{"data":{"id":16754,"title":"Portfolio: Gyson Inc.","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/spectrum-dispatch\/16754-Portfolio-Gyson-Inc","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/16754","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/16754","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"Portfolio","images":[{"id":4096,"name":"Ferronlll_Asura_Tram_GalacticGuide.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/1u4k61yusz1lpr\/source\/Ferronlll_Asura_Tram_GalacticGuide.jpg","alt":"","size":4194589,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2015-09-16T19:33:25+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/4096","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/4096\/similar"},{"id":26463,"name":"source.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/media.robertsspaceindustries.com\/weozjmuuh3hwh\/source.jpg","alt":"","size":843046,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2019-09-19T15:49:32+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463\/similar"}],"images_count":7,"translations":{"en_EN":"Writer\u2019s Note: Portfolio: Gyson Inc. was published originally as a Subscriber Exclusive on September 12, 2018.\nConsumers across the universe may not know Gyson Inc. by name, but they\u2019re likely familiar with their products. The company and its subsidiaries produce everything from carpets to cleaning solvents to industrial uniforms and even EVA suits. The wide scope of their products is impossible to categorize outside of one defining characteristic: they\u2019re extremely cheap.\n\nGyson claims to make simple, streamlined products that everyone can afford. Critics, however, aren\u2019t so diplomatic. They argue that the company sacrifices product quality to keep production costs low, and intentionally targets price-sensitive consumers. Tests by Whitley\u2019s Guide have shown that Gyson products need to be replaced more frequently than their competitors, and that the cost of replacing them is often more expensive than mid-tier alternatives in the long run. Still, many consumers consider the products good enough to get the job done with a price point that\u2019s hard to resist.\n\nDespite their spotty reputation, Gyson has become a manufacturing powerhouse. All thanks to the vision and ambition of company founder and CEO Akiko Forsyth, whose unique life experience set the stage for one of the more controversial companies created over the last century.\n\nA New Destiny\nAkiko Forsyth freely admits that founding Gyson wasn\u2019t what she expected to do with her life. Born in Boro in 2849, Forsyth was raised in the lap of luxury. Her family was a pillar of Caliban\u2019s manufacturing sector ever since Humanity colonized the system five centuries earlier. Wealthy, well-educated and worry-free, Forsyth became a fixture at socialite soirees and established a reputation for successfully organizing grand events and drinking almost anyone under the table. In 2884, she was doing both in Fujin City when word arrived that a massive Vanduul fleet had attacked Caliban. Updates slowly trickled in over the following days, each one worse than the next. According to close friends, as the news grew more dire, Forsyth, frustrated and grieving, did what she did in most situations and began drinking. In the morning, she awoke to learn that Caliban had fallen. Her family and home system had been lost.\n\nThe news devastated her. Without a home or familial support structure, Forsyth fell into a deep depression and spiraled out of control, partying and burning through her inheritance. Eventually, friends staged an intervention to address her fatalistic behavior. Forsyth was hurt by their seemed betrayal and decided to leave them and the city behind.\n\nOriginally, she planned on continuing her lifestyle aboard her family\u2019s luxury ship, but she no longer could afford a crew or docking fees. This forced Forsyth to trade it in for a less opulent one. However, without the status that her ship and fortune brought her, she found herself turned away from the high-end scene that once welcomed her. On her own, without anywhere to go and much to lose, she decided to visit Archibald on Yar, a place she had always been curious about, but had never dared to go. Forsyth loved it. The first visit would be one of many stops she would take while exploring the \u2018verse.\n\nForsyth refuses to elaborate too much on this time in her life, but credits two experiences with setting the stage for her second act. The first occurred when she slipped the line and returned to Caliban.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll never forget finally going home,\u201d she later admitted. \u201cNothing was there except ruins. In that moment, among the shattered remains of everything I had grown up around, I finally came to terms with the fact that I didn\u2019t have a legacy to stand on anymore. My destiny was all my own.\u201d\n\nThe second life-altering experience came shortly thereafter. Walking through the bazaar in Olympus, she wondered why so many of the locals wore helmets with chipped visors and deep cracks. She discovered that most of the helmets, which were necessary outside of Olympus\u2019 sealed sectors and across the harsh environment of Ashana, were prohibitively expensive for many residents. This demand created a massive market for second-hand protective clothing yet, being an unclaimed system, a lack of regulation meant that their integrity was not verified. Forsyth found that many Olympus residents feared that a second-hand helmet would malfunction and lead to brain trauma or even death. Out of this terrible circumstance, Forsyth saw an opportunity, which was convenient since her credits were running dangerously low. All her traveling combined with a lack of income had left her perilously close to financial ruin. Motivated to reverse her fortunes, Forsyth remembered a stylish custom helmet that she and her friends had worn to an EVA party. It had been made by a private fashion designer from a thick transparent material that allowed her to survive in space yet show off her hair and makeup. While the version she wore was quite expensive, she knew that the tech behind it wasn\u2019t. She worked with a local crafter to manufacture an inexpensive version that even Olympus residents could afford. The result was the \u2018Ready-Up\u2019, the now infamous softshell helmet made primarily of industrial-strength plastic. The helmet barely met UEE standards and received the lowest rating possible from Whitley\u2019s Guide, but sales were strong. Forsyth had correctly calculated that many people would purchase a cheaply made, but certified safe, helmet.\n\nSpurred on by this success, Forsyth went back to the other sectors she had visited that could benefit from aggressively cheap alternatives. No one could have predicted just how far and fast Gyson Inc. would grow.\n\nSakura Slums\nFinally in control of her life and fate, Forsyth parlayed the profits from the Ready-Up into the Gyson Inc. empire that exists today. She discovered that the skills she learned as a socialite could also command a boardroom, and found she was driven and focused like never before. Close friends claim that her relentless determination to grow a company across multiple sectors was driven by a need to ensure that her new legacy couldn\u2019t be eliminated by one cataclysmic event ever again.\n\nGyson\u2019s initial product expansion came from an in-house engineering department instructed by Forsyth to \u201creimagine essential products as affordable as possible\u201d. Space, home, and industrial divisions were created to focus on specific products for those sectors. Meanwhile, Forsyth established their corporate headquarters and main manufacturing hub in Tram due to Asura\u2019s low corporate tax rate, cheap real estate, and skilled blue-collar workforce desperate for jobs. Not only was her workforce there, so was her main market. Products that proved popular with her employees would often become successful across the Empire with people of \u2018fiscally limited means\u2019. Within a decade, Gyson Inc. manufactured everything from zero-g cutlery to imitation chicken foodstuffs.\n\nWith this meteoric growth also came complications and controversy. The company either ignored or responded litigiously to complaints about product quality. This came to a head in 2907 when Gyson found themselves in hot water over a class action lawsuit regarding coveralls. Though rated safe for salvage operations, plaintiffs claimed the outfit quickly degraded once exposed to common chemicals or astringent cleaners. The company appeared ready to argue the definition of \u2018normal wear and tear\u2019 until spectrum stories showed severe chemical burns and other injuries sustained by plaintiffs. The public outcry hurt the company enough to get them to settle the claims quickly, but without admitting fault. Then, instead of changing the coveralls, they added small print legalese to the package claiming the suit was single use only, thus indemnifying themselves of any issues from repeated use. Throughout Gyson\u2019s legal struggles, Forsyth stood by her products.\n\n\u201cThey may not last forever, but at least people can afford them.\u201d\n\nA second major scandal struck in 2914 when a hack revealed that a prominent Gyson executive called the company \u2018Sakura Slums\u2019, and meant it not as an insult but a goal. Much like how Sakura Sun had vertically integrated themselves into middle class lives, this executive wanted Gyson Inc. to be the brand that became integrated into every part of low-income individuals\u2019 lives. The ensuing scandal forced Forsyth to publicly reject the term and fire the executive. It wasn\u2019t enough; sales plummeted, and the company was on the verge of ruin. In the end, it would be Forsyth\u2019s social prowess that would bring them back from the brink.\n\nHaving run with the popular and elite for most of her young life, Forsyth knew how fickle brand loyalty could be. While \u2018Gyson\u2019 had sentimental value for Forsyth, who named the company after her family\u2019s former estate outside Boro, she also knew that consumers really didn\u2019t care about the name. It was cost that they cared about. So, if people wouldn\u2019t buy Gyson, then she would just give them brands they would buy.\n\nShe used most of Gyson\u2019s remaining capital to acquire several bargain brands for their name recognition, kept the packaging, but replaced the products with Gyson-made versions. Doing business through these subsidiaries proved to be highly profitable and provided the company a way to distribute low-quality products without further destroying their own brand. By 2932, over half of the products manufactured by Gyson didn\u2019t carry their name.\n\nToday, Gyson Inc. remains one of the UEE\u2019s most prominent manufacturers of \u2018ultra-affordable\u2019 goods. Through smart and steady stewardship, Forsyth achieved her goal of ingraining her company\u2019s products into the lives of many across the UEE and cemented a new legacy for her family.","de_DE":"Verbraucher im gesamten Universum kennen Gyson Inc. vielleicht nicht mit Namen, aber sie sind wahrscheinlich mit ihren Produkten vertraut. Das Unternehmen und seine Tochtergesellschaften produzieren alles, von Teppichen \u00fcber Reinigungsl\u00f6semittel bis hin zu Industrieuniformen und sogar EVA-Anz\u00fcgen. Die breite Palette ihrer Produkte ist unm\u00f6glich zu kategorisieren, ausserhalb eines definierenden Merkmals: Sie sind extrem g\u00fcnstig.\n\nGyson behauptet, einfache, optimierte Produkte herzustellen, die sich jeder leisten kann. Kritiker sind jedoch nicht so diplomatisch. Sie argumentieren, dass das Unternehmen die Produktqualit\u00e4t opfert, um die Produktionskosten niedrig zu halten, und bewusst preissensible Verbraucher anspricht. Tests von Whitley's Guide haben gezeigt, dass Gyson-Produkte h\u00e4ufiger ersetzt werden m\u00fcssen als ihre Konkurrenten und dass die Kosten f\u00fcr den Austausch oft teurer sind als bei mittelgro\u00dfen Alternativen auf lange Sicht. Dennoch halten viele Verbraucher die Produkte f\u00fcr gut genug, um die Arbeit mit einem Preispunkt zu erledigen, dem man kaum widerstehen kann.\n\nTrotz ihres makellosen Rufs ist Gyson zu einem Produktions-Kraftwerk geworden. Dies alles dank der Vision und dem Ehrgeiz der Unternehmensgr\u00fcnderin und CEO Akiko Forsyth, deren einzigartige Lebenserfahrung die Voraussetzungen f\u00fcr eines der umstrittensten Unternehmen des letzten Jahrhunderts geschaffen hat.\n\nEin neues Schicksal\nAkiko Forsyth gibt freiwillig zu, dass die Gr\u00fcndung von Gyson nicht das war, was sie mit ihrem Leben erwartet hatte. Forsyth wurde 2849 in Boro geboren und wuchs im Scho\u00df des Luxus auf. Ihre Familie war eine S\u00e4ule von Calibans Produktionssektor, seit die Menschheit das System f\u00fcnf Jahrhunderte zuvor kolonisiert hatte. Forsyth ist wohlhabend, gut ausgebildet und sorgenfrei, wurde zu einem festen Bestandteil der Socialite-Soirees und hat sich den Ruf erworben, erfolgreich gro\u00dfe Veranstaltungen zu organisieren und fast jeden unter dem Tisch zu trinken. Im Jahr 2884 machte sie beides in Fujin City, als die Nachricht kam, dass eine riesige Vanduul-Flotte Caliban angegriffen hatte. In den folgenden Tagen kamen langsam Updates hinzu, die jeweils schlimmer als die anderen waren. Laut engen Freunden, als die Nachrichten immer d\u00fcsterer wurden, tat Forsyth, frustriert und traurig, was sie in den meisten Situationen tat und begann zu trinken. Am Morgen erwachte sie und erfuhr, dass Caliban gefallen war. Ihr Familien- und Heimsystem war verloren gegangen.\n\nDie Nachrichten haben sie am Boden zerst\u00f6rt. Ohne eine h\u00e4usliche oder famili\u00e4re Unterst\u00fctzungsstruktur fiel Forsyth in eine tiefe Depression und geriet au\u00dfer Kontrolle, feierte und verbrannte durch ihr Erbe. Schlie\u00dflich inszenierten Freunde eine Intervention, um ihr fatalistisches Verhalten anzusprechen. Forsyth wurde durch ihren scheinbaren Verrat verletzt und beschloss, sie und die Stadt zur\u00fcckzulassen.\n\nUrspr\u00fcnglich wollte sie ihren Lebensstil auf dem Luxusschiff ihrer Familie fortsetzen, aber sie konnte sich keine Crew oder Dockgeb\u00fchren mehr leisten. Dies zwang Forsyth, es gegen ein weniger opulentes zu tauschen. Doch ohne den Status, den ihr Schiff und ihr Verm\u00f6gen brachten, wandte sie sich von der High-End-Szene ab, die sie einst willkommen hie\u00df. Allein, ohne irgendwo hinzugehen und viel zu verlieren, beschloss sie, Archibald auf Yar zu besuchen, einen Ort, an dem sie schon immer neugierig gewesen war, den sie aber nie gewagt hatte zu gehen. Forsyth liebte es. Der erste Besuch w\u00e4re eine von vielen Stationen, die sie machen w\u00fcrde, w\u00e4hrend sie den Vers erkundet.\n\nForsyth weigert sich, zu viel \u00fcber diese Zeit in ihrem Leben zu erz\u00e4hlen, schreibt aber zwei Erfahrungen mit der Vorbereitung ihres zweiten Aktes gut. Das erste geschah, als sie die Linie verlie\u00df und nach Caliban zur\u00fcckkehrte.\n\n\"Ich werde nie vergessen, endlich nach Hause zu gehen\", gab sie sp\u00e4ter zu. \"Nichts war da au\u00dfer Ruinen. In diesem Moment, unter den zerbrochenen \u00dcberresten von allem, was ich aufgewachsen war, kam ich schlie\u00dflich damit zurecht, dass ich kein Verm\u00e4chtnis mehr hatte, auf dem ich stehen konnte. Mein Schicksal war ganz allein meins.\"\n\nDie zweite lebensver\u00e4ndernde Erfahrung kam kurz darauf. Als sie durch den Basar in Olympus ging, fragte sie sich, warum so viele der Einheimischen Helme mit abgeplatzten Visieren und tiefen Rissen trugen. Sie entdeckte, dass die meisten der Helme, die au\u00dferhalb der versiegelten Sektoren von Olympus und in der rauen Umgebung von Ashana notwendig waren, f\u00fcr viele Bewohner unerschwinglich waren. Diese Nachfrage schuf einen massiven Markt f\u00fcr gebrauchte Schutzkleidung, doch da es sich um ein nicht beanspruchtes System handelte, bedeutete das Fehlen einer Regulierung, dass ihre Integrit\u00e4t nicht \u00fcberpr\u00fcft wurde. Forsyth fand heraus, dass viele Olympus-Bewohner bef\u00fcrchteten, dass ein gebrauchter Helm versagen und zu Hirntraumata oder sogar zum Tod f\u00fchren w\u00fcrde. Aus diesem schrecklichen Umstand heraus sah Forsyth eine Gelegenheit, die g\u00fcnstig war, da ihre Credits gef\u00e4hrlich niedrig waren. All ihre Reisen, verbunden mit einem Mangel an Einkommen, hatten sie gef\u00e4hrlich kurz vor dem finanziellen Ruin gebracht. Motiviert, ihr Schicksal umzukehren, erinnerte sich Forsyth an einen stylischen Custom-Helm, den sie und ihre Freunde zu einer EVA-Party getragen hatten. Es wurde von einer privaten Modedesignerin aus einem dicken, transparenten Material hergestellt, das es ihr erm\u00f6glichte, im Weltraum zu \u00fcberleben und gleichzeitig ihr Haar und ihr Make-up zu zeigen. W\u00e4hrend die Version, die sie trug, ziemlich teuer war, wusste sie, dass die Technik, die dahinter steckt, es nicht war. Sie arbeitete mit einem lokalen Handwerker zusammen, um eine preiswerte Version herzustellen, die sich sogar Olympus-Bewohner leisten konnten. Das Ergebnis war der \"Ready-Up\", der inzwischen ber\u00fcchtigte Softshell-Helm, der haupts\u00e4chlich aus industrietauglichem Kunststoff besteht. Der Helm entsprach kaum den UEE-Standards und erhielt von Whitley's Guide die niedrigste Bewertung, aber die Verk\u00e4ufe waren stark. Forsyth hatte richtig berechnet, dass viele Menschen einen billig hergestellten, aber zertifizierten sicheren Helm kaufen w\u00fcrden.\n\nAngespornt von diesem Erfolg ging Forsyth zur\u00fcck zu den anderen Sektoren, die sie besucht hatte und die von aggressiv billigen Alternativen profitieren konnten. Niemand konnte vorhersagen, wie weit und wie schnell Gyson Inc. wachsen w\u00fcrde.\n\nSakura Slums\nSchlie\u00dflich in der Kontrolle \u00fcber ihr Leben und Schicksal, teilte Forsyth die Gewinne aus dem Ready-Up in das heute existierende Gyson Inc. Imperium auf. Sie entdeckte, dass die F\u00e4higkeiten, die sie als Sozialarbeiterin erlernte, auch einen Sitzungssaal beherrschen konnten, und fand heraus, dass sie angetrieben und konzentriert war wie nie zuvor. Enge Freunde behaupten, dass ihre unerbittliche Entschlossenheit, ein Unternehmen \u00fcber mehrere Sektoren hinweg zu wachsen, von der Notwendigkeit getragen wurde, sicherzustellen, dass ihr neues Erbe nicht jemals wieder durch ein katastrophales Ereignis beseitigt werden konnte.\n\nDie erste Produkterweiterung von Gyson erfolgte durch eine eigene Entwicklungsabteilung, die von Forsyth beauftragt wurde, \"wesentliche Produkte so erschwinglich wie m\u00f6glich zu gestalten\". Die Bereiche Raumfahrt, Wohnen und Industrie wurden geschaffen, um sich auf spezifische Produkte f\u00fcr diese Bereiche zu konzentrieren. In der Zwischenzeit gr\u00fcndete Forsyth seinen Firmensitz und seine Hauptfertigungsst\u00e4tte in Tram, da Asura einen niedrigen K\u00f6rperschaftssteuersatz, billige Immobilien und qualifizierte Arbeitskr\u00e4fte, die verzweifelt nach Arbeitspl\u00e4tzen suchen. Nicht nur ihre Mitarbeiter waren dort, auch ihr Hauptmarkt war vertreten. Produkte, die bei ihren Mitarbeitern beliebt waren, wurden oft im ganzen Reich mit Menschen mit \"steuerlich begrenzten Mitteln\" erfolgreich. Innerhalb eines Jahrzehnts stellte Gyson Inc. alles her, von Null-Gramm-Besteck bis hin zu nachgebildeten H\u00fchnerlebensmitteln.\n\nMit diesem rasanten Wachstum kamen auch Komplikationen und Kontroversen hinzu. Das Unternehmen hat Beschwerden \u00fcber die Produktqualit\u00e4t entweder ignoriert oder prozessual beantwortet. Dies kam 2907 zu einem H\u00f6hepunkt, als Gyson sich in hei\u00dfem Wasser \u00fcber eine Sammelklage bez\u00fcglich Overalls befand. Obwohl sie f\u00fcr Bergungsarbeiten als sicher eingestuft wurden, behaupteten die Kl\u00e4ger, dass die Ausr\u00fcstung schnell besch\u00e4digt wurde, wenn sie gew\u00f6hnlichen Chemikalien oder adstringierenden Reinigungsmitteln ausgesetzt war. Das Unternehmen schien bereit zu sein, die Definition von \"normalem Verschlei\u00df\" zu widerlegen, bis Spektrumsgeschichten schwere Ver\u00e4tzungen und andere Verletzungen zeigten, die von den Kl\u00e4gern erlitten wurden. Der \u00f6ffentliche Aufschrei schadete dem Unternehmen genug, um sie dazu zu bringen, die Anspr\u00fcche schnell zu begleichen, aber ohne einen Fehler zuzugeben. Dann, anstatt die Overalls zu wechseln, f\u00fcgten sie dem Paket Kleingedrucktes Juristendeutsch hinzu, das behauptete, dass der Anzug nur f\u00fcr den einmaligen Gebrauch bestimmt sei, und entsch\u00e4digten sich so f\u00fcr alle Probleme, die durch den wiederholten Gebrauch entstehen k\u00f6nnten. W\u00e4hrend Gysons Rechtsstreitigkeiten stand Forsyth zu ihren Produkten.\n\n\"Sie m\u00f6gen nicht ewig halten, aber zumindest k\u00f6nnen sich die Leute sie leisten.\"\n\nEin zweiter gro\u00dfer Skandal ereignete sich 2914, als ein Hack enth\u00fcllte, dass ein prominenter Gyson-Manager das Unternehmen als \"Sakura Slums\" bezeichnete und es nicht als Beleidigung, sondern als Ziel meinte. \u00c4hnlich wie Sakura Sun sich vertikal in das Leben der Mittelklasse integriert hatte, wollte diese F\u00fchrungskraft, dass Gyson Inc. die Marke ist, die in jeden Teil des Lebens von Menschen mit niedrigem Einkommen integriert wurde. Der darauf folgende Skandal zwang Forsyth, den Begriff \u00f6ffentlich abzulehnen und die F\u00fchrungskraft zu entlassen. Es reichte nicht aus; die Ums\u00e4tze brachen ein, und das Unternehmen stand kurz vor dem Ruin. Am Ende w\u00e4re es Forsyths soziale Kompetenz, die sie vom Abgrund zur\u00fcckbringen w\u00fcrde.\n\nForsyth, die die meiste Zeit ihres jungen Lebens mit der Popularit\u00e4t und Elite zusammen war, wusste, wie launisch Markenloyalit\u00e4t sein konnte. Gyson' hatte zwar einen sentimentalen Wert f\u00fcr Forsyth, die das Unternehmen nach dem ehemaligen Anwesen ihrer Familie au\u00dferhalb von Boro benannte, aber sie wusste auch, dass sich die Verbraucher wirklich nicht um den Namen k\u00fcmmerten. Es waren Kosten, um die sie sich k\u00fcmmerten. Also, wenn die Leute Gyson nicht kaufen w\u00fcrden, dann w\u00fcrde sie ihnen einfach Marken geben, die sie kaufen w\u00fcrden.\n\nSie nutzte den gr\u00f6\u00dften Teil von Gysons restlichem Kapital, um mehrere Schn\u00e4ppchenmarken f\u00fcr ihren Bekanntheitsgrad zu erwerben, behielt die Verpackung bei, ersetzte die Produkte aber durch Gyson-gefertigte Versionen. Die Gesch\u00e4fte \u00fcber diese Tochtergesellschaften erwiesen sich als sehr profitabel und boten dem Unternehmen die M\u00f6glichkeit, minderwertige Produkte zu vertreiben, ohne die eigene Marke weiter zu zerst\u00f6ren. Bis 2932 trugen \u00fcber die H\u00e4lfte der von Gyson hergestellten Produkte nicht mehr ihren Namen.\n\nHeute ist Gyson Inc. nach wie vor einer der bekanntesten Hersteller von \"ultra-affordable\" Waren in der UEE. Durch intelligente und stetige F\u00fchrung erreichte Forsyth ihr Ziel, die Produkte ihres Unternehmens in das Leben vieler Menschen in der gesamten UEE zu integrieren und ein neues Verm\u00e4chtnis f\u00fcr ihre Familie zu festigen.","zh_CN":"Writer\u2019s Note: Portfolio: Gyson Inc. was published originally as a Subscriber Exclusive on September 12, 2018.\nConsumers across the universe may not know Gyson Inc. by name, but they\u2019re likely familiar with their products. The company and its subsidiaries produce everything from carpets to cleaning solvents to industrial uniforms and even EVA suits. The wide scope of their products is impossible to categorize outside of one defining characteristic: they\u2019re extremely cheap.\n\nGyson claims to make simple, streamlined products that everyone can afford. Critics, however, aren\u2019t so diplomatic. They argue that the company sacrifices product quality to keep production costs low, and intentionally targets price-sensitive consumers. Tests by Whitley\u2019s Guide have shown that Gyson products need to be replaced more frequently than their competitors, and that the cost of replacing them is often more expensive than mid-tier alternatives in the long run. Still, many consumers consider the products good enough to get the job done with a price point that\u2019s hard to resist.\n\nDespite their spotty reputation, Gyson has become a manufacturing powerhouse. All thanks to the vision and ambition of company founder and CEO Akiko Forsyth, whose unique life experience set the stage for one of the more controversial companies created over the last century.\n\nA New Destiny\nAkiko Forsyth freely admits that founding Gyson wasn\u2019t what she expected to do with her life. Born in Boro in 2849, Forsyth was raised in the lap of luxury. Her family was a pillar of Caliban\u2019s manufacturing sector ever since Humanity colonized the system five centuries earlier. Wealthy, well-educated and worry-free, Forsyth became a fixture at socialite soirees and established a reputation for successfully organizing grand events and drinking almost anyone under the table. In 2884, she was doing both in Fujin City when word arrived that a massive Vanduul fleet had attacked Caliban. Updates slowly trickled in over the following days, each one worse than the next. According to close friends, as the news grew more dire, Forsyth, frustrated and grieving, did what she did in most situations and began drinking. In the morning, she awoke to learn that Caliban had fallen. Her family and home system had been lost.\n\nThe news devastated her. Without a home or familial support structure, Forsyth fell into a deep depression and spiraled out of control, partying and burning through her inheritance. Eventually, friends staged an intervention to address her fatalistic behavior. Forsyth was hurt by their seemed betrayal and decided to leave them and the city behind.\n\nOriginally, she planned on continuing her lifestyle aboard her family\u2019s luxury ship, but she no longer could afford a crew or docking fees. This forced Forsyth to trade it in for a less opulent one. However, without the status that her ship and fortune brought her, she found herself turned away from the high-end scene that once welcomed her. On her own, without anywhere to go and much to lose, she decided to visit Archibald on Yar, a place she had always been curious about, but had never dared to go. Forsyth loved it. The first visit would be one of many stops she would take while exploring the \u2018verse.\n\nForsyth refuses to elaborate too much on this time in her life, but credits two experiences with setting the stage for her second act. The first occurred when she slipped the line and returned to Caliban.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll never forget finally going home,\u201d she later admitted. \u201cNothing was there except ruins. In that moment, among the shattered remains of everything I had grown up around, I finally came to terms with the fact that I didn\u2019t have a legacy to stand on anymore. My destiny was all my own.\u201d\n\nThe second life-altering experience came shortly thereafter. Walking through the bazaar in Olympus, she wondered why so many of the locals wore helmets with chipped visors and deep cracks. She discovered that most of the helmets, which were necessary outside of Olympus\u2019 sealed sectors and across the harsh environment of Ashana, were prohibitively expensive for many residents. This demand created a massive market for second-hand protective clothing yet, being an unclaimed system, a lack of regulation meant that their integrity was not verified. Forsyth found that many Olympus residents feared that a second-hand helmet would malfunction and lead to brain trauma or even death. Out of this terrible circumstance, Forsyth saw an opportunity, which was convenient since her credits were running dangerously low. All her traveling combined with a lack of income had left her perilously close to financial ruin. Motivated to reverse her fortunes, Forsyth remembered a stylish custom helmet that she and her friends had worn to an EVA party. It had been made by a private fashion designer from a thick transparent material that allowed her to survive in space yet show off her hair and makeup. While the version she wore was quite expensive, she knew that the tech behind it wasn\u2019t. She worked with a local crafter to manufacture an inexpensive version that even Olympus residents could afford. The result was the \u2018Ready-Up\u2019, the now infamous softshell helmet made primarily of industrial-strength plastic. The helmet barely met UEE standards and received the lowest rating possible from Whitley\u2019s Guide, but sales were strong. Forsyth had correctly calculated that many people would purchase a cheaply made, but certified safe, helmet.\n\nSpurred on by this success, Forsyth went back to the other sectors she had visited that could benefit from aggressively cheap alternatives. No one could have predicted just how far and fast Gyson Inc. would grow.\n\nSakura Slums\nFinally in control of her life and fate, Forsyth parlayed the profits from the Ready-Up into the Gyson Inc. empire that exists today. She discovered that the skills she learned as a socialite could also command a boardroom, and found she was driven and focused like never before. Close friends claim that her relentless determination to grow a company across multiple sectors was driven by a need to ensure that her new legacy couldn\u2019t be eliminated by one cataclysmic event ever again.\n\nGyson\u2019s initial product expansion came from an in-house engineering department instructed by Forsyth to \u201creimagine essential products as affordable as possible\u201d. Space, home, and industrial divisions were created to focus on specific products for those sectors. Meanwhile, Forsyth established their corporate headquarters and main manufacturing hub in Tram due to Asura\u2019s low corporate tax rate, cheap real estate, and skilled blue-collar workforce desperate for jobs. Not only was her workforce there, so was her main market. Products that proved popular with her employees would often become successful across the Empire with people of \u2018fiscally limited means\u2019. Within a decade, Gyson Inc. manufactured everything from zero-g cutlery to imitation chicken foodstuffs.\n\nWith this meteoric growth also came complications and controversy. The company either ignored or responded litigiously to complaints about product quality. This came to a head in 2907 when Gyson found themselves in hot water over a class action lawsuit regarding coveralls. Though rated safe for salvage operations, plaintiffs claimed the outfit quickly degraded once exposed to common chemicals or astringent cleaners. The company appeared ready to argue the definition of \u2018normal wear and tear\u2019 until spectrum stories showed severe chemical burns and other injuries sustained by plaintiffs. The public outcry hurt the company enough to get them to settle the claims quickly, but without admitting fault. Then, instead of changing the coveralls, they added small print legalese to the package claiming the suit was single use only, thus indemnifying themselves of any issues from repeated use. Throughout Gyson\u2019s legal struggles, Forsyth stood by her products.\n\n\u201cThey may not last forever, but at least people can afford them.\u201d\n\nA second major scandal struck in 2914 when a hack revealed that a prominent Gyson executive called the company \u2018Sakura Slums\u2019, and meant it not as an insult but a goal. Much like how Sakura Sun had vertically integrated themselves into middle class lives, this executive wanted Gyson Inc. to be the brand that became integrated into every part of low-income individuals\u2019 lives. The ensuing scandal forced Forsyth to publicly reject the term and fire the executive. It wasn\u2019t enough; sales plummeted, and the company was on the verge of ruin. In the end, it would be Forsyth\u2019s social prowess that would bring them back from the brink.\n\nHaving run with the popular and elite for most of her young life, Forsyth knew how fickle brand loyalty could be. While \u2018Gyson\u2019 had sentimental value for Forsyth, who named the company after her family\u2019s former estate outside Boro, she also knew that consumers really didn\u2019t care about the name. It was cost that they cared about. So, if people wouldn\u2019t buy Gyson, then she would just give them brands they would buy.\n\nShe used most of Gyson\u2019s remaining capital to acquire several bargain brands for their name recognition, kept the packaging, but replaced the products with Gyson-made versions. Doing business through these subsidiaries proved to be highly profitable and provided the company a way to distribute low-quality products without further destroying their own brand. By 2932, over half of the products manufactured by Gyson didn\u2019t carry their name.\n\nToday, Gyson Inc. remains one of the UEE\u2019s most prominent manufacturers of \u2018ultra-affordable\u2019 goods. Through smart and steady stewardship, Forsyth achieved her goal of ingraining her company\u2019s products into the lives of many across the UEE and cemented a new legacy for her family."},"links_count":0,"comment_count":42,"created_at":"2020-06-03T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"5 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-08 19:03:14","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":16753,"next_id":16755}}