#l0r3

[theglitchinmannco]

[theglitchinmannco]

𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘

𝑻𝒆𝒖𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕, 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝑴𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒄𝒐

Summary compiled by [ 𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳 ]

Teufort is a small town in the Badlands region of New Mexico. Boasting a population of around 7,000, Teufort is a gated community with strict access restrictions, and sits roughly 30 minutes drive off Route 64.

While most of the region around it is classified as desert and the climate is arid, Teufort has implemented a hyper-modern irrigation system and farming techniques that enables them to maintain a modestly-sized farming sector in the immediate surrounds year-round. Verge gardens throughout the town and local orchards add to the yield of produce within the town, resulting in a well-supplied population that are mostly self-sufficient, with excess produce and crops being shipped out to neighbouring areas.

The town boasts a public-access regional hospital with helipad, two major banks, a post office, three supermarkets, a joint elementary-middle school and a high school, sporting facilities, a combined town hall and police station, and a number of small businesses supplying goods and services to locals and beyond.

Though Teufort maintains strict perimeter control, the town is easy to access and keeps a register of all visitors for public safety reasons. Documentation of visitors is kept but visitors' personal information is typically destroyed three days after the visitor's departure, unless they choose to have their information kept on file for more regular ease of access. Those needing access for emergency reasons are typically escorted from the gate, and while ID is typically required to gain entry, local residents can vouch for a visitor to help them speed up the entry process.

Teufort, most notably, lacks a single governing mayor, and the town is led mainly by the Sheriff - at present, Sheriff Adam Greene. The Sheriff is expected to defer major decisions to a governing council of trusted deputies and community-selectsd representatives where possible, but given the region the town occupies and its difficult history, the council and locals recognise that sometimes action must be taken without awaiting a council vote.

Information taken from the Teufort Town Council website.

𝑻𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑯𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚

Teufort's history is public record until mid 1974, after which the town was recognised as a private entity. Records indicate that a major fire destroyed most of the town's centre and killed a number of residents who had allegedly tried to put out the fire with their urine, and damaged much of the existing infrastructure. In the aftermath, according to official records, recently-appointed Sheriff Lucas Hood stepped in and locked down the town and much of the surrounds, taking control of the situation.

While it had suffered from mercenary attacks and raids in the months preceding, Hood's "martial law" helped turn the town around and protect it from outside attack, while stabilising conditions within enough that people could begin to rebuild. Spearheading the town's recovery, Hood and his team discovered toxic lead levels in the local water table and traced the cause back to infrastructure owned by TF Industries.

Filing a lawsuit against TF Industries, the company agreed to settle out of court before any court case ever occurred. It is alleged that the company was already struggling under recent issues, and the financial repercussions of the settlement resulted in a total collapse of TF Industries. Reparation costs were absorbed by TF Industries' parent organisation, Mann Co, which continues to pay out the ongoing settlement and support rejuvenation efforts in the region per the settlement.

In 1974, Teufort closed itself off from the rest of society and became isolationist. Since it had never been a major tourism hotspot and was already considered a backwater, there was little fanfare or public awareness of it, and the state of New Mexico allowed the town to become a private entity in 1976. Following this, many records of Teufort disappear, with only websites remaining for the town's council, school, and hospital able to be found online.

In 1989, to support the growing needs of local residents and as part of an agreement with Mann Co, Teufort became home to a small airfield, servicing small private charters that flew supplies in and out of the region. This project, though extremely costly to Mann Co, was eventually abandoned and the Teufort Airfield closed in July 2001.

𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

The council website provides information about the region and the main people on the current council, as well as offering contact links and visitor pass applications. It also contains a warning about the structures left around the Badlands region, indicating that they have been declared unsafe and to avoid entering any. It also includes links to the school and hospital websites, as well as a photo gallery displaying certain town events such as Veterans' Day, Fourth of July celebrations, and the annual Community Spring Festival.

The hospital website indicates that though the town is private, the hospital provides state-of-the-art healthcare services to anybody holding a USA social security number, and is funded primarily by Mann Co's ongoing compensation. The website boasts of the services available at the hospital, and the news page announces any exceptionally noteworthy achievements the hospital lays claim to. The hospital also has a small medical research wing, though the field of speciality is not indicated.

The school's website covers both Teufort Primary and Secondary Schools, highlighting the educational facilities and celebrating achievements of students and alumni. It promotes Teufort's educational facilities as being above-average for the state of New Mexico, proudly boasting test scores in the top 10% and celebrating the educators who make this ranking possible.

[theglitchinmannco]

𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘

𝑶𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒂 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒏

Summary compiled by [ 𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳 ]

Born in 1965, Olivia Mann was raised by her first father, Gray Mann, until his death in 1972. Aged just seven years old, she was taken in by rival CEO Saxton Hale, who continued to raise her for the next two years before he disappeared, presumed to be dead. Jim Reddy stepped up to the task of looking after Olivia after this, and unlike his two predecessors, he survived the task.

Olivia described her childhood as "a vague haze of business demands and insurmountable expectations", up until the time when Reddy took over as her guardian. According to Mann, Reddy insisted she experience life as a normal child, and not only enrolled her in public schooling but also in a variety of extra-curricular activities, which he made time to attend with her around his role as the caretaker CEO of Mann Co. Mann often describes this part of her adolescence as a happy one, where she was never left in doubt of her worth as a person nor questioning whether she was loved or cared for.

With an impressive academic and athletic record throughout her high school career, Mann earned herself a scholarship to Harvard Business School. Despite the offer, she dropped out of formal schooling after graduation and went on to travel the world, exploring some of the poorest regions and undergoing what she describes as "a transformative experience", bearing witness to the struggling existence of those who lived in the harshest regions.

Vowing to do something about the conditions she witnessed and experienced, Mann returned to the United States in 1987 and took up her role as Mann Co CEO, allowing caretaker Jim Reddy to step back into a guiding role. Emboldened by bright ideas and optimistic beliefs, Mann established a clean water infrastructure project that Mann Co began to deliver on in 1989, building bore water wells and filtration plants in impoverished regions, and employing as many locals into traineeships as possible.

At the same time, Mann restructured the internal heirarchy of Mann Co, enabling more efficiency that quickly accelerated project proposal and delivery within the existing sectors of the company. Over her first decade as Mann Co's CEO, Olivia Mann delivered more critical infrastructure development into remote and "difficult" regions of Africa and Asia that improved living conditions for the people living there - and most notably, achieved all of this without tying the Mann Co name to anything.

Into the mid-1990s, Olivia completed two engineering degrees and put them to immediate work, appealing to other wealthy elites to adopt the mantra of "Always Forward", and supporting humanitarian development projects in Africa. Her most-cited talking point remains that "if we raise the tide, all boats will rise", believing that humanity can achieve incredible things only when its weakest, most vulnerable person is enabled to achieve incredible things. A number of fellow multi-billionaires have joined her in this approach, though it has come under fire in the past two decades and labelled as "narcissistic altruism". Mann often fires back pointing out that yes, her own wealth grows with each success - which means she has the money to keep doing greater things.

Outside of her humanitarian work, Olivia Mann has married twice, however both husbands passed in different circumstances. After facing investigation for her second husband's death, Mann joked that she'd rather not risk more of the male population, and has since claimed to be romantically unavailable. Allegations around both husbands are still the topic of common gossip, however both deaths were ruled as everyday accidents, and with Mann nowhere near the event in both cases, she was never found guilty nor convicted of anything.

Despite the reputation of Mann Co and it's connections to weapons sales, Olivia Mann is recognised as one of the world leaders in support and aid projects the world over. Though her initial work began with wells in Africa, she has funded critical infrastructure from roads and power supply to hospitals, schools, and supporting community-oriented government systems in disadvantaged regions where larger government has fallen. She is seen publicly as a shining example of a "good" billionaire. She is witty, friendly, and quick to laugh or joke, but when confronted by her own behaviour she is also quick to rectify issues and accept accountability. Overall, she is very well-liked the world over.

During the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, Olivia Mann became the richest woman in America - counterintuitively, as she poured not only a large amount of her personal wealth, but also a lot of Mann Co's wealth into supporting her employees and helping them retain their jobs. She remains the richest woman in America to date, and is currently the fourth-richest person in America, regularly appearing in magazine spreads and using her position to promote humanitarian values and encourage supporting development projects in struggling regions. While many others in similar positions often come under fire for their views, Mann evades much of the flak as she notably avoids overspending on luxury items.

[theglitchinmannco]

𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘

𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑳𝒕𝒅

Summary compiled by [ 𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳 ]

Darling Ltd began in 1959 as Darling Zoos, established by infamous game hunter and conservationist Charles Darling. Darling Zoos became such a popular global brand that the company branched out into tourism and hospitality, partnering for a time with the BONK! brand to begin a chain of high-end nightlife and buying out entire city districts, repurposing them into regions dedicated to entertainment.

With this exploration, Darling Zoos was rebranded to Darling Ltd, purchasing a number of media companies across various formats and genres, quickly becoming a controlling influence within the media landscape.

Upon Charles Darling's death, his daughter Margaret took over the company name. While the company had been proclaiming conservation for the reasoning of their zoos, under Margaret the company began to actually engage in conservation projects, rehabilitating critically endangered ecosystems so that the animals there could continue to thrive. She also introduced "warrior tours" tours to the growing roster of adventures the company offered, wherein travellers paid to fight dangerous wildlife in their native habitats. This was shut down after several hundred deaths occurred, and was never explored again.

Despite the entire Warrior Tours debacle, Margaret brought the company into far better reputation, and by the 1990s the Darling brand was known as the premier brand in travel and conservation. In 1990 Margaret married her sixth husband, an Australian by the name of Steve Irwin, and she retired to Australia to wrestle crocodiles with him, leaving the company in the hands of half-brother Jean-Luc Darling.

Smith took the company in the direction of manufacturing, seemingly in direct competition with long-time rival Mann Co though their manufacturing interests remained distinct. Around the same time Olivia Mann took over Mann Co, Jean-Luc began to shut down some of the conservation projects the company was responsible for, bringing Darling Ltd under scrutiny. This is presumed to have scared Jean-Luc, as he made no further major moves with the company and to this day it continues to operate in the travel, entertainment, and manufacturing sectors. In late 2010 they began a deep-sea exploration project tied to their conservation efforts, but as yet nothing appears to have come from this beyond nature observations.

This lore post is information for the Team Fortress 2 Faultverse and is not to be associated with canon or other fan-made alternate universes.

[theglitchinmannco]

𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘

𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒏 𝑪𝒐

Summary compiled by [ 𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳 ]

MANN CO began as a weapons manufacturing business owned by the Mann family. Upon the death of ZEPHENIAH MANN, the company passed to his trusted friend Barnabus Hale, an Australian of high repute in the art of hunting.

Mann Co didn't undergo any major changes under Barnabus or his son Bilious Hale; it was only after Bilious's son SAXTON HALE took it over that the company began to see some major changes in operation, and with these changes the company gained an ill reputation.

Anti-war sentiment and the Flower Power movement of the 1960s noticed Mann Co through Hale's exploits as a big-game fighter. Picketers began to camp out in front of the company's headquarters, getting into regular fights with Hale who would often face criminal charges as a result. The company didn't suffer from buyers, but it did come under public scrutiny - however, as a private company it had no board of shareholders to answer to and as a result Hale's actions, though damaging in mainstream society's perception, did not affect the company's overall running.

During this time, Mann Co branched out into manufacturing fashion accessories and clothing, entertainment media, and other assortments of weaponry outside of the standard firearms. Their exploration into other areas of manufacturing helped to improve the company's image to the average layperson, however it still faced scrutiny from the Anti-War movement.

Around 1971, GRAY MANN of Gray Gravel allegedly began attacking Mann Co properties and assets in an attempt to weaken the company so that he could reclaim it. He claimed the company belonged to him, as the sole surviving son of Zepheniah Mann, and demanded ownership be transferred. Census records however indicated that no third son had ever been recorded, and the age range failed to match up, casting doubt on Mann's claims.

Gray Gravel allegedly produced robots to fight against mercenaries that answered Hale's call for defense, and this fight quickly reached a stalemate with neither side truly gaining the upper hand. Much of Mann Co's property was damaged but the company snapped up numerous small-time repair and building companies that were able to repair and recover lost or damaged spaces, sometimes as quickly as overnight.

In 1972, the Mann vs Machine wars came to a screaming end when Gray Mann allegedly fell from his office window, and failed to survive meeting the ground below. Taking pity on Mann's daughter, Hale adopted OLIVIA MANN and absorbed Gray Gravel and all its subsidiaries and shell companies.

In 1974, Mann Co absorbed mercenary company TF INDUSTRIES after its collapse, and as a result of buying out the company was forced to finish paying out the company's reparations to the town of Teufort in New Mexico. Hale and one of his personal assistants, James Bidwell, travelled to the town but their plane disappeared shortly before their anticipated arrival. The wreckage was found later in the Badlands near Teufort, but no bodies were identified amongst the wreckage.

Though Mann Co now passed to Olivia Mann, she was nine years old and thus too young for the position of CEO. Jim Reddy, another of Hale's personal assistants, took on the role instead and the company continued to operate, but did not expand. Reddy ran the company for the next 13 years, stepping down only when Olivia Mann was confident enough to take the lead.

𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒏 𝑪𝒐'𝒔 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝑬𝒓𝒂

After Olivia Mann took over, Mann Co scrapped it's famous flat heirarchy, introducing the concept of supervisors to various sectors without incorporating managers. While most of the flat structure remained intact, staff were organised into "teams" that answered to one of a handful of people who reported directly to the CEO. Peer review and project selection remained the choice of the employee, though a supervisor could veto a project if they felt it did not add sufficient value to the company.

In later decades as the advent of call centres became a commonality, a new rung was added to the admittedly small ladder of Mann Co - the Communications department. This department encompassed the inbound call centre (including Customer Care and Complaints), the outbound call centre (Sales), and the Mailroom. New employees began in this department, and opportunities to move up to the "Assistant" level were rare, and highly sought-after.

The company began to expand again - this time into mining exploration. A segment of the weapons division was repurposed into excavative pyrotechnics, and though the weapons manufacturing side of the company never fully closed down, it entered something of a lull period.

Throughout the 1990s, Mann Co absorbed a large number of manufacturing companies and suppliers, as well as branching into mining itself. Their mining branch gained a fierce reputation for being thorough in investigation but highly selective in which sites they would support further projects.

In the early 2000s, Mann Co acquired a partnership with Conagher Computing, one of the tech companies to aries out of the technology revolution. This partnership would survive Conagher's collapes in 2008 and the tech giant was absorbed by Mann Co, helping them branch into another industry where they quickly gained a strong foothold.

In the meantime, mining projects had popped up around the globe, mostly small-scale events that remained mostly under the radar and thus escaped the scrutiny other larger projects typically received. With the increase in interest around renewable energy sources in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Mann Co saw another opportunity, expanding into the renewables sector and facilitating many of the large wind and solar farms that can be found in the Sahara and through the North Sea and English Channel.

By 2020, Mann Co had portfolios across a broad range of industries, and in manufacturing has earned a strong reputation for robust, versatile equipment often available at fair prices. It is currently the wealthiest company in the United States, and the second-wealthiest in the world next to Murdoch Media and Darling Ltd. In 2024, almost every household has Mann Co products in it, and depending on location, many are powered by energy resources that would not have been possible if not for Mann Co.

This lore post is information for the Team Fortress 2 Faultverse and is not to be associated with canon or other fan-made alternate universes.

[theglitchinmannco]

CONFIDENTIAL FILE #009

May 3rd, 2024

Add a pin board and a ball of red string to the shopping list, because this... this is starting to look like some crazy conspiracy thing.

I'm going to try to piece everything together into new #L0R3 notes, tracking the history of Mann Co, Olivia Mann, and anything else that's related - including anything I can dig up about TF Industries.

This whole situation's got me paranoid though, so I'm gonna do a bio-proxy on the data that's not already public knowledge. You never know what lengths these people will go to just for secrets, and this isn't my first time playing with fire. A bio-proxy should make it so that the data stays secure and classified, and I should be able to use that to barter for my life. Gotta fight crazy with crazy sometimes.

If the link below becomes active, the torch is now yours.

» LINK_ERROR: PROXY_NOT_FOUND

[zultaculu]

[black-axis]

Oh i am reminded of Lore. My lowbloods and my highbloods are both very warm with clowns being the warmest (almost Hot to the touch). It's coz lowbloods use psionics to regulate their temperature (so ones with weaker psionics have a much harder time staying warm) but highbloods psionics r internal and they have a high metabolism. This thing where lowbloods r kinda like prey animals and highbloods r like predators with midbloods being more akin to omnivores. As a result, midbloods are usually lukewarm because they cannot regulate their temperature well at all and olives tend to seek out heat spots like cats