Section 5 - Vogt
During the great forum leak of 2006, all our identities got revealed, and everything we could say was now readable. For security reasons, we moved the operations from the SOE forum to something called the Shelter forum. I set it up quickly, and we then had everybody on board. Things there worked exactly likeon the original forum, but at least, we knew that information was safe.
During that time, I did decide to move on to a different role. The Recursion Cypherites were between good hands with the flamboyant Viraconrida. However, there was an organization closer to me that was deserving more. Backing from the Linenoise days, I've been in contact with Beachhead. When we would talk, often the topic of the Syntax Machine LOs would come. They had many LOs or irregular quality working for them (3 I think), and now were left without a LO. So when on the Shelter I figured out that I could maybe offer my services to an empty position, I thought of the Syntax Machines. Thinking of the opportunities, I sent the offer to Rarebit, which he accepted. In fact, I did offer to have double duty, but he wouldn't want, so I instead moved to create Vogt.
I had in mind a short background, and through the years, it got more concrete. Vogt wasn't very vocal on his past, but from time to time I liked to leak a little something, to have players understand better who he was. In our last meeting, I had the chance to share more about it, but I take the opportunity of a thread like that to share it all. Yeah and sorry Foxxdie, I know that the thread looks a bit egocentric, but I find it nice to go back into history, and to share with the people I worked with.
Vogt is in his late forties, early fifties. He was born in the US from a German father and a French mother. I wanted Vogt as an asocial, authoritative figure, but with a creative approach. His parents would have met in occupied France during World War II, with him as a soldier and her as a collabo. Following Germany's defeat, both wanted to hide from the shame of their fallen national pride, and instead moved in the US, where they got Edmund and became good Americans. Vogt joined the army in his early years, and through a series of events, became leader of his squad. His efficiency, secrecy and devotion to his work brought him to participate into dangerous top secret missions with the CIA such as dealings with Nicaraguan Contras. Inside, he hated his government for trusting rebels with no authorities over them, but still did his job with no question asked. Once the involvement of the CIA in supporting chaos around the world, Vogt got reassigned to something calmer. From a field operative of the Cold War, he would move on as a FBI agent, mostly for financial investigations. This job would be terribly boring compared to the other one, but Vogt would never complain anyway.
Family-wise, Vogt got married and got a daughter. But as someone who cared much more for his work than his family, he was far from a good father. Also, the secretive nature of his job made so that his family never knew what was going on, leading to a lot of frustration. I imagine in him as someone who works 15 hours a day, then comes back home, opens himself a can of beer and fall asleep on the couch in front of the TV.
I learned the name Vogt from a German industrial band named Funker Vogt, which vaguely means Radio Operator Vogt. It's a well known family name in sci-fi, with A.E. Van Vogt. And the word itself has a lot of meaning! A vogt is the title for a noble officer of a territory as a protector and leader. It was totally fitting for the role, and I was quite glad to see that this name wasn't already claimed! For the appearance, I went with a serious, old-fashioned look, trying to appear as old as I could without being a stereotypical machinist, with the trademark blond hair that is really unusual. Albert Wesker from Resident Evil was definitely an inspiration! And my clothing was too simply horrible. I imagined Vogt as having no sense of fashion at all, especially not toward super slick Matrix-wear. I picked up the first clothes I could find, and the Watchmen helped me quick to give him a look, which he never changed after!
I actually wanted to have an event where his background would come into play. Scanline would have revealed a picture of what looks like Vogt slapping a woman, that would have been his wife. Vogt's reputation would have been soiled, even in the Matrix. There would have been a couple of events that would have lead to the discovery of the truth. Not too long before Vogt's recruitment by the Machines, his wife wanted to file a divorce, but to get her good share of Vogt's possessions, she would have to give proof that this is a bad marriage. But apart for him being absent, it wasn't an abusive relationship. So she then hired a private detective to try to dig up anything bad, like an affair or any fraud. But he didn't find any, so in despair, they staged a wife-beating scene and produced fake proofs. Eventually, Vogt disappeared with no reason, so all of this was thrown away, but someone from Scanline got it. But as you know, this never happened. Basically, Rarebit didn't want Scanline (even if it was our creation) to be a muckracker thing, spreading rumors even if the investigation would have proved them to be false. I then basically lost much of my enthusiasm toward Scanline, but anyway, I think I wasn't the only one.
For Vogt 's recruitment, I haven't thought much about it. Basically, the Machines wanted someone good to work with their troops, and unlike most, they recruited him themselves, so he wasn't awakened by Zion, and they would hold him in 01. I know, it probably made no sense in the canon, but well, I made it that way! Oh and sorry for saying 01. This was one of my main arguments against Rarebit. We fought like crazy over this in a night! He didn't want the "Machine City" to be 01 based on his interpretation of the Second Renaissance, while for me, even if the Machines got destroyed, they rebuilt 01 around the same spot, and it spread out to cover a huge distance.
When I started working with the Syntax Machinists, my goal was to reunite them under the same banner, both RPers and PVPers. Through good communication, people would work under the same cause. And it's always better when you give them fun ways to do their work. So for communication, I quickly set in place the Zero One Network with the help of Beachhead (who learned I was Vogt only two years later!). It would be the center of my operations, that I could check at all time during work. We had some security precautions, but we had I think 2 major security incidents, but thanks to players like Natasha768, all was kept in check!
So well, for the time I was playing Vogt, my goal was to always bring out great events, where the Machines would be seen as resourceful, but not mindless drones. Vogt was a strong believer that the Machines should trust humans more. Oh, and that they shouldn't trust Cypherites. He'd rather have his people do the job than someone else. My interactions with the players were always very good, with most people being very polite with Vogt. I was not bothering to talk much with people outside the organization, as my dedication was only to the Machines. And when I was talking with Machinists, he tried to involve everyone as possible, but of course, it's always easier to do so with people who are ready to make efforts. He was never someone flamboyant, just a guy who liked to work and to get the job done.
When Rarebit decided to stop the story structure, my job was over. Vogt wouldn't be someone acting of his own since he has no real ambition but to do his job. So I decided to retire him. He had lost his purpose, and would rather move on. So I made him leave the City to travel the world, and witness by his own how the Matrix simulates realities in other settings. It was a great ride, and I'm glad to let Vogt go with all the fantastic memories.
Well, nearly.
I have some screens and remember the hawtness (and had sexeh names too IIRC)