Albert Voynich

Albert Aloysius Voynich is the nominal CEO of Pokefutures and the secret head of the largest collection of active factions of Pokefutures remnants.

Biography

An Angelan businessman, Voynich was among the many founding partners of the company that would become Pokefutures. Rather milquetoast and unassuming, he eventually settled on the rather unassuming position as the company's director of marketing. While his partners in the board of directors amassed power and titles for themselves, he was relegated to the background, working mainly toward crafting a favorable public image. He spearheaded much of the corporate public relations campaigns and wrote some of their marketing-friendly slogans. Much of this turned out to be subtly veiled humanocentric propaganda.

On the eve of the company's collapse, his partners, wanting to save themselves from disaster, promoted him to CEO. He saw right through the act and spent much of the fallout deflecting lawsuits toward the rest of the board of directors. After he was acquitted, he mostly fell off the radar, only ever appearing publicly to endorse his seemingly innocuous startup ecosystem. In secret, he coordinates many of the remaining factions loyal to the company, who either recognize his authority or willing to pay him lip service for access to his resources.

Appearance

Voynich resembles a lean, middle-aged White Angelan man of [Polish] descent. Despite being 60, he is much younger than he looks, though his general stylistic choices seem to betray his eccentricities. He has oddly long, bushy hair and frequently wears [Lennon] specs. He is often seen wearing corporate casual or bespoke suits.

Personality

In his few public appearances, Albert is a friendly, soft-spoken and almost amicable eccentric, whose public persona seems to elicit a trusting reaction outright. He loves polka and interacting with children, telling them encouragingly that there's nothing they can't do because they're human. People who talk to him might find his obsession with human high culture to be a tad obsessive, almost to the point of worship. Then as now, most of his colleagues see him as a somewhat delusional recluse who thinks too highly of his actual importance. In reality, he is calculating and pragmatic, if also a bit vindictive. He readily turned on the board that made him into their scapegoat and, through various cutthroat means, seized control of a large chunk of the assets that managed to escape being sequestered by PEFE. He holds onto the title in secret and has an entire faction of Pokefutures remnants on his beck and call, operating as though the corporation never fell.

He uses his PR-savvy to cultivate an image of eccentricity and friendliness, though a lot of it appears genuine at least as far as humans are concerned. When delivering threats, he uses an affectation of his soft-spoken demeanor to add an air of menace to his threats. Much like the rest of Pokefutures, he has embraced a humanocentric ideology that obsesses over human technological and cultural achievement and sees Pokémon only as a means to an end. Despite his claims of all human cultures being equally superior, he tends to collect cultural artifacts from various cultures in a fetishistic manner akin to 19th and early 20th Century imperialists.

He has a strange sense of morality that often make him look hypocritical. He is often very keen on criticizing other unethical corporations like the Orochi Group.

Personal Details

• Albert loves all things human, which has inspired him to collect antique machinery and artifacts from different cultures to represent "the diversity of human greatness." He decorates his office with the image of the Vitruvian man.
• He both physically resembles and really hates Weird Al Yankovic. He considers the musician as a monster far more evil than he.
• In a manner almost evocative of his contempt for the lives of Pokémon, he wears furs, uses pelts as rugs and decoration, and is frequently seen eating meat pies made from Pikachu.
• He describes himself as a good friend of Howard Clifford.

Roster

Systems Administrator

Trivia

• Albert Voynich's affable public persona is a simultaneous reference to charismatic Silicon Valley CEOs with social media presences and to the depiction of Dr. Carlton Drake from the film Venom.
  • Both Albert and Carlton affect a friendly persona to win the trust of shareholders, children, and the general public.
  • Unlike the misanthropic Carlton from the films, though, Albert is an out and out humanocentrist, meaning there is some twisted sincerity in his kindness toward other humans.
• Albert as a character began from jokes involving Pokefutures being pronounced as Polkafutures, which called to mind Weird Al Yankovic, known for song parodies and the song Polkamon from the Pokémon 2000 soundtrack. The character's contempt for the IRL musician (who exists in the RP) is based on Weird Al's depiction of the DC supervillain Darkseid in Teen Titans GO.