PRODIGY ELECTRO AND ARCANOTECH(tm)
Prodigy Electro + Arcanotech(™)
Place of Origin: Damijana, Empire of Damijana
Year Founded: 5126
Founder(s): Olaveen and Milanio Arcanos
Current CEO: Arlanio Arcanos
History: Olaveen Arcanos was a Damijani red elf, a child prodigy born in the Sun Sector to two successful arcane surgeons. She was interested in technology from a young age, seemingly understanding machines more than she understood people. But her parents wanted her to carry on the family business and study magic at the Damijani Arcanum, urging her to be a top-notch magical healer.
Olaveen was forced to learn about magic, but her heart was still set on machines. She studied mundane engineering on her own time, in-between her many classes on magic. At some point she had the brilliant idea to blend magic and machine into one super-technology. Even the finest engineers said it couldn’t be done, but Olaveen proved them wrong with her very first prototype. She called this contraption an “Arcanotech battery”. The battery was not recharged by electricity, but by magic users, who could transfer their own arcane energy into it when it depleted. The battery could then, theoretically, power machines.
Many companies tried to buy the rights to Olaveen’s idea, and some even tried stealing it from her. But such technology had never existed before now, and she was the only one who understood how it worked. She decided to start her own technology company called “Prodigy Electro”. Her very first employee was a childhood acquaintance named Milanio Everlos. He was the only one who believed in her project before its success, and though she had always found him annoying growing up, he had exactly the technical education and the unwavering passion she needed to get her company off the ground.
Milanio had been madly in love with Olaveen since they were children, and he dutifully performed every task she asked of him. She worked him like a dog day after day, night after night at their humble startup. She even shared her secret blueprints with him, making him the only person who could replicate her technology if he chose. But Milanio chose to remain loyal, bound to a fae promise he made to never betray her. The two decided to get married, not because Olaveen loved him back, but because she believed the tax benefits would help her business.
After a series of successful prototypes and public demonstrations, interest in Arcanotech picked up and contracts came rolling in. Olaveen had invented something that was going to change life in Damijana forever, and she was in desperate need for more hands to keep up with demand. But who could she trust to keep her secrets?
She was wracked with paranoia, and decided she couldn’t trust any flesh-and-blood workers. So, she and Milanio assembled a team of robots to work for them, all of which were custom-designed and powered by Arcanotech. Before long, Prodigy Electro was releasing all manner of electronics powered by their exclusive tech; from robots to televisions to vehicles. Profits skyrocketed, and in less than twenty years, this company was the richest and most prestigious in all of Damijana–and one of the most successful companies on all of Looming Gaia.
This fact still remains true almost a thousand years later, long after Olaveen and Milanio have passed. Today, Prodigy Electro is staffed by a mix of flesh personnel and robots, but all are strictly vetted and monitored for disloyal behavior. Those who leak corporate secrets just seem to mysteriously “disappear”, never to be seen again.
The company's most recent CEO is Arlanio Arcanos, a descendant of Olaveen and Milanio. Prodigy Electro has remained in the Arcanos family since its beginnings, and its business philosophy has changed very little with time.
ARCANOTECH(™) AND PRODIGY’S DARK BUSINESS MODEL
Arcanotech is still a unique technology that is exclusive to Prodigy Electro. Other companies have developed magic batteries since, but none nearly as efficient as the Arcanotech brand, not to mention Prodigy Electro's wide range of compatible products make them nearly impossible for smaller companies to compete with.
Arcanotech batteries come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but all are made from the same secret blend of crystal, copper, chromantium, and other unspecified materials. Smaller batteries can be recharged by any magic user, simply by grasping its nodes and casting a spell on them. This drains magical (and therefore physical) energy from the user, but it offers a convenient way to recharge electronics without using expensive electricity.
However, this technology does have its downsides. Peoples who can't use magic obviously cannot recharge the batteries on their own. Also, larger batteries cannot be recharged by the average magic user, as the devices hold more energy than a mage can reasonably give without harming themselves. The batteries lose efficiency in environments with a lot of iron around, and they contain components that are banned by the Nymph Pact, so they are rarely used outside of the Damijani Empire, which has modified its whole infrastructure to accommodate this technology.
The vast majority of customers do not recharge their Arcanotech batteries themselves. Instead, they take them to one of Prodigy Electro's many recharging locations, where they can wait and recharge them for a small fee, or for a larger fee they can quickly trade the empty battery for a full one. The locations are plentiful and convenient, usually placed at grocery stores, parks, and other high-traffic areas.
At these locations are giant “master batteries", which customers plug their smaller batteries into to siphon energy. When a master battery is empty, Prodigy Electro employees swap it out for a full one and transport the empty shell back to a heavily guarded, off-shore company compound.
The general public is ignorant as to what happens within this compound. Only the most trusted Prodigy Electro employees know the dark truth: it is a prison where slaves are forced to recharge Arcanotech batteries using their own magical energy. Each slave is either kidnapped or purchased from the black market, and once they enter the compound, they are never intended to leave.
Such slaves are internally known as “wellsprings”. All their limbs are removed to prevent rebellion and increase arcane efficiency as their energy is forcefully transferred to fill empty batteries. These slaves simply lie in small cells for years on end, acquiring nutrients through wires and converting them into arcane energy, which is extracted through more wires. The system is highly automated, and each slave becomes a faceless drone identified only by a number.
Needless to say, it's not in Prodigy Electro's best interest to reveal the grisly truth behind their operations. Instead, they assure customers that the batteries are recharged by swathes of dedicated, well-paid employees. In reality, there are not enough trained and dedicated mages in the world to make this a reality–at least not at the wages the company is willing to pay.
Running such a massive, rich, and powerful business means exploiting scores of kidnapped slaves and forgotten prisoners, but Prodigy Electro doesn't mind all that, as long as the money keeps flowing.
CULTURAL IMPACT
Prodigy Electro is considered Damijana’s most prestigious company, as the empire’s government has officially adopted its Arcanotech products for military, healthcare, and all other civic operations. The very infrastructure of the megalopolis was changed to accommodate Arcanotech products and systems, such as vehicles and charging stations. Even many of Damijana’s monorails run on Arcanotech batteries.
These days, most of Damijana has ditched dirty petrol and electric batteries in favor of this clean, magical energy source. However, Prodigy Electro's exclusive products sell at a premium and the batteries themselves can be quite expensive, so this tech becomes less common in the lower sectors. The Star and Sun Sectors run almost entirely on Arcanotech, the Middle Sector uses about half Arcanotech and half petrol, and the Shadow Sector is still dependent mostly on petrol.
Prodigy's engineers are very well-paid, but earning a position at this company is no easy feat. Only the best of the best are selected, meaning those with the most perfect university grades, pristine civic reputations, and most impressive accomplishments.
However, it's said that the higher one climbs at this company, the more impossible it becomes to leave. Prodigy's technology is a well-protected secret. High-level employees such as lead designers and engineers must be privy to these secrets to do their jobs, and the risk of such secrets falling into the hands of a rival company is great if they do not stay loyal.
These employees must accept that getting fired or trying to work elsewhere will result in their mysterious “disappearance”. Prodigy Electro's top employees are no less enslaved to it than the “wellsprings” at the bottom.
SEE ALSO
Corporations of Looming Gaia
Magic
Empire of Damijana
Elf
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