Otis Pike

Otis Pike is a deceased former employee of Grafton Steel, turned whistleblower and kidnapper. He is found dead in Grafton Dam in Appalachia.

Background
Otis Pike was the only brother of Molly Wood and the brother-in-law of Grafton Steel CEO Arthur Wood. Although Arthur was often irritated by Otis, Molly loved her brother dearly and convinced her husband to let Otis work at the company steel mill. After Molly's death, Arthur accused Otis of taking advantage of Molly's memory, cursing him and refusing to acknowledge any relation to him.

In early 2077, Otis became distraught by the deaths of Colton, Leland and Susy Jenkins, the latter of whom was a very young child. Otis attributed their deaths to the environmental damage caused by Grafton Steel's unethical practices, stating that the steel mill was "pumping out poison." He wanted to find new work, but doing so would be difficult on account of his bad back. Instead, Otis decided to leak Grafton Steel's malpractices to the media, as he was no longer able to stand the company's avoidance of safety protocols, leading to the death of children.

The whistleblowing proved effective, as a media frenzy ensued and riled up protestors, who blocked off the steel mill and its trucks. On July 2, soldiers arrived and dispersed the protestors by force, establishing guard posts at the mill to protect it from further sabotage. After hearing Arthur's gleeful reaction to the protest break-up, Otis decided to change strategies.

However, unbeknownst to Otis, Grafton Steel were becoming aware of his role in the protests. HR manager Stacie Tibbetts contacted Arthur and reported that Otis may have been "bad-mouthing" the company, and requested permission to monitor Otis' activities closely. This culminated in Otis' firing on August 14, for his "complete disregard for Grafton Steel's reputation, its importance to the war effort, and repeated counsel to help [him]." Arthur did not talk to his brother-in-law directly about the firing. After his termination, Tibbetts contacted Arthur and claimed that Otis could hang for treason under the Wartime Workers Act if Arthur wanted to pursue that option.

Now that he could no longer approach the Grafton Steel mill, a desperate Otis resorted to a kidnapping and ransom scheme to shut down the plant. He targeted Freddy Wood, his seven-year-old nephew and Arthur's only son. He requested a safety inquiry from Grafton Dam and possibly set up a personal tour of the facility, in addition to scouting out Wavy Willard's Water Park, where Freddy would be having a birthday party on October 17. Otis was almost caught snooping around, but left behind protest leaflets before escaping.

On the day of Freddy's birthday party, Otis enacted his plot, and approached Freddy, who was excited, as he already liked his uncle. Otis told Freddy that he had a "surprise" for him and led him away from his Miss Nanny, Annie. At the same time, Otis inquired about a mailbox on the water park property, which he used to drop off an anonymous letter for Quinn Carter of the Charleston Herald. The package contained a key to a P.O. box in Clarksburg, which held more evidence about Grafton Steel's misdeeds, including an incriminating memo and confidential safety data. Otis then took off Freddy's KidSecure ID, which he was able to do because Molly had entrusted Otis as a guardian for Freddy before her death. Otis led Freddy to Grafton Dam, which he took over and locked down so that it would just be him and Freddy on the premises.

While holding Freddy hostage, Otis did not have much luck with a ransom; either way, he was not interested in money, he only wanted to shut the plant down and send in safety inspectors to improve conditions. As the hostage situation dragged on for the next three days, Freddy and Otis became increasingly irritated with each other. Freddy drew obscene pictures and began "whining," as Otis would not let him go home. Initially, he was enthused about a big "adventure," and was especially excited about Grognak & the Ruby Ruins, which Otis had brought for him to play. However, Otis confiscated candy from Freddy and greatly upset him with "gross" food. On October 20, Arthur left a note at the ransom site, saying that Otis could keep Freddy and that he would not shut down the plant. Otis was amused by the fact that Arthur was willing to let his only son die in order to beat the commies.

However, the next day, Otis became paranoid about Freddy, and suspected that the child was plotting to kill him. He thought that Freddy was making a noose with a loose bit of rope, and noticed that Freddy kept bumping into him on the dam's catwalk. In reality, Freddy was creating a trap that he learned in the Pioneer Scouts. Freddy successfully snagged Otis' foot into the trap and made him slip on an oil slick, slinging him upside down. Freddy took this opportunity to escape and head back home, never aware of the true danger he was in. Otis was left in the dam on the day of the Great War. He eventually died in unconfirmed circumstances; his body can still be found in the dam over twenty years later. Although it is unnamed, it is identifiable by the final page of his diary found on his corpse.

Appearances
Otis Pike appears only