Clemens
No one would ever accuse any THESIS founder of being a normal, well-balanced person. Perhaps not only their intelligence, but their strangeness set them apart as people fit for such an uncertain project.
Two things make Clemens especially worthy of research. He seemed to be Doctor Crane’s best friend, perhaps his only friend. Perhaps it was because they shared an obsession with their work that went beyond even their colleagues.
Clemens role in the company is not officially described in any official documents. His vague job title was “designer.”
Unlike his peers, Clemens had no background in any technical field. In fact he is thought to be something of a luddite, and practically computer illiterate. Before THESIS, he could have perhaps been described as a professional hobbyist.
As a young man he started his creative career as a portrait photographer. Though he was never exactly famous, he developed a strong cult following among fine art photographers. He was one of those almost too avant-garde artists who was rarely a favorite of casual art lovers but a frequently cited favorite among photographers themselves. Like many photographers he liked to photograph pretty girls, but his presentation was always strange, not overtly pretty in the common, broadly appealing sense.
One of the pieces he’s know for is called “Monarch.” It depicts a very pale young woman with dark hair sitting nude on a chair in her living room. It was controversial because although the model was 35, she had a genetic disorder which gave her a very childlike appearance, which caused early critics to describe it as “unmistakably perverse… basically child porn.” The photo was manipulated such that the woman appeared to have large, black butterfly wings and pitch black eyes.
Child-like models were not a common feature of his photography, but deformed women were. His models included a woman born with no nose, amputees, as well as women with less severe genetic oddities like eyes with differing colors.
His photos were never pornographic — at least according to his fans — but they were certainly sensual, and at the same time mundane. A naked woman with missing legs lying in bed with a pearl necklace. A picture of his own hand applying makeup to a blind woman.
Critics accused him of “fetishizing the disabled and unfortunate” and lampooned him for “getting rich off making creepy boudoir photos of the deformed.”
He was a notoriously private, reclusive man even in his youth, and his studio was part of his own, large house. The women he photographed were possibly the only people to see his home from the inside. Some stayed with him for weeks on end.
In contrast to the ire of his critics, his models had nothing negative to say. One of his most prolific models was Angelica Satchell, a blind burn victim who insisted on wearing a porcelain mask on the burned half her face. Although she refused to be interviewed at first, she finally agreed to talk after she and Clemens parted ways.
It’s not clear if they actually had a falling out, or exactly what the nature of their relationship was in the first place, only that at some point they decided not to work together anymore. But when asked to describe Clemens, she had a very serious expression, wistful perhaps, and said, “he is the kindest person I have ever met.”
Do you agree with critics that he fetishized your disability?
She thought a moment, then touched her burned cheek, which might have blushed a little, though it was hard to tell. She chose her next words carefully.
“There are worse things, you know.”
It’s believed Clemens is largely responsible for the aesthetic direction of the company, especially its unique android design. Before THESIS, android design centered around realism — that is, similarity to humans. Much of the aesthetic breakthroughs were done with the goal of getting androids out of the uncanny valley. Since the fall of THESIS, we’ve seen that work continue with Valhalla’s prosthesis’ synthetics.
Again, his exact daily job at THESIS is unknown, but his aesthetic sense shown in his photographs seem to come through in THESIS’ androids.
One of the most prominent exhibits in the THESIS museum is a collection of life-sized android designs made of wax. It’s believed that Clemens created these as sort of an elaborate sketch book, experimenting with android designs before they went into production.
Clemens preferred to work alone, using only analog design tools. According to several sources, he didn’t get along with the other founders except for Crane, who he considered a dear friend. Perhaps the two shared a wild imagination that made them kindred spirits.
Since THESIS was dismantled, a stipulation of the Covenant was that all computer activity of THESIS founders be monitored by Helius. Already a luddite, Clemens responded to this by shunning computers altogether. As of this writing, he owns a small shop on the outskirts of the New Alexandria, where he makes unique, elaborately designed marionettes. Each one is sold by auction. The auctions are important events for Clemens devotees, and no marionette has sold for less than 3 million cryp.