Think Tank (faction)

"BE WARNED, INTRUDER! YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE MIGHTY THINK TANK OF BIG MT, THE COLLECTIVE GENIUSES OF... WE..."

- Klein

The Think Tank was the principal faction in the Big MT in 2281, created by the pre-War Big MT executives after the Great War and their transformation into think tanks.

Early years
At first, they were the six executives of Big MT, named together "Think Tank" executives including Gail Richardson (later known as Borous), Mobius, Dala, 0, 8, as well as Klein, the administrator of Big MT, their original names long lost. They were responsible for the gestion, decision making and all the experiments of Big MT, each in their respective domains under the direction of Klein.

After the Great War, a new project started, with the purpose of preserving the Big MT "Think Tank" executives by transforming them into a special brain bot called like them think tank, allowing them to continue their work at Big MT indefinitely, but "reprogrammed" to forgot a part of their personality and their name, by giving them a new one, enforcing the recursion loop in their new perception programming. With that, the Think Tank was eventually created and with nobody to stand in the way, their research continued in Big TM, becoming more sinister and debauched as the years went by.

But later, all of the Big MT researchers died, probably due to the escape of the cazadores and the nightstalkers. Only the Think Tank group remained in the Big MT. Mobius, tired of his endless and horrible experimentation and thinking that "the world isn't ready for that kind of too-far-thing-taking" and that the other think tanks had lost what remained of their humanity, erected a radar fence - a kind of radar-guided repulsive field around the perimeter of Big MT to prevent the disembodied brains from escaping into the wasteland, and destroying what little remained of humanity with their new prepared experimentation into a new "fertile testing ground".

Mobius' exile
After a severe dispute with Klein, Mobius removed all the chips of all personalities of The Sink; his room and personal laboratory, and against his will, hacked the databanks of his colleagues, reprogramming their chronometers, geometers and cartography programs, and making them to lose the sense of time and history. In also creating a belief that the robo-scorpion consumes intelligence (creating the fear to go out of the central Big MT's dome, the original location of the Big MT "Think Tank" executives named The Think Tank), he was exiled for a crimes too heinous to remain in recorded memory, and a belief that Big MT is the world, and that nothing exists outside of Big MT. However in the process, it also damaged some of their memories and knowledge, creating a mangled, disjointed versions of themselves. Disgusted to have done this to his friends, he also erased some parts of his memory, like this event and his Pre-War creation, the robo-scorpion.

After, Mobius moved to the X-42 robo-warfare facility (that renamed the "Forbidden Zone") and began to "re-create" the robo-scorpion after seeing some radscorpions coming into Big MT, with all features of the pre-War model such as energy bolts blaster in the tail, eyes and bullhorns systems connected to him. Having now his proper army and thinking that without something to distract them, the radar fence would not be sufficient and he began to send a repetitive threat broadcast to instill and install fear and prompting them to focus on retrieving technologies bringing to attack Mobius. After that, the Big MT fell silent, the remaining think thanks were stuck in The Think Tank dome, forced to continue their work only in this small area because of the fear installed by Mobius, continuously spying them.

The Visitors
Big MT was following more or less abandoned and although the facility's security was almost perfect, three people were able to elude the Think Thank and survive its horrors - Elijah, Ulysses and Christine Royce. At some point during his journey, Elijah spoke with the Think Thank and making them question the way of things. The five think tanks began to doubt that their world could be larger than they perceived and installed new ideas in their mind. Ulysses too spoke with the think tanks, particularly Dr. Klein, the leader. Ulysses asked a lot about history and asked a dangerous question: "what makes a nation, and what breaks them". Showing them the Old World flag, the think tanks eventually remembered many past events, especially that there is a world beyond the Big Empty, a world with ideas and possibilities for experimentation. Dr. Klein, regarding the question too dangerous and reminded of too many events, deleted it from his memory.

Some time after, Elijah was apprehended by Dr. 0 and Dr. 8, but he hacked them both within minutes, permanently damaging 8's voice module and sewing destruction in his wake: he rode out of Big MT on a cargo train, crashing the remaining trains in tunnels leading out of the facility. During these events, all were observed by Mobius (even the conversation of Ulysses and Elijah with the think tanks), with the inability to act on anything and his growing fear of the future actions of the Think Tank. Some time after the three left permanently, the Think Tank installed a pacification field in The Think Tank central area and the Courier was teleported to Big MT by a Big MT crashed satellite in the Mojave Drive-in. He was taken to The Sink to become a lobotomite but because they suffered a cranial injury in just the right place, it was enough for the Sink Auto-Doc to change its programming to fix the problem and improved the cranial procedure, but in the process, their spine and heart were also removed out of their body and replaced with synthetic organs. With The Courier's brain procedural data, this would give to the Think Tank the knowledge to modify their cranial selves into host to slip past the radar fence and left Big MT. But after the Think Thank extracted it, they fell to bickering amongst themselves. Mobius saw an opportunity to steal The Courier's brain with its knowledge and led it into the "Forbidden Zone". Wanting to gain their brain back and escape, the Courier were obliged to help the Think Tank against Mobius by retrieving three pieces of technology.

Society
The Think Tank' goal is to leave the remains of the Big MT for the wasteland, a new "fertile testing ground" prepared for their new experimentation. Ideologically, they want to know everything and don't hesitate to betray anyone to perform new experience, but remains more or less welded together, generally following the view of Klein.

Relations with the outside
They are hostile towards anyone who tries to approach and enter in Big MT, and have no respect for humanity, directly lobotomizing the visitors to create new lobotomites. However, despite their inhumanity, they are rather friendly and fully answer those who come to meet them.

Technology
Before Dr. Mobius' exile, they controlled all the technology in Big MT. After, they have no control over what happens on the surface, they still have powerful technology in their headquarters, such as the K9000 cyberdog gun and sonic emitters. Also, their headquarters still have technological equipment allowing them to continue their experiments at a certain degree.

Appearances
The Think Tank faction appear only in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Old World Blues.