Raymond Shen (EU2012)

Dr Raymond Shen is the chief engineer, and is often the voice of idealism among the XCOM command staff.

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Dr. Raymond Shen is the Chief Engineer of the XCOM Project. Dr. Shen has proven to be an invaluable asset with his decades of experience. The XCOM project is lucky to have such a brilliant, dedicated, world renowned, award winning engineer at its disposal. Please note: This artificial intelligence was created by Dr. Shen.

Source: XCOM: Enemy Unknown (2012) Research Archives

Dr. Shen's Quotes

Engineering Musings

• "From what little I've seen of their technology... If the aliens were intent on conquering Earth, there's not much we could do to stop them. I'm guessing they have something else in mind."
• "In times of war, there is always a leader, a general... someone giving the orders. These aliens can be no different. The real question is, what sort of power or authority does it take to control such a vast range of alien species? What incentive do they have to follow through with this plan?"
• "The more I see, the more I don't want to see. That twisted hulk of flesh and metal... driven by the alien technology, can we still call that life? We have to keep moving forward with the project, but the thought of treading the same path as the aliens... is troubling. What if they were like us once? Are we just part of a continuing cycle? If this is glimpse of our future, I want no part of it."
  • On the Enemy Within DLC, this saying has been changed to: "That hulk of flesh and metal troubles me. What do we risk with our own investigations into the melding of human and machine? Will we see a line in the sand and refuse to cross it? Or will we move forward, willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of total victory? I have to believe that is not our future. Provided, of course, that the aliens' technology remains in the right hands."
• "We're coming down to the wire here. Now that we've backed the aliens into a corner, I think we'll see what they're really made of. Personally, I expect nothing short of pure desperation in their resistance - they invested too much to go down without a fight."
• "Mark it in the history books... This is the end of an era for mankind. Even after we've defeated the remaining aliens, what then? Have we sacrificed our own humanity for a taste of their technology? And if we manage to exploit this power further, do we risk being consumed by it... presumably, just as they were?"
• "A chop here, a chop there; and soon we'll have a soldier unlike anything the world has ever seen."

XCOM 2

Dr. Shen survived the fall of XCOM and worked to establish the resistance with Bradford and his daughter Lily. Creating the Avenger from an alien supply ship was his final project, but he didn't live to see its completion.

In the Shen's Last Gift DLC it's revealed that during the first war Shen worked on developing artificial intelligence and mechanical soldiers (likely a reference to the MEC Troopers of XCOM). Shen created both the JULIAN AI, and the SPARK-01 prototype mechanical soldier. JULIAN states that it helped to create ADVENT's mechs based on Shen's designs, after it was captured and corrupted by the aliens.