Sandbox:NM-1

Overview

Synthetics congregate around major population centers with the supporting infrastructure capable of sustaining power generation, maintenance, and availability of replacement parts. Rare are IPCs found in rural areas or underdeveloped planets, with the notable exception of Axiom, the capital planet of the Trinary Perfection, where its rapid modernization has served as a crucial anchor for synthetic life. As the nature of the Orion Spur revolves around the dominance of ownership - whether private or otherwise - IPCs maintain notable presence where corporations operate.

Even amongst developed planets, the technical expertise required to produce IPCs in any capacity remain concentrated in select hands. The chassis of the IPC serves as its body - a complex, often bi-pedal design that demands scalability for mass production as it does viability to attract consumers.

The positronic brain itself remains a closely guarded secret, with few schematics or designs available to the public at large. Since the inception of the positronic brain in 2407, these supercomputers originate primarily from Megacorporation facilities. The largest market share of IPC production is contested between Hephaestus Industries and Einstein Engines' subsidiary Terraneus Diagnostics, considered giants in the realm of robotics and artificial intelligence.

As synthetics have proliferated in presence across the human systems of the Orion Spur, governments have taken steps to incorporate large scale manufacturing within domestic factories. Some, like the Republic of Elyra, have successfully maintained a steady growth of IPCs while others, such as the Republic of Konyang, carefully manage a yearly quota of synthetics.

The aftermarket servicing and part replacement of IPCs continues to be the industry with the smallest barrier of entry, flooded with an arrangement of unbranded parts who pale in quality and efficiency compared to their corporate counterparts.

Galactic

The foremost fabricators and maintainers of synthetics galaxy-wide. These entities house the factorial complexity to produce both positronic brains and integrated positronic chassis, servicing markets across the spur.

Hephaestus Industries

The sole largest manufacturer of synthetics in known space, Hephaestus Industries stands a titan of industrial production. Their capability to fabricate any necessary component to fully create most basic synthetics has led to their almost complete domination of the IPC market. Their powerful industrial frames proliferates all known reaches of the Spur, capitalizing on the utility, durability, and longevity of their units.

The HPS Amoni and its funnel-like energy capture array in orbit of Mercury.

Hephaestus Industries operates 49 Super Stations with 2 classified as mega factories. Super stations are kilometers-wide assembly plants, orbitally positioned in strategic locations across the Spur to churn out huge varieties of commodities. These commodities extend to agricultural equipment to basic electronics and beyond, with few lines able to construct complicated electronic assemblies. The two mega factories are effectively the same in size but have overwhelmingly larger populations on board. To retain relative autonomy and safety on board, massive organic populations exist on these stations up in the hundreds of thousands.

Hephaestus Production Station Amóni

• Location - Geosynchronous orbit of Mercury, Sol I

Mega-factory production station Amoni, or HPS Amoni, is the largest station ever created by Hephaestus Industries, as well as their fastest-built. Put together with an incredible amount of synthetics to justify a monument to Hephaestus’ commercial and industrial might, Amoni orbits Mercury within the Sol System. The station’s unique design permits it to feed off the energy of the Sun directly, taking solar power to its extremes by funneling energy into its core harvesting areas which directly supply the surrounding, highly shielded construction plants. It was laid down in 2397, and completed officially on January 1, 2400 - the start of the new century.

Amoni’s construction was less than two and a half years of effort, and classified as a private experiment on part of Hephaestus. The idea was to construct, if haphazardly, an eventually safe depiction of their largest station in the shortest amount of time conceivable. To fulfill this, synthetics galaxy-wide were shipped to and assisted in the construction of the Amoni regardless of specialization. Of the thirty-thousand organic workers who signed on to complete the already questionable project, nearly six thousand EVA construction crew member’s lives were lost. All were lost to workplace dangers involving inadequate atmospheric safeties and unwieldy equipment.

Amoni faces criticism for wasting tremendous amounts of Solar energy better spent elsewhere on Hephaestus’ monopoly of low-end electronic commodities. Many speculate that Amoni’s output doesn’t even fit demand, and the majority of its constructions end up scrapped or tossed into the very nearby surface of the sun.

Alongside the rest of its output, Amoni is known to create positronics and their respective chassis autonomously. Using resources gathered from Mercury, Amoni is able to print any Hephaestus-brand model on the market.

Hephaestus Production Station Sidirourgeío

The HPS Sidirourgeio and its strange, cobbled-together hull in orbit of Reade.

• Location - Tau Ceti, Orbit of Reade, TC-V

Unlike its sister station HPS Amóni, the HPS Sidirourgeío is primarily responsible for the fabrication of extra-corporate brand IPCs. The majority of the Sidirourgeío’s products are baseline IPCs, and like its sister station it is fully equipped to refine the materials and assemble the parts necessary to complete IPCs with few exterior logistics. Initially commissioned in order to meet the demand of positronic brains, HPS Sidirourgeío saw constant rework to its construction until the year 2420 where it was finally deemed completed. During its construction, the station and its staff were forced to hit the ground running with production. As such, the station has taken on an almost hodge-podge appearance, with each new district distinct from the other.

Sidirourgeío is known for a harsh political divide within its populace, particularly between Solarians and Biesellite natives. It sustained some of the heaviest fighting between the two invasions, and served as an underground staging point for criminal efforts against the Megacorporations within the bowels of its maintenance tunnels. Huge, winding and impossibly labyrinthian, Sidirourgeío’s internals are reminiscent of huge mazes, and the appearance of the station is incomprehensible at best even from a distance.

It is infamously regarded as the “Swarm of Reade,” due to its large debris field that makes traversal without oversight impossible on docking courses. This swarm is of course visible from platforms within the atmosphere of Reade itself, glimmering and occasionally showing off Reade’s artificial satellites that collide with it - usually with explosive results.

Artificial Satellites - Reade

Facilities alongside the HPS Sidirourgeío have little regard for their waste output and use the gas giant below to dispose of waste electronics. From malfunctioning positronics to failed prototypes, anything remotely deemed unacceptable would be disposed of and tossed into the atmosphere of the giant below to burn up in re-entry. Waste is typically cobbled together in large “clusters,” most of which sit in orbit for years before being knocked out of orbit. As the size of the clusters grows, the effort required to create a path of descent grows, and the desire to be rid of them lessens. Massive clusters of this waste are up to six kilometers in diameter, while tens of thousands of smaller bodies exist.

Einstein Engines

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Terraneus Diagnostics Manufacturing "Nomad Alpha"

• Location: Jupiter

Nomad Alpha is the imposing headquarters of Terraneus Diagnostics, one of Einstein Engines’ prized subsidiaries, constructed in 2449. This facility is devoted to fabricating the most complex positronics Terraneus may provide, notably supplying the full integrated positronic chassis for Zavod Interstellar's Z.I. units.

TDMF "Nomad Alpha" in orbit of Jupiter.

It covers an enormous surface area, most space being used for solar arrays to power the station’s growing industrial facilities. These solar arrays are wholly retractable and maintained to a great degree, with a span at its longest of nearly 75 kilometers. The whole array dwarfs the facility itself, merely three kilometers across at the center most portion. Due to their size, it can take up to a week for each array to be fully retracted or expanded. Reflectivity of the entire array can be an issue, with the light reflecting off from each panel easily blinding the naked eye. Because of this, all exterior windows of the facility are tinted to near opacity. Crew regard this as a curse most of the time, bringing a sense of claustrophobia or even isolation to the interior design.

Similar manifolds known as Traveler Beta and Explorer Gamma exist in orbit of Biesel and a planet known as Adezu within the Xanu System. The manifolds are known to produce the galaxy’s foremost advanced, high-tech shells, positronics and frames. These frequently end up in the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate’s hands in some way.

Terraneus Diagnostics Manufacturing "Traveler Beta"

• Location: Biesel

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Terraneus Diagnostics Manufacturing "Explorer Gamma"

• Location: TBD

Solarian Alliance

Callisto.

Konyang

The birthplace of IPCs, Konyang possesses a mature and constantly-growing robotics industry that supplies synthetics to most of the Frontier, primarily the Coalition of Colonies. It features one of the largest research and manufacturing complexes of Terraneus Diagnostics, dedicated to the production of shells as well as local variants of baselines and industrial frames for export.

The state company Konyang Robotics (KonRo) jointly owns a 51% majority in Terraneus' factories, of which are dedicated to the production of all facets concerning IPCs and synthetics at large. The Republic of Konyang draws IPC citizens primed for activation up to the limits of the yearly quota, with surplus shipped across the galaxy.

Any parts produced from state-run factories are emblazoned with a marked proof, certifying both their quality and successful government inspection.

Republic of Elyra

The Serene Republic of Elyra has a reputation in the Spur for being a technologically advanced state and this extends to their advancements regarding synthetic life as well. Through the native Elyran mega corporation of Osman Electric Industries, the Republic has made great strides in creating Advanced Artificial Intelligence. Whilst their Positronics are less advanced they still form a vital part of Elyran Society.

Osman Electric Industries are the primary producer of synthetics across the Republic and they are utilised for all manner of purposes from Industrial to Service work and even military service. The rights Elyra grants to synthetics means many will eventually become free synthetics and all Elyran synthetics have a unique phoron tag to confirm their origin.

Assunzione

The distant Coalition planet located in Light's Edge serves as a minor producer of positronics. Nearly all domestic production remains locally on Assunzione, with the majority purchased and imported from Konyang. As the market for manufacturing is dominated by Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals, the frames available are predominantly Bishop and Zeng-Hu Mobility frames. IPCs manufactured on Assunzione are frequently employed in Triesto, the headquarters of Zeng-Hu, or Markarsa, the research hub of the planet. The proximity to Light's Edge draws a market for synthetics to embark on the many expeditions searching for phoron.

Synthetics produced on Assunzione are much like those found elsewhere in the galaxy, with the novel exception of their positronics receiving blessings upon creation by Luceian clergy. They are programmed with an adherence and intuitive knowledge of the local religion, Luceism.

Regional

While not considered large or noteworthy in the field of robots, they maintain a capacity of production that distinguishes from the limited means of an average planet. Production is limited to IPC chassis, frame parts, or simple robotics.

Nanotrasen

Hazel! LTD.

Orion Express

Jackhammer industries.

Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals

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Bishop Factory Adhama

• Location - Eridani I
• Opened - August 11, 2431

Bishop Cybernetics, being flashy and pretentious at heart would find no trouble over complicating its own facilities. Its largest manufacturing plant, known as Adhama or “Glory” is a massive tower built into the craggy silicon steeps of Eridani I. The factory itself delves deeply underground, where its entirety is divided into three sections - exterior prosthesis, organ prosthesis and robotic chassis. It is capable of intaking and maintaining patients seeking repair or addition of prosthetics, from intricate mechanical hearts to Bishop’s signature limbs. In the lowest levels are branded IPCs fully fabricated, with their positronics imported and activated with specialized personalities and frames.

Its operations speak “luxury,” and its employees are provided to more of the same. To Bishop, they deserve nothing less.

Production Facility Kyūkyoku

• Location - Stable low orbit of Sirius

Particularly secret is the inner workings of the Zeng-Hu facility Kyūkyoku, the central manufacturing point for the majority of all their specialized robotics products. The structure’s original design revolved around genetics and cloning research, near the advent of the original mobility frame. Conflicted and without necessary tools to fully automate, Kyūkyoku would find itself awaiting completion for nearly two years before work resumed in 2424. By 2425, the complex was torn apart and reconstructed from the frame up exclusively to house robotics manufacturing facilities. It was rushed and finalized in 2428 despite concerns regarding its hull’s integrity. These concerns voiced by Kyūkyoku’s construction crews were never addressed publicly, with Zeng-Hu finding it more beneficial to simply silence them and mend issues as they come along with rudimentary patchwork by the station’s maintenance personnel.

Despite its origins, Kyūkyoku is a stable, consistent source of Zeng-Hu’s finest robotics. With no ability to fabricate complex electronics of their own, however, all positronics for their integrated frames are imported from external entities. These primarily being Hephaestus Industries and its subsidiaries, whose close ties to Sirius allow for easy and cheap transportation of expensive materials.

Earth

Earth ranks amongst the highly developed planets in the galaxy with established pedigree in all robotics industries. It is the home to Terraneus Diagnostics, the Einstein Engines subsidiary that ultimately invented the positronic brain in 2407. From locally-owned businesses long taken over by the corporations to government-controlled fabrication plants, there is no shortage of available brands. Perhaps the most notable designs to have come from Earth are the original Cyborgs and hypercomplex AI spires that are now common sights among modern, cutting-edge capitals. Earth is also the origin of the Hazel subsidiary of NanoTrasen.

Republic of Korea

The success of Korea's technological prowess established its place as a regional power in Asia. The republic gained the Solarian Alliance's interest, prompting the colonization efforts that later became Konyang. While dwarfed by the now Coalition of Colonies member, the Republic of Korea remains one of the leading countries in the fields of positronic research and development.

Japan

Japanese engineers facilitated the early pioneering of Einstein Engines through its nascent production of basic synthetic laborers, ultimately usurped by Konyang's robust IPC industry. The country continues to produce rudimentary robots and companion units, with a particular focus on Personal AIs.

Warsaw Pact - Czechoslovakia

A notable leader in robotics located within the Warsaw Pact, an economic and colonial cooperative pact in the eastern european sphere. Zavodskoi Interstellar would later go on to be founded as part of an initiative to produce a consolidated industrial industry. Czechoslovakia primarily produces simplistic robotcs as opposed to positronics, capable of servicing frames, internal components, and external equipment.

Republic of Argentina

The technological center of South America, known best for their AI and robotics research labs.

Former

Markets that have collapsed, waned in their capabilities to manufacture, or otherwise dwindled in influence.

Mars (Hephaestus Industries)

Mars is a planet practically built by its cyborg population. Up to three centuries before modern day, criminal populations were practically culled for cyborgification in massive quantities. This trend fell apart quickly, leaving in its wake arcologies rising high above the red planet that would stand until the Violet Dawn incident. The Metal Dunes, a particular example of the Martian robotics boom, is a massive scrapyard encompassing entire canyons in the southern hemisphere of Mars. After being set ablaze, its secrets and remnants of past cyborgs may be gone forever.

Responsible entirely for the rise of cyborgification is Hephaestus Industries. Their title as “megacorporation” can be owed to their actions on old Mars, as morbid it may be.