During the final months of the Korean War, news began to filter out from the Soviet Bloc
alleging the use of various mind control techniques on American prisoners of war.
To counter this perceived threat, on April 13th 1953, the Central Intelligence Agency
approved the creation of Project MKUltra, which was directed to conduct its own research
into mind control and other experimental fields.
To support this effort, several facilities were constructed across the United States,
but the greatest and most unexpected success would occur at the Hawkins National Laboratory.
Named for the nearby town of Hawkins Indiana, the laboratory was placed under the administration
of Dr. Martin Brenner who oversaw the use of various drugs and other chemicals, hypnosis,
sensory deprivation, isolation, verbal abuse and other forms of psychological torture on
human subjects, including civilian volunteers.
Many of these test subjects were completely unaware of the potential dangers of the experiments
and were held against their will once testing began.
One such subject, college student Terry Ives, was unknowingly pregnant while undergoing
the experiments and when her daughter showed signs of being born with various psychokinetic
abilities, Dr. Brenner ordered that she be seized for study.
The lab covered up the kidnapping saying Ms. Ives had suffered a miscarriage and she was
later released from the facility.
After a string of unsuccessful lawsuits against Hawkins National Laboratory demanding information
and the release of her supposed kidnapped daughter, Terry Ives fell into a largely catatonic
state.
Meanwhile, her daughter, renamed “011” was raised within the laboratory and subjected
to a battery of tests to determine the nature and limits of her abilities.
A sensory deprivation tank was used to enhance her psychic powers, allowing her to enter
an inner mental void through which she could reach out and observe other people and events,
namely Soviet agents operating on American soil.
During one such session, 11 unwittingly encountered a creature from an alternate reality or dimension
that existed in parallel to their own.
Dr. Brenner ordered the experiment repeated and encouraged 11 to contact the creature.
The results were catastrophic.
The encounter created a rift between the two realities, manifesting as a type of tear cracking
open in the wall of the sensory deprivation room.
In the ensuing chaos, the creature entered the facility, killing a scientist while 11
managed to escape.
Following the creation of the rift, Hawkins National Laboratory expanded its efforts,
simultaneously searching for 11, investigating the dimension on the other side of the rift,
and covering up its effects on the nearby town of Hawkins.
This included the execution of witnesses and faking the death of a local boy, believed
to have either been killed or abducted by the creature.
In many of these efforts, the Laboratory operated under the guise of Hawkins Power and Light,
a local utility company.
11 was eventually located in Hawkins Middle School, resulting in the death of several
agents including potentially Dr. Brenner, the death of the creature and the disappearance
of 11, seemingly back into the alternate dimension.
While the incident revealed the true nature of Hawkins National Laboratory to several
nearby residents as well as local law enforcement, the silence of those involved was obtained
through either coercion or other means.
Secrecy remains a matter of vital importance to the laboratory, especially as the lingering
effects of the incident on the nearby town are investigated and the rift deep within
the facility continues to slowly expand.
The Templin Institute investigates nations, organizations, and factions from alternate
worlds and realities.
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