A Case Study of Technocratic Sabotage

by Dr. Dystopia, Son of Ether
March 21, 1998
 

Dr. Howard Denker was a Son of Ether whose genius led him to the creation of a new element. The element, named serranium, had a unique, monopolar magnetic property that would allow it to defy gravity itself, lifting off the ground, and bringing with it innumerable possibilities for Mankind. The Technocracy got wind of Dr. Denker’s research and vowed to see both it and him ruined. Denker escaped the New World Order’s initial dragnet, taking his essential papers and his only sample of serranium with him, intending to build a new laboratory in a safer location. The Technocracy, frustrated by their lack of success in stopping Denker, activated a special unit of the New World Order established specifically for the purpose of discrediting Scientists and their Theories. This unit, mockingly named the Office of Scientific Investigation (OSI), assigned two A-Men (a 1950’s term for Technocratic agents) named “Dr. Jeffery Stewart” and “Dr. Dan Forbes” the responsibility of finding and dealing with Dr. Denker.

The police called the OSI to refer a report about a strange occurrence at a nearby hardware store. Suspecting that this could be a break toward finding Dr. Denker, Stewart and Forbes set themselves to task. They arrived at the building that did, in fact, house Denker’s office to find that minor Paradoxical effects had stopped all the clocks and magnetized all of the metal objects in the hardware store below his office. They then began their plan to destroy Dr. Denker, bringing in Devices which looked and acted like Geiger counters in order to intimidate and frighten the Sleepers in the hardware store who had made the initial call to the police. Proceeding cautiously into the office, the agents found Denker’s assistant destroying documents and covering the last of the Doctor’s tracks. Stewart and Forbes killed him, making it look as though he had died of severe radiation exposure. It was later determined that the Geiger Devices they held were able to create, as well as detect, all manners of radiation. Using those Devices, they then “detected” that a large amount of radiation was being emitted by Denker’s serranium sample. From that moment, Dr. Decker was carrying material radioactive enough to be lethal within hours. Because Decker could not anticipate the radiation exposure, he had no protection once Stewart and Forbes took action. His death was practically assured. Now, all that was needed was to locate Decker in order to contain the now-deadly serranium. They used local radio stations to make a public appeal for help, asking anyone encountering unusual magnetic phenomenon to contact them. Before long, a cab driver called the station, claiming that his car had been rendered inoperable when its engine’s parts had magnetically adhered to each other soon after dropping a man with a satchel at the airport.

At the airport, Denker himself made one mistake which allowed Stewart and Forbes to locate him. Although a respected man of Science, Dr. Denker still suffered from a profound fear of flight. Years earlier, he had worked out a psychological compromise that would enable him, albeit nervously, to fly. By buying flight insurance, he reasoned, he would be virtually ensuring that the flight would go smoothly. Unfortunately, even in this moment of desperate escape, he required this ritual in order to board the plane. The A-Men were able to determine which plane Denker was on by searching the flight insurance machine at the airport. The plane was contacted and ordered to land. Dr. Denker, having realized his plight too late on the plane, began performing small tests on the serranium sample using a hand-held Matter Analyzer of his own design. These tests confirmed his worst fears about his creation. The same radiation that was silently killing him had also altered the atomic structure of the sample, bringing with it a dangerous new property. When not exposed to electricity, the serranium began to absorb Quintessence from objects around it, including living things, using the stolen energy to add to its own mass. The sample had begun to grow at a geometric rate, and would quickly grow large enough to throw the Earth from its orbit. Acknowledging his own fate, Dr. Denker was determined to spare the Earth from the same. When Stewart and Forbes reached the now-grounded plane, Dr. Denker was nearly dead of radiation poisoning, but still managed to warn the agents of the danger they had placed the world in. “It's hungry!” he told them, “It has to be fed constantly - or it will reach out its magnetic arm and grab at anything within its reach and kill it. It's monstrous, Stewart, monstrous. It grows bigger and bigger!” With that, Dr. Howard Denker died. The agents transported the serranium to their laboratory for disposal. However, they found themselves unable to destroy the sample. No matter what they bombarded it with, it kept growing. Only electricity halted its geometric pace, and as the substance grew, it required more and more electricity to keep it docile.

Stewart took the serranium to a nearby hydroelectrical dam and hooked it up to the plant’s generators. He then diverted every amp of electricity from the dam into the serranium, attempting to “burn out” the sample. Nearby towns darkened as their electricity was siphoned away, and still the serranium demanded more, pushing as though it possessed the will of its now-deceased creator. Pouring his own will into the effort, Stewart finally succeeded, and the serranium was rendered inert, its magnetic and vampiric attributes permanently torn from it. Dr. Denker was ridiculed as a twisted, if brilliant, madman. Stewart, Forbes and the OSI were “heroes” for overcoming this menace of science gone horribly wrong. The public, of course, was never told what really happened, and so I submit this in Dr. Denker’s memory, to ensure that the truth of these events should never again be lost.
 

Game Notes (Second Edition.)
 

Paradox Thread

There is evidence that this Effect may have been used in the persecution of dozens of Sons of Ether. Its usage is rare among Scientists, but is becoming increasingly common among Technocrats. While the Devices and Theories our members put forth are undeniably brilliant, they do have a tendency to leap beyond the stifling limitations imposed upon us by the Technocracy. The Paradox Backlash caused by these Scientific wonders leave “fingerprints” which can be detected with the proper Equipment. These tell-tale signs move invisibly with the offending Scientist or Device until the Paradox Backlash expires. With this Effect, Technocratic agents are able to use the resulting “thread” of disturbed Ether which connects Backlash to victim in order to channel their own Effects onto the Scientist/Device in question. In the case of Dr. Denker, the agents used the trail beginning with the Paradox-induced magnetism at the hardware store to string an Effect back to the Doctor’s sample of serranium. They “detected” radiation at the store and in Dr. Denker’s office, tying it to the serranium. The serranium then became radioactive, resulting in Dr. Denker’s death, to all appearances brought on by his own actions. Denker’s detection-evading Equipment functioned perfectly. However, the agents used the stable Paradox Thread to send an Effect to the serranium, without having to know where he or it was. This Effect sets a dangerous precedent among the Sons of Ether, requiring each and every one of us to be even more careful in both our Research and, if necessary, our flight from oppression.
 

Detect Paradox Thread/ Channel Paradox Thread

Paradox Threads, through which Technocratic agents can direct their own Effects, can be detected through a combination of Correspondence •• and Prime •. This allows the agent to track (and send an Effect) to the location where the Paradox Backlash occurred, until the Backlash expires. Paradox Flaws and Paradox Spirits create Threads with their appearance. These Threads stretch from the location where they first appear back to their victim. Paradox Realms do not form normal Threads, as the Mage does not travel anywhere, except to the pocket Realm where he stays until the Paradox is resolved. Realms appear as points, as opposed to the line formed by a true Thread. Neither Physical Backlash nor permanent Flaws form Threads, as the Paradox is resolved all at once, all over the Mage’s body. Alternately, with Correspondence ••/ Prime •/ Time ••, the agent can send an Effect (though not necessarily track, given the inherent Arcane in most Mages) to the Mage or Talisman which earlier released the Paradox Backlash, again only while the Backlash is active. If the Effect is successfully sent over the Thread, the Mage may roll Perception + Awareness to determine if he detects the Effect just before it lands. If the Mage scores more successes than were scored on the coming Effect, Countermagick may be used. If not, the full Effect takes place normally, centered on the Mage or Talisman. Each successful Channel roll allows one Effect to be sent over the Thread.
 

Unravel Paradox Thread

A counter-Effect to Detect/Channel Paradox Thread, this Effect allows a Mage to weaken the Thread tying him to a Paradox Backlash he has released. Using Correspondence ••/ Prime •, he may sense the thread attached to him. He then uses Correspondence ••/ Prime •• and spends a point of Quintessence to thin the Paradox Thread. Each success on this roll increases the difficulty of channeling Effects through the Thread by one.
 

Footnotes

1) This paper is based upon the 1953 movie, “The Magnetic Monster”, and is adapted for Mage. None of the characters in the story (except for the character submitting the article, Dr. Dystopia) belong to or were created by me.

2) 1998 Derek D. Bass
 

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