was given the laurels and the status of an expert who should never be questioned, like the pope that imprisoned Galileo for his discoveries. Cuddy was a sociologist and psychologist who sold her soul to the corporations, given power and authority and told she must remain unquestioned. Amy came up with the concept of power posing, something just as ridiculous as Lysenko's theories on agriculture, and it went unquestioned for nearly ten years. Anyone who voiced doubt or refused to participate in the power pose lost their jobs, their livelihoods, and far more. Reasonable scientists eventually disproved her claims and rightfully condemned the charlatan's example for the trash that it is." The Dean's eyes met House's directly with an intensity of a burning sun. There was an unnatural focus and determination to his gaze, as if the dean had become a hunter, and just spotted fresh prey.
"Mr. House, I am one such scientist that stands against the horde of Shysters that will soon overtake us all. I fought against the threat of the corporate backed puppet scientist in my younger years. It was a hard-fought battle against lunatics attempting to sell products and ideas claiming it will help an individual, only to be no better than the promises of a snake oil sales man. These battles lasted far too long to earn its victory, and Amy Cuddy is not the last of this madness. Even now I see that the war is lost, the well of knowledge has been polluted beyond what is possible to be properly salvaged."
"What do you mean it is lost?! How are you so certain of this?" House kept his words measured, yet this unknown threat that Dean Cadwell was spooked over was enough to have the feeling be contagious.
"It began with the cosmetic and health industry, new ventures were coming out claiming their products supposedly helped regain hair loss, or made it easier to lose fat after eating a single pill. Such claims should have the average American show a bit of skepticism just like the scientific community who made the mistake of ignoring the matter and allowed the dominos to fall. We did not take into factor how desperate most Americans were to throw away their money on worthless remedies, no better than a minor supplements at best, in the hopes achieved the promise that many desperately clung to. From that ignorance the entire cosmetic and health industry has been completely overtaken, and now that same madness is bleeding into every other industries, most important of all being alternative sources of energy. Secretary Walters with the blessing of President Garviel has funded so many unproven concepts, theories, and groups that promise to have the solution to solve our current energy deficit. Each and everyone of those morons claim to be a revolutionary scientists with a supposed PHD and a concept that just needs funding, tax payer funding in order to make the break through needed to save America. These new fraudsters each promise to fix a problem that has long grown far beyond any one nation can handle, yet these intellectuals believe they can fix the issue within a decades time, two tops. Blackrock Carbon Solutions is a perfect example of the madness that will doom us, several times we have offered them possible suggestion on how to approach the madness of turning coal into liquid fuel, even possible steps to achieve it if only they show their own means of achieving said project. Yet, they only respond with silence, no matter how much possible ideas we share with them when they ask, they offer little in return and I know why. They are the mutation, the cancer that corrupts the community that no one thought could be harmed, yet the harm has come and everyone can not see it nor stop it."
"How are you so certain that there is nothing to be done to stop it?" House had long given up on the Dean circling back to his original question. Something had the Dean so afraid that it had him go down on this tirade, as if he was intentionally avoiding the answer. The old man would not even be able to address it at this rate, instead taking the first year student on a long debate journey that House hoped would just end soon. At least he is talking to me, not distant, not disappointed. There is something here I can work with, something I can use to gain access, just need to hold out a bit longer, play the wide eyed first year entrapped with the Dean's beliefs.
"Professor Malvagio Gorllewin thinks so, thinks like you do Robert. God bless his determination even if it is misguided. He is one of my former students and my dearest friend, he can see the shadow of this madness that inflicts the scientific community just as clearly as I do. Unfortunately, Malvagio is still young when compared to me, he still believes that we can fight the inevitable. Whether, it be through data to disprove the flaws in logic, through court systems against those that would silence us, or by some alternative means of consumerism like Nippon electronics vs ADI. I would not be surprised if my dear former student even comes up with underhanded schemes or even criminal acts to solve the problem. I am certain that Professor Gorllewin, with every inch of his being, will do anything he can to rage against what is coming. I on the other hand have made the cold calculations and hard decisions in order to preserve what little we have to save. I am cutting my losses, making strategic sacrifices against the new dogma that is coming to ruin not only science, but our entire society with it."
"And what exactly do you think is coming Dean Cadwell?" House was no longer sure what the old man was predicting, at first he thought it might be some form of prophecy of the end of the world, but now Robert was not even sure of that. The CIT Dean, suddenly had a flare for the dramatics as he spread his hands, encompassing the room and all the knowledge it represented, before speaking in a tone as stern and lovingly as a father would to his own son.
"Science, is the tool that was supposed to push humanity toward a brighter goal, a brighter future that has now been subsumed. Taken over by men, who, hundreds of years ago, would have been zealous supporters of the cross even though they never read a Bible. Now that same zeal exists, in a new form, a scientific skin suit yet with none of the good qualities expected of a student of science. These new testament zealots are like the old, they will preach about the glory of progress, yet most probably haven't even touched the cover of a big book of science, much less read it. Those above the masses take advantage of the people's willing ignorance, enabling greater and greater atrocities, while telling the general public to trust in the science, to have faith in the research. They take and twist whatever study they desire to achieve whatever goal they think is best, and any who question it are labeled with every evil the great American public could imagine. Hippy, Commie, Subversive, Fascist, Radical, Racist, Sexist, and on and on the accusations come to make you absolutely toxic in the court of public opinion. Even before you can debate the wrongs done to the people, no one is willing to hear you, understand your side of the story. By that point the smear campaign gets so successful everyone thinks your the very villain that you are trying to stop."
That strangely makes sense. I know the Fallout world is said to be similar in certain areas to the previous world, but this just got scary. Reputational destruction could ruin great people, whether true or not, just the mentioning of it could close doors forever. No one would know it better than Chris Avellone, at least he got a 7 figure payout with his libel law suit. Something tells me in this Fallout world a active campaign against you ends far more horribly. House was not sure how much of the Dean's claims he would take seriously, but if what the old man said was true, then there would be more hurdles Robert would have to worry about after establishing RobCo. "What of the safeguards in place? The FTC, the OHRP, the IRBs? What about the ones who have disproven the false claims already, the people who make up the public watch groups and become life time fighters against this level of corruption?"
"Funny thing about letter based agencies, they have a habit of picking and choosing which targets they pursue and which they ignore at the guidance of the President. Given the amount of restrictions and red tape that the Garviel administration is currently cutting through, I would not be surprised if those same agencies are having their budgets and staffs redirected else where, most likely funding the fraudsters that they are supposed to stop. As for the life time fighters, you are looking at the last of them Mr. House, and unfortunately I am old, and I am tired. This new religion is winning and less people are willing to fight against the tide. The brain power of America is being led by delusional fools out of touch with reality and willing to do anything for a quick profit. Worse, those who would have been recruited as a safeguard are all but swept away by a big enough pay check or the promise of doing good for their country in some other important field that does not cause as much public problems. Perhaps if someone guided them properly, reached out to them at the perfect time and told them not to sell their souls but seek the truth, then America would be in a better place. Yet, those who understand the science and can dispute the madness, even be able to fight against it, chose the money, chose the madness. Those bright minds face a new problem, one that involves institutional attention. The best outcome for them is being recruited into a black budget program that goes nowhere and they get a sizeable paycheck to live comfortably in Huntsville, Alabama. In the worst case scenario, they create something revolutionary, enough that it will alter the very fabric of our society. In that case they get killed by the people put out of business by it, they get themselves killed by their creation, or they become the new Oppenheimer and their creation gets a lot of innocent people killed. This is the new cult of science that we live in, that no one talks about and we will all suffer as a species because of it. There are fewer and fewer people who are willing to fight against this unholy tide, and it will one day end our society, maybe even our world as we know it."
House stayed silent, he noted that Dean Oz's history lesson carried far more of his own philosophy and personal bitterness attached to the truth than pure historical fact. He was not merely teaching; he was selling his concept, his creed. Already forming a proper idea of where the old man and his proto-institute stand. To House's utter surprise the old man then finally got around to answering House's original question.
"You ask what I fear Robert, what has me paranoid, what currently haunts my nights, well it is not something abstract, Mr. House. No, what I fear is real, very real, for my nightmares have followed me to the waking world. Corporate interests and spies walk these halls of academia, forcing open the doors like an unstoppable tide of locus searching for a tasty morsal to consume. The former are the easiest to deal with, you take their money, let them do as they please until they burn themselves out or grow bored and move onto something more pretty for their shareholders to care about. Occasionally some of these corporate interests cross a line they shouldn't. CIT is more than well equipped by Malvagio and his legal friends to handle companies like ADI when they exhaust our generosity. However, what has me on edge is the latter, for there is a spy in the Commonwealth Institute of Technology. I do not know if they wear the face of an administrator, a professor, or even a student. But they are here, they are the eyes and ears of the government. Secretary Tim Walters appearance at CIT is proof of that. This spy is likely a direct agent or maybe a corporate proxy, reporting to their superiors when something big occurs, while in the mean time they will lead our graduates astray, pushing them onto whatever path the government desires. Robert, that path is what will corrupt this last bastion of science and be the end of us, twisting everything we hold dear into something mutant and alien. It starts with poaching our students, either as blatantly as Secretary Walters tried to do, or more insidious, something I can not even imagine."
"How are you so sure they are watching you? The Secretary of Energy appearing could have been because of a desperate desire to look for a energy alternative. Hell, ADI might have been the ones to inform him about it." House was a paranoid man, he could see the possibility of an enclave spy within CIT, he even believed it was a likely chance given how Secretary Walters came in far faster than he had originally expected. Yet, Robert House was not as certain as the Dean was regarding a spy.
"I have a contact with in the Federal government, a person close to the stagnate derangement that is the current Federal Continuity Council. My informant is able to listen and observe what those bureaucratic morons plan and occasionally pass on important bits of information to me. My contact has informed me of both a spy within my school as well as the coming of Secretary Walters.... but I will say that recently I have noticed my government contact does not have the best timing when delivering such news."
"What do you mean? Are they compromised?!" House's interest on this matter was at an all time peak. Assuming the spy was not uncovered and the Dean was in a charitable enough mood, House could imagine a dozen uses the CIT spy could help uncover if House got access to them.
"No, nothing that serious. I had thought my contact's information gathering skill was up to date and quick, but I overestimated either their abilities on how soon they could acquire their information, or how quickly news spreads among the Federal Continuity Council. My informant finally got around to telling me about Secretary Walters visit. He learned about it a month after it happened, and he claims that he supposedly has a better position of standing in the FCC than when he first started and told me about a spy in my university. That was told to me the June before you first joined our university and attended your first semester with us. We thought the spy might be a new incoming first year, that you might have been said spy, the way you handled Gorllewin's little exam, passing it so easily. Gorllewin had even offered you a patronage position, thinking to keep you close by to observe the observer, but you rejected it, as if you knew his plan from the start. We had no way to turn your scholarship down, especially not now since you packed your schedule with ten courses and actually passed them all. We thought we could prevent further funding to your scholarship if you failed your over taxed course load, but that did not go anywhere close to what we had hoped for. Then there was the day you invested money into your supposed stock options, it did not alert any government authorities when you had your friend Mr. Maxwell invest on your behalf. We thought we could expose you then, but your friend Mr. Donovan did open a casino here in Boston, one that I hear is going very well with its prohibition theme. Even with your well built covers, everything points at you being the government spy, but with recent events, and a conformation that my informant is no where even close to how accurate I had imagined they were. We now have no clue as to who the target might be. Deus only knows how long the spy has been observing us. It might be a first year, a second year, even a third year student as far as we know. I have Professor Gorllewin looking as far back as possible, but I am sad to say the trail might have gone cold."
"How are you so sure that this spy is a student, and not a professor, or an administrator of some kind?" House's words felt as dire and flat as the Deans own, the thoughts of this spy running amuck seemed to exhaust House as much as it did the Dean. Worse, the next words spoken by the old man did not reassure House.
"I'm not even sure of that, my contact has gotten little to nothing else besides mentioning a spy on our campus. Our only belief as to why it is a student is that our acceptance policy for them is far easier and lacks than getting a position working as one of our professors. I am very careful with who I allow to lecture my students, and have implemented safeguards to prevent infiltration through such means, but no system is perfect. Someone could have gotten to them, or perhaps they have been swayed by patriotic language to do their duty for the nation. Anything is possible, but as far as Malgavio and I believe it is more than likely to be a student." The rain storm outside did not let up, House swears that his high perception picked up a tree falling onto a car given how intense the Boston weather was getting.
"Outside of informing their handlers regarding Liberty XLR, what exactly has said spy done that has gotten you so worried about them?" Robert, pondered how much harm a single student based spy could do, assuming they were just a student and not a highly trained operative that would stick out like a sore thumb among the nerds of CIT.
"Much and more, I know their end goal, what they want to do to us. The semester before you joined us, two donors who normally offer large contributions to the university suddenly discontinued donating to the school. I originally thought it may be due to the increase price in oil, effecting their business interests, but now I'm starting to believe it may have been due to the spy uncovering something they shouldn't have. I know they are watching us, watching my school, looking for any means to weaken it, to plunge a metaphorical knife and twist it where it might hurt CIT the most. They will slowly effect our donors, have our charitable funding choked out until CIT is entirely dependent on government grants. That will mutate CIT into a ideological factory that produces ideal slaves, the sort that this new world will more than willingly sacrifice to whatever alter of madness that is dreamt up. In that case all forms of resistance and dignity that this garden of knowledge has would be burned to the ground. Imagine how much easier it would have been for Secretary Walters to do as he pleased, taking your creations, your teammates, even you with but a single threat of withholding our funding next year. It won't just stop there, for greed is never sated so easily. Our students will become resources to them, not people. They will be used no better than tools and then thrown away when members of the current ruling administration desires it."
"Is there anyway to get ahead of this? Maybe work a deal out, established constraints, you already got the corporations inside the school, the government won't be any different, just decide on something on your own terms and draw a line in the sand." House's words did more to bring Dean Oz's silent ire than anything else that was spoken of so far.
"That is a sacrifice too big to be made, you give the people of Washington DC an inch and they will take a mile. Whatever deal, whatever agreement CIT comes to with the Federal government, would be easily thrown aside come the morrow, when a new threat or imagined threat is cooked up by the administrations of a new president. At best we will become a shadow of our former self, like West Virginia University. They've become a mockery, transformed into this Vault-Tec university, an institution no better than a zombie obeying the federal government's every demand. At worst they will tear this school apart, have my teachers, my staff, and myself placed upon charges no better than Socrates. I would not be surprised if they did accuse me of corrupting the youths of this university, or some other such nonsense. The federal government will not stop until either my reputation or the universities is completely tattered and I'm viewed no better than a commie that sought the ruin of America. At least Socrates got off with only being forced to drink hemlock and never had to suffer the grueling and shameful madness of a congressional trial. No, CIT will lose much with any sort of deal made with the US government, for our politicians are just as likely to flip flop on any and all deals they make when it best suits them. As of now we believe the Garviel administration is dead set with running off with our new graduates, preying upon their sense of patriotism, or with a fat pay check, or some other means of winning over the young naive students that leave our academic halls. Yet, even that is not enough, they have sent a rat to sniff about for any whiff of disloyalty, anything that will give them a reason to interfere and alter this established university into a mockery that feeds the propaganda machine." Dean's words, something about the way he said them, set off some alarms in Robert House, something that his high perception and intelligence pointed out. What confirmed it was the system notification that popped up at this point, alerting Robert to a new quest.
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SYSTEM QUEST ALERT
Quest: "Terminus Protocol" – Phantom of the Institute
Objective:
Locate, identify, and expose the infiltrator embedded within the Commonwealth Institute of Technology. The phantom has operated undetected, quietly recruiting talent for government or corporate handlers while feeding intelligence that threatens CIT's current established leadership. Gather concrete evidence of their identity, methods, and external connections.
(optional) objective: Discover the spy and aid them in uncovering the wrong doings of CIT.
Rewards:
5,500 Experience Points
New Special Perk
Major Faction Reputation gain.
Hidden Bonus and more.
Failure Condition:
The phantom remains undetected or successfully compromises the Continuum project.
Note: The longer this ghost walks the halls, the closer the proto-Institute comes to terminus end.
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Seeing the optional objective, House was certain that there was something that the Dean was not telling him. Robert did not know if it was wise to ask his next question, but for the sake of getting a better idea of the situation, a clear picture, he spoke his next words with the grace and charisma of a demi-god. "Why is the Federal government targeting your school? Like outside of the government interference, what has them so dedicated to focus on CIT? What....what have you done to gain their attention and ire?"
House had to use every bit of his charisma and persuasion in order to get the Dean to respond, and hopefully not throw him out. House did his best to keep his tone neutral in order to prevent offense by what could be perceived as an accusation. Dean Oswald simply sighed a sad, tired note. "You are very perceptive Robert, more so than I gave you credit for. Yes, not everything occurring within CIT is... accepted by our current government policy. Your roommate Mao is a perfect example, as we offer special scholarship deals and opportunities that few colleges are willing to go with... but... that is not what has the United States government focused on us, at least not what I believe to be the main reason."
Dean Oswald Cadwell filled his cup with more tea, switching over to the black English breakfast variant. He took the drink straight black, with no milk nor sugar to eliminate the bitter taste. After blowing on the drink to cool it, Dean Oswald drank the intensely bitter and warm drink In one go. The sight of the British man downing the cup of tea reminded House of a person attempting to find liquid courage from liquor. The next words from the Dean confirmed House's silly observation. "I suspect someone in either the Garviel administration or the previous administration have had their suspicions about us. They might have crunched the numbers, and came to a realization, or at least a suspicion, that not all of the money that CIT has taken via government grants or donations have been used for the exact reason they were offered for."
"You've been embezzling government funding?!" House's words carried a great deal of disapproval. When it came to a written deal, whether it was a donation, a obligation, a government grant, or some form of contract, Robert not only supported accomplishing his end of the agreement, but enjoyed the orderly efficiency of it. The Dean was flustered by Robert's words, decried the accusation as if hearing profanity.
"There was no embezzlement of any kind, all funds were used to better the school and it's students! May haps we did not follow the exact letter of the grant, but I made sure, under my direction and my direction alone that it followed the spirit of what the grant entailed. The public laboratories as you have seen and used are of an impressive quality, however a portion of that same funds for the CIT labs have been redirected, invested into newer labs. The very same ones you witnessed before entering my office, those private laboratories are equipped with state of the art equipment far more advance than any other university and even some government group have access to. Those are being used by people whose intentions are not to further the government desires and whims, but further the horizon of science itself. That is where a portion of the resources that CIT has been given, has been used on. To advance our species without having a big brother lording over us and telling us what is acceptable and what isn't." Dean Oswald spoke, with no guilt, nor denial of his deeds. For the man was an idealist whose zeal, one that could rival the groups that he denounced, made him oblivious to his own crimes.
"And how much of that technology and discoveries do you plan to share with those who footed the bill for your super-labs? Even a donation, supposed charity requires some form of return on investment." House did not believe for a moment that Dean Oswald would allow his scientific discoveries to be unleashed in the current US climate. The concept of a synthetic human alone was enough to pour fuel upon existing paranoia. It would agitate the current Red Scare to new heights if the idea of robots wearing a human face got out. Robert was certain that it would cause nation wide levels of anxiety that would surpass even the fears of the wastelanders who occupied post-apocalyptic Boston. The Kyle and Ryle brothers of diamond city was already a tragedy that ended with both brothers dead, to have something like that replicated in pre-war times would be harrowing and bleak. Worse, the Department of Unamerican Activities would get a level of funding and power that it would outshine a DHS that just had the US Patriot act passed. The mere suggestion of the concept of a synthetic man would start a new version of the Spanish Inquisition, and that was something not even the Enclave would desire.
"My life's work, my entire purpose is dedicated to preserving an uncorrupted version of the scientific method and process. All to push humanity forward into the horizon that most scientists can only dream of, yet my university will enable us to step on said path that will lead us to that bright future on the hill. The discoveries we are working on will take time, and will be released one day, not when the government wants it, but when humanity needs it to survive. Anything else will result in said undertaking being coopted by propagandists and the federal government. If they knew half of what I have my graduates working on they would be knocking down our doors and taking it all by force to be destroyed or weaponized on our neighboring countries for complete domination." Dean Oswald was smart enough to see ahead of most scientists and heads of colleges that would rush to dominate the market. Though House could not drop the idea that the man would do something insane like replace politicians with synthetic copies loyal to his will. However, such expectations were heavily poisoned by the actions that the future institute would take, this early version felt more... noble, as far as Robert could tell.
"Who decides when humanity needs such technology released? You Dean Oswald? Your suspicion with me being some sort of government plant has caused enough tension and harm to the people of your school. What's to say such judgement does not result in a more severe consequence? Especially with technology that humanity would desperately need?" House observed the man who would indirectly be responsible for creating the biggest shadowy institution of all time. Wondering how the man would squirm if he knew the future that he would have a hand in making.
"You're right Mr. House, my judgement is not perfect, nor have I ever claimed it to be. I can only guide my students on the path I believe is right for science and mankind. They will be the ones to best decide when to release such technologies, I take their opinions as seriously as I do with yours. You know who would not do so? The current world order and their sycophants that refuse to accept the consquences of their actions. Their restrictions and dogma will damn the future of our species, our future scientists, it will all be turned into something as vile as it is evil, and that is something I never wish to happen to our young minds. If people like Tim Walters are given access to total influence and are allowed to shape CIT, then they will plunder and destroy any and all progress the university has been able to do in secret. If something we are working on is considered controversial to their political agendas they will kill it no matter how helpful it is in the long run. Or if they need an experimental technology that has not even finished proper trial runs rushed out in order to win an election, Deus only knows what sort of fallout would befall us if we are controlled by the whims of politicians! I refuse to allow them to take the cream of the CIT's crop, the students I have raised, many of whom have surpassed all expectations, only to then see them become the property of the government! No, I will not allow that!" The old dean was getting worked up, to the point House feared the man would collapse dead from the excitement. Yet, Dean Cadwell was no fool, he took in deep breaths as if he was meditating, calming himself, switching over to the spiced green tea before speaking further.
"My students, with enough time and resources, have the potential to push the fields of technology and science beyond all imagined restraints. Such potential are being taken off of proper projects, placed on black budget programs used to kill more of our fellow man. Or worse, placed on dead end scientific ventures that waste their time and prevent mankind from achieving any real or meaningful progress. Further, it leaves us stagnant until the dangers that humanity faces grow too large to be properly handled. Look at our current energy crisis, if half the potential scientists that this school had taught got the proper budget, the proper support, without the oversight of the government and their corporate allies we could have discovered a solution by now. Yet, ideas like anti-gravitational technology, molecular transfer relays, or a water based form of engine, something that will have us freed from the dependency of fuel, will be fought every step of the way by people who profit from the old technologies, the old way of thinking. Those students that have the potential to bring about real change, are being sheltered by Professor Gorllewin and I. Protected against the snakes of Washington DC, and allowed to progress humanity here, inside the best labs in all of America, if not the entire world! Robert, know that my love for humanity and the pure pursuit of science outweighs my love for any flag, any leader, and any nation. For science demands we ask why, to question everything we see so that we may improve it and our species. Our dogmatic overlord's demand only silence, and will burn our world to ashes the moment we dare question them."
Robert House remained silent, observing the man within the midst of a declaration, one that was far more noble had it not ended so foolishly. Dean Oz's ideals was not the adopted belief of the Institute of the far distant Fallout 4. His was far more genuine, understandable, and sacred, not the complete mess that was Fallout 4's institute. House pitied the man before him, Dean Oswald Cadwell had a genuine belief any sane person, if not too eccentric, would agree with. Yet the future he pushed would never come, the CIT survivors of the great war, born of his good intentions, will turn Oswald's dream into a nightmare, and inflict monstrosities upon the survivors of post-nuclear Boston. There was something, sad to it, a quiet melancholy that Robert House needed to find a way to properly voice. To prevent the horrors that CIT was fated to become. Though House was not sure if even such a thing was possible to influence. How Robert would go about convincing the man before him, at the very least to take precautions and preparations to keep his proto-institute pure, before it became the Institute that all would fear, was something House would have to slowly work towards. "I take it now you plan to recruit me to join your secret society of scientists and help overthrow the shackles of ignorance?"
"Ha! Yes, I have formed a society, Mr. House. Not a secret college cabal that believes in ritualistic hazing, nor a collaboration of doomsday preppers, nor the sort made up of religious nut-jobs planning to take over the world via secret meetings held at midnight." Dean Oz add a bit of humor, before he moved to close the sale pitch for what he thought was a new recruit, he even leaned forward, voice softening but no less intense. "It is a institute of intellectuals, again, the cream of the Commonwealth crop. Professor Gorllewin and I have been carefully cultivating personnel for years. We call our group the Continuum."
"Continuum? I take it you mean something along the lines of the continuation of science without being interrupted by ideology, corporations and government pressure?" House's words brought the first genuine smile that Dean Oz had displayed. Or at the least something far more genuine than anything that House had suspected of so far.
"Your professor's have mentioned your intellect, and I see it shining brighter now than ever before. Yes, the Continuum is my answer to the threat that might birth the next Lysenko, the next Oppenheimer, or the next corporate puppet selling their soul for a grant and a pat on the head. The Continuum is a secret group that preserves the proper scientific method and conducts research in isolated areas where outsiders cannot interfere. A true Institute, one that wishes to only pursue the continuation of progress without interference. Without the old, the blind, or the powerfully entrenched putting a stop to it. To focus on science in its true, unblemished beauty alone. To that end, Professor Gorllewin and I have been protecting this secret of CIT with the intensity of a mother defending her own offspring. That is the Continuum, Mr. House! And I believe you belong in it!"
House stared at the old man across the table for a long, measured moment, letting the silence stretch until the weight of it demanded an answer. "I take it the people working in the labs we passed are your 'cream of the crop'."
Dean Oswald nodded once, a small, proud motion. "Some are recent graduates, others students that I have personally guided their studies myself, recruiting them into special degrees, into classes that not everyone can attend. Each one is brilliant enough that companies like ADI, West Tek, or General Atomics would pay any price to own them, maybe even kill to see it done. They understood the most important lesson I have taught them, one that I hope I have imparted upon you, to choose science, to build the future rather than profit from it."
House wanted to stay silent. To nod, agree, secure access to the hidden labs, steal any technical design that is not bolted down onto the ground and move on to build a stronger, better RobCo. But something stirred within Robert, something that didn't want to hold back his tongue. Whether it was the meta-knowledge of a fanatic bubbling to the surface, the raw urge to match the old man's passion, or the mentioning of his parents to earn good will. Something worked in the Dean's favor, for the will grew stronger than the scheme. House could not force back the words he truly believed in, to hide it behind the lie he had embraced since becoming a student at CIT. "You have been honest with me Dean Oswald, for that... I will do the same. I do not think I am the sort to fit into your perfect little mold. I believe in science and technology, all must progress in order for humanity to survive the dark days ahead, but I believe in the corporate design. No, let me finish. Not the wage slave seeking profit, but the master that controls capital and makes it grow. The captain at the helm of a ship, controlling the direction of a behemoth sized enterprise. Through them we can push ourselves into the desired future, while guiding those who stray back onto the proper path whether it means taking their hand, leading them by the nose, or paying them to obey. You might see these threats as nothing more than zealous idealogues, corporate snakes, and money grubbing obstacles, but I see the entrepreneurs that helped build this nation and can build our future. The CEO's and titans of industry that enabled the technological revolution that has grown, and is still growing even as we speak. All of the scientists of the past could never truly dream of what we have accomplished so far, and their is still much we have yet to do. The one true autocrat, the corporate overlord can guide us to that promise land, I believe... no, I know that is what I am and what I can do. After graduating, I plan to start my own corporation, expand the same way you wish to expand knowledge and technology. But more importantly I will prepare to be there when the world falls apart and needs someone to put it all back together."
At first Dean Oz's wrinkled his nose as if he had just walked past a landfill, yet the next moment he regained his noble sense, exhaling silently as he spoke.
"You are your father's son Mr. House, I will grant you that. And I should have taken Professor Leonard Kline more seriously, he did warn me about your... ahem... beliefs. However, a corporation still suffers constrains, more so than even a university, by multiple means. You have shareholders, board members, government interests, consumers, and public opinion. All of it holding you back from achieving true scientific domination."
House leaned forward slightly, his cyan eyes sharp. "Yes, but more importantly it is out in the public, for all to see, to have the people sterilize the worst aspects of it all in order to acquire the funding that keeps it all clean. Your Continuum hides in the shadows, away from protest and accountability, siphoning grants and living in fear of discovery. You redirect funds, rely on a single unreliable informant inside the Federal Continuity Council, and pray no one notices. That is not freedom. That is dependency dressed in noble robes. That is the best you can achieve walking this supposed fine line, but what happens when you fall off? When the government sends more spies? Or someone less capable is put in charge who decides your continuum needs to pursue a different strain of scientific progress than the sort you envision? Dr. Mengele whose cruelty is known to even children in K through 12 had an idea of science that leaves the world worst off than ever. Shiro Ishii who experimented on thousands of Humans, or James Marion Sims whose experiments on slave woman were beyond inhumane. You can say all of these scientists were inspired by rogue ideologies and the dark recesses of their time, but what makes you think your organization is safe from said downward spiral? That no one decades of years down the line pursues a dark reflection of your original purpose?"
Dean Oswald's teacup paused halfway to his lips. "And your corporation would be any different? I might have to worry several decades or centuries down the line to see my beliefs twisted. You would have to worry about every quarterly report, where even a single penny of wealth is less than the last report your corporate allies will expel you from your position and put someone more money hungry in charge. In a corporation all will have to kneel before the altar of profit. The moment your stock dips, your precious shareholders will demand you cut corners, delay vital research, or weaponize discoveries. Science becomes a servant to the balance sheet. At best you somehow maintain the profits each year, and then comes time to pass it down on a successor most will pick their own children. And like all empires before, a corporation can fall within 3 generations. The first who builds it up, the second to maintain it, and the last to squander it."
"The same can be said about your institute, nepotism can influence all ventures even yours. What is to say that years down the line a powerful scientist takes over your institute, bullies the rest of the scientists in line with his genius, and then elects to put a familiar relative in charge of the entire enterprise instead of a qualified individual." The Father of the gen 3 synths program who ran the institute was said to be a wise man. A shame that the players of Fallout 4 never saw that. Father made horrible decisions one after another, worst of all getting the lone survivor as his heir for no reason outside of the fact that they were family members.
"Such a scenario is unlikely, there would be counter measures, checks and balances. Reasonable people would-"
"They can make mistakes like everyone else. More so when their close family members are involved. No one is safe from the dangers of ones own flesh and blood, especially since none can hurt you more than them. Your institute is not made up of cold, emotionless robots, you might find one that is as close to a machine as you can imagine, but even they have emotions, hidden and muted. It just takes one of them in a powerful position to make a selfish choice that can bring down an empire, a business, and even a scientific community. When the pieces start falling then you might wish to have made a deal with the government than inflicting a horrible fate upon your legacy." If only you knew the madness that will be born from your good intentions. The horror of it would be enough you'd personally call the shadow government to come in now and take over the school. "Your successor Professor Gorllewin is your best friend and former student, the sort that you trust, but what is to say you are not blinded by that. How can you say without a doubt that the man would never mess up or make a bad decision, especially with his level of experience dealing with institutional threats when compared to you. What if his protégé Gors takes over, do you believe he has the exact same dream as you, when you barely make an appearance, instead locked away here with a highly advance security system isolating you from everyone else. How is your 3rd generation successor able to maintain your dream when he barely knows the man that dreamt it. You share your idea with only a handful of others, some who might have their own interpretation of it. What is stopping your continuum from becoming a long game of telephone that ends with its own Pope leading the charge."
The words stung, but the Dean took it all under serious consideration. Allowing House to begin his next approach to winning over the man in front of him. Voice calm but firm Robert House spoke of his own belief. "Profit is not the Enemy. Profit is the engine, the means of travel, the means of liberation. A corporation under strong leadership generates its own capital. It does not beg governments for scraps or fear audits. It can buy influence, shape policy, employ the best accountants and lawyers that can protect the company secrets far better than any hidden academic clique. One decisive mind at the top can steer the entire vessel, while those aboard are passengers no better than tourists, they want the experience of being apart of something great, not to manage it. The internal threats I would face just need profits to keep them happy and supportive of my vision. Your Continuum can fracture due to vision and fractional schism. When that happens you risk having a ship with too many captains and no clear course. We can even go so far and claim that you get lucky, and have one person that stays loyal to your original mission statement, while the rest are out of touch from being holed up and away for far too long. That individual, unless he is the best and brightest will get out voted every time, no matter how loyal he is to the cause. The shift and change within an organization such as yours has no means of removing rot and corruption once it sets in. Don't deny it, as a student of history you know that as time passes entropy always seeps in."
"Reason can change the belief of reasonable people." Oz gave a short, bitter laugh. "One decisive mind on the other hand, what happens when that mind grows old, or dies, or is replaced by someone less noble in a corporation? I have seen what happens when small groups of brilliant minds are left unchecked in the halls of profit. They begin to believe they know what is best because of the money in their bank account, ignoring all the people that gave them said money. Your corporate autocrat is one bad heir or one hostile takeover away from becoming exactly what you claim could happen to my Continuum."
House could not mention his plans to live forever, not here, not now as a first year student. Any such talks about the life support pod would open a can of worms that would lose House any good will he had with the Dean. Instead he focused else where, focused on the alternative. "Well this is where corporation can thrive unlike your isolated institute that is free of all accountability. I can find a replacement, a proper one that can run smaller aspects of the business and build up the greater goals of it. Like before the corporate replacement is at the will of the public and profit. Your replacement has no such means of checking themselves when they are in an isolated tank of their peers. What is stopping them from crossing many ethical lines when no one outside of said in group can say 'no'? That is a slippery slope that devolves into a metric where 'can we' comes up more than 'should we'? A corporation must answer to the market. It must deliver results people are willing to pay for. That keeps it grounded. Your path removes every external check. History shows what happens when scientists answer only to themselves."
The two men stared at each other across the breakfast table. Outside, thunder rolled over Boston. Dean Oswald was silent for a long moment, mulling over everything before he set his teacup down with finality and spoke. "You have given me much to ponder, I am not entirely convinced upon your side of things, but I see the flaws on my own end. Perhaps you are right, perhaps I should focus on finding an alternatives source of money and establishing a more definite creed for future members of the Continuum. Something that could aspire my future scientists to follow without misunderstanding or vandalization of my intended goal. I believe I can find a means of fixing the latter, establish safeguards to protect the future direction of my organization. While you can aid in the former matter, by testing out your theory on the open market."
"Pardon me Dean Oswald, but what do you mean exactly by that?" House had an idea, but he needed to hear the exact words to truly believe it.
"I will invest into an idea of yours, even allow you access to my high end labs and production capabilities. You will be granted a budget, an investment of sort. Let us see how well you can manage taking over the consumer market. The way you spoke of it, it sounded easy in theory, but I would like to see it in practice. That also means I expect a return on investment, something large enough that CIT no longer needs to fear governments or donors from denying us donations. Show me that your model can generate clean, independent funding and still produce true scientific advancement without becoming another beast of greed. More importantly, let us see if you can find a person to take over said company and still manage it's intended direction. That is the hardest part of any corporation, the sort you claim will be easy."
Robert could see what the Dean was getting at, as Oz was not a person who would miss out on the opportunity to recruit a genius, but more importantly did not want to give them up when discovering them. If House failed to make a return on investment, he was sure that the Dean would attempt to bind House to the university and kill off any chances of Robert walking the corporate path. Instead the Dean would most likely steer House into becoming a successor for Professor Gorllewin, in turn keeping his proto-institute dream alive with a proper third generation successor. It was a win win scenario assuming the government did not ransack the university and arrest Dean Oswald on embezzlement charges. Before that happened Robert desired to get as much as he could from CIT, and maybe if possible a large amount of capital to help start RobCo properly and without the need of outside funding. The Dean did not believe that House could succeed, because of that House allowed himself the smallest of smiles. "And how much stakes and control will I have over my creation and the company born from it."
Dean Oswald pondered a moment before answering. "I believe a 80 - 20 split will be reasonable."
"You are very generous Dean Oswald I will happily take the 80% control of our joint venture." Hearing Houses words got the Dean to nearly dry gag over the ludicrous jest. Rubbing a finely folded napkin to his face the Dean clarified what House knew already.
"The 80% was for CIT." The Dean clarified, not amused by Robert Houses little game.
"Then we are going to have a small problem." The negotiations began, back and forth they went, the storm outside mirroring the intensity at the table. Dean Oswald argued passionately for the purity of the cause, explaining the money would be put to good use and result in long term hope of humanity. House parried every point with cold logic and a barter of 300, preying on the Dean's constant fear of audits or unreliable informants. A corporation could buy political protection, lobby for favorable laws, and scale discoveries faster than any secret academic group ever could. By the end of the negotiations neither party was happy, for they stood on a equal 50-50 split on whatever Robert House cooked up with the CIT budget and lab access. Robert attempted multiple times to gain a controlling share of the assets, but Dean Oswald was not willing to even move a single point from that margin.
Dean Oswald rubbed his temples as if attempting to drive away a migraine. The old man now looked every one of his sixty-eight years after the negotiations. "No one, not I, nor Professor Gorllewin have ever recruited someone who has negotiated like this. Not one of our recruits could make so much demands out of us. They come ready to work for the greater cause without demanding anything more than a standard stipend. If it were not for the hard work you have done all across this campus like some relentless good Samaritan, I would not even be entertain this conversation."
At least Victor's empathy classes was good for something. House was as bitter as the Dean was, but the long term gains outweighed the benefits of the controlling interest of his ideas for a soft drink corporation. "I guess this is the best outcome for the both of us, I will agree to these terms."
"In that case, I can finally welcome you to the Continuum, Robert Edwin House. Not just as a student member, but as a partner in this experiment. You will serve as my personal assistant. You will have my full patronage, and next semester you will join my private Bio-Mechanical Studies course. It will be very enlightening, also Professor Gorllewin's AP biology course will interest you as well. Normally both subjects are reserved for those few people we believe can influence the future of science and humanity. You can consider yourself as one of those lucky few." Any bitterness the Dean had was gone, as he now focused on a new tactic of attempting to have House close by. Whether it was to groom Robert into a future successor for his secret society, or to make sure Robert House would not run off with whatever he had plan to create within the CIT super labs were unknown at this time for House. A patronage was offered, and from the man who could be said to be the best person in all of CIT to receive a patronage from. House may not have gotten a controlling share of his future creation, but he did get a lot of perks to make up for it.
I will have to drop my job at Gadget Galaxy, but the alternative source of income will more than make up for that. House shook the older man's hand firmly. "I look forward to proving you wrong, Dean."
"And I, look forward to watching you try." Oswald replied, eyes gleaming with both warning and reluctant respect. "Now I do have a couple of questions regarding Liberty XLR. May that patriotic robotic daredevil rest in peace, and may my questions regarding your creation also be put to rest."
House kept his expression neutral, he had been expecting to reveal something about the scrapped automaton. What he was willing to share did have a limit to it. "What exactly do you want to know?"
"As I have said before, we did not discover any signs of sabotage or tampering with the machine. Yet, our forensic team did discover an unusually large trace amount of Sodium. Nearly the entire lab was contaminated after your club project self-detonated. Why is that?" Dean Oswald seemed friendly enough, but Robert noticed the predatory gaze of a man desperate for an answer to a puzzle that has lived rent free in his mind.
"The solar cell battery in the late Liberty XLR used a new chemical recipe. It depended less on lithium and more on a sodium-based compound." Robert begrudgingly answered the man's curiosity.
Dean Oz looked genuinely stumped. "Why sodium? Everyone else uses a lithium battery design."
"Today we are dealing with an oil shortage, tomorrow it could be a lithium shortage. Sodium is one of the most abundant resources on the planet. It made sense to use what the world would not run out of any time soon. Though the chemical makeup might have to be altered better next time, it has proven useful to aiding in alternative energy storage designs, but as we all saw the end result, it was not as stable as I had hoped." House lied like a dirty rug, putting the blame of the explosion on the Sodium based chemical battery, and hoping any suspicions that the inquisitive Dean had ended there.
"Interesting. Though given the amount you had used, I suspect you will have to come up with a better formula that does not end so... violently." Dean Oz expected House would be working on another creation like Liberty XLR, or a battery alternative that generate the capital that the proto-institute would depend on. House had no intention of repeating that creation unless it was solely under the RobCo label and control.
"Tell me, then how did the solar panels on Liberty XLR work? How was the robot able to recharge its battery so quickly? It seemed almost… magical in its design, not even your Sodium formula should have it recharge so quickly." This time the curiosity was genuine, though the Dean was pushing his luck with the question.
"I utilized a fronsical-based solar screen that magnified solar rays far more efficiently than average panels. It absorbed energy faster and did not require the usual 45-degree optimal angle." House stopped short of every technical detail, what was given was more than enough. Dean Oswald Cadwell studied Robert for a long moment, then nodded slowly, the last traces of curiosity fading from his expression. The impressed look the Dean gave made House ponder the future reaction the head of CIT would make when he realized House had no intention in creating a mechanical marvel, but a creation made entirely of a chemistry formula House was certain he could replicate. The thought of releasing Nuka Cola 4 years in advance would be very profitable, Robert had originally wanted to wait until he graduated, but the original creator of the soft drink would come up with the perfect design that same year. Better now than never.
"ADI believes that they can replicate your creation. I genuinely doubt it, but they do have a head start on with the remains of Liberty XLR. Our deal with them prevent us from giving you outright help publicly, luckily the Continuum Labs are not considered public CIT facilities. Any work regarding another complex combat robot with an unusual energy source design is not something we can market, not unless a replication is made faster than ADI's R&D department gets an edge in developing their own version of your metallic wonder. If you are to work on recreating a new Liberty XLR, I can not offer you any staff members or direct funding. The ban that ADI desire to enforce against future threats to their market dominance will result on you working on something that is considered closer to a black budget project. Anything you succeed in will also result in someone else taking credit for it, this is all to avoid a prolonged legal war that would have drained resources we cannot afford to lose against ADI. But I will make sure to keep to our agreed upon even split. I will even have a contract made regarding it. As well as a NDA regarding the Continuum lab use. Please refrain from talking about it unless they are with approved individuals of CIT." As much as Dean Oswald Cadwell did not like corporations, the man knew tactics that the corporations were infamous for. House agreed to look over the documents before signing, which Dean Oswald was surprisingly happy to hear that his new member and apprentice had good sense enough to not trust anyone before signing at the dotted lines. "That being said, since we do not have an automaton to dispute over, and some of your teammates have been lining up to support Ms. Duvall with the backing of CIT staff. The hearing regarding your friend Lila is likely going to result in her returning to CIT to continue on with her education, though far more limited than before. She will be forgiven, but her crimes are not forgotten, I hope you can remember that as well Mr. House. The NDA enables you to converse with certain staff members and students of CIT. Your teammates, especially Lila Duvall are not within the approved scope of said NDA."
"I understand." House understood the importance of the Non-Disclosure Agreement and not telling anyone about what he saw here today. However, Robert did not understand why his teammates would help Lila out with her academic hearing as they suffered because of her actions. I really can't understand other people, no matter how many lessons Victor gives me. This is too hard to phantom. What insanity would make them want to work with that traitor.
House left the hidden sanctum without another word, Professor Gorllewin was waiting patiently to help guide Robert back through the restricted area and safely away. Exiting from the heavy pressurized door was a quick process, not allowing House to observe the labs as slowly as he did on his first arrival through the super labs. Soon the rolling door opened enabling the two to walk out, only for the vault style door to just as quickly seal behind the two of them with a soft hydraulic hiss. Security did their job, searching everyone, including the scholarship administrator, making sure neither had left with anything, before giving back the restricted items from earlier and letting the two of them go on their merry way. Though House noticed the two security guards watching even as House entered the elevator, their intense stare only ending when the elevator door closed. The ride down was much like the ride up, complete silence as neither Professor Gorllewin nor House spoke a word. Though Robert would bet every single penny of his Velvet Knuckles winnings that Professor Gorllewin wanted to ask House a hundred different questions. The amused thought left as quickly as it came, as Robert's mind turned over the new quest. The spy threat was something Robert would have Victor work on discovering asap, especially now that House put all of his chips on team CIT. When the elevator doors next opened, the two men exited out on the ground floor of the CIT administration building. The scholarship administrator went in the opposite direction that House went, as Robert was free to return to his academic studies. The storm outside was just as intense as before, the insides of the building being the only safety against the winds and rain that hammered down onto the wet campus paths that led House back to his dorm.
The walk back gave Robert time to think. The Bio-mechanical class would be a massive advantage, finishing a optional objective for the quest Behind the Curtains. The access to the super labs, and the other restricted research, would be the most important part, enabling House to accelerate his own projects ten times faster than before. Becoming Oz's personal assistant was an even bigger win. It placed him at the heart of the Continuum without having to beg for scraps. But Roberts main focus was on how to create Nuka Cola and how to strategize its release in order to generate the maximum amount of profits as soon as possible. Just as Robert was pondering this, the system gave him an alert.
Federal Continuity Council Agent slain
65 xp awarded
House stood out in the rain, staring at the fallout green style system prompt.
"Yeah this shit does not work Todd!" Between the horrible situations that House was undergoing even though his luck was maxed out, and then this sudden system prompt out of no-where, Robert was now sure the system he was using was as buggy as hell. Not as bad as the Fallout games the transmigrator remembered playing, but just as infuriating.
Entering the dorm building, Robert's boots left faint wet prints on the linoleum, as the first year went to the floor of his dorm room. Getting onto the floor, House could feel that something was wrong, a sense of electricity in the air. Entering inside his dorm room, the first thing House noticed was a body that laid slumped face down against the door to his bedroom.
House froze for half a second, instincts flaring, his mind racing through a number of different possibilities. His first thought was that Professor Gorllewin had performed a double cross under Dean Oswald's directive and had sent one of his loyal stooges to investigate House's bedroom. That or Mao had attempted to break into his room while Robert was gone. House scanned the hallway outside his dorm quickly. It was empty. No one was around, and more importantly his dorm was empty. Mao was currently attending his classes and wouldn't be back for at least another two hours.
Closing the door behind him, Robert moved closer to the prone figure, crouching beside the unmoving body. The man was old, late sixties or early seventies, with thinning silver hair and a weathered face that looked oddly familiar, but House could not place it at this moment. The outfit he wore was something that masked the old man as someone's grandfather, a perfect disguise that could explain away his reason for being here as a grandfather coming to visit their family member at school. The old man had no obvious wounds. House reached down and carefully checked for a pulse at the neck. Nothing, the man was dead.
Grabbing and wearing a pair of cooking gloves from the dorm room kitchen, House's hand moved to the man's inner jacket pocket and pulled out a slim leather wallet. Robert flipped it open, only to see the ID that hit him like a slap to the face.
United States Secret Service
Special Agent Sid Harlan
Protective Detail – Department of Energy
Memories flooded House back to the agents who had accompanied Secretary Walters, of the four, three were young men that looked fresh out of training, while the last was an elderly agent that looked overdue for retirement. Now Agent Harlan would never experience the joy of retirement, for he died serving a man that had tried to poach Robert, his team, and his robotics group for the government.
House's stomach tightened. He looked up at his own door handle. The faint, almost invisible filament of the electric trap he had installed was still intact. The trap was equipped to induce a low-voltage meant to incapacitate anyone who tried to force entry into the bed room without House or Victor's expressed approval. The trap had clearly triggered when agent Harlan must have tried to enter, perhaps attempting to plant something or search the room while House was away. Now the man was dead because of a door knob, and would soon start rotting inside of Robert's dorm room if not properly removed.
House felt a cold rush of adrenaline. He had killed a federal agent. Not intentionally, the trap was meant to stun and deter, not kill, but the result did not work the same for the old man. Now, a Secret Service agent was lying dead inside his dorm room. This could end everything for Robert Edwin House before it even began.
Accessing a hidden small camera strategically placed to observe his bedroom, Robert alerted Victor to his presence. Seeing the static around the door knob of his room die out, Robert open the door to his bedroom, dragged the body inside incase Mao returned early. Closing the door behind him, House quickly attached his earpiece and activated his mic.
"Victor," Robert voiced the name in an urgent whisper. It came out in a humble tone as if House was praying to a god that could solve all of his problems.
The cowboy AI's drawl came through immediately, calm but edged with equal urgency to House's current mental state. "Ahhh, howdy there, partner! Looks like we done drew ourselves a real rough hand this time… Sorry 'bout that, Boss man! I didn't reckon the ol' fella would up and stop breathin' just from kissin' the floor. That door trap lit him up hotter than a branding iron on a summer day!"
House paced once, mind racing. "The voltage was not suppose to be lethal."
"Reckon we oughta rustle us up a good undertaker to spill the beans on what in tarnation happened to the ol' fella!" Victor replied dryly, trying to find some humor at this moment.
"He is a federal agent. One of Secretary Walter's personal security members. If Campus security, Boston PD, or worse, the feds find out about this we are doomed." Victor was quiet, as House stared down at the lifeless body of Agent Sid Harlan. His hands were steady, but his thoughts were an uncontrolled storm. One mistake, one over-engineered security measure, and he was now staring at a potential murder charge that could destroy every plan he had for CIT, RobCo, and the survival of the human race.
Victor's voice cut through again, steady and practical. "So what's the play here, Boss? We got ourselves a fresh body, that trap just turned into a full-blown murder weapon, and the longer we dawdle the more eyes gonna come sniffin' around! We gotta move faster than a jackrabbit with its tail on fire! By the way, how'd that hearin' with them university bigwigs go?"
"We can discuss that later, now... now we need to deal with our current task." House stood motionless for a long second, the weight of the situation pressing down on him. The hunt for the spy had just become far more complicated and far more personal. It could be anyone, and if that person came into contact with Agent Harlan before he came to House's dorm room, then it means there was a loose end that needed to be cut, and quickly. Before that, House pondered how best to move a corpse out of a dorm building without getting anyone's attention.