Think Tank (faction)

The Think Tank is the main faction in 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. Collectively named "Think Tank," the executives include doctors Borous, Mobius, Dala, 0, 8 and Klein, who was the administrator of Big MT. Their original names are long lost. They were responsible for the decision making and management of all experiments in 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 executives by transforming them into a special brain bot called think tank, allowing them to continue their work indefinitely. They were "reprogrammed" to forget a part of their personality and their name, giving them a new one and creating a recursion loop in their perception programming. With that, the Think Tank was created. With nobody to stand in their way, their research continued, becoming more sinister and debauched as the years went by.

Later, all of the Big MT researchers died, with some killed due to the escape of the cazadores and the night stalkers. Only the Think Tank group remained in Big MT. Mobius, tired of their endless and horrible experimentation and thinking that "the world isn't ready for that kind of too-far-thing-taking" and that the other members 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, which would destroy what little remained of their humanity with their new prepared experimentation into a new "fertile testing ground."

Mobius' exile
After a severe dispute with Mobius, Klein removed the chips of all the personalities of The Sink, Mobius's room and his personal laboratory. Against the will of his former colleagues, Mobius hacked the databanks of his colleagues, reprogramming their chronometers, geometers and cartography programs to make them lose their sense of time and history. He also generated a belief that Big MT was the only location left on the planet. In the process, however, he also damaged some of their memories and knowledge, creating a mangled, disjointed version of themselves. Disgusted to have done this to his friends, he also erased some parts of his memory, such as this event and his pre-War creation, the robo-scorpion. He then left, and all the memories related to the incident were deleted from the Think Tank's minds.

Afterwards, Mobius moved to the X-42 robo-warfare facility (which he renamed the "Forbidden Zone") and was inspired after seeing some radscorpions coming into Big MT. He decided to improve the creatures, making a massive army of robo-scorpions. Many of the features added to the robots were specifically designed to intimidate the Think Tank, like the speakers and the "intelligence draining lasers." Having now built his proper army, Mobius believed that without something to distract the Think Tank, the radar fence would not be sufficient to contain them, he began to send repetitive threat broadcasts (while tripping on Psycho) to instill fear and prompt them to waste their energies focusing on retrieving the technologies to attack him.

The Visitors
Big MT was more or less abandoned. Although the facility's security was almost impenetrable, three people (prior to the Courier) were able to elude the Think Tank and survive Big MT's horrors: Elijah, Ulysses and Christine Royce. At some point during his journey, Elijah spoke with the Think Tank, making them question the way of things with his requests for technology that could "destroy a nation with force." The five Think Tanks began to speculate that their world could be larger than they perceived.

Some time after, Elijah was apprehended by 0|Dr. 0 and 8|Dr. 8, but he hacked them both within minutes, permanently damaging 8's voice module and sowing destruction in his wake, using 0 to wreck the Think Tank's trains. Elijah's familiarity with pre-War technology rendered the Think Tank's attempts to recapture or contain him unsuccessful. At the Little Yangtze internment camp, Elijah set up shop and acquired bomb collar technology, while disposing of the sentry robots sent after him with his "souped up" laser weaponry, which was most likely Elijah's advanced LAER. After detecting the presence of Christine Royce and neutralizing her, he went on the move again, at one point setting up camp at Elijah's Watch. When he had found all he felt he needed, including information pertaining to the Sierra Madre Casino & Resort and the treasure trove of technology to be found there, he rode out of Big MT on a cargo train, crashing the remaining trains in tunnels leading out of the facility. These events were all observed by Mobius. Due to his inability to intervene, he became afraid of the future actions of the Think Tank; if they ever conceived a means of circumventing the radar fence and unleashing themselves on whatever remnant of America survived.

Ulysses too spoke with the Think Tank, particularly Dr. Klein, asking many questions. He faced what he thought was certain doom at their hands, and in anger asked Klein: "Who are you, that do not know your history?" The Old World flag on his triggered recollections in the Think Tanks, overriding the memory wipes that Dr. Mobius had executed. The scientists realized that there was indeed a world beyond Big MT that had survived nuclear cataclysm, a world brimming with possibilities for experimentation. Dr. Klein, regarding the question as too dangerous and that it reminded him of too many events, deleted it from his memory logs. His colleagues followed suit. However, in their conversation with Ulysses, they had given him much knowledge regarding Big MT itself, and the methods he could employ to convey his intended message to the Courier.

Some time after the three left for good, the Think Tank installed a pacification field in The Think Tank central area, to make sure they could never be attacked again. Later, the Courier was teleported to Big MT by a crashed satellite in the Mojave Drive-in. They were taken to The Sink to become a lobotomite, but because the Courier had suffered a cranial injury in just the right place, courtesy of Benny, the Sink Auto-Doc was forced to alter its programming to fix the problem. In the process this improved the brain removing procedure in all the necessary ways for the Courier to retain not only motor function, but also powers of cognition, after the lobotomy. Dr. Dala also removed the Courier's spine and heart and replaced them with synthetic organs. The Courier's brain thus contained procedural data that would give the Think Tank the knowledge to modify their cranial containers into hosts that can slip past the radar fence to leave Big MT.

However, after the Think Tank extracted it, they fell to bickering among themselves. Mobius saw this as an opportunity to steal the Courier's brain and its knowledge, sequestering it safely in the Forbidden Zone. To recover the missing brain and escape, the Courier was obliged to help the Think Tank against Mobius, at least for a time.

Society
The Think Tank's goal is to leave the remains of 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 experiments. However, they remain more or less welded together, generally following the view of Klein. This is not always the case, however, as Dr. 0 genuinely expresses how he feels towards Klein in the non-violent ending of the main quest. The Courier: "Maybe you should confer with your colleagues first."

Klein: "NONSENSE. "CONFER?" "COLLEAGUES?" THOSE ARE TWO WORDS I DO NOT RECOGNIZE."

Dala: "Dr. Klein, I must... intersect. Please... do not harm the Lobotomite."

Klein: "I'M NOT GOING TO HARM IT, I'M GOING TO DISSECT IT UNTIL ITS DEAD. WHY THE SUDDEN INTERSECTION, DALA."

Dala: "I cannot stand a breathing, a sweet breathing organism, breathing in, and out, to suddenly not breathe. We must keep it alive. For study. Slow study."

Klein: "DALA, THESE... VOCALIZED PAUSES ARE... UNLIKE YOU. WHAT DO YOU CARE?"

0: "*Klein, uh... you know, this Lobotomite, it's a great sounding board. You respect Idea-ology, right? This one's... well, it's... got good ideas.*"

Klein: "SILENCE, DR. O. THIS IS A THINK TANK DECISION. SAVE YOUR OBJECTIONS UNTIL AFTER I HAVE DECIDED OUR COURSE OF ACTION."

0: "*You know what, Klein? Stick a straw in your tank and suck yourself. Long and deep.* *And my name is Zero - yeah, a big fat zero, with a slash through it.*"

Klein: "THE SLASH... AS A DESIGNATOR OF... WHY, THAT IS BRILLIANT. BUT HOW DID YOU...?"

0: "*The Lobotomite taught me that. Taught me a name is more than... um... that I should take pride in... things. Like... names... and...* *You know what, forget it, Klein. I hate you. And your theory of brainial beam oscillation? The Chinese had it first, you copycat!*"

Klein: "HOW DARE YOU! BRAINIAL BEAM OSCILLATION WAS SOLELY MY DISCOVERY! I EXPRESSLY TOLD YOU THAT AND DELETED ALL EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY!"

8: "@@[=$+<_--*]@@?"

Klein: "ET 2, 8? WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE THIS? YOU'VE NEVER REFUSED TO COMMIT NECESSARY... SURGERY BEFORE. AND THIS LOBOTOMITE NEEDS ITS SURGERY."

8: "@@[$((*&^#%]@@. @@[*.......]@@... @@[$((*&^#%]@@. @@[=$+<_--*]@@? = @@[=$+<_--*]@@? @@[<*$(^=)#]@@! @@[#-@$$@-#]@@. @@[*.......]@@... @@[$((*&^#%]@@?"

Klein: "A NOBLE SPEECH, BUT... THERE IS NO ROOM IN MY VOCABULATORS FOR "FRIEND" AND "LOBOTOMITE" IN THE SAME SENTENCE. THE VERY CONCEPT - REVOLTING. PERHAPS YOU ARE IRRADIATED WITH CAMARADERIE RADIATION. WE HAVE CHEMS FOR THAT, WE CAN SAVE YOU FROM YOUR EMOTIONAL... ADDICTION."

Borous: "-If I may, I feel as if I must be the voice of reason here.- -This Lobotomite is much like us, regarding even animals and pets as nothing more than avenues to promote Science! There is good here.- -Instead of ending its life on the table, we should prolong its suffering, in the name of Science. Like good old Gabe, the FINEST of lab specimens.-"

Klein: "WHY AM I EVEN LISTENING TO YOU FOOLS? ENOUGH OF THIS MUTINOUS CHORUS! IF THERE'S A WORD I HATE, IT'S "MUTINY." AND THE WORD "JISM," WHICH NEVER MADE ANY SENSE TO ME. IT'S RIDICULOUS, PUTTING "J" AND "SM" TOGETHER LIKE THAT. NONSENSE! I COUNT AS FIVE. LIKE THE MIGHTY HUMAN HAND I ONCE HAD, WITH ITS FIVE PENISES CLENCHED IN A FIST." (Klein's, Dala's, 0's, 8's, and Borous' dialogue) Note: This is the full good ending to the Old World Blues add-on with the option to help 0 with fleshing out his name as "0" rather than "O".

Relations with the outside
They are hostile towards anyone who tries to approach and enter Big MT. Big MT's automated processes cause most hapless visitors to become lobotomites and function as part of Big MT's security.

The Think Tank have been reprogrammed by Dr. Mobius to lose all awareness of the outside world, and apart from a minor disruption caused by Ulysses, this programming has taken firm hold. They do not acknowledge any of the factions and communities in the game, since they are unable to recognize those entities' existence.

Technology
The Think Tank is without a doubt one of the most technologically advanced factions in the wasteland, superior to groups such as the Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave and rivaled only by the Institute. Before Dr. Mobius' exile, they controlled all the technology in Big MT. Afterwards, they lost control over what happens on the surface. They still possess powerful technology in their headquarters, such as the K9000 cyberdog gun and sonic emitters. In addition, their headquarters has technological equipment that allows them to continue their experiments to a certain degree.

The Think Tank is also responsible for nearly all of the technological marvels (or horrors) found at the Sierra Madre. Examples being the iconic vending machines - devices which can produce virtually limitless resources at next to no cost, the holograms - which can serve as "virtually" unstoppable offensive weapons, and the Cloud - an atmospheric toxin which is capable of wiping out most organic life while preserve structures and objects perfectly for centuries.

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

Behind the scenes
The names of the members of the Think Tank shares and refers to an endless loop or infinity. The references are the Klein bottle for Klein, Mandala for Dala, Ouroboros for Borous and the Mobius strip for Mobius. 0 and 8's names also visually share the same symbolism.