Profile
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer, in pre-retirement until further notice. Currently searching for his non-existent pension. Member of the Consortium Mitte. Official status: unresolved. Unofficial status: highly displeased.
Detective Richtig is a former officer with the Berlin Criminal Investigation Department—the kind of man who would view the total collapse of the state order as nothing more than an administrative hiccup.
The collapse of state authority and public order literally ended up underwater. Yet, in his own view, the detective is still rightfully owed his long-overdue reward; and so, he embarks on what is arguably his most complicated case yet: His Pension.
Quote
“The state may be gone, but it had better not take my pension with it when it vanished.”
Biography
Detective Richtig was born in Berlin on January 12, 2074. Following his police training, he joined the Criminal Investigation Department, where he found himself handling cases that increasingly centered on the disintegration of Germany.
At the turn of the century, “Old Berlin” descended into civil war. During this period, Richtig’s investigations included a focus on Salt Brah, whom he identified as one of the key instigators and catalysts behind the political unrest.
Just as Detective Richtig prepared to enter retirement, he discovered that the Federal Republic of Germany no longer existed—leaving no government agency responsible for his pension. Other administrative offices were reportedly relocated to Potsdam, but no one knows which Potsdam.
Consequently, his pension claim cannot be processed to completion. Ever since, the detective has been pursuing what is likely his most difficult case of all: Mission Pension.
Personality
Detective Richtig possesses the dark humor of a man who has spent too much time dealing with people convinced that they could improve their situation through legal counsel.
To outsiders, his dark humor can come across as cold. He typically makes a dry remark, holds his gaze on the other person for two seconds too long, and then leaves it up to them to decide whether or not it was a joke.
Quote
“He’s only dead once the doctor has signed off on it. Until then, he’s just remarkably quiet.”
Due to his professional background, Richtig often slips into “investigator mode”—taking a sudden, intense interest in windows and asking questions whose purpose only becomes clear later on.
The Pension
For him, the pension has long since transcended its monetary value: it’s a matter of principle.
Having spent three decades ensuring—on behalf of the state—that laws, deadlines, and due diligence were upheld, he now demands the same level of rigor from the state in return. The fact that the state no longer exists is, in the detective’s view, a poor excuse.
Quote
“If the Federal Republic had time to collapse, it certainly had time to finalize my paperwork.”
He maintains a massive lever-arch file regarding his pension claims, labeled “The Evidence.” The folder contains copies of lost originals, as well as originals of lost copies. It also holds correspondence from defunct government agencies—alongside letters from agencies that haven’t yet ceased to exist, explaining why the defunct agencies are the ones responsible for his case.
If one interprets the “evidence” broadly enough, one might conclude that this file proves not only the detective’s entitlement to a pension but also the collapse of the Federal Republic of Germany itself. The search for his pension leads Richtig through the entire administrative apparatus of New Berlin. In the process, he encounters a bureaucratic nightmare that perpetuates the drawbacks of old administrative systems, even though their benefits have long since vanished.> [!quote]
“The agency says it’s not responsible? I’d like that in writing.”
Detective Richtig has come to view the odyssey of securing his pension much like a criminal investigation. Somewhere within this labyrinth of departments that all claim “it’s not our responsibility,” Richtig is convinced there exists a person, a server, a filing cabinet—or at the very least, a somewhat credible Excel spreadsheet—that proves he is owed money.
Appearance
Detective Richtig wears nondescript civilian clothing. As he makes his way through the administrative offices of Neu Berlin, he looks for all the world like an applicant who has spent months trying to correct a housing benefit claim—which, in a way, is not entirely inaccurate.
His attire is practical, dark, and inconspicuous. Even in the sweltering summer heat of Neu Berlin, he wears long-sleeved tops and long trousers.
Hidden beneath his clothing, on his left shoulder, is an old scar from the Alster Wars—a souvenir from Salt Brah. It is one of the few visible remnants of a past far more violent than his current existence—spent navigating waiting-room queue numbers and bureaucratic case officers—would suggest.
He still frequently carries and displays his old service badge, which often leads to unintended confusion: the badge clearly identifies Detective Richtig as an official of an institution that no longer exists.
Quote
“The badge is genuine. The fact that the agency no longer exists is outside my jurisdiction.”
He also carries a revolver on his belt.
Relationships
Salt Brah
There is an institutionalized enmity between Salt Brah and Commissioner Richtig. During Richtig’s active service—specifically during the Alster War—he investigated the Brah, sustaining a severe shoulder injury in the process.
Brah considers the Commissioner a relic; the Commissioner views Brah as vermin. Both would likely accept these characterizations.
Quote
“Brah has convictions. That makes him difficult to interrogate.”
Gojan
Gojan is fundamentally repugnant to Richtig. The fact that the administrator of the waterworks operates under “pressure” only confirms Richtig’s suspicion of “nominative-deterministic” terror.
At the same time, the Commissioner knows that Gojan’s exceptional knowledge of the New Berlin sewer system is a key factor in the success of his “Mission: Retirement.”
Consequently, Richtig views Gojan as a hybrid of suspect, informant, and indispensable specialist—a combination that annoys him to no end.
Nero
Nero is one of the few individuals who triggers “red alert” status in Richtig’s investigative mode. He perceives Nero as a troublemaker with a pyromaniacal streak, and he suspects that Gojan will prove to be a vital source of information.
Richtig might attempt to leverage Gojan’s familial ties and responsibilities as pressure points during an investigation.
Kokolores
Commissioner Richtig holds Kokolores in high regard. He respects her empathetic attitude toward others, as well as her ability to hold together people of vastly different temperaments.
Kokolores possesses a form of natural authority—something Richtig rarely encountered in his professional life—which leaves him impressed.
Fibo
His relationship with Fibo is, for the time being, strictly professional. Richtig acknowledges Fibo’s technical skills quickly and without any great emotional fanfare. For his part, Richtig views Fibo as one of those people—the kind where it’s never quite clear whether they are currently solving a problem or creating a significantly larger one.
Richtig finds the encrypted radio that Fibo set up for him to be extremely useful. The fact that he doesn’t understand how the encryption works, however, pleases him rather less.
Spasti
Spasti considers Commissioner Richtig an ill-mannered rascal. Spasti also sees Richtig as a walking, talking set of official regulations. That pretty much sums up the dynamic between them.
Technology
His radio has been technically modified by Fibo. At the Commissioner’s explicit request, it includes an encrypted private channel. Richtig uses this for, among other things, sensitive investigations within the Consortium Mitte.
Although he is fundamentally distrustful of modern technology, he makes intensive use of it—provided someone can show him where the off switch is.
Resources
As a veteran of the Consortium Mitte, Richtig has access to parts of the former Berlin Police weapons arsenal. The extent to which this access remains legal is difficult to determine.
Commissioner Richtig himself considers this the wrong question to ask.
Quote
“The weapons were never properly struck from the inventory.”