Here I wish to digress one moment and say something on behalf of GM.  Once the reader finishes with this story he/she will come to the conclusion that the GM is a truly decrepit and sorry individual.  One doesn’t even need to read between the lines to see that his life is a complete charade and the natural human response is one of pity.  On the other hand, it also does not require much effort to see the true evil nature of this person and therefore reversal of said pity is only fitting.  Still, once the story concludes the reader will realize that many people not only stood by idly while the GM spun his evil web, but many willing participated in his evil schemes.  In any event, we will return to the GM’s bio at a later date, on with the story.

The GM always had this air of pseudo-aristocracy on display.  I use this terminology for it was nothing but pomp and show but Sam was too simple at the time to see this.  Neither was Sam in tune with the obvious fact that someone from a goose-stepping jackbooted country (no not the US of today) would never have a name such as GM.  As one friend of Sam who saw through the haze most eloquently termed this professor as “der über GM.”  Another cohort of Sam described GM as walking with a pipe shoved up his ass as he strutted around The University of Asscrack’s premier center of attention.  Possibly he retained much of the skeletal structure inherent in most Goat Men which is conducive to such a stride.  It would be quite entertaining to ask Red Elk as to whether he met the GM during one of his trips to one of the inner earths.  The GM had an unusual sound to his voice when he wasn’t baaing.  From Sam’s GM voice imitation it is difficult to describe.  First, every word is purposely drawn out and uttered in an almost bass like tone that always ended much stronger in volume on the last syllable.  Second, it has a European signature to it; the type that makes English an unattractive language.  Still, on his first meeting with the GM Sam became enamored with the GM’s show.  To Sam he had finally met a professor that was a true scientist, one where he would learn skills of value for his endeavor of becoming a successful chemist.

The GM was unlike most other professors in another way.  To enter the herd of the GM you had to first present a resume.  In retrospect Sam told me that the main purpose was to gauge whether you had potential to generate useful ideas, a skill that the GM himself apparently lacked despite having 80+ patents to his name.  These facts will become obvious as the story progresses; however, even I was shocked by the revelations Sam’s story shed when it came to the GM’s inventive skills (and lack thereof).  Once the GM deemed Sam to be a valuable tool to achieving his evil ends a speech was delivered.  Sam gave me some of the highlights.  According to Sam the GM sat behind a desk of his that housed a computer off to the side and behind him was a bookshelf of sorts with numerous drawers.  The drawers of this bookshelf (unbeknownst to Sam at the time) actually housed the GM’s treasure trove of ideas.  Ideas that had been presented to him by others to be exact, but I digress.  The GM then asked Sam if he had heard the story of Damocles’ sword?  Sam said he did not know of it.  So the GM began to tell Sam how Damocles was made the guest of honor by enemies of his and above his head they suspended a sword by a single hair.  The GM continued, “This represents the inherent danger I take on when hiring a new student.”  Little did Sam know that even this speech was stolen by the GM.  Sam told me that some years later he was watching The History Channel while drinking pints of beer and the episode featured a clip of a speech by one of the sons of the famous US senator GM, the deliverer of the speech being a man whom would later become a martyr of sorts in the Lone Star State.  In the speech the martyr said almost verbatim to law makers what the GM had said to Sam during this initial indoctrination into the herd.  The GM then said something even weirder.  “Don’t worry; I will protect your soft underbelly.  I will make sure that your project is original.”  Still Sam foolishly not only believed that such odd statements were just a European thing but he also took stock into the GM’s promises, something that would haunt him later.