Difference between revisions of "User:Maps/Dr Adolf Strughold"

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==Return to Malton==   
==Return to Malton==   
Strughold was wanted for questioning after the Malton Incident, but was never located. On September 11, 2009 a colleague of Strughold's received a message from him. The message was sent from a terminal inside Malton.
Strughold was wanted for questioning after the Malton Incident, but was never located. On September 11, 2009 a colleague of Strughold's received a message from him. The message was sent from a NecroTech terminal inside Malton.

Revision as of 15:55, 25 July 2010

Dr Adolf Strughold (born February 2, 1944) is a neurosurgeon and biologist. He was born in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, but grew up in San Antonio, Texas. Strughold studied medicine and biology at the University of Göttingen and later at the University of Cambridge. After his studies, he worked as a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine.

Porton Down

Dr. Strughold left the MPI in 1972 after allegations of unethical conduct were made against him and quickly found employment with the UK Ministry of Defence Chemical Defence Establishment in Porton Down, Wilshire. Very little is known about Strughold's research during his time at CDE. Many in the scientific community believe his research included extensive experimentation with neurotoxins, such as tetrodotoxin.

Disappearance

Strughold disappeared on January 8, 1979. At around 13.30, he told his colleagues he had to go and get some papers from his home. This was not unusual, as Strughold was well known for taking his work home and being very absent-minded. He never returned to Porton Down that day and when he failed to show up for work the following morning, his colleagues became worried and tried to call him. There was no reply, so they informed the Duty Officer, who contacted the local police and MI5.

Police officers visited Strughold's bungalow and found all the doors and windows locked. His Ford Fiesta was in the driveway. MI5 instructed the police via radio to enter Strughold's house. The house was empty and there were no signs of a struggle. Inside the bungalow, investigators found Strughold's wallet, passport and keys, but no sign of a note or letter to explain, where he'd gone or what had happened. His bank accounts were scrutinized, but no suspicious transactions were found. Strughold's colleagues at the CDE were interviewed, but they could offer no valuable information. MI5 initially suspected that Strughold may have been either killed or obducted by a foreign intelligence agency and launched an extensive investigation.

Caribbean Research Initiative

Six years later, in early 1985, a man fitting Dr. Strughold's description was seen in a restaurant in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The British government sent a team to investigate, who managed to ascertain that the man in question was no other than Dr. Strughold and that he was working for a company called Caribbean Research Initiative. Dr. Strughold was contacted. He confirmed his identity but gave no explanation to his disappearance and bluntly refused to answer any further questions. Further inquiries by the British government were stonewalled by both CRI and the Haitian authorities.

Caribbean Research Initiative had arrived in Haiti during Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier's reign to study Haiti's fauna in the hope of deriving vaccines for tropical diseases. Ever since its arrival CRI had strived to maintain close ties with Haiti's ruling elite. For years the company channelled considerable amounts of money to provide for the excesses of the Duvalier family. In return, CRI and it's facilities were rarely bothered by the local authorities. The company had an extensive research facility in the Vallières Arrondisment and offices in Port-au-Prince and Fort-Liberté. The investigative team encountered rumours about people being obducted by the Milice de Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale and handed over to CRI for human experiments, but the verity of these stories could not be confirmed. The ownership of Caribbean Research Initiative was eventually traced back to a small, yet remarkably affluent company in Luton, Bedfordshire called NecroTech, which promptly denied any wrongdoing.

Rwanda

Caribbean Research Initiative pulled out of Haiti in early 1986 in the aftermath of the popular uprising against President Jean-Claude Duvalier and, at least on paper, ceased to exist. Dr. Adolf Strughold relocated to Rwanda accompanied by a large number of CRI personnel and quickly found employment with an organization called Antoine Serukwavu Society for Health and Self-help. The goal of the ASSHS was to provide free health care for the people of Rwanda using traditional medicinal herbs and plant extracts. The financial support from the the ruling Mouvement républicain national pour la démocratie et le développement to the ASSHS began flowing in earnest in the early 1990's and medicines for a variety of ailments, all created by Strughold, were consumed by Rwandans in alarming and ever growing quantities. The United Nations estimate that by 1994 about 70 % of Rwandans were under the influence of drugs created by Dr Adolf Strughold.

On April 7, 1994, ten Belgian UNAMIR peacekeepers tasked with protecting a local dignitary were tortured and murdered by Rwandan government forces. The peacekeepers had handed over their weapons to their captors only moments earlier. Strughold was appalled by this brutal and cowardly act, and promptly packed up his research facility and left Rwanda with his key personnel. Without his leadership the ASSHS withered away and Rwanda was plunged into chaos.

Projekt Gilgamesch

After leaving Rwanda, Strughold returned to England and started working for NecroTech, a Luton-based pharmaceuticals company, in their experimental medicines department located in Malton. The exact nature of Strughold's research is unknown, but it is believed to have centered around developing what Strughold referred to as Projekt Gilgamesch.

The supremely ambitious aim of the project was to provide an insurance against death. According to unconfirmed reports, Strughold's aim was to create the ultimate life insurance system, which consisted of a cocktail of drugs, manufactured by NecroTech and a network of clinics, operated by NecroTech. From the point of view of the policy holder, the process would have consisted of a commitment to visit a NecroTech facility on a weekly basis to receive a cocktail of drugs, administered both orally and intravenously. Under the terms of the insurance policy NecroTech was, in case of death, obliged to revive the policy holder as long the policy holder was brought to or made his/her own way to the nearest NecroTech clinic.

The Malton Incident

Unfortunately for NecroTech, who were looking forward to massive profits from Projekt Gilgamesch, all started going terribly wrong in the spring of 2005. Clinical trials, conducted with the not always voluntary assistance of the city's poor and huddled masses, had been going relatively well and reached their final stage and the ultimate insurance policy was slated for release by Christmas.

However, as early as in January 2005, NecroTech scientists had been having increasing problems with aggressive test subjects. Despite pleas from the clinical staff, NecroTech's marketing department refused to even contemplate postponing the release of the insurance system. As winter turned into spring, another unforeseen side-effect of the drugs was discovered after a NecroTech scientist, who hadn't been taking the Projekt Gilgamesch drugs was killed by a test subject, promptly reanimated and attacked a colleague. This incident threatened the viability of the whole project as it was founded on the idea that reanimation was only possible as a result of taking drugs manufactured by NecroTech. By May 2005, the situation was quickly spiraling out of control. Teams of scientists roamed the city by night looking for test subjects and innocent Maltonians, who had somehow acquired the ability to reanimate. Cemeteries were under constant surveillance. NecroTech's Puplic Relations department worked around the clock to contain the situation.

Strughold considered the unforeseen side-effects to be a fascinating scientific dilemma but felt that further scientific research in Malton was impossible as the city was being overran by test subjects. Strughold left Malton by helicopter on July 2, 2005. The city was placed under quarantine on July 3, 2005.

Return to Malton

Strughold was wanted for questioning after the Malton Incident, but was never located. On September 11, 2009 a colleague of Strughold's received a message from him. The message was sent from a NecroTech terminal inside Malton.