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BULLETIN OF THE INTERNATIONAL ROBOTICS ENGINEERING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ASSOCIATION (IREAIA)
NEW MEMBER PROFILE: DR. NEWTON GEISZLER, SHAO INDUSTRIES
The International Robotics Engineering and Artificial Intelligence Association is proud to welcome Dr. Newton Geiszler as the newest member of its Distinguished Advisory Council.
A native of Berlin with multiple doctorates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Geiszler is currently Senior Research Scientist and Director of Innovation at Shao Industries of Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. There he oversees the development of remote operating systems and integrative approaches to Jaeger technology, as well as ongoing research into the physiology of the multiconsciousness integrative protocol known as the Drift.
Prior to accepting his current position with Shao Industries, Dr. Geiszler was a top researcher and experimental roboticist at the Pan Pacific Defense Corp’s K-Science division. While there he undertook pioneering experiments in understanding Kaiju physiology and consciousness and co-developed some of the early fundamental technologies that made the Drift possible.
As a member of the DAC, Dr. Geiszler will be a voting member on IREAIA position papers and will participate in the organization’s funding and scientific outreach endeavors. The IREAIA is proud to add a scientist of Dr. Geiszler’s credentials, reputation, and demonstrated courage to the Council, and looks forward to benefiting from his voice in the future.
Shao Liwen arrived the next day for the Drone Jaeger demonstration. The Shatterdome, so chaotic the day before, was now quiet, as all nonessential activities had been put on hold for the duration of her visit. She was the biggest of big wheels, and the PPDC was pulling out all the stops to impress her. She entered the Shatterdome dressed in white, every detail groomed and perfect. Shao had started life as a tinker and hacker, but now she led one of the world’s most important tech manufacturing companies, and she knew how to play the part. She was escorted by a security detail, including Joseph Burke, whom Jake remembered from Ranger training. He saw Lambert staring daggers at Burke, and wondered what it was about—but then he was surprised to see Mako and Newt Geiszler bringing up the rear of Shao’s procession, and he forgot about Lambert’s personal problems. Jake still hadn’t gotten used to his sister wearing the uniform of the PPDC Secretary General. Newt Geiszler looked different, too. The rumpled clothing and tousled hair of the Newt Jake remembered from footage of the Kaiju War had been replaced by a perfectly groomed and manicured corporate model, with the kind of swagger that came from a fat private-sector salary. Marshal Quan, the successor to Herc Hansen as PPDC Marshal, waited with the Rangers as Shao and her security detail approached.
Quan introduced himself in Mandarin and extended a hand. “Ms. Shao. Marshal Quan. It’s an honor to meet you.”
Shao just looked down at it, clearly uncomfortable. Newt rushed up to explain. “Sorry, sorry! She doesn’t do the whole hand thing.” He shook Quan’s hand instead. “Dr. Newton Geiszler, head of research and devel—whoa, that’s a firm grip.” Turning to Liwen, he explained in Mandarin what he had said.
She addressed Quan, clearly going through the motions of greetings and asking where the demonstration was going to happen. Quan indicated Lambert and gestured for them to follow, speaking in Mandarin until he glanced over at Mako. “We’ll be in the War Room, Madam Secretary.”
She nodded. “Thank you, Marshal.”
Jake couldn’t help himself. He grinned at Mako. Having her here made him feel more a part of everything. “Good to see you again.”
“You too,” she said, taking in his dress uniform and Ranger jacket. “That’s a much better look on you.”
Apparently Liwen agreed. As she passed, Jake saw her give him a long, lingering look. Some kind of interest there, he thought… but he wasn’t sure what. Quan and Burke followed her.
Newt Geiszler trailed behind, making a big show of approaching Jake. “Is this him? What am I talking about, of course it’s him!” He took Jake’s hand and pumped it like he was performing for photographers. “Newton Geiszler, pleased to meet you. Gotta say, huge fan of your old man.” His voice dropped into a weird approximation of Stacker Pentecost’s cadence. “‘Today, we are cancelling the apocalypse!’ Love that, use it all the time.”
Jake couldn’t believe this slick phony was the same Newt Geiszler who had Drifted with a Kaiju brain and helped save the world. If that’s what corporate money did to you, he’d stay with the PPDC… or go back to hustling on the black market.
Hermann Gottlieb appeared out of nowhere, calling out to his old colleague. “Ah! Newton! I was hoping you’d be tagging along. I could use your help on an experiment—”
Newt cut him off, his tone friendly but patronizing. “I’m on the job here, buddy. I got time after, we’ll play with your test tubes.”
“The demonstration is not scheduled for some time yet,” Gottlieb said. “And with your interest in Kaiju physiology, I think you will want to see what I am developing.”
Newt glanced over at Shao, who wasn’t looking at him. He turned to Jake and Mako with a shrug. “All right! Give me a minute for the show-and-tell, okay? Then you better be ready to see something really cool.”
* * *
Gottlieb hustled into his lab with Newt in tow. “This will only take a moment,” Gottlieb said. “I don’t want to impose, but—”
“Hey, come on,” Newt said. “We’ve been in each other’s heads. Without the intel we yanked from that Kaiju brain, Raleigh never would have been able to close the Breach. That was you and me, pal.” They enjoyed that brief moment before Newt glanced at his watch. “But I am running a little tight, so…”
“Yes, umm…” Gottlieb started searching among the notes cluttering the desktop near his computer terminals. When they’d shared a lab, Gottlieb had been the neat freak. Since then, apparently a little of Newt’s (mostly) controlled chaos had rubbed off on him. He came up with a set of papers. “Deployment!”
“Deployment?” Newt echoed.
“Of Jaegers. Deploying
