| Item: | Mike Units |
| Type: | Cybernetics |
| Living: | Yes |
| Potential/Current Hazards: | Various potential hazards. Subject may die during installation or suffer a variety of effects from hardware failure. |
| Required Wear/Weaponry: | Controller implant |
| Reported Anomaly: | Increased physical performance beyond natural limitations. View report. |
Usage
Mikes can be used for a variety of situations ranging from menial labor to performing high-risk tasks. In combat scenarios, Mike units are to be deployed in large numbers. They are to be provided with whatever weaponry is available, and a Controller is to be present to coordinate them. Only high ranking operatives with proven loyalty to the Insurgency are to receive the controller implant. However, a failsafe mechanism is to go off in the event of traitorous behavior.
Mikes that have sustained too much nervous damage to be of further use are to be decommissioned and have their implants retrieved. When not in use, Mikes are to be kept in a designated chamber and attached to a slow IV drip. Any modifications to a Mike unit requires the approval of a Beta ranked officer.
Report
Mike units are subjects that have undergone a procedure to receive a cranial implant. The primary function of the implant allows for remote control over a subject, removing their autonomy in the process to effectively become drones. In addition, the implant can improve physical capabilities such as disabling pain receptors, and manipulating the endocrine system. As a result, Mikes are able to withstand significant physical trauma until expiration. A second iteration of the implant dubbed as the Controller variant allows for a single individual to command Mike units via a complex interface. Unlike the other subjects, their autonomy remains intact.
Several models of the implant have been produced with each iteration being much more sophisticated than the last. Early Mikes for example were still semi-conscious of their surroundings to a degree, but current Mikes tend to have the implant more situated in the prefrontal cortex to override any possible thought. Lobotomies were performed to reduce consciousness, however, the damage caused by severing parts of the brain sometimes reduced a Mike unit's performance. A full list of production runs can be found in the file "Mike Program - Implant Models" for in-depth information.
Subjects that are used to become Mikes range from civilians, prisoners of war, or insubordinate personnel. New instances continue to be made whenever new candidates are acquired for processing. As of writing, ███ Mikes are active along with █ operatives assigned as Controllers.
The development of Mike units began under Dr. Madison Craggs, a former researcher for the Soviet Union prior to its dissolution on December 26, 1991. Research acquired from the UK Ministry of Defense1 and the USSR Main Intelligence Directorate2 allowed for early prototypes of the hardware used for controlling a human brain. Through trial and error, Dr. Craggs developed an efficient surgical procedure that allowed for the installation of the implant that didn't impede motor skills and other bodily functions.
Appendix 01: First Deployment
The first deployment of the Mike units occured on ██/██/██. The target was former operative ███████ █████████ who defected from the Insurgency with classified information. He was located at an old GRU-P site in [REDACTED], which was maintained by an individual known as Dmitri Kalasov for the Russian Federation as a storage facility. 64 Mike units were assembled for the attack with 2 Item Retrieval Teams on standby. Dr. Madison Craggs volunteered to accompany personnel to observe the efficiency of the Mikes.
After approximately 53 minutes, the Mikes managed to neutralize all on-site personnel, and terminate the target. However, many units sustained heavy damage. Only 18 instances were viable for further use while the rest were decommissioned by Dr. Craggs. Despite the casualties, the mission was considered a success, and the Mike program continued development.
Appendix 02: Interview log with Dr. Madison Craggs.
Interviewed: Dr. Madison Craggs
Interviewer: Dr. Henry A. Miller
Foreword: Interview occured at Base ██ shortly after Dr. Craggs was brought in alongside a shipment of 10 Mike units for the facility.
[BEGIN LOG]
Dr. Craggs: Good evening, Dr. Miller. I don't think we have met before, but I heard quite a bit about you.
Dr. Miller: Likewise. Your records show me that you have quite the career. You had initially worked for the US Department of Defense before defecting to the Soviets. Did you know the CIA thought about killing you? An American scientist on the side of communists probably left a sour taste in their mouths. Fortunately, they had bigger concerns.
Dr. Craggs: Thank you. I always try my best. So would you like to discuss the Mikes? Delta Command3 will be pleased to know I have made them perfect puppets. All it took was a few brain surgeries to get it right. If I were younger I would have probably been more precise with a scalpel.
Dr. Miller: You did a fine job regardless of that. Where did you install the implant for the Mike units you brought in? According to your reports, you have a variety of placements for the devices.
Dr. Craggs: It depends on which one. For the tall fellow I embedded wires into his cerebellum. It helps to keep that big body from falling over so easily. The girl with the blue eyes had it attached to her amygdala along with most of the limbic system. Surgery on that part of the brain is more riskier, but her constant waterworks was too much of a downer.
Dr. Miller: Better to have an emotionless drone.
Dr. Craggs: Exactly! A matter of fact, that is a small issue I've been trying to solve efficiently. Practically performing lobotomies can severe connection with the implant and parts of the brain. I have had a higher success rate with operating on the frontal lobes. Of course we can preserve their personalities, and force them to become passengers in their own bodies.
Dr. Miller: So why not keep them conscious?
Dr. Craggs: Would you like your puppet to be able to think its own thoughts? Cursing you while you order it around? My goal is to have whoever wears the Controller variant of the implant be absolute. I doubt this would ever happen but I had considered the possibility of a subject somehow regaining control. Have you seen what a Mike can do in combat?
Dr. Miller: Yes, I have read the report where a few were sent to that old GRU facility. What a great example you helped us made of that rogue operative.
Dr. Craggs: Then you know that a single Mike can kill around ten heavily armed men before it dies. I have yet to see a Mike wrestle back control, and it is probably thanks to the thorough surgery to get the implants deep into their heads. As long as the installation is done correctly there should never be such an issue anyway.
Dr. Miller: Hopefully that never occurs. Do they need any form of maintenance? Their organic self, I mean.
Dr. Craggs: It's minor. Just keep them on an IV drip if you are not using them. Some models of the implant can slow down their metabolism.
Dr. Miller: Sounds like you have everything covered.
Dr. Craggs: Not quite. I am still trying to allow the operator the ability to make the Mikes speak.
Dr. Miller: I can think of a couple applications for that. Nonetheless, the progress you have made so far will still keep Delta Command impressed.
Dr. Craggs: Thank you. Hopefully they can raise the budget on the program. I have more things I want to try out besides making Mikes talk.
Dr. Miller: Such as?
Dr. Craggs: I want to test this technology on younger brains. Child soldiers already have some benefits, but they are too fragile. They can make for great infiltrators, but there will be challenges operating on underdeveloped brains. We'll probably have to stunt their growth to avoid future complications. That's if they live long enough to develop any issues.
Dr. Miller: I see your ambition. Perhaps you will be able to receive the necessary test subjects to explore that.
Dr. Craggs: Thank you.
Dr. Miller: I believe we are about done here. We will be putting the Mikes you brought in to good use. However, may I ask why did you leave the US? With your talents I assume you would have had a beneficial relationship with them before going to the Soviets.
Dr. Craggs: Conflicting interests.
Dr. Miller: Can you explain?
Dr. Craggs: I never cared about politics. They told me I was serving my country, but all I aspire to do is to create the best bioweapon. The Soviets had a lot of the same rhetoric in the couple of projects they had me work on. Their ideals were too constricting for someone such as myself. It's unfortunate that they collapsed before funding any of my ideas.
Dr. Craggs stands up to leave the chamber.
Dr. Craggs: Thank you for your time, Dr. Miller. I'll be going back to work now.
Dr. Miller: Just one last question. This is more personal, but why do you call them Mike?
Dr. Craggs: I knew a guard back in Russia named Mikhail. Called him Mike. He told very funny jokes.
[END LOG]
Afterword: The work Dr. Craggs has accomplished is impressive, but she is too unreliable to advance further into our ranks. I think she knows this herself. This could be a liability. Fortunately, we will soon have no further use for her. - Dr. Henry A. Miller
Appendix 03: On ██/██/██, Dr. Madison Craggs defected to the Foundation. Dr. Craggs had made an agreement to provide them information regarding the Insurgency in exchange for asylum. Furthermore, the Foundation has classified the Mike units as SCP-3033 within their database. Consequently, Dr. Craggs has been designated a high priority target for termination.
Outdated Mikes with a sleeper agent program installed were deployed with the objective to infiltrate the Foundation as live specimens. Two were successful but one sustained too much damage to execute its objective sufficiently. Meanwhile, undercover operatives were to locate Dr. Craggs to later provide that knowledge to the Mike for it to neutralize her. After six weeks, the location of Dr. Craggs was obtained, but the assasination atttempt was met with failure.
According to recovered Foundation logs, the Mike unit was unable to harm Dr. Craggs due to a failsafe installed by her. She had modified herself to have a subdermal implant that allowed her to freeze the motor skills of early Mikes she designed. This allowed her to neutralize the Mike unit it by vivisecting it. This incident led to the decommissioning of the few remaining instances personally made by Dr. Craggs along with a rewrite of the implants' software for security reasons.
The Foundation relocated Dr. Craggs after the failed attempt. Efforts to rediscover her location for termination are currently underway. The Mike development program is now under the supervision of Dr. James Roy.
Usually I do not disagree with terminations, but may I suggest the option of capture? We do not know everything she has told the Foundation, and bringing her in for interrogation will help to know the damage sooner than with our spies. I also think death is too merciful. If she can be brought in alive I will oversee her implementation into the Mike program as a research subject. I like to personally see how more invasive cranial cybernetics affect an old body such as hers while fully conscious. Dr. Roy would agree. - Dr. Henry A. Miller
Appendix 04: A new variation of the Controller implant has been developed for the Transhumanist Task Force. Operatives with existing cranial implants can now attach a modular version of the device to link with nearby Mike units. In addition, a software update to allow voice commands in newer production runs are pending. The purpose is to allow high ranking personnel to command a Mike without having to install an implant themselves.
Appendix 05: Testing has begun into allowing a subject to speak through a Mike unit. An aditional implant is embedded into the broca area that connects to the main implant that governs all brain activity. Dr. Roy has proposed surgery on the larynx to install hardware that grants Mikes the ability to mimic voices for strategic purposes. Further development is pending.
Appendix 06: Mike Program - Child Soldier Variant
[DATA ACCESSIBLE ONLY TO AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL]
