Grant Kendrell

Grant Kendrell
Age	55
Gender	Male
Selections	Civics, Judgement
Reasons Cited	"Cloudbank of course"
Trace Status	Recorded
Function	Tap()

"Grant Kendrell's the man behind the Camerata. Without a doubt. Beats being an admin." -- Unknown

Grant Kendrell is the overarching antagonist of Transistor. His Trace contained the Tap() Function.

Grant is the oldest member and de facto leader of the Camerata, having started the organization with Royce Bracket and brought Asher Kendrell and Sybil Reisz in later. He is the most seasoned administrator in Cloudbank, wielding substantial respect and influence in the city's upper circles. His disposition is charitable.

Function Files

Background

More than 94% of voting adults in Cloudbank agree that administration is necessary to the city's infrastructure and its continued day-to-day operations. A similar percentage also wants no part of administrative responsibilities, other than to exercise one's personal right to vote on or otherwise contribute to pertinent social issues. Most administrators like it this way. In the long-standing tradition of their role, they endeavor to keep things running quietly and smoothly, intervening as little as possible while facilitating as much as possible. As public servants, administrators are beholden to their constituencies through this time-honored system. It is a system that Administrator Grant Kendrell decided to subvert.

Worldview

Administrator Kendrell was one of the longest-tenured public servants in the administration's recorded history. More than two younger generations of administrators came and went as he remained on the job. His abilities as a judicious and sharp-minded administrator never faltered as his age advanced, so instead, his constituency's respect for him only grew. By contrast, Administrator Kendrell found his own feelings beginning to change. It was a period of crisis, a time when lesser men would have retired, but Administrator Kendrell took it all in stride as far as anybody knew. By now he had realized he had fought for virtually every social position at one time or another, always pleasing the majority. Over time this left a hollow feeling in his heart. He had his own position on many matters, his own dreams and desires. But he had learned to keep those thoughts in check. Then a longtime friend of his, with whom he often confided his worldview over food or drink, gave Administrator Kendrell an idea he never dared consider.

Camerata

The Camerata was just the two of them at first, and its ranks were never meant to exceed a number to be counted on one hand. They encapsulated their beliefs in an expression, that when everything changes, nothing changes. And they had in their possession something that would move their mission forward. Administrator Kendrell, ever familiar with the solemn burden of responsibility, knew more about the administration than anyone. If anyone knew what was best for Cloudbank, it was him.

Trivia

• Grant appears to have been married to Asher Kendrell. They share a surname, but do not appear to be related, and Royce Bracket notes that Asher "meant something to Grant - helped fuel Grant's fire." Greg Kasavin remarked that while "the institution of marriage as we know it" does not necessarily exist in Cloudbank, the Kendrells' marriage is as "as canon as anything," noting that it was important to the developers to "depict a world that didn’t suffer from the same kinds of social issues as ours." Kasavin also said that Grant felt the Process's escape and the subsequent disaster was "a disastrous worst-nightmare kind of situation."
• Grant is the only member of the Camerata without a speaking role. Royce and Asher both have proper dialogue, and Sybil Reisz's voice can be heard in garbled chunks, but Grant's voice is never heard aloud.
• Royce had known Grant half his life, and described him as principled and very persuasive, claiming that the Camerata was Grant's idea. He also claimed that letting Grant "borrow" the Transistor had caused the current disaster.
• Grant and Asher were with Sybil Reisz at the Empty Set the night before the game, having been deceived by her into believing that they would find Red alone there. Grant flung the Transistor at Red, intending to kill her, but Unknown interposed himself between the two and was killed instead. The Transistor's status of "User Signed Off", seen after it and Unknown's body were transported to Goldwalk, indicated that the separation rather than Red's subsequent sign-on had broken Grant's authority over the Transistor, and with it the connection between the Transistor and the Cradle.
• Grant's condition deteriorated after he lost the Transistor. Asher attempted to take care of him but was forced to speak for him when writing to Red. Sybil's fate at the Empty Set implies that Grant, too, was overtaken by the Process.
• Grant died 29 minutes before Asher and 45 minutes before Red arrived at the rooftop hideout. Asher was particularly grieved, writing to Red that he would "rather take an eternity in the Transistor" than leave Grant behind, but acknowledged that Grant was no longer seeing straight -- or had "seen enough" -- and could not wait.
• Unknown initially carried a particular grudge against Grant for being the one who murdered him, remarking, if Red uses the Hammock every time they visit the Sandbox, that all he can think about is Grant's "sneering face" and ominously musing on what to do with him when they find him. He altered his opinion somewhat after seeing the Kendrells' rooftop hideout, remarking that it was intended "for damage control" and "to save people." Nonetheless, he called Grant "you fake" when welcoming his Trace into the Transistor.
• Upon the Transistor's integration of both Kendrells' Traces, Red receives XP for their deaths in a popup that reads "Process Terminated: Cowards," confirming that one or both had been infected by the Process before choosing to end their own lives. If not infected, Asher's death could be attributed to not wanting to live without Grant.
• Grant Kendrell's Trace Bank is in the top row, second from right, numbered 110.
• Grant's Steam Trading Card reads "He was one of the longest-tenured public servants in the administration's recorded history."

Related Achievments

Icon	Name	How to Obtain
	Kendrell()	Confront Grant and Asher at Bracket Towers.

• List of Achievements

Gallery

Grant Kendrell's Trace Bank inside the Transistor.

Screenshot of Grant as seen in the Empty Set cutscene.

Screenshot of Grant as seen in the motorboat cutscene in Goldwalk.

Grant's Steam Trading Card.

Grant's Steam Trading Card preview.