Empirical Industries
- This is the story-based description of Empirical Industries. For in-game rules that apply to Empirical and affiliated characters, go to here.
Empirical Industries is a privately-owned corporation that has been previously described as having a stranglehold on the Cardinal economy. It is entirely the personal possession of Alothin -- it is not possible to purchase stock in the company. Alothin is not, however, the CEO of the company. He has been known to fire the CEO at the drop of a hat where they refused to obey his orders, however. Empirical Industries has numerous subsidiary companies in different fields, with its primary interest being high-technology areas such as robotics, which is where the company was born and continues to thrive to this day.
Despite Empirical's megacorporate size, the rise of new industrial conglomerates such as Apex and the rebirth of old ones such as Kriticos, has significantly reduced Empirical's hold on Cardinal's economy. While still powerful and influential, it has nothing close to the monopolistic hold that it once had.
Contents
Active Divisions
Empirical Aeronautics
Empirical Aeronautics operates strongly out of EIS-4, the Empirical-owned space station in Earth's solar system. Its focus is on spaceflight and aerospace engineering. They currently are actively producing ships in their graving docks, and at least one interstellar trade expedition has been dispatched, and several exploratory missions as well. As once an expedition has arrived, it's typically not long before portal communication is established, the small fleet can have a disproportionate impact on Empirical's interstellar 'connectivity'.
With Empirical having a small fleet of ships now available to it, a mining colony on Mars, and missions to explore other planets both inside and outside the solar system, Aeronautics is a constantly growing division -- and money sink. Fortunately, the exploration provides a sizeable return on investment in both technology development and resources to exploit, so it's been able to make close enough to breakeven that Alothin doesn't care. After all, for him, money is just another tool, and expending it to achieve his goals is completely acceptable.
Empirical Networks
Empirical Networks exists, more or less, solely on paper. While they have a scattering of employees, barely anyone has ever met one of them in person. Those met tend to be tight-lipped workers, and never higher-level management. Empirical Networks is responsible for maintaining several Empirical-wide systems, including the PAD network and the portal stations that connect distant places together instantly. Networks is known to have some space set aside for them in all Empirical facilities, including the space station EIS-4.
The reason for the lack of visible employees in Networks is because they tend to be largely invisible -- the majority of employees in Networks are the artificial intelligences that operate both the Empirical infonet and the portal network. While the Itinerant Scholars of the Black Chamber are the ones who actually establish new portals, they never perform this while in the public view, given the 'trade secrets' that go into the preparation and initial activation sequences of portal 'technology'.
Empirical Robotics
Empirical Robotics is the foundational and largest division of Empirical Industries. Its primary facilities are in West City (manufacturing) and on a converted oil derrick that was Empirical's first facility (which is largely secure research and development territory, now). They produce a thousand thousand things, from massive industrial machinery used for building skyscrapers and starships, to household microwaves. Empirical Robotics is well-known for the reliability of their equipment.
Despite Aeronautics using it in vast quantities for their primary structural members of their ships, Robotics is nonetheless the primary consumer of Black Iron. The inherent Order in this material contributes strongly to the resilience of Empirical Robotics' products, and the consumption of it is so great that it is very difficult to keep it in proper supply. They are constantly doing metallurgical research to find a material that can be produced without supernatural assistance, and the results of their research are generally referred to as 'Gray Iron', as what they have made is significantly superior to other iron and steel alloys, but not quite a match for the unearthly properties of Black Iron, which they sometimes despair of ever duplicating through science alone.
Empirical Security
Empirical Security exists to deal with any issues of security that might arise in the spheres of influence of Empirical. They conduct background checks on prospective employees, provide first aid personnel, and so forth. They have a number of power wielders in their employ to counter powered threats to Empirical, but with the rise of an effective Compass Guard, the Psionic Militia that they used to have has been disbanded. Few power wielders are hired strictly for their combat capabilities, however -- typically, power wielders are hired who possess either regular qualifications for the job (e.g., skilled labour, academic credentials, etc), or whose powers are particularly useful for the tasks Empirical has before it (e.g., practically any psion). These power wielders are then offered bonuses if they help defend Empirical assets whenever and wherever they might come under attack by hostile powers.
Black Chamber
The Black Chamber is a secret organization within Empirical Industries. They are composed of the mages of Empirical, which are significantly more numerous than most people suspect, as if Empirical has one single edge in technology compared to other companies, it's their ready adaptation of supernaturally-produced components and technologies. The mages of the Black Chamber enable that. They are divided into several groups, or Scholarships, and use a common ranking system to delinate skill, regardless of subdivision. The majority of Black Chamber mages are either Craft Scholars or Itinerant Scholars. Besides being mages, the members of the Black Chamber are also technological adepts, being engineers or technicians of various types and degrees, and that qualification forms the 'cover' for their employment by Empirical Industries.
Craft Scholars
Craft Scholars specialize in metallurgy and other meterials sciences. They strive to reproduce Black Iron, the fabled material that only Order Foci can seem to produce. The various attempts they have made are typically referred to as Gray Iron, and each new composition tends to have certain traits of Black Iron, but they have yet to produce one that has all the characteristics of it. Most of the production of the Craft Scholars goes to either the Robotics or Aeronautics divisions, and thus, that is where their engineering identities tend to be employed.
Itinerant Scholars
Itinerant Scholars specialize in non-conventional movement. Their chief responsibility is for the Empirical portal network that ties cities and planets together. They maintain, upgrade, and expand this network in accordance with the magic first established by Alothin. As such, their engineering identities are linked to the Networks division.
Other Subdivisions
There are several more specialized divisions of Scholars in the Black Chamber. Notable among them are the Battle Scholars, who are mages that focus solely on combative magic, mastering techniques with which to defend Empirical Industries and its people from attack. They are few, as the study demands far more arcane strength to make a noticeable difference than compared to the more peacefully productive Scholarships. Battle Scholars are typically employed under Empirical Security's auspices, where they have a freer hand to have a flexible schedule, as they often also work as the Black Chamber's field agents, retrieving necessary magical components or performing field tests of new developments.
Ranking System
The Scholars of the Black Chamber are ranked as either Scholar, Free Scholar, Provost, or Master. A Scholar is a novice -- at least, as a mage. They may be the greatest engineer in the world, but not having the arcane knowledge to tie together with their mundane knowledge prevents them from progressing further in the Chamber's eyes, for magic is their raison d'etre. A Free Scholar is a journeyman, who has mastered the basics of their trade, and at that point, they are officially inducted into a specific Scholarship. A Provost is acknowledged by their peers as one of the foremost among them, having formidable skills and knowledge of their arts and sciences. Each Scholarship has a single Master, or none at all. If the Scholarship cannot agree to a high degree of consensus that a single person among them deserves the title of Master, none holds it. Only when a single Scholar so far outshines their peers, is a Master named. There are currently no Masters acknowledged in the Chamber.
Major Facilities
Empirical Industries Solar Four (EIS4)
Refitted Oceanic Oil Derrick
Empirical Industries West City Complex
Titan Base, Titan
Secondary Facilities
Central City Portal Station
West City Portal Station
Mars Mining Colony, Mars
Major Product Lines
Artificial Intelligences
It's somewhat less known than most of EI's inventions, but they do create artificial intelligences. It's not something that's openly advertised, however, and most of them are kept in-house -- in fact, many of EI's employees are not even aware that the artificial intelligences exist. EI is also a proponent of AI rights. Artificial intelligences are actually employees of Empirical Industries. They work under contract, with their wage going to pay their cost of construction and maintenance. They are given, under terms of contract, either time to 'think for themselves', during which any inventions or efficiencies they create are their own intellectual property, although right of first refusal is required legally to be given to Empirical Industries, or generous payment in lieu when their duties require them to remain operational 24-7 due to their nature.
As an adjunct to the development of true artificial intelligences are also synthetic personalities (SP), which often seem to be artificial intelligences, but are not. They are commodities, and do not hold contracts like true AI do. However, they are far less capable than true AI.
Examples of places where artificial intelligences are used include portal networks and communication and coordination for EI Security Forces. Synthetic personalities are more commonly used in commercial applications, or in applications that are being sold outside the EI branches to other companies or to governments whose views on AI do not mesh well with EI's views.
Home and Commercial Appliances
One of the streams of revenue that's little seen in our gaming world is, in many ways, dominated by Empirical products. Whether it be a toaster or microwave for your home, or a commercial-grade pizza oven or soda pop fountain for a restaurant, Empirical manufactures it. Moreover, Alothin's dominant personality and philosophy trickles down into this -- Empirical products in general have a long lifespan, and a very low rate of failure, which has helped ensure their market share in this niche.
Industrial Equipment
Empirical's manufacturing facilities are capable of duplicating themselves quite handily, and so Empirical quite often manufactures industrial-grade equipment, whether for manufacturing, or research and development, or what have you, and sells them to other companies -- typically those in fields it does not wish to enter into, so as to avoid giving the competition the advantage of Empirical's own equipment. Empirical is thus a source for every sort of equipment you would need to set up an entire factory, from materials processing to product finishing.
Military/Paramilitary Equipment
This avenue is not truly exploited any more. Prior to the Nulls, Empirical used to bid on and fulfill orders for the Imperial Army. With the reconstruction of the political world of Cardinal, however, the Imperial Army has disappeared. Most of the paramilitary manufacturing done now is internal, to fulfill needs for Empirical Security. These are not widely available, as Empirical has designs for weapons of considerable strength and tactical use, such as Psionic Disruptors.
Portal Travel
(See also the main article on portal travel.)
Central City has the largest portal station on Earth -- the Grand Central Station of portal stations. Contained within the large building are dozens of portals -- large circles of stone and steel, that, when active, are filled with a shimmering field of opaque violet energies. In order to use a portal, unless otherwise specified, a ticket must be purchased. Ticket booths are all around the station, as well, and are largely automated procedures, controlled by a low-level submind of the artificial intelligence that operates the facility. Upon approach to a portal, with an appropriate ticket in possession, the portal will automatically open and admit the ticket-holder, instantaneously transporting them to the destination portal. The ticket is thereafter useless.
The portal stations link in an interconnected network between all major cities of Cardinal, as well as general access to other Earth landmasses, and the ARCHIE III orbital station. There is also a portal connecting the New Vegetan Capital to the network. The prime stations are in Central and West cities, however, any Cardinalian city of larger than 100,000 souls will likely have a portal station of some type, and they are commonly used as public transit between cities, for a nominal fee (cheaper than an airplane, about the same as a long-distance bus ride). Inside Central City, however, there are more than simply the main portal station. Subsidiary portal stations abound, and are often used as public transit inside the city, again for a nominal fee (comparable to a regular city bus ride).
The portal station has mortal security officers that deal with any mortal problems. For power wielders, they will typically call on Empirical Security, often in the form of either Black Valkyrie guards using powered armour, automated defense drones operated by artificial intelligence, or the Psionic Militia. In extreme cases, Alothin himself may appear to guard his investments. As all of the above security forces have very low response times, as they are often in the vicinity of portals, and need no ticket or key, response to a powered attack is usually measured in seconds, if that. It is Not A Good Idea to attack a portal station directly, in other words.
It is not generally known, but each portal incorporates a low-grade artificial intelligence (That is to say, a mind with 'only' the mental intelligence of an above-average human, a perfect memory, and unflagging attention to duty.) for security reasons. One submind operates to identify the ticket that the user is holding, and key the portal appropriately to transit them to the correct place. The AI serve to prevent traffic accidents, with one person emerging as another enters a portal, and bumping into each other. Most importantly, however, the AI serve to power down the portals safely when powered-level combat occurs. Disrupting a portal ring can result in dire effects. To date, however, not a single one has been so disrupted, and due to the efficiency of Empirical Security teams, it does not seem likely that one ever will.
Robotics
EI's initial development was in the field of robotics, and they've kept up well in it. A great deal of their robotics manufacturing goes towards the construction of industrial equipment, and industrial worker robots. This equipment is often used for EI's own manufacturing operations as well, minimizing their overhead cost for such things as retooling their production lines, or establishing new facilities, such as EIS4.
Skiffboard
Using gravitic controls, skiffboards are essentially surfboards that fly. They've a number of safety features incorporated into them for liability reasons (although all of them are largely redundant to power wielders), and they sell for about as much as a moped or scooter would. A few thousand dollars at most, in mundane terms. Those wanting a customized design should be prepared to pay the much greater cost for such an item. However, given that EI has been known to sponsor various forms of skiffboard competition, it can be worth getting such a board, if you're in it for the professional competition. Power wielders using their own powers to augment the board's performance in a competition is strictly forbidden and monitored, however.
Related Characters
Alothin - Owner and Founder
Employees
Celeste Albright
Danielle Sharpe
Delano Sauvage
Demetrius Abelard
Gilead Clayburne
Khalid ibn Sivitri
Slam Goodshot
Ex-Employees
Beyea Lurian
Cody Terraloft
Frenzy Bonesmash
Kaiyone Shiigoku
Karrak Seorun
Kate Letopaxa
