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An old company from before the flash. They were similar in structure to the IBM of the real world in that they innovated in every way they could. The company created vast computing systems, capable of nearly independent thought...they created macro-molecules that could fight off viruses with ease...they even created new systems to destroy ICBMs. All this, however, was lost in the even known as The Flash. Their satellites, as well-protected as they were, were for the most part disabled, with only a few surviving the EMP waves brought on by the nuclear exchange. ASI HQ was left almost entirely untouched in the immediate attack, as the town in which it was located held no strategic value. Most of the staff fled to a bunker under the HQ facility, leaving all of the factory machinery to waste away in the deep winter that soon blanketed the world shortly after The Flash. The generations passed slowly...ASI was able to grow people in test tubes...artificially fertilizing eggs, inducing hormone treatments to control their growth, and inevitably putting the fetus into a growing vat that would guide it into childhood. Most of the test-tube children were released from their growth vats at the age of six, when their minds were ready to receive and retain information, with language having been pre-programmed into their minds via the use of different kinds of stimuli during their time in the growth vat. ASI rationed out everything they could from the beginning, and used every method they could to make their gene pool as diverse as possible, so as to further their existence. The people at ASI were cold-hearted men and women of science, albeit still human. Most of them suffered from a nostalgia relating to the comforts of the old world...this would lead them to dream of spearheading the production of all sorts of things that could assist in rebuilding.
Twenty years after the flash...they resurfaced. The people in ASI were smart enough to keep the external security systems of the HQ's surface facilities online, as they only siphoned minimal power from their subterranean systems. The staff, for the first time, looked at the devastation above...they were truly mortified. Things were worse than they had ever thought...they had almost lost all hope in restoring the world once they had seen what condition it was in. After a long ceremonial speech by their currently elected CEO, they had mustered up the bravery to mobilize on the surface, restoring what systems were still salvageable. They had a few industrial construction gantries, among various smaller and more intricate machines for the manufacture of more delicate items such as circuitry and fusion power technology. They made quick use of all of this, repairing the structural parts of the facility first, ensuring that it would hold up against the weathering effects of the post-apocalypse.
Another ten years passed, and ASI was growing at an acceptable rate, as they had begun trading with local outposts and the like, supplying them with ample resources that were hard to come by, such as power cells, generators, and even vehicles in some exceedingly rare cases. Of course, they had no use for money, trading their items in exchange for scrap and the occasional volunteer, seeing as they grew their own genetically modified food in hydroponics facilities inside of the HQ and had no need to obtain it from others, and could support a large population because of said facilities.
ASI continued growing in power until the late 2050s, when they had reached a period of stagnation. Other factories outnumbered ASI, and had either stolen off with, or produced their own brands of ASI's products. Of course, ASI also offered some services that most factory producers did not...must like their "sister" company DECorp, they were creators of weapons. While ASI had never quite figured out how to create man-portable railguns that could punch through tanks, they excelled in fusion-powered laser technology and the creation of personal body armor to match. However, most lower-ranked mercenaries still prefer the cacophony of sound that comes from good old firearms over the bone-melting goodness of a laser carbine, and as such are only supplied with firearms, with the lasers being reserved for more trusted personal. ASI would use mercenaries armed with said gear to compensate for their lack of factories in the west, and on the north-east coast.
As their influence made a u-turn, growing more and more during the 2060s, they began ordering the construction of new factories out east, succeeding in dominating the market for a short time...until the Atlanta Incident had occurred. This caused a major crash that put them in the dark out east for quite some time, their far-and-few-between factories in the west hardly capable of compensating for the loss of manpower and machinery. When the war had started, however, ASI had found new purpose. They began making trade deals with the USCPF to assist them with the loss of US-owned factories, which earned them a little more good will with the US in general. The GCSA agreed to supply ASI with workers and allow them to build more factories in US territories, which helped them bounce back in the 2090s.
ASI now supplies anyone with enough cash with either mercenaries, or with goods that they have had in their warehouses and have been producing ever since the 2030s. They can occasionally be seen patrolling out as far as Fort Shad...with rumors of them doing scouting operations and black market deals in Southside and the towns adjacent to it. ASI denies all rumors about said black market deals, and prefers only to deal with the US, as the PRT and MEB are currently not entirely open to outside trading influences...especially ones that operate in, and supply the US. |