Abrahim Zherkezhi (June 13, 1960 – July 4, 2007), was a renowned computational theorist who was a major figure during geopolitical events that transpired between 2004 and 2007. He was the second of two High-Value Individuals (HVIs) Sam Fisher was assigned to locate and recover in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.
Biography[]
2007: Cyber Attacks/East Asian Crisis[]
During the Cyber Attacks of 2007, tensions raised between Japan and its long-time enemy North Korea, when the Japanese Self-Defense Force activated the Information Self-Defense Force. The People's Republic of China came to North Korea's aid while the U.S. supported Japan, threatening to encourage conflict in the Pacific. It was during this crisis that Zherkezhi came under the protection of American PMC Displace International in the wake of the kidnapping and subsequent murder of associate Bruce Morgenholt. Displace deployed its mercenary forces to New York City, where Zherkezhi and his penthouse were kept under tight control.
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to Zherkezhi, Displace CEO Douglas Shetland had deceived him into divulging valuable secrets on how to operate the Masse Kernels for their own usage. They intended to employ means of information warfare via Zherkezhi's 'Dvorak' algorithms to promote greater conflict in East Asia, ultimately planning to profiteer from the imminent war amongst the Pacific powers. Zherkezhi complied with their requests and Displace subsequently engineered the blackouts that crippled the Eastern Coast of the U.S. and Japan. After the blackouts, Splinter Cell operative Sam Fisher was sent to Zherkezhi's penthouse to locate 'Dvorak' only to learn it was an infinite state machine. Zherkezhi was then moved to Displace's mountain retreat in Hokkaidō, Japan, where he would be safe from prying eyes.
Zherkezhi was then tricked into divulging more data on the Masse Kernels, which allowed Displace and its associates to force-launch a North Korean anti-ship missile at the USS Clarence E. Walsh in the Yellow Sea. This attack completely destroyed the vessel and brought the U.S. and North Korea to the brink of all-out war. Alarmed by the political crisis at hand, Third Echelon deployed Fisher to Hokkaidō to capture Zherkezhi for interrogation.
Death[]
On the Fourth of July, mere hours after the sinking of the Walsh, Fisher infiltrated the Displace retreat in the hopes of arresting Zherkezhi. Unfortunately, this operation failed when Shetland arrived at the retreat to meet with Zherkezhi. By this point, Zherkezhi had become suspicious of Displace's true intentions, and Shetland feared he would talk. Having outlived his usefulness, Zherkezhi was personally murdered by Shetland in the retreat's tea house as a means of silencing him. Shetland then fled before Fisher could intercept him.
Profile[]
Abrahim Zherkezhi had a doctorate in cryptological number theory from Gottingen University, and was an advisor to the U.S. Homeland Protection Agency following the blackouts in 2003. He worked for the UN to help unlock the secrets of the Masse Kernels the Georgian information crisis, and then abruptly disappeared from public life. He was rumored to have gone insane.
Trivia[]
- Zherkezhi is briefly referenced in a World News Media broadcast in Pandora Tomorrow, during the intro cut-scene to the "Train" level, in which it is announced that he headed the United Nations Special International Advisory Committee on Electronic and Information Crime to reverse-engineer the programs developed for the Georgian Information Crisis.
- Admiral Otomo seems to have affliated with Zherkezhi in some way, as his name is seen on the screen, which he use to communicate with Lambert.
- Zherkezhi's name is misspelled "Zherkerzi" in the briefing for the "Penthouse" mission.
- How Zherkezhi is killed by Shetland is determined by the player. If the player approaches the tea house, Shetland will catch on to his presence and subsequently shoot Zherkezhi in cold blood. If the player waits and allows the whole conversation to play itself out, Shetland will pull out a katana and slash Zherkezhi to death.
- Interestingly, the guards outside of the teahouse won't be alarmed when Zherkezhi is killed.
- Even though he is of Polish nationality, neither his first name nor surname are actually Polish.