- “The future is now.”
- ―Motto
The Center Of Developmental Observations Laboratories Institute is a major research and development corporation created by the United States government in the early 21st century. Originally set up to develop robotics, weaponry and military equipment, they later began experimenting with cybernetic technology, teleportation and space exploration.
They are featured quite heavily in Soul of the Machine and it’s film version. References to them have also found its way into other projects such as the Nexus and Boss Rush.
History[]
The Center Of Developmental Observations Laboratories Institute (CODOL Institute) was founded by the United States government in 2002. During the so called “War on terror”, the CODOL Institute served as a major research and development house, creating various weapons ranging from conventional firearms, such as the Samurai Edge A1 handgun and the Freedom shotgun, to more experimental outings such as the Fate sub-machine gun/assault rifle hybrid and the Storm PSR electric sniper rifle. They also worked with robotics, creating miniature drones called Hunter Killers, various advanced military vehicles and later on human-sized robots known as Securitrons. CODOL had set up various research centers and laboratories across the United States, both public such as the Scientific Observations Department in Atlanta, Georgia and private such as the underground laboratory in the Sonoran Desert. By 2011, CODOL created laboratories internationally in countries such as Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan and South Korea.
The War in Asia and The Rise of Dr. Van Lucker[]
In 2018, the Korean War would restart, eventually culminating in involvement from the United States, after North Korea attacked Hawaii, and later on Russia after China’s failed attempt to annex the Eastern part of the country. These events would be known as the War in Asia and would last for nearly a decade up until the late 2020s. During this time, Dr. Van Lucker would join the CODOL Institute. He would work his way up to being the right-hand man of CODOL’s chief scientist Dr. Richard Cambridge. Van Lucker would attempt to input his ideologies to Dr. Cambridge, but after being rejected multiple times, he would poison Cambridge and take his place as the head chief scientist of CODOL. Upon autopsy, no signs of Cambridge being poisoned was found as Van Lucker used a special serum that evaporated shortly after killing the host, leaving Van Lucker to get away with murder and put his ideas into fruition.
During the final months of the war, Van Lucker obtained permission from the United States government and military to use more and more Securitrons and robotic vehicles to take down China and North Korea’s military forces. He claimed that it was to minimize the already high amounts of military casualties, but in actuality was setting them up for a future uprising and takeover of the world. With the war formally ending by 2029, Dr. Michael Wilhelm would join the fold and later become the right-hand of Dr. Van Lucker.
Takeover of Mars and The Rise of The Machines[]
For the next six years, Dr. Van Lucker would dramatically expand the CODOL Institute from being solely a weapons and robotics research corporation to now dwelling in teleportation, cybernetics and even space exploration. China, now under a puppet government set up by the United States, would see two new CODOL Institute locations pop up: one in Shanghai and an “unsanctioned” one (a lab that was created without the government’s permission) in Guilin. A scientist by the name of Lv Bu would join the Shanghai branch sometime during the early 2030s. In 2032, CODOL sent a spacecraft to the surface of Mars. Under the disguise of a Martian rover vehicle, it was actually a device that would create the entirety of the Martian Aerospace Research Station from blueprints jointly created by Van Lucker and Wilhelm. A teleporter was also set up there, allowing CODOL Scientists to come and go from the laboratory for research. Several artifacts, including the tomb that held the remains of Van Lucker’s mother, Lucia Shaw, and the sword Van Lucker’s brother Cortex used to defeat him a long time ago, were brought to the Martian base.
Dr. Wilhelm would use this opportunity to begin development on the Terraformation Ray that he planned to use to transform Mars into another Earth-like planet. Dr. Van Lucker approved of the idea originally, but changed his tune when he and the scientists discovered human-like alien lifeforms, dubbed “Martians”, living on the other side of the planet. Van Lucker would order the Martians to be captured and implanted with cybernetics. They also stumbled upon a wrecked UFO and sent it back to the underground Sonoran Desert lab, where construction for the Power Core was also taking place, for repairs and upgrades. Sometime later, Van Lucker would order Wilhelm and his team to convert the Terraformation Ray into a Death Ray. At first, Wilhelm was furious and despised the conversion, but after speaking with a mysterious man wearing a suit and hat, he was convinced to follow along with Dr. Van Lucker’s plan while at the same time planning to overthrow him in the near future.
Around the same time these events were unfolding, the SOD laboratory in Atlanta was working on an experimental time travel device. Under the direction of the SOD’s lead scientist, Dr. Carson Claybon, four scientists went through the device. Upon returning back to their own time, they found out that not only did the device have the ability to time travel it could also traverse through alternate timelines. Marcus Lawrence, a former bank robber, was recruited as a human guard for the SOD as manufacturing on the Securitrons ceased so CODOL could focus on their time, money and efforts on other projects.
The War Against The Machines[]
With all of his plans coming together successfully, Dr. Van Lucker begins his quest for world domination. He orders the cyborgs to kill off all staff and scientists in the Mechanical Body Laboratories in Brasleu, Germany as he no longer needs them or the lab. Similar attacks would occur in the labs in Egypt, Canada, Great Britain and other locations. Word of the massacres would reach the masses, as protests popped up throughout the world. Van Lucker then ordered his cyborgs to attack civilians and military personnel, kickstarting The War Against The Machines.
The United States government finds out about CODOL’s involvement in the uprisings and eventually discover the unsanctioned laboratory in Guilin several miles away from the US Army Base #421-016. Commander Lawton plans out an assault on the lab which Van Lucker immediately finds out about. He unleashes his cyborgs to assault the Sonoran and Atlanta laboratories before heading off to Guilin via the Portable Teleportation Device. As the soldiers attempt to assault the Guilin laboratory, they are all shot down from their helicopters by Van Lucker’s massive army of securitrons and cyborgs. Only two soldiers, Private Johnathan Christopher Hefborn, aka “Madman”, and Sergeant Xena Mayfield, survive. The rest are either mortally wounded or dead. Commander Lawton is captured by the cyborgs and brought to a robotics factory nearby, where he is converted into one of them.
During the massacre at SOD, Marcus Lawrence, now under the codename “Trigger”, escapes the facility while being followed by another escapee, William Gabe Wilson, a cowboy from the 19th century who was brought into the 21st century during the time travel experiments. The two are then brought together by Cortex and go out to find Sergeant Mayfield and Lv Bu in order to take down Dr. Van Lucker and the CODOL Institute. With assistance from Dr. Claybon and “Madman”, who teleported from Guilin to Atlanta via the PTD, the four scientists escape the SOD using a repaired airplane.
William (now “Cowboy”), Trigger, Sergeant and Lv Bu come together under Cortex guidance as The Mercenaries. They go to the lab in Breslau to try and find Van Lucker, but to no avail. They are then sent through teleportation to the Sonoran Desert and find the hidden laboratory. Eventually, they find Van Lucker inside the UFO and take them to Atlanta, where they crash into the plane. The UFO had a teleporter inside, which caused them all to end up in Guilin. The Mercenaries and The Scientists work together to fix the teleporter. Madman returns to confront Dr. Van Lucker, only for the latter to telepathically knock the former into the teleporter and send him to an unknown location. Dr. Van Lucker and the scientists then teleport to Egypt. The Mercenaries then follow them only to end up in the Martian Aerospace Research Station.
The Fall of Dr. Van Lucker[]
Dr. Van Lucker communicates with Dr. Wilhelm, who is still at the Mars lab, tells him to leave while the scientists set up both the teleporter and comm station in Egypt. Wilhelm goes against Van Lucker’s orders and hides out in a small room while The Mercenaries fight the cyborgs in the lab. Cortex, who had teleported himself to the abandoned International Space Station, convinces them to construct the Death Ray as he has a plan to use it against Dr. Van Lucker and end the War Against The Machines. Eventually, Van Lucker teleports to the Mars lab and brings the Mercs underground to his mother’s tomb and the sword. He puts the Soul Stone and the Power Core on top of the tomb and recites a ritual until Trigger begins to assault him. Sergeant grabs the sword and tries to kill Van Lucker with it, only for him to move out of the way causing her to strike the objects with the sword.
They are teleported to a dark arena where the tomb opens up. The Angel rises up from the inside, confronting and scolding Dr. Van Lucker for destroying the Earth she was trying to preserve for her own upcoming war with The Son. She then destroys Dr. Van Lucker with a dark energy beam and battles the Mercenaries. After she is defeated, the Mercs are taken back to the location of the Death Ray. Dr. Wilhelm reveals himself as the true mastermind behind the cyborg invasion. He grabs the Soul Stone away from the Mercs and puts it in the Death Ray, aiming it towards Earth, hellbent on destroying it for all of the times he had been shunned by humanity. Cortex then speaks to Wilhelm and the Mercs, claiming that the Death Ray was in the direct path of him and the abandoned International Space Station. The Death Ray then shoots out a giant beam, destroying Cortex and the ISS while saving the Earth in the process. The Ray then explodes, killing Dr. Wilhelm and opening a giant portal between Earth and Mars.
As of writing, the fate of The Mercenaries and the CODOL Institute is unknown.
Notable People[]
- Dr. Richard Cambridge (co-founder of the CODOL Institute;chief scientist 2002-2028)
- Dr. Van Lucker (chief scientist 2028-2036)
- Dr. Michael Wilhelm (assistant chief scientist 2029-2036)
- Dr. Carson Claybon (SOD head scientist 20??-2036)
- Dr. Skylar Henning (SOD scientist 202?-2036)
- Dr. Dave Herd (SOD scientist 202?-2036)
- Dr. Robert van Alexander (SOD scientist 202?-2036)
- Dr. Zack Battlemen (SOD scientist 202?-2036)
- Lv Bu (CODOL scientist 203?-2036)
Other[]
- Marcus "Trigger" Lawrence (SOD Guard 2036)
- William "Cowboy" Gabe Wilson (SOD Test Subject 2036)
- George Walker Bush (United States President 2001-2009;responsible for the creation of CODOL)
- Dick Cheney (United States Vice President 2001-2009;responsible for the creation of CODOL)
- Donald Rumsfeld (United States Secretary of Defense 2001-2006;responsible for the creation of CODOL)
- Two Unnamed Scientists (heard in the Cyborg Reliance radios)
Creations[]
Weapons[]
- Samurai Edge A1*
- FA1911
- Freedom
- Fate
- M4LMG
- Storm PSR*
- HG 40
- ASM1 Speakeasy*
- MX Garand*
- Pharo*
- Dingo*
- Type 85 Evolution
- Ray Gun*
- Soul Hacker
- Fire Trap
- Ice Trap
- Shrink Trap
- Hunter Killer Drones*
- ShockBow
- Plasma Gun v2.0
- Electro Nades
Perks & Utilities[]
- Quick Revive*
- Speed Cola*
- Double Tap Root Beer*
- Stamin-Up*
- Fast Melee Dew*
- Carpenter Cola
- Jump Chug
- Mule Kick*
- Juggernog*
- Pack-A-Punch*
- Random Weapons Box*
*within the SOTM Universe
Other[]
- Cyborgs
- Securtitrons
- Cyborg Hounds
- Roarers
- Supreme Roarer
- The Commander
- P.T.D.
Trivia[]
- CODOL shares it's initials with Call of Duty Online.
- The reason George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are mentioned in the "Notable People" section is because they signed a bill that allowed for the creation of CODOL and were active US government officials at the time.