The Zurich Institute

Copyright © 1998, 1999 by Nate Birkholz ( birkholz AT visi DOT com).  All Rights Reserved.
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Introduction

For centuries Humanity has speculated about ways to unlock the so-called "Hidden Power of the Mind."

Known by various names - Espers, Psykes, Psions, Sensitives, Psychics - people over the years have claimed to be able to foretelll the future, read the minds of others, move objects with a glance, or capture "Psychic Impressions" of past events.  Many of these claimants have been diagnosed as insane, exposed as frauds, or dismissed as deluded.  Other incidents of psionic phenomena have never been explained, although coincidence and luck are often cited.

There are those who truly do believe in these hidden powers of the mind, however, and various governments have sponsored secret programs down through the last few centuries investigating the military or espionage possibilities that would be inherent were these powers discovered to be legitimate.  The Soviet government of the twentieth century was believed to have attempted to "breed" psionics by matching their most promising "sensitives" and propagating several generations of what were to be "super-psionics;" unfortunately, the program seems to have been a failure, and, at any rate, the records of this shadowy program were apparently destroyed, if the records or the program ever existed.

Little seems to have progressed in the field of Psionic research in the years following the Twilight War, and then the race to colonize outer space and the subsequent explosion of the science of Xenobiology occupied the majority of the scientific minds of the twenty-first and twenty-second centuries.  But, perhaps inevitably, research into the secrets of the Human mind found a haven.

Beginnings

In the mid twenty-second century, a large city block and several adjacent urban estates in Zurich, Switzerland were purchased simultaneously by an unknown buyer.  The buildings were quickly razed and a walled enclave was constructed, filled with ornate buildings obviously constructed at great cost.  The laborers were brought in from Eastern Europe, were housed on the grounds as soon as the walls were constructed, and little was announced in the way of plans for the site.  Speculation during the construction ran rampant, with the most popular theories being a new and exciting amusement park, a museum, or a corporate arcology.  Over time, however, announcements failed to appear, and speculation dwindled; the city of Zurich merely waited to see what would happen.

The construction took 7 years and was finally completed in 2172.  The workers left, the walls were manned by robotic cameras and conspicuous defensive mechanisms, and an eerie silence descended over the compound. For 7 weeks, no sign was seen of human habitation.  Then, on the morning of 3 November, 2172, a sign appeared on the western gate.  In 10 languages it simply read "Institute".

Several days later a caravan of 30 enclosed, darkened luxury cars entered the compound, followed by 3 helicopters with Ukrainian markings.  The next day, several major food suppliers and ten of the finest chefs in Zurich were contacted by a man or several men saying they represented "the Institute," wishing to contract their services for the foreseeable future and offering outrageous payments in exchange for only the finest supplies.  Similar arrangements were made for cleaning personnel, grounds staff, and other necessary laborers.

After this initial contact with the outside city, very little was heard from the Institute for several years.  The workers who had accepted the offers merely replied to questions with a firm "no comment," and supply drivers entered a walled-off enclosure, delivered their supplies onto a loading dock, and never saw beyond the thirty-foot walls.

Eventually, in 2178, the Institute, responding to an endless barrage of queries from news media, issued a terse statement claiming to be a private, scientific community investigating the possibilities of the future of the human race, and in particular the "hidden and remarkable powers which may be found in the Human mind".

No further replies were forthcoming for nearly 25 years.

Seclusion

Life at the mysterious Institute continued in its established routine, occasionally shuttling people into the enclave by helicopter or heavily-guarded limo, and occasional scientific papers were published by researchers believed to be within the walls of the "Zurich Institute," as it was now being called by the rest of the world.  These papers were interesting, if somewhat inaccessible to the public, and mostly were neurological in nature, rather than sensationalist or provocative treatises on psionics or telekinesis.

After the first few years, the Institute's power consumption rose to the point that it began to impact the power supply to the city.  When city council members complained about the power situation in a closed and supposedly private meeting in 2183, a representative or representatives of the Institute contacted each of them in turn the following day via phone.  A week later, plans for a new, larger power plant appeared on the City Architect's desk, and the necessary funds to construct the plant were anonymously deposited in the city coffers.  An Azanian contractor contacted the city the following day, claiming he had been hired to construct the power plant.  Within a year, the construction was completed.

In 2194, a rash of unsolved kidnappings in the city of Zurich prompted an angry mob to assault the Institute, claiming that the disappearances were to supply the Institutes "obscene and unnatural research" with new subjects.  A previously-unknown, large, and well-equipped security force repelled the mob, firing into the crowd with small, sedative-laced flechettes and large water hoses.  A public furor ensued and the Institute's initial strategy of sullen silence backfired, resulting in an agreement in which the Institute agreed to pay restitution to the families of the injured and to open its doors to a small group of investigators from the French government in order to verify that it had no kidnapped children within its walls.  The French observers remained inside for three days.  Upon leaving, they released a terse statement stating that no evidence of wrongdoing was uncovered, and that highly-placed deputies of the French government would be granted random investigative access in the future.  Upon their return to Paris, the investigators, it was noted, were immediately admitted to an audience with President Mischel.

One of the three investigators retired a week later.

Otherwise, life at the Zurich Institute seemed placid to outside observers.

Revelation

In 2202, a startling announcement was made - the Institute was opening its doors for the world media.  A full tour was promised, and questions would be answered by, it was said, the Director of the Institute herself.

With a week to prepare, the journalists of the world fought tooth and nail to be accepted to the media delegation, inundating the Institute with vitae and pleas for admission.  In the end, 32 members of the world media were admitted.  Many of these were science reporters, especially those with a background in neuroscience and other medical coverage.  CNN was also present, as was Free Press Africa ( now known as Independent News Services), Agence France-Presse, and the New York Times.  The remaining journalists were specialists in "legitimate" coverage of paranormal phenomena.

The tour began at 9 AM local time and lasted until 10 PM.  The media were shown about the spacious grounds, were introduced to a wide variety of international scientists, and observed a number of experiments, from pioneering neural implant work on an unidentified subject ( "for the privacy of the subject's family," was the explanation) to demonstrations of various psychic tests, some conducted on members of the media themselves.  One psionic evaluation test was conducted by media members themselves on a Scandinavian subject identified only as "Torvalt," pitting Torvalt against a French science reporter and the CNN reporter.  Torvalt scored exceptionally in the test ( a simple "what-card-am-I-looking-at" test, similar to early tests from the twentieth century), correctly identifying 62 percent of the symbols, while the journalists scored at 12 percent ( the French reporter) and 19 percent ( the CNN reporter).

Further tours were provided of recreational areas, one of the spacious and luxurious dormitories for test subjects ( empty for the tour, again to "protect the privacy of the test subjects' families"), and the facilities to house and feed the scientists.  Several areas were not included on the tour, despite previous promises for a "full" tour, and the guides were conspicuously apologetic, claiming that the scientists working in these areas were extremely sensitive about having their work revealed to outside sources while their research was still unpublished.

At 10 PM, the journalists were shown to a special building outfitted as a media center.  They were informed that it had been constructed at the same time as the rest of the enclave, as the Institute had always prepared for the day when they would share their research with the world.  The journalists were provided free access on secured lines to transmit their reports and video footage.  The world sat breathless as the first images poured out over the airways and the hypernet ( the reports were somewhat disappointing to most viewers, as it turns out, since the facility did not look like something out of a madman's nightmare, but instead was a shining example of a modern scientific facility).

The next morning, the reporters were ushered into a conference room and introduced to Anja Juntenen, a Finnish woman in her mid-fifties.  Dr. Juntenen was easily recognized by some of the scientific reporters, as she had been the shining star of the psychology department at the Sorbonne until mysteriously resigning eleven years earlier, citing an "exciting new opportunity".

Dr. Juntenen greeted the journalists, made a brief statement expressing the Institute's pleasure at their interest in its proceedings, and opened the floor to questions.

She confirmed that the Institute was investigating psychic phenomena, that all subjects were volunteers, that funding was private, and that much of their research was secretive, although she denied that it was secretive for fear of upsetting the sensibilities of the average citizen of Earth or its colonies.  She stressed that their research was legitimate and not intended to create "super-humans," instead claiming that the intent was to improve the general human condition and to unlock Humanity's potential.

She would not, however, answer questions regarding the sponsors of the institute, claiming that many were unknown to her, and that all were anonymous or secretive because they wished to remain so.  She vehemently denied that the institute had kidnapped subjects or performed any sort of cover-up in the 2194 incident.  She also denied any speculation that a eugenics project was being conducted, despite the children seen playing on the grounds the previous day.  "Our people here are people, after all, and they, too, fall in love and start families; any other explanation would be absurd and obscene," she said.

A number of technical questions were answered candidly ( see the transcripts elsewhere in La Libraire Coloniale, files 2102SUScTrRpZI05 through 2102SUScTrRpZI85), and some answers were deferred until the reports were released "in due time".  ( It should be noted that Dr. Juntenen contacted the reporters individually with full answers to their questions once the reports were released.)

After four hours, Dr. Juntenen begged leave of the reporters, asking to return to her administrative work. The reporters were encouraged to download a select group of files prepared for them, were allowed to capture some more video footage of the grounds, and then were escorted politely from the enclave.

World reaction was mixed.  Mostly, the Institute was mocked or dismissed as being a collection of "crazies" and/or incompetents.  Some people reacted with horror, and some reacted with acute interest.  Overall, however, the Institute was allowed to continue with its studies unmolested, and, judging by the numbers of black limousines and nighttime helicopter flights following the media tour, groups of new subjects readily volunteered for study after viewing the reports.

Acceptance

Over the following years, the Institute provided occasional press releases, tours, and interviews to select members of the world media.  It was noted that the publications which had shown the most respect and/or editorial forbearance in their reports in 2202 received the most invitations to meet with Institute scientists and view experiments in progress.

No "earth-shattering" announcements were made, however, and over time the Institute was accepted as a refuge for eccentric members of the scientific community, often being consulted by groups looking for explanations of various seemingly-psychic phenomena.  To the credit of the Institute, it usually dismissed these incidents as frivolous, fraudulent, or coincidental. Occasionally, however, the Institute would recruit new subjects or scientists via these investigations, and a growing body of literature flowed out of the institute.

Periodically the Institute would update its facilities, and in 2254 a massive underground construction program was undertaken.  The Institute flew its staff and subjects to a remote island on Vogelheim in the Adlerhorst system, on which the Institute had apparently built a facility several years before.  The local settlers had previously had no idea of its a purpose, presuming it to be an ARI facility.  After three years the construction was complete and most of the Institute staff and subjects moved back into their Earth facility, with a few subjects and scientists remaining in residence on Vogelheim.

The Institute's activities proceeded at a normal pace following this disruption.

Discovery

In 2300, however, a psychic incident occurred on the Orbital Mining Station Andrew Carnegie in the Nyotekundu system.  An alien artifact, transmitting a powerful psychic signal, overwhelmed the mind of an engineer on the Carnegie, causing him to murder several of his compatriots aboard the station and attempt to use the Carnegie to construct a massive ramjet to travel to the galactic core.  Due to the intervention of a crack team of Azanian Zulu Guards commandos, the German engineer's actions were halted, but not before the tragic loss of seven lives.

The Zurich Institute ( as it was now identifying itself in press releases, finally submitting in 2286 to common parlance) contacted the Azanian government and was provided with the alien artifact for further study. The artifact was presumably taken to Vogelheim, as the Vogelheim facility experienced what were reported as "minor security difficulties" shortly thereafter.  Orbital photos show that the facility was partially destroyed by an explosion, and the Zurich Institute quietly evacuated all test subjects from Vogelheim, leaving a core group of researchers and a construction team behind.

No report has been released as of 2302 regarding the alien artifact, but Jaleel Ibrahim, the current Director of the Zurich Institute, has announced periodically that studies are proving fruitful, although to what extent he will not say.

Speculation

The Zurich Institute has inspired much speculation over the years, and the less lurid of the theories may have some basis in fact.

The original funding seems to have come from Eastern Europe.  In particular, the name Arkady Vostoy has most often been connected with the financing. A brilliant but erratic industrialist, Vostoy was known to be interested in the paranormal, and his extensive holdings in the Baltic could easily have funded at least a major portion of the Zurich Institute's construction and establishment.  Others must certainly have been involved, and later investigations turned up extremely large withdrawals by several Japanese shipping magnates at the correct time to have contributed to the Institute's founding.

Another trend of speculation is that the institute was founded by descendants of the Soviet Esper breeding programs of the twentieth century, with backing from Vostoy and the Japanese.

Another piece of speculation is that the opening of the doors of the institute in 2202 was due to the death of the original director and the subsequent decision by Dr. Juntenen to be more open in dealing with the outside world.  The identity of the original director has never been agreed upon, but a small cemetery was observed within the grounds on the 2202 tour.  One of the science reporters, whose background was originally in material sciences, observed that a large above-ground crypt seemed to have been artificially weathered, and the grave may have been relatively recent at the time, possibly no more than a year or two old.  The reporter later retracted this speculation, but it has long been surmised that he was somehow coerced into this retraction by the Zurich Institute.

Conclusion

However the Zurich institute conducts its day-to-day business, it has outlasted many of its more "legitimate" contemporaries, and seems to have achieved much in its research, at least enough to keep it staffed and funded for many years.  Although it apparently has not reached the golden prize of full-blown proof of psionic potential in the human mind, it has pioneered many advances in neurosurgery, psychology, and neural implants.  At the time of this writing, it has registered 3,425 patents and published 11,563 papers or books internationally.

You do not have to allow psionics in your campaign to use the Zurich institute as an organization.  Indeed it can be entertaining for everyone to keep your players guessing as to whether the Zurich Institute is legitimate or not.  Most likely the players will only rarely encounter the so-called "sensitives" and instead will deal with the suits or lab coats, even if working for the Institute.

At any rate, average encounters with the Zurich institute will be in passing or else will be extremely mysterious.  "Recruiters" travel throughout space investigating reports of "sensitives" ( the preferred term by Institute scientists) to volunteer for research, and occasionally may be encountered by players on a ship or frontier world.  Or an eccentric patron might have ties to the Institute and may request that the characters help extricate one of these recruiters from the clutches of suspicious Manchu colonists on Cold Mountain, or the German government might want the players to find out what's really going on at the Zurich Institute's outpost on Vogelheim.  Or maybe the characters meet a group of Zurich institute "sensitives" on a ship on the way to Vogelheim and get entangled in intrigue as Argentinian spies try to abduct the "sensitives" for research and exploitation.

You could also have the players be hired by the Institute itself to do some recruiting, find a bit of information, or maybe "take care of" a potential leak.  The Institute is a mysterious place, and mysterious things happen in mysterious places.