Kaufmann Initiative

Recovered photo of three PASG researchers in the Other, c. 1962

The **Kaufmann Initiative**, known also in the then newly-formed Anomalous Research and Intelligence Office as **Operation Enodia**, was a major military and scientific research expedition launched by the United States of America in order to explore the Other, which had formed a direct connection to reality by the means of the a portal formed as a result of the Mullins Experiment. The operation was planned by original portal researcher Dr. James T. Mullins, Department of Defense supervisory appointee General Herbert B. Powell, and by head researcher of paraphysics in the novel Preterological Analysis Synchronization Group, Dr. Erich Kaufmann. Lasting from January 3rd of 1961 to October 13th of 1964, it was the first of two major attempts by the American government to both explore the metatopography of the Other and understand its mysterious nature.

The operation ceased on the 13th of October as a result of the 1964 Metatopography Shift, occurring exactly four years after the Mullins Experiment occurred. The "shift" had briefly deactivated the portal connecting true reality to the Other, and seemingly shifted the arrangement (or entire identity) of all spaces within the anomalous dimension; this, as a result, led to the disappearance of over one hundredscientists, soldiers, and officers that were still in the process of exploration and research. Major figures that disappeared included Dr. Kaufmann and Colonel Albert Barron, acting leader of the Metatopographical Exploration Task Force.

The weight of such a disaster was immediately felt as dozens with experience in such an alien space had been lost. In addition, the Kaufmann Principles - a series of paraphysical explanations drafted by Kaufmann - had been lost, as the physical documents had been in transit from his last location in what was Space 142. Alongside the loss of Colonel Barron, this disappearance of vital personnel and information crippled the ARIO and involved parties, leading to the formation of supportive research elements such as the QuantaReal corporation in 1965 and the commencement of the Stout Initiative in late 1964 following the re-opening of the Mullins Portal.

## Background

Before even the discovery of the Other through the Mullins Portal, the United States government had already become acquainted with the paranormal. Having inducted German scientists through Operation Paperclip to assist in paraphysical and parapsychological research, Dr. Erich Kaufmann of the Clausewitz Association had made the most headway in persuading the Americans to open a branch of "paranormal defense". In 1948, the Supernatural Phenomena Task Force (SPTF) was formed under the Department of Defense, which would later evolve to become the Anomalous Research and Intelligence Office (ARIO) after the Mullins Experiment.

This experiment, occurring on October 13th, 1960, would become the alarm that forced the United States into giving significant subsidies to the study of supernatural phenomena. Having torn open a hole into a new reality, the Advanced Particle Physics Laboratory would be evacuated; on the 15th, the Department of Defense was officially given jurisdiction of the facility, and the SPTF would begin a preliminary expedition into the portal on the seventeenth. Having confirmed the stability of the portal and its linkage to a seemingly tangible dimension, plans would begin for a full-fledged exploration of this new reality, spearheaded by Dr. Kaufmann, Dr. Mullins, and General Herbert B. Powell - who was given direct authority over the operation by President John F. Kennedy.

## Preparation

Preparations for the Kaufmann Initiative, labelled officially as *Operation Enodia* in ARIO documentation, did not officially begin until December 12th.

With the APRL facility being transferred to the *de facto* jurisdiction of the Department of Defense, the execution of the Mullins Expedition into what was the original Space 0 would shock all staff in what the Other held for them on October 20th.

The Mullins Portal permanently disabled all equipment brought through that relied on electronics, forcing initial survey teams to rely on fully analog equipment. In addition, the original Space 0, described as "an abnormally silent, misty forest", displayed what scientists called "non-Euclidean geometry". This preternatural geometry caused warped senses of navigation, leading to several soldiers from exploration teams becoming missing for days following the expeditions in Space 0. Most were eventually found either by somehow coming back to the portal or being found by later expedition teams - sans a private by the name of Jacob Clark.

Clark's disappearance was particularly unnerving to all involved, as his loss within such an alien space invoked nightmarish thoughts in the minds of the scientists researching the Other. Even so, it was impossible to launch any attempt to find him without fully understanding the anomalous nature of the Other; for the next week, researchers intensely poured over telemetric data collected by electronic instruments assembled *in situ*, grappling with the paraphysics that was present. Eventually, the ARIO established a definitive protocol of exploration: a "buddy" system for all personnel deployed inside, the usage of markers and delineation tape to keep track of one's navigation, psychological training and screening for further expedition recruits, and radios assembled inside of the Other which would (to varying degrees of success) transmit short-distance information, among other steps.

On November 1st, the ARIO resumed full exploration of the space - which they assumed was the entirety of the new, anomalous dimension. Their primary objective was to gain further knowledge of the dimension's "metatopography", while also leaving room in their planning to eventually find Pvt. Clark, whether alive to deceased. Despite all their effort, Clark was never found; nevertheless, a groundbreaking discovery would be made on the 11th of December.

On a routine expedition survey, a squad of soldiers reported having seen a massive, colorless void in the middle of a clearing within the Space. Lacking any true "form" to it, one soldier reported that the void looked as if "God erased existence itself" from the area. Scared by this sight, no soldier volunteered to go near it; scientists later acquisitioned a deployable camera and attempted to feed it through the floating void to test exactly what the anomaly held, if anything. The camera was positioned inside of the void for a total of one minute, and when it was retracted, photographs were successfully attained. What researchers back in true reality, such as Mullins and Kaufmann, later saw astounded them—for what lied in the photographs was a sight that none of them had expected.

Instead of some labyrinthine nightmare to comprehend, or instead of an empty black image, they were seeing the inside of a roadside diner respective to their current year, repeating seemingly unto infinity.

## Execution of the operation and duration

Upon the realization that the dimension to which ARIO explored was not of one single realm, but now of at least 2 different (albeit connected) realms with varying topographies, the intensity of research and government scrutiny increased tenfold.

On the 12th of December, a meeting was held between the heads of activity so far: General Powell, Dr. Mullins, and Dr. Kaufmann. This was done in addition to the attendance of officers such as Col. Barron, who had specifically been placed as leader of the Metatopographical Exploration Task Force and thus operations inside of what was now officially designated as **Space 0**. A motion was reached, to which newfound exploration would be attempted with great vigor not only within the first space encountered, but *all* subsequent spaces encountered. New strategies of approach and exploration would be penned following the exploration of what was now "Space 1", with the discovery of a "Space 2" only days thereafter affirming the need for a radical change in operational scope.

   Kaufmann would enter the Other on the 31st of December and cooperate in future exploration missions with Barron, becoming the primary field researcher for the newly-invigorated Phenomenological Analysis Synchronization Group. On the 3rd of January, 1961, *Operation Enodia* would officially launch with the mission directive to catalogue as many "anomalous spaces as safety permits", starting in Space 2. Over the next three years, over **one hundred spaces** would be found by Dr. Kaufmann, Col. Barron, and other explorers of both civilian and military origin.

Before the metatopography shift, the bulk of information pertaining to the nature of the Other and the descriptions of its prior spaces were copied and catalogued back in true reality over the course of three years and nine months. However, the breakthroughs that Kaufmann made inside of the Other were never copied, and due to the nature of the shift changing spaces entirely, all prior information about the Other beyond its most universal of properties has become irrelevant.

### 1964 Metatopography Shift

On the dawn of the 13th of October, 1964, the APPL measured a massive particle flux emanating from the Mullins Portal; this was despite all of the instruments in true reality that were keeping it open being stable. Assuming that the portal was to close, the ARIO personnel who had been working the night shift attempted to feed the portal extra input energy. This abated the closing of the portal for a time, allowing three men to escape Space 0 before the portal finally collapsed: Lieutenant Benjamin Robinett, Lieutenant Jake Stafford, and Second Lieutenant Raphael Sorenson.

Once the portal had collapsed, the entirety of the ARIO within true reality shifted to a state of red alert. Approximately one hundred men were still inside the Other when the portal dissipated, including major figures in the expedition such as Dr. Kaufmann and Colonel Barron.

The next highest ranking individual present, Director Mullins, ordered that the portal be opened as soon as physically possible while "also following safety precautions"; having studied his own portal for four years, Mullins had surmised that the size of the portal was being controlled by two power inputs: one from true reality, and one from the Other. He declared in later judicial testimonies that he did not divert a total power surge "in order to keep the fabric of our own being in check"; Mullins had fears of the portal expanding to become an uncontainable and irreversible wormhole. Due to his reasoning and other evidence, Mullins was not charged with blocking attempts of rescue.

General Powell was notified about the crisis thirty minutes after the initial fluxes were reported in the APPL; having flown into Colorado from Fort Bragg, Powell was only able to reach the facility a few hours after the portal had closed and emergency teams were already scrambled to assess the situation.

Powell ordered a full information blackout on the situation, with the power fluctuations from the APPL and the hurried influx of staff being written off to the public as "field tests". Afterwards, President Kennedy was notified of the situation directly from messages sent by General Powell, and he subsequently ordered an emergency meeting of DoD and ARIO personnel within the Pentagon by the next day.

## Aftermath

Following the calamity that was the Shift, Powell voluntarily resigned his position as both commanding general of the United States Continental Army Command and commander of ARIO operations. Leadership of the ARIO was transferred to then-Lt. Col. Robert Stout, who had served as a member of Powell's staff and participated in many expeditions into the Other with Kaufmann and Barron. Now promoted to Colonel with direct order from President Kennedy, Stout demanded Director Mullins to reactivate the portal by the end of 1964 in order to commence the rescue-oriented Stout Initiative. With the successful activation of the portal using fission nuclear reactors built within the APPL as input energy, the Stout Initiative commenced in late 1964.

The QuantaReal corporation was founded as a direct result of the Kaufmann Initiative. Members of the Clausewitz Association and associates of Dr. Kaufmann, Jochen Morgenthau and Robert Straussler, successfully appealed to President Kennedy and various members of the Department of Defense for the sponsorship to create a proxy entity that would facilitate further understanding of the Other and the uptick in supernatural phenomena across the United States following the Shift. Collecting both government subsidy and public funding through their front as a regular scientific research corporation, QuantaReal would prove to be integral in further expeditions such as Operation Long Haul and in the development of technologies specific to paraphysics and parapsychology.