AIO Psyche (from the TOO) wrote:
Remember in the three part mystery episode, "The Perfect Witness"? The villain in the episode, Dr. Marcus, who worked at the college Eugene worked at, stole the research/paper that Eugene worked on. He covered this crime up by making it look like a random break in. He also hired two thugs to do his dirty work. All things that Novacom would do. However, the biggest shock is that Dr. Marcus sounds EXACTLY like The Chairman. Either its the same actor (which is what I suspect), or the two actors sound strikingly similar.
Anyways, I submit that Dr. Marcus is in fact, The Chairman. I will explain how this makes perfect sense.
1. Marcus stole something that he himself called "Brilliant work". Work done by Eugene. While I don't necessarily think that this was the Radio Wave study (Andromeda came to the college to do the work much later in the show), I do believe that the research, which we never find out about, was the seed from which the Radio Wave study grew.
2. This would explain why Andromeda, under the direction of The Chairman, had so much focus on Odyssey. Marcus wanted to exact revenge upon the town, the college, the very man whom put him behind bars.
3. It explains how Andromeda knew so much about Odyssey, Whit's End, Whit himself, even the Imagination Station. Marcus lived and worked in Odyssey, and was therefore perfectly in knowledge of Whit's End, the Station, and what it was capable of.
Here is my idea of what happened during and after the events of 'The Perfect Witness', leading up to the Novacom Saga.
One of Eugene's college classes required him to write a paper on a scientific matter. So he wrote his paper on an idea for assisting the handicapped, a notion that was perfectly suited to someone like Eugene. While not quite the full on Radio Wave study, I believe that Eugene scratched the surface of what became the Radio Wave study.
Unsure of his progress with the theory, Eugene went to Marcus for imput and critique on the idea. Marcus was shocked and highly impressed with the work the instant he read it. He called it brilliant. And brilliant it was. However, being the opportunist that Marcus was, he immediately recognized the potential uses for the technology. And with that, would come money, fame, and glory.
So, once Eugene finished the paper, Marcus plotted to steal it and present it himself as his own work, thus propelling himself out of this tiny, country town into farther, greater things which he so desperately wanted.
You know the rest of the story; the plot almost got off without a hitch, except for Jenny, whose blindness made her the perfect witness, and Marcus was caught and sent to prison. He lost everything, and worst of all, he lost his freedom. Marcus went to jail, and vowed revenge on Eugene, on the college, and on the town that he felt betrayed him after all his years of service to them all.
At first, Marcus did what any normal citizen who is out in jail for the first time would do. They try to get out, cause problems, and make examples of themselves.
Being in prison killed him inside. He was a scholar, a teacher after all! He had attended fine schools and made good money. Now he was reduced to this. His anger and resolve to get revenge on Eugene and Odyssey was born and solidified within the walls of his prison cell.
After weeks of walking around in a daze, reserving himself to his fate, he had an idea. An inspiration, actually.
He was reading in his cell, and his cell mate, who wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the bunch, was asking him a question, and with Marcus being a highly educated and intelligent man, answered his cell mates question, and then used his superior intelligence to get the man to do something he wanted him to do, but without asking him to do it. The power of suggestion. Pure manipulation.
"Boy, I wish everyone was this easy to influence and manipulate," Marcus thought to himself.
Suddenly, like a lightening bolt, it hit Marcus. Eugene's research. What if maybe, just maybe, there could be a potential way to......maybe........reverse the idea and instead of a human communicating with the technology, the technology could communicate with the human, and in turn, influence them, even control them, to do anything.......
Wait, that's silly. He would need technology far beyond what was possible to manufacture. The idea of a machine being able to interface with the mind was impossible, light years away. Why, it was simply to far fetched..........
Wait. Yes, that's it! The Imagination Station!! Whittaker's machine did just that. He remembered hearing some of his students talking about the device, and what it was capable of doing. By golly, this just might be possible.........
And there, in a cell block hundred of miles from Odyssey, the foundation was laid for the Novacom Saga. He began to formulate a plan.........
Within a week, the guards noticed a change in Marcus. He became a model prisoner. He did extra work, was polite and helpful to others, and never complained once. Another inmate that seemed to straighten up almost immediately after Marcus did, was another inmate whom was close friends with Marcus. Marcus found out that he was locked up for corporate espionage. His name was Joseph Muntz. But he always went by Barry..........
Both inmates became angels. And within a few years, they both were granted parole, and left the prison. They went their separate says, their plans clear. Barry had work to do, and Marcus did too. Barry went off to Odyssey to lay low and follow of his instructions, and Marcus headed to Chicago. He arrived, and went searching for a man Barry had worked for once before, a man named Bennett Charles. Barry said that he could help Marcus with the first part of their plan.
Marcus found him, explained the entire scheme, and Bennett was instantly taken with the idea. Marcus had connections to an investment company based there in Chicago, called Andromeda Incorperated. He knew a couple of board members through his scholarly career.
Bennett, who lived in Chicago, was a hit man for hire in the big city. He had a way of getting things done. People hired him to collect debts, scare people away, steal secrets, or simply make people quietly disappear. He got things done. And he had a group of people who worked for him. He would be a good enforcer, and an asset for what Marcus was planning. So, after several days of secret meetings and intense planning, Charles set off for New York, and Marcus called his friends, and set up a meeting with the board of Andromeda.
The next day, Marcus walked into the board room of Andromeda Inc, dressed in his best suit, and with the support of his two friends, presented his idea for a technology that could assist the handicapped far more than anything ever conceived. He laid out the basic idea that Eugene had conceived in his paper. He claimed that the project was not only possible, but a guaranteed cash cow. The profits that a product like this would bring in was far more than they could dream of. The board was instantly in love. The potential profits filled their imaginations. It was all they saw. The board unanimously voted yes to Marcus's project. Including one of the boards oldest members, Armitage Shanks.
They agreed to fund the research for the technology, and Armitsge highly recommended Cambell Country College be the one to handle the research, much to Marcus's shock and delight. Armitage raved of Eugene, and the notion of a small college in a small town doing the work on a highly valuable project sat very well with Marcus. This kind of technology could easily leak out, but if it was done in a small town that no one has ever heard of, it would keep the project low profile.
So, Eugene was contacted by Andromeda, and asked to flesh out and research the idea. Of course, he accepted. His paper had finally done him some good, and was recognized for the brilliance that it was! "If only Dr. Marcus could see me now," Eugene thought.
While the research project was being set in motion, Barry was doing surveillance on Odyssey, the college, Whit, and Eugene. He kept tabs on all of this, and began relaying information to Marcus as things progressed in Odyssey.
Meanwhile, Charles was in New York. He had gone there to track down and gather together some key people they would need to pull this plan off properly. After about two months in New York getting the support and help they would need, Marcus, who was by this time a board member of Andromeda, called Charles and told him to move to Boston. He got him a job at Galaxy Enterprises, on of Andromeda's many subsidiaries. Galaxy was set up to oversee the acquisition of the radio and broadcast towers necessary to deploy the mind control technology they would eventually posses. However, they couldn't get all the towers they needed legally. Charles was to see to this, and depending on how he did there, Marcus would entrust him with more.
As the months went on, Marcus began instituting projects and acquisitions for the company that not only increased revenue, but earned him respect and influence in Andromeda as a board member. But Marcus wasn't satisfied being a board member. He had his sites set higher.
Almost two years later, the chairman of Andromeda died under mysterious circumstances, so there was a vote held. The board was almost unanimous on it's vote for Marcus to become the Chairman of Andromeda Incorporated. The one vote against Marcus, was Shanks. While Marcus became Chairman, from that moment on, he kept a close eye on Armitage.
Now, as Chairman, Marcus began to kick his scheme into high gear. Eugene was making excellent progress on the research, Charles was doing an all too well job at Galaxy, even getting rid of any potential problems they might have, or anyone who might suspect something. And he even had a plan to keep John Whittaker busy and distracted once Andromeda set up a presence in Odyssey.
Marcus's ultimate plan of mind control and revenge on Odyssey was well under way.
And the rest, you know from the show.