George Kemp

Colonel George Kemp was a military liaison working with Cambridge Polymer Labs, LLC in 2077.

Background
George Kemp was a military liaison working with Cambridge Polymer Labs, LLC, overseeing their research project into experimental smart materials that could be used to enhance the functionality of existing suits of power armor. Its last military contract before the war was the development of nucleostrictive lining for power armor, allowing the power armor's lining to convert ionizing radiation into electrical energy fed directly into the suit's batteries. Initial studies led the research team under D.Eng Ericka Elwood-Woolum, to hypothosize that by taking a known piezoelectric material, Lead Zirconium Titanite (PZT), and properly applying a polymer of Gold and Lithium Hydride might produce the desired effect. Initial tests proved the method is sound, but due to the low shear modulus, the nano weave started to break down quickly under extended use, making it unsuitable for extended deployment. The team changed the dosing pattern on the gold to produce thinner strands through the material. The increased surface area would help dissipate the thermal energy, much like a heat sink.

This approach successfully created an efficient material with a lifetime of years, rather than days, at a negligible cost to harvest rate. However, Colonel Kemp rejected it out of hand, as the new material shredded under intense use. It was unsuitable for use as power armor lining and the colonel threatened to pull funding. The team returned to the drawing board. The colonel's anger in each conversation with the project leads was his character flaw. As such, when he called the Laboratory for a status update in the morning of October 23, 2077, Elwood immediately picked up on his unusual calm. The colonel, well aware of the incoming nuclear warheads, requested that Elwood keep his team working in the lab until the project was completed.

He soon realized that it was a warning. Although Cambridge received a direct nuclear hit, the laboratory building was spared the nuclear devastation, thanks to other buildings shielding it from the blast and its own reinforced structure. Elwood immediately issued an e-mail to the entire team, mandating overtime and lying that the project was nearing completion (leaning on his wife's authority) and promising coffee, donuts, and Spuckies for the entire team to breeze them over. As for what was happening outside? That was just training exercises performed by the United States military. In the meantime, he scrambled to find a ham radio and reestablish contact with the military, as all external connections were fried by the EMP. Only one person on the team was privy to the truth: His wife. He asked her to maintain the lie to avoid a panic among the researchers and ensure the completion of the project, as it was the only thing the military was willing to accept in return for extraction. Conning them was out of the question, as lying about the possession of vital military assets or intelligence was tantamount to treason.

Appearances
George Kemp is mentioned only in Fallout 4.