Once, the "PhD practice at Yantar" was a notorious and effective method for quashing the scientific ambitions of the most freethinking and bothersome students. Many of them changed careers after the experience, some went on extended sick leave, and a few… never returned. Of course, there were exceptions, and Hermann was one of them. Shortly after the Brain Scorcher was deactivated, Hermann became the chief scientist of one of the first expeditions into the Zone's heartlands. As a professor, he managed a mobile lab near the Jupiter Plant, gaining the opportunity to study the Zone more deeply than hundreds of his cozy, mainland-based colleagues. While he may not have been the bravest, his thirst for recognition and his knack for finding people to carry out the most dangerous tasks sustained him through years of successful work. When SIRCAA was established, he earned the well-deserved position of senior researcher. However, over the years, his theories about the possibility of generating artifacts outside the Zone led him to conduct private experiments. Completely in secret from his colleagues, and, most importantly, from management.