Filip Mekkervich

**Doctor Filip Mekkervich** (2217-2286) was a Trans-Polish Tekinite scientist who had a strong relationship with Ekrim Tekin and his eventual clone copy. He was infamously known for his harsh, inhumane methods of study and can be considered the driving force behind Tekin's longevity.

## Early Life

Mekkervich was born to **Karl** (2159-2233) and **Olena Mekkervich** (2173-2233), two anti-Tekinites. His life at home and at school proved contradictory due to the two place's mixed messages about Ekrim Tekin. But, his parents, both biologists, taught him about various procedures. His father was well aware of cloning, working on reviving the Bengal Tiger in the early 2180s, continuing on from decades of work, before being forced to work on Tekin's human cloning programme. He was eventually removed from the programme in 2203, when newer people were brought in. Still, Karl applied much of this knowledge to Filip, and warned him against the dangers. Instead, Filip grew intrigued.

While completely mute until aged thirteen, Mekkervich was a child prodigy, securing top marks in his Secondary Finals aged twelve (four years early), and attained a Biology degree by the age of fifteen. He resorted to experimenting at home a lot, specifically involved with extending the lifespans of various animals. Once his father was aware of these experiments, he grew furious, repeating his messages about the dangers of such experimentation. Mekkervich was prepared, and resorted to torturing his parents through experimenting on them. They both died after lasting five and seven month under his apparatus, respectively. He was soon discovered and arrested, with witnesses describing his homemade laboratory as 'horrific.' Due to be sentenced, Ekrim Tekin intervened and brought the teenager onto his secret programme regarding his quest for longevity.

## Career

Mekkervich was granted a Doctorate by Tekin soon after his employment, and work commenced immediately on how to extend Tekin's life. Mekkervich believed they would have to start afresh, seeing Tekin's current body as already too ruined to experiment further on. Therefore, he tasked others with the efforts later known as 'Conscience Transfer' (although this terminology is not particularly accurate, given the conscience is copied and the original destroyed, plus for true success the new host body would have to be identical to the previous). While this was happening, Mekkervich started genetically modifying clone embryo's of Tekin, applying much of his knowledge at creating the 'perfect body that could last a thousand years.' It is believed it was during this period Mekkervich was recruited into the Fellowship of the Radiants by Tekin.

### 'The Plan'

When Tekin realised his days were numbered, he instructed Mekkervich and other allies of his plans regarding housing a copy of his mind in a clone; Mekkervich knew the role he had to play, being instrumental in finding the method of copying one's mind.

### Death of Tekin and the Middling Years

Following Tekin's death, Mekkervich oversaw the so-called 'mind transfer' and descended deep into the tendrils of the Fellowship of the Radiants, aware of Franz Stuttgart-Tekin's volatile nature.

## Human Commonwealth Years

### Grand Esquire

Mekkervich was appointed the first Grand Esquire of the Human Commonwealth shortly following its foundation by Tekin. The role, while largely ceremonial, gave him a legislative position that legitimised his relationship with Tekin. He was rarely seen in a public capacity, preferring to perform his duties online, if at all.

### Soft War

Mekkervich was instrumental in the Soft War between the Human Commonwealth and the Atlantic Association, being responsible for the creation of the many new biological, chemical and technological weapons produced throughout the conflict. One particular creation came to be known as **Mekkervich's Kiss**, an artificial spore that targeted crops and inhibited their growth.

## Death

Mekkervich was presumed to have been killed in 2286's Battle of Constantinople, which saw the entire city reduced to a crater of rubble. Following a scouting, he was one of the corpses identified, along with the clone of Semola Kemal and several of Tekin's recent children.

## Personal Life

Mekkervich had a rare form of autism and showed signs of Savant Syndrome. Furthermore, he was nonverbal for the first thirteen years of his life. He had little social interactions outside of his profession. However, with age, Mekkervich learned to control his conditions though still had difficulties in social interactions.

Mekkervich identified as homosexual; despite Tekin having previously made disparaging comments towards homosexuality, it seems evident that he respected Mekkervich's sexuality; Tekin even provided him with male prostitutes for pleasure. However, Mekkervich was almost uncontrollably violent and reportedly killed several of his partners.

In addition, Mekkervich was frequently given live criminals, often political prisoners, to dissect for his own pleasure. While likely partially a result of his conditions, he was clearly, among other things, psycopathic. He showed no remorse in the torture of his parents. Tekin simply fueled this dark nature for his own gains, clear in how he condoned the behaviour through giving him more people to mutilate.