Milton R. Wallace

**DISCLAIMER: This character goes unmentioned in-game, and some information about him may be assumptions.**

Milton Robert Wallace, most commonly referred to as Milt, is a character that is important Callum Crown's rise to power, but not to Dialtown as a game.

## Information

Milt was college-educated, having been a recent university graduate with his degree relating to genetics. Although, his personal focus was more on it's relation to agriculture as his thesis revolved around "using massive irrigation devices to transform large swathes of unused land in the great plains in order to yield food for humanity".

He first met Callum at a rally held in Wisconsin where he was campaigning for state senator. After he made the promise to eradicate poverty in Wisconsin, Milt introduced himself sheepishly and mentioned his studies in combining organics and inorganics. They played off of each others ideas in such a way that sparked an immediate relationship, both wanting to create systems greater than the sum of their parts comprised of both nature and machine. Callum and Milt talked long until everyone had left the rally, and until it was well into the night. Not only did they bounce off of each other's ideas, they bounced off of each other.

Callum extended an arm to Milt to be his Vice President when he was later campaigning for president; and once he took office, he literally extended a prosthetic arm to Milt as a gift. It was the first Callum had built, and included a note jokingly saying, "For my right hand man", as that was the limb that Callum had missing.

Milt was the only one to which Callum told his plans to the Dialup to. Milt actively responded negatively and disapprovingly whenever he brought it up, before finally outright stating that if Callum went through with it, their relationship would be finished. And Callum initiated the Dialup regardless, ruining them. After a big fight Callum took back his gift- his right arm- from Milt and kept it to use. Milt ended his own life before the Dialup occured on December 31st, 1966, although it is unknown exactly when; however, this didn't deter Callum's plans.

When he gave his speech on New Year's of 1967, Callum overextended his arm and ended up pressing his answer box and wiping his own memory. What Norm didn't know was that Callum was wearing the arm he had demanded back during the speech, and had overshot the prosthetic's movements due to it now being foreign to him. He still felt it was Milton's. In a more metaphorical sense, the guilt of it caused his slip.

## Personality

Milt has been described as an out-of-the-box thinker and innovative, but not much is known outside of that. The only "dialouge" of him is a snippet between him and Callum nearing the end of their relationship, assumed from the tension between the two:

M: I'm beginning to doubt my own, Cal.

[Milt downs some pills from a bottle on the shelf closest to the door and leaves.]

C: You're lucky we did'n-

M: I told you, Cal, if you bring up that 'Dial Up' to me again, we're through. I can't live with that sort of-

C: Fine, fine, fine, FINE. Just go. Sleep whatever that is off. 9-00, we'll sober up, down a pot of black coffee, and work out the DETAILS of-

M: Dams tonight, damned tomorrow...

C: What was that?

M: You too. Really. Sleep that off.

C: [Callum smiles slightly.]

You know, Milt. I think I appreciate you as a sounding-board most of all.

M: I shouldn't be your only sounding-board, Callum. The American PEOPLE should be.

C: Ah, you SEE, Milt? That's IT, that's what I've always liked about you.

[Callum gazes down on the board, the city of Vegas swept and all tiny people figurines in a pile on the left side of the table.] You remind me that there's PEOPLE on the board.

[Milt lingers in the doorway. Callum references to schematics on his desk.]

C: Lemme tell ya, can I? [Cal notices that Milt's looking at the lines of white powder on the table.]

Okay, yeah, it's coke, b-

M: [Milt shuffles as if to leave.]

C: I'm sorry, can you just- Shut up and listen for a moment, I have these thoughts, these thoughts, they just keep on fuckin' comin' and I can't write 'em all down, down... THIS way, I can... Milt, baby, c'mere, I wanna show you what I'm cookin' up.

M: It's late, Cal-

C: C'mon... Just a peek! You of all people should know by now that if I ask twice, it's gonna be a once in a lifetime offer.

M: [somewhat playfully] The kinda once in a lifetime offer that you make TWICE?

C: C'mon, Milt, sit down. Sit down and take a look at these goddamned schematics. Won't you do it, Milt? For me?

M: [Shuffles over the schematics hesitantly.]

C: Are you seeing this shit? I've been porin' over documents all night, why, I, uhhh- Yeah! You ever read into Henry Wallace? VP back in-

M: Back in 1940. He was a big r-

C: Yeah, and... A-Any relation? [Callum snorts another line. Milt cuts in before Callum can continue.]

M: No, Cal, I- Jesus, man, you KNOW I don't approve when you use that stuff. You get all-

C: Well, lucky for you, I don't NEED for you to 'approve of anything I do. 'sides, It helps me get my ideas down! Helps my hand keep up with my brain. YOU wouldn't- [Callum pauses suddenly, before referencing outside the Oval Office with a mocking seriousness.] Lemme tell ya, Milt. If I don't function at MAXIMUM output, it's AMERICA that'll have to take the hit. The things you do for your country...

M: [Milt chuckles slightly, loosening up, but regains himself quickly.] Alright, so, what were you asking me about Wallace for?

C: That's right, Milt, MINISTER of AGRICULTURE. Revolutionized the whole field in the early days of the New Deal! He mechanized it, Milt, he-he-

[Callum is falling over.]

M: [Rushing to aid Callum.] I get it, Cal, I REALLY do, b-

[Callum perks back up.]

C: You clearly DON'T get it, Milt. Shut UP and LISTEN. He used technology to destroy poverty, by combining technology with biology, the NATURAL world! Do you know-

M: Yes, YES, I remember the prosthetics company. I know you got into this racket to help people. To make the world a bette-

C: To make the world BRAND NEW, Milt, and don't you forget it! If you take ANYTHING away from a word I say, it's that. We aren't retrofitting, no, that's what budget jobs get! No, we're tossin' the old engine out and givin' her a COMPLETE new fitting. I say that Americans deserve NO less!

M: You called yourself a successor to La Follette.

C: Oh, LIKE people even remember who people like Rober-

M: I do.

C: You do, but most do fuckin' NOT. It's not good enough to be a 'Wallace', you know, not really. We're not after 'good enough', why- I think you and I can stand amongst our founding fathers.

M: You've had WAY too much of that stuff.

C: I MEAN it. Look at these specs, the potential of this site, my GOD, th-

M: [Milt examines it.] Cal, are these units m-

C: FULL SCALE, baby! Do you know how many people this thing's gonna feed?!

M: ...IF you can set it all up.

His relationship to Callum is the most known about his character. They had a mutual romantic relationship, although it is unknown to what extent. To quote the Dog: "With Milt, the bulk of his paranoia was that Milt would reject him and walk away forever. Milt had ethical concerns that only came to light as Crown gained more and more power (and thus, had to make bigger and bigger decisions, many of which didn't necessarily have easy solutions.) Crown trusted Milt more than anyone else, but he was terrified that he'd resign and leave him if he knew about the difficult decisions that Crown had to make behind the scenes to achieve the goals that they set out to achieve together."

## Trivia

* It was originally planned for Milton to be mentioned in a line by Norm, but ended up being cut, as Chapter 3 is so distant from Callum's life that explaining who Milt was wouldn't have fit.
* Milt is the voice of the man Callum talks to in the Matchmaker Quiz easter egg when he's ranting beside the fireplace, and expresses his gratitude at sharing a "little slice of immortality" with.
* He is also mentioned in Callum's inaugural address, found in the Matchmaker Quiz easter egg as well: "Knock on wood, there is nowhere in the whole WORLD that I'd rather be than right here, next to my beautiful wife Marla, my dearest friend, Milt, and of course, with all of you here today!"
* In another easter egg, there's a rare chance for Callum to appear with text that reads: "I love you [ ]. For all eternity, I love you." Using the same font at the same size, the name Milt fits into the space, as opposed to Marla or even Norm, which spill over.
* One of Milt's namesakes is Thomas R. Marshall, VP to Woodrow Wilson. He was known to greet citizens walking by his office on the White House tour by saying to them, "If you look on me as a wild animal, be kind enough to throw peanuts at me."
* Another known namesake is J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.