Adriaan Zietsman

Zietsman's haggard appearance in immigration office photo, taken after arrival to Dominican Republic. After spending 4 years on the run, the infamous scientist would finally find peace here, for a time...

### Aliases

"Rudolf Garcia" - alias during stay in Dominican Republic

### Affiliation

Hector Van Reyes (after becoming his personal physician in 2008)

## Biographical information

### Education

* Ph.D. of Genetic Sciences - Cape Town University
* MD–Ph.D. - Cape Town University

### Religion

Agnostic

**Adriaan Zietsman** (b. 1964) - is an infamous South African genetic scientist, who is one of the pioneers of live genetic manipulation. As of recent decade, he is a close associate of Hector Van Reyes, whom he serves as his personal doctor and "castellan" of Alcantara castle - the location where he currently resumes his prior experimental research.

## Background

Adriaan Zietsman, born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, studied medicine, later taking up studies in various branches of genetics at Cape Town University. Ultimately, he became a very successful researcher of genetic sciences, with his scientific works such as "*Effects of Introduction of Synthetic Proteins into DNA of Vertebrates"* and "*Theory and Methods of Genetic Manipulation in Live Organisms",* quickly gaining academic renown, gaining a lot of prestige and praise for the diligent scientist. Even though his ideas were largely theoretical, Zietsman was particularly interested in ways to manipulate DNA of live organisms, essentially modifying life itself to create "super organisms" - an idea which was then as equally unthinkable as unnatural to many.

### Playing God

His academic successes netted him praise from the government of Apartheid South Africa, which resulted in generous grants for further research. The very first funded project resulted in successful manipulation of Rhesus macaque DNA, with remaining official research papers citing that the primate's *"lungs became significantly more efficient, allowing the subject to survive in low pressure environment for a far greater time than unmodified test subject".* Despite the massive success, the test subject would undergo massive trauma during its "metamorphosis", and had to be sedated through most of the process. This has evidently hindered the progress of the DNA change, as Zietsman's further research has concluded and proven. Further experimentation commenced, with Zietsman modifying lab mice, snakes, pigs, monkeys and other animals with various mutations - all of which were unique to each other, but more or less resulted in either death or inhumane suffering of the subjects.

Other prominent figures in Zietsman's team were eventually tired of purely experimental attempts on animals and have suggested to apply the gathered knowledge in attempt to cure cancer. While this was not Zietsman's original goal, he has agreed and petitioned government for permission to begin limited scale DNA manipulation on cancer patients. The request, though granted, had changed the course of the ongoing research. Since the government has agreed to provide a group of cancer patients (all of whom were Black due to Apartheid policies), the involvement of live human test subjects prompted secrecy to avoid controversy.

As the research on human subjects commenced, Zietsman became increasingly obsessed with his research, rarely consulting with his aides and colleagues, spending most of his waking time in the labs, conducting seemingly random, arbitrary procedures on his subjects that had little to do with actual cancer cure efforts. In almost Mengele-esque fashion, the experiments were often pointless and only served to quench increasingly inhumane curiosity of Zietsman: people had their skeletal structure forcibly changed, resulting in bone plates growing and protruding from their backs for no reason. Others had their muscles bulged to obscene levels in effort to try and increase their upper-body strength. A least one victim of genecitist's brutality had his DNA interchanged with that of a mole-rat to see if they would acquire impressive resistance to pain which is present in these rodents.

Before the South African government eventually erased all known records of Zietsman's research, it became known that in total, 24 people have been subjected to experimental DNA manipulation, all of whom died in process. Witnesses of the project all claimed that unimaginable pain caused by *"patient DNA literally slowly rewriting itself as they were laying on the gurney caused such agony their hearts ruptured due to shock"*. Due to lack of oversight and eventual collapse of Apartheid regime in 1990's, Zietsman's research team has been dissolved, and he himself quietly returned to humble academic work as if nothing occurred, though never abandoning his hopes of resuming the work.

### Life on the Run

Eventually Zietsman's involvement in the project has been pulled from the shadows in 2000 after a government inquiry found out about the nature of classified Apartheid genetic experiments. The scientist had managed to escape justice after receiving a tip-off from a former colleague and fled the country. Zietsman spent 4 exhausting years on the run from the authorities around the world. After many failed attempts to gain a safe residence in Angola, Portugal, Brazil and Mexico, he finally managed to find an old ally who helped him to create a new identity and smuggle him to his residence in Dominican Republic.

Year later Adriaan Zietsman, now known as *Rudolf Garcia*, opened a small oncological clinic in Santo Domingo where he worked with the aforementioned ally. He continued to foster his hopes of resuming his old work, and kept his treasured trove of research documents. He did, at times, secretly attempted to cure severe cancer of several patients using his own method, which was partially successful.

### Associate of Padre

Somewhere in 2008, Zietsman's clinic received a new patient, who he confirmed had advanced stage lymphoma - a prognosis that is decisively fatal. Unbeknownst to the geneticist, the patient was Hector Van Reyes, who sought the scientist after learning about his prior experience and deeds. How Hector manage to track down the notorious scientist remained a mystery for him.

Zietsman concluded that such type of cancer could not be cured by usual means, only offering procedures to alleviate the oncoming death. Reyes, however, insisted Zietsman to perform his experimental DNA treatment on him, imploring that *"by combining knowledge of us both, the result will be spectacular"*. Zietsman had no idea what sort of knowledge Reyes possessed that would prevent his death during procedure, but eventually caved in to Reyes's demand....

> *No matter how long I resisted and kept arguing that my full treatment will likely kill him, Padre insisted that it will work. It seems as if He knew all about my prior experiment back in South Africa. I marveled at the detail He described what went wrong with my test subjects, and how He knew that induction into coma during the procedure will ruin the effort. I was horrified of this man - it was as if He knew all about me, my life, my knowledge. Nevertheless, I ran out of will and agreed, to which Padre, as I clearly remember, responded with a slight, sly smile. Then, it all turned black...*
> *He kidnapped me, and now I was his servant from then on. I though I had been captured by a demon once I learned that I awoke across the ocean, in Spain. How? Who is He? But He awaited calmly in the laboratory He had built earlier, just for me and my work. I was still not recovered from the shock of recent experience, when a clade of robe encased mystics entered the chamber, undulating an unnatural, weirdly familiar chant...*
>
>

Seeing as Hector Van Reyes is still alive and well until this day, the treatment was definitely successful. Instead of releasing Zietsman, Reyes made an offer to shelter him from authorities and for him to become his personal physician. Over the years, both became good friends and Reyes even provided Zietsman a minimal revelation of mystical and Christian occult matters whom he combined together with Zietsman's genetic science in effort to cure his cancer. Continued revelations about hidden esoteric knowledge changed Zietsman's character and frequently conflicted him, as being a man of science, he could not entirely handle these new learned truths Reyes spoiled to him. To recount his inner conflicts, Zietsman began to record audio tapes in which he discussed his experiences and attempts to scientifically explain "paranormal" happenings he encountered while working for Reyes.

Eventually Zietsman's loyalty was rewarded and Reyes appointed him as "castellan" (caretaker, steward) of his Alcantara castle after moving to Attaleia not long after the end of Anatolian Conflict. Possessing an advanced underground laboratory and a team of competent aides, Zietsman finally resumed his experimentation just like he dreamed to do so, his dark curiosity was once again reignited.

Zietsman's biggest project to date, hovewer, was [WIP]