Cronin
| NPC | Trivia |
Cronin is an NPC in Arknights. He is the main antagonist of Heart of Surging Flame.
Background
Born in Victoria, Cronin lost his home, and presumably his family as well, in a Catastrophe that occurred in Terran year 1082,[1] after which he was homeless and hid in dumpsters to avoid contracting Oripathy from exposure to the large amount of Originium left by the Catastrophe. This traumatized Cronin for the rest of his life and made him believe that becoming rich is the only way to save himself.[2]
While homeless, Cronin was approached by the mayor of Siesta, Herman Doykos, and brought him into his service as his secretary and later, Siesta's Catastrophe Messenger. Cronin was not directly involved in Herman's Machiavellian methods like Schwarz, but he learned of them at some point.[1] He shares Herman's view that lives must be sacrificed for the development of Siesta, but takes it to a much further extreme, earning Herman's scorn. Cronin views Herman's attempt to help the Infected as a business move,[1] and does not approve of it, attempting to undermine it below the radar.[1]
Using his position as Catastrophe Messenger and engineer of the volcano monitoring system,[3] Cronin falsified the status reports of the Siesta Volcano, claiming that an eruption is not imminent. He also oversees the illegal mining of obsidian from the volcano's depths alongside V3 Industries, using the money to his own ends.[1] Cronin is aware of the volcano's rising activity caused by the mining, but chooses ignore it because he has deluded himself into believing that Siesta is no longer "the true Siesta", and that he can recreate the city's true value by destroying it physically and restarting his life elsewhere.[1]
Story
Heart of Surging Flame
Cronin appeared on the local Siestan radio during an afternoon broadcast, where he welcomed the tourists and assured them that the Siesta Volcano is safe and was a "friend" to Siestans, due to it having protected the city-state from a Catastrophe that almost affected the city "a number of years back." Cronin went on to promote Siesta Obsidian products as being able to treat Oripathy – which is dismissed by Amiya and the Doctor, who are visiting Siesta at the time – before telling the listeners to enjoy the Obsidian Festival.[4]
When Ceylon Doykos, Herman's daughter, found out that the Siesta Volcano's eruption is imminent, she visited Cronin at his office to inform him and suggests that the Obsidian Festival should be canceled for safety concerns. However, Cronin flippantly dismissed Ceylon's information and claimed the Doctor tricked her. He states that many oppose Siesta's development, and attempts to arrest Ceylon and the Doctor, though the two managed to escape.[3] However, they are then pursued by Schwarz, who are apparently following Cronin's orders.
After noticing that Ceylon and the Doctor are trying to expose his corruption, Cronin attempted to destroy all the evidence before they could obtain it, diverting Schwarz and Ceylon's attention from himself by telling Schwarz the lie that Ceylon wanted to expose Herman's crimes to the citizens.[5] The Doctor, assisted by Vigna, managed to take out Cronin's men as they retrieved all they needed, but Cronin escaped by jumping out of the office window and headed to the Obsidian Festival main venue in an attempt to lose his pursuers, only to be caught by Hellagur as Schwarz, who turns out to be ordered by Herman to watch over Cronin, and Ceylon catch up.[6]
As Cronin was being confronted by Ceylon, Schwarz, and R.I., Herman appears, and reveals he was aware of Cronin's illegal activities. Cronin tries to defend himself by saying that he is doing just as Herman does, but Herman tells him he would never sacrifice the lives of everyone in Siesta in the way Cronin is trying to. He reprimands Cronin for going to such lengths for money and fires him.[1] Noticing that the Siesta Volcano is about to erupt, Cronin becomes crazed and laughs about there being no chance left to save anyone, and expresses his joy at the opportunity to profit even more by mining the Originium left in the eruption's aftermath.[2] Upon overhearing that while contacting the Doctor, Provence criticizes Cronin's abuse of his position as Catastrophe Messenger. After Cronin gloats to Herman that Ceylon will be buried along with most of Siesta, and that Herman will be unable to recover her body, Hellagur knocks him out to shut him up.[7]
After the Siesta Volcano's eruption was thwarted by Ceylon and R.I., Cronin was sent to prison as punishment for his crimes, though Herman covered this up by stating that Cronin was hospitalized after suffering serious injuries while surveying the volcano.[8]