Wilhelm F. Keigel

Wilhelm F. Keigel, also known by his alias Thorstein Rautenstrauch, is a Soviet expatriate, a founder of Noveautrea, neuroscientist and electromagnetic technician, musician, and the inventor of psychic radio. He is one of the prime engineers behind the Solar War and a member of the Technocracy's triumvirate. 
He is the power behind many prominent faces in the once-peaceful Technical movement and an entirely true believer in Technocracy. 
== Biography ==
German by birth, his ancestors were loyal communists and helped fight the German Civil War. 
In his youth, he invented psychic radio. 
While at university, he secretly took the moniker Thorstein Rautenstrauch and began publication of a small political biquarterly newspaper called Productunum!, a portmanteau word of the Latin phrase "united production". He featured a small handful of other writers and his own work was often the centerpiece of each issue. It was published and disseminated in Moscow. It's presence was tolerated by the Soviet government because of it's closeness to communist principles.
During the latter parts of Invictus, he publicly reveals his identity and throws the full weight of his influence behind the Technocracy in the Solar War. Around the Second Battle of Mars, he becomes the public face of the Technocracy movement and gives Technical morale a huge boost.
=== Influences ===
Keigel was personally inspired by the functionalism of Robert Heinlein, syndicalism, and the early 20th century Technocracy movement.
== Personal life ==
Keigel is a devout adherent of Architecture. This sharply contrasts with the scholastic atheism and Terran Humanism of many of his fellow Technocrats.
A habit of his is watching Solar Battles in real time set to classical music, no matter the time.
He particularly enjoys Dvorak, Tsiolkovsky, and Wagner. 
== Quotes ==
"I intend to play Sol System like a symphony and weave even the most discordant note into my most beautiful song."
== Legacy ==
=== The Omniphony ===
The Omniphony and it's successor the Omniphony 99 was Keigel's invention. It was heavily influenced by early Earth electronic musicians such as Thaddeus Cahill, Maurice Martenot, Leon Theremin, Jean-Jacques Perry, Edgard Varese, Lucian Berio, Pierre Bowlez,
His tech allows a group of people to focus on an instrument, translate brain activity to sound, and record it. The brilliance of the Omniphony and Omniphony 99 is that it allows for the focused effort of a single user. It took Keigel forty years to develop from the original psychic radio tech.
Category:First Trilogy
Category:Characters