Null, the "lost number" of the failed Perfect Soldier Project.
The Perfect Soldier Project was a project backed by the CIA (the American Philosophers) designed to create the ultimate soldier.
History
The project was backed by the CIA to create the ultimate soldier, based on neuro-physiological data retrieved from the Communist bloc. The soldier had only one purpose to accomplish: to complete the mission. Because of this, the soldier was to be left with virtually no emotions, doubts, or even memories. The process of creating and maintaining the Perfect Soldier was to place the subjects into a special culture tank that shut out all of the soldier's senses, a process compared to a baby coming into the world for the first time, and usually caused people to go mad in minutes. Upon being deployed, the Perfect Soldier, as a result of the tank, had his/her senses heightened to a large degree, causing him/her to predict an enemy's movements at a much faster rate than normal, and being imbued with enhanced reflexes.
The Perfect Soldiers were intended to be led by the "ultimate battlefield commander," a product of another secret experiment known as the Successor Project. This commander would have greater reflexes than even the Perfect Soldier.
San Hieronymo Incident
- Main article: San Hieronymo Incident
Ultimately, the Perfect Soldier Project was a failure, as most of the subjects were killed due to the extreme conditions of the testing. By 1970, Frank Jaeger was the only soldier who had survived the project and was considered "a lost number," thus receiving the codename "Null," and became a FOX operative under the care of FOX's medic Elisa. In addition, the process of maintaining him required at least 12 hours on the San Hieronymo Peninsula, due to limited manpower and resources, which also necessitated the hiring of Elisa to care for Null in the first place.[1] He also wore a restraining outfit prior to deployment. As a Perfect Soldier, Null was subordinate to FOX commander Gene, a product of the Successor Project.
During the FOX rebellion on San Hieronymo, Null used his Perfect Soldier skills against Big Boss (Naked Snake) twice, but the first fight ended in a stalemate, and was defeated the second time. After the second fight, Big Boss took Jaeger to get help from somewhere else other than FOX. As a consequence of Null reasserting himself as Frank Jaegar and shedding his Perfect Soldier ideology, the project was terminated.
After the events on San Hieronymo, Zero procured the battle data from the Perfect Soldier Project and revealed this to his agent Ocelot. This data would ultimately lead to a focus on gene manipulation for the creation of more able soldiers, resulting in such projects as "Les Enfants Terribles" and the Next-Generation Special Forces.
Behind the scenes
The initials for the Perfect Soldier Project is "PSP," the same as that used to refer to the PlayStation Portable, the console on which Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops was released.
It's possible that the project was inspired by the MKUltra Project, which was a behavioral engineering project conducted on humans by the CIA in the 1950s and '60s.
Appearances
Notes and references
- ^ Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Kojima Productions (2006).
Cunningham: What's his status? // Scientist: We're currently reinitializing his memory and readjusting his sensory nerves in the culture tank. By my estimate it'll take... another twelve hours, at least.// Cunningham: Half a day? He has to be readjusted after each deployment. Not much better than a prototype, a test subject. // Scientist: My apologies, sir. The culture fluid takes time to prepare. With such limited equipment and personnel, readjusting Null isn't... // Cunningham: I know. That's why I brought along a specialist. // Scientist: The chief? But... // Cunningham: The escaped prisoners have yet to be found. This could be just the job for our Perfect Soldier. We'll roll out the tank as soon as the fluid's stabilized. Make all necessary preparations. // Scientist: Yes, sir.