Portfolio: Chemline Solutions

This portfolio originally appeared in Jump Point 5.12.
To quote famed businessman Engel Nordigan, “a good business is blessed by the public. Profits can be spectacular, but if the public dislikes or even worse, distrusts a company, they will face an uphill battle.” Few corporations understand that mantra more than Chemline Solutions.

Humble Beginnings
Victor and Adorai Zahid didn’t have what many would consider a ‘normal’ childhood. Their parents, both employees at Kel-To ConStores, were part of the internal inspection teams making sure the various branches adhered to the corporate safety mandates, which required the family to be constantly on the move.

In Victor Zahid’s memoir, Titan, he recounted that the family would rarely stay in one place for more than a month, as they rotated through the thousands of Kel-To ConStores located throughout the UEE. For Victor and his twin sister, Adorai, this left little opportunity for any kind of stable home. They spent their entire childhood racing around various transport ships and Housing Exchanges while their parents worked. At night, their parents taught them from a meticulously constructed education curriculum, designed to allow them to test for Equivalency early. Their assignment during the day was simple: learn. They were encouraged to find out about the area they were living in, the people around them, anything. Each night, the children would need to present what they learned that day and then the parents would discuss the information.

“I didn’t get it at the time,” Victor wrote in Titan. “But in retrospect, talking about why this HEX was in a sad economic state or why that hauler we talked to was doing the things he was doing was their way to teach us empathy, to understand that everybody had a story.”

Although both of the twins were equally studious, their interests began to diverge as they got older. Victor developed a taste for commodity trading, often using his allowance to purchase small quantities of goods to trade at other stations. When he wasn’t actively buying or selling, he kept meticulous notes about prices from the TDD and local traders. Meanwhile, his sister Adorai became fascinated with the world of mathematics and engineering and studied all the various stations and ships that they encountered throughout their travels.

Both of the Zahid twins achieved Equivalency at sixteen and received partial scholarships to Terra University. Victor graduated with a dual-degree in economics and business management, which led to an immediate position at Clifton Brothers in Prime. Adorai stayed in school a little longer to earn a degree in geological engineering. During her final year, she was approached by reps from Edo Inc., a small mining and exploration exchange based out of Lo in the Corel system, to work in their planetary development division.

Although they spoke often, the twins did not see each other for almost ten years. Adorai stayed in one spot and progressed through the ranks at Edo. Victor, however, seemingly was unable to shake the transitory lifestyle of their youth. During that time, he left Clifton Brothers and went on to start a number of business ventures of his own, including an event planning company and a brief foray into band management.

In 2889, while Victor and Adorai caught up at their father’s 98th birthday party, Adorai told Victor about the experimental extraction technology she was trying to develop for Edo. Although the research was promising, financial projections as to the cost to implement these upgrades outweighed the potential profit margin, so the board of directors were moving to cancel the project. While she lamented having to abandon the research, Victor could see the potential. If successful, this technology could revitalize old dig sites. About two hours of intense discussion later, he proposed an idea: why not develop the technology on their own?

An Idea Into An Institution
Within the year, Chemline Solutions was born. Although its primary business would be as a provider of industrial chemicals (referred to as ‘the cash flow’ by Victor), Adorai was able to convince Edo’s board to sell her research to the fledgling company. As she got back to work, Victor tapped into the various connections he’d developed over the years to build the company’s initial client list. His goal was to build enough capital not only to support Adorai’s research, but also to have credits on hand by the time she completed it.

Between Adorai’s work behind the scenes and Victor’s business acumen, the company grew at a remarkable rate. Within five years, they operated out of six distribution hubs strategically placed throughout the UEE.

By the end of the 29th century, Adorai had completed her first functioning prototype of her new extraction process. Utilizing low-frequency seismic vibrations, the project (codenamed Resurrection within the company) delivered on its promise of unlocking previously inaccessible gas pockets for collection. With the company already making a steady profit, Victor was convinced that this would take the company to the next level.

Victor began scouring the UEE for potential dig sites. The answer was a small moon in a distant system.

Situated near the remnants of the first planet in the system (destroyed when the star went nova), Odin 1a had been extensively mined by a variety of companies for almost twenty years until it was finally abandoned in 2865. The moon, known as Gainey, turned out to have a significant quantity of gas pockets, and the lack of a local population made it an ideal site for the new tech. The only shortcoming was that twenty years of intensive resource harvesting had left a shocking amount of abandoned buildings, satellites and trash around the tiny moon, the cleanup of which pushed out their timetable.

Thanks to the condition of the moon as well as its remote location, the company was able to secure extraction rights at a bargain rate from the Planetary Development Bureau and immediately began construction on the extensive network of structures that needed to be positioned around the moon to house the seismic actuators that would extract the gas. By 2904, Chemline Solutions activated their first gas extraction facility.

Adorai’s theories started paying off almost immediately, but over the course of several years, she became increasingly worried about the increasing seismic events on the moon. Fissures began to open up unexpectedly in seemingly random places, which made it difficult for Adorai to confirm that her machine was causing them.

According to Adorai, soon after she began to investigate these seismic events, Victor entered into negotiations to build another extraction facility on a populated world. Still nervous that her technology might be dangerous to a local population, she protested the expansion, but he refused outright, citing the massive profits the new facility could generate. When presented with her findings, Victor claimed that her ‘evidence’ was a collection of inconsistencies and assumptions.

The ensuing argument escalated over the next few months and ultimately resulted in Victor firing Adorai from the company. The twins, inseparable through their childhood, were now locked in a bitter legal dispute. Adorai sued Chemline Solutions and her brother for the rights to her technology, but the initial company doctrine signed when the company was formed specifically stipulated the extraction technology as a company asset. Regardless, the string of lawsuits and countersuits spanned nearly a decade.

By 2919, Chemline Solutions couldn’t maintain the Gainey facility anymore. Due to the fallout from Adorai’s very public battle with the company, the UEE was reticent to provide any more licenses for the technology.

Victor tried for years to find a buyer to take over the Gainey facility to help offset the legal costs, but no one was willing to assume responsibility for the property. By 2923, Victor removed as much equipment as he could and permanently sealed up the facility.

The Path Forward
These days Chemline Solutions has pivoted back into primarily serving as an industrial chemical distributor. Victor Zahid has attempted to obtain extraction licenses since, but the initial cost requirement to construct the vast array of structures needed to fully utilize the technology has now become a larger obstacle than the government’s reticence to sanction it. In 2938, Victor instituted an ‘open door policy’ for geological and mining inventors to pitch their ideas, hoping to strike it rich with another genius design.

Adorai Zahid receded from the public after the series of trials was settled, becoming a professor of Geological Studies at Terra University. In 2940, she released an educational textbook about surveying ethics, but has never spoken publicly about her experience with Chemline Solutions.

It’s unknown whether the twins have ever spoken directly since.

Dieses Portfolio erschien ursprünglich in Jump Point 5.12.
Um den berühmten Geschäftsmann Engel Nordigan zu zitieren, "ein gutes Geschäft wird von der Öffentlichkeit gesegnet. Die Gewinne können spektakulär sein, aber wenn die Öffentlichkeit ein Unternehmen nicht mag oder, schlimmer noch, ihm misstraut, wird es einen schweren Kampf geben". Nur wenige Unternehmen verstehen dieses Mantra mehr als Chemline Solutions.

Bescheidene Anfänge
Victor und Adorai Zahid hatten nicht das, was viele als eine "normale" Kindheit bezeichnen würden. Ihre Eltern, beide Mitarbeiter der Kel-To ConStores, waren Teil der internen Inspektionsteams, die die Einhaltung der Sicherheitsvorschriften des Unternehmens in den verschiedenen Filialen sicherstellten, was eine ständige Bewegung der Familie erforderte.

In Victor Zahids Memoiren, Titan, erzählte er, dass die Familie selten länger als einen Monat an einem Ort bleiben würde, da sie durch die tausenden Kel-To ConStores in der gesamten UEE rotieren. Für Victor und seine Zwillingsschwester Adorai blieb damit nur wenig Gelegenheit für ein stabiles Zuhause. Sie verbrachten ihre gesamte Kindheit damit, auf verschiedenen Transportschiffen und in Wohnungsbörsen herumzurennen, während ihre Eltern arbeiteten. Nachts unterrichteten sie ihre Eltern anhand eines sorgfältig ausgearbeiteten Lehrplans, der ihnen die Möglichkeit gibt, schon früh auf Gleichwertigkeit zu testen. Ihre Aufgabe während des Tages war einfach: lernen. Sie wurden ermutigt, sich über die Gegend, in der sie lebten, die Menschen um sie herum, alles Mögliche herauszufinden. Jeden Abend mussten die Kinder das, was sie an diesem Tag gelernt hatten, präsentieren, und dann besprachen die Eltern die Informationen.

"Damals habe ich es nicht verstanden", schrieb Victor in Titan. "Aber im Rückblick war es ihre Art, uns Einfühlungsvermögen zu lehren, zu verstehen, dass jeder eine Geschichte hat, wenn wir darüber sprechen, warum dieser HEX in einem traurigen wirtschaftlichen Zustand war oder warum der Spediteur, mit dem wir gesprochen haben, die Dinge tat, die er tat.

Obwohl beide Zwillinge gleich fleißig waren, begannen ihre Interessen mit zunehmendem Alter auseinander zu gehen. Victor entwickelte eine Vorliebe für den Warenhandel, wobei er oft seine Erlaubnis nutzte, kleine Mengen von Waren zu kaufen, um an anderen Stationen zu handeln. Wenn er nicht aktiv kaufte oder verkaufte, hielt er akribisch Notizen über Preise von der TDD und lokalen Händlern. Inzwischen war seine Schwester Adorai fasziniert von der Welt der Mathematik und der Ingenieurwissenschaften und studierte all die verschiedenen Stationen und Schiffe, die sie auf ihren Reisen antrafen.

Beide Zahid-Zwillinge erreichten mit sechzehn Jahren die Äquivalenz und erhielten Teilstipendien für die Terra Universität. Victor schloss sein Studium der Wirtschaftswissenschaften mit einem Doppeldiplom ab, was zu einer sofortigen Anstellung bei Clifton Brothers in Prime führte. Adorai blieb etwas länger in der Schule, um einen Abschluss in Geologie-Ingenieurwesen zu machen. Während ihres letzten Jahres wurde sie von Vertretern von Edo Inc., einer kleinen Bergbau- und Explorationsbörse mit Sitz außerhalb von Lo im Corel-System, angesprochen, um in deren Abteilung für planetare Entwicklung zu arbeiten.

Obwohl sie oft sprachen, sahen sich die Zwillinge fast zehn Jahre lang nicht mehr. Adorai blieb auf einem Platz und schob sich in Edo durch die Reihen. Doch Victor konnte den vergänglichen Lebensstil ihrer Jugend scheinbar nicht abschütteln. Während dieser Zeit verließ er Clifton Brothers und gründete eine Reihe von eigenen Unternehmen, darunter eine Eventplanungsfirma und einen kurzen Ausflug ins Bandmanagement.

Im Jahr 2889, während Victor und Adorai auf der 98. Geburtstagsfeier ihres Vaters auftauchten, erzählte Adorai Victor von der experimentellen Extraktionstechnologie, die sie für Edo zu entwickeln versuchte. Obwohl die Forschung vielversprechend war, überstiegen die finanziellen Vorhersagen hinsichtlich der Kosten für die Umsetzung dieser Upgrades die potenzielle Gewinnmarge, so dass der Vorstand das Projekt absagen wollte. Während sie beklagte, die Forschung aufgeben zu müssen, konnte Victor das Potenzial sehen. Bei Erfolg könnte diese Technologie alte Ausgrabungsstätten revitalisieren. Etwa zwei Stunden später schlug er in einer intensiven Diskussion eine Idee vor: Warum nicht die Technologie selbst entwickeln?

Eine Idee in eine Institution
Innerhalb des Jahres wurde Chemline Solutions geboren. Obwohl ihr Hauptgeschäft als Anbieter von Industriechemikalien (von Victor als "der Cashflow" bezeichnet) bestehen würde, konnte Adorai den Vorstand von Edo überzeugen, ihre Forschung an das junge Unternehmen zu verkaufen. Als sie wieder an die Arbeit ging, zapfte Victor die verschiedenen Verbindungen an, die er über die Jahre entwickelt hatte, um die erste Kundenliste der Firma aufzubauen. Sein Ziel war es, genug Kapital aufzubauen, um nicht nur Adorai's Forschung zu unterstützen, sondern auch Kredite zu haben, wenn sie sie abgeschlossen hat.

Zwischen Adorai's Arbeit hinter den Kulissen und Victor's Geschäftssinn wuchs die Firma in einem bemerkenswerten Tempo. Innerhalb von fünf Jahren operierten sie von sechs Vertriebszentren aus, die strategisch in der gesamten UEE platziert waren.

Ende des 29. Jahrhunderts hatte Adorai den ersten funktionierenden Prototyp ihres neuen Extraktionsverfahrens fertig gestellt. Durch die Verwendung von niederfrequenten seismischen Schwingungen hat das Projekt (innerhalb des Unternehmens unter dem Codenamen Resurrection) sein Versprechen eingelöst, bisher unzugängliche Gastaschen für die Sammlung zu öffnen. Da das Unternehmen bereits einen stetigen Gewinn erwirtschaftete, war Victor überzeugt, dass dies das Unternehmen auf die nächste Stufe bringen würde.

Victor begann, die UEE nach potentiellen Ausgrabungsstätten zu durchsuchen. Die Antwort war ein kleiner Mond in einem entfernten System.

In der Nähe der Überreste des ersten Planeten im System (zerstört, als der Stern zur Nova wurde), wurde Odin 1a fast zwanzig Jahre lang von verschiedenen Firmen ausgiebig abgebaut, bis er 2865 schließlich aufgegeben wurde. Der Mond, bekannt als Gainey, stellte sich heraus, dass er eine beträchtliche Menge an Gastaschen hatte, und das Fehlen einer lokalen Bevölkerung machte ihn zu einem idealen Standort für die neue Technologie. Das einzige Manko war, dass zwanzig Jahre intensiver Ressourcenernte eine schockierende Menge an verlassenen Gebäuden, Satelliten und Müll rund um den winzigen Mond hinterlassen hatten, deren Säuberung ihren Zeitplan in die Länge zog.

Dank des Zustands des Mondes und seiner abgelegenen Lage konnte sich das Unternehmen die Förderrechte zu einem günstigen Preis vom Planetary Development Bureau sichern und begann sofort mit dem Bau des ausgedehnten Netzes von Strukturen, die um den Mond herum positioniert werden mussten, um die seismischen Aktoren zur Förderung des Gases unterzubringen. Im Jahr 2904 aktivierte Chemline Solutions ihre erste Gasförderanlage.

Adorai's Theorien begannen sich fast sofort auszuzahlen, aber im Laufe der Jahre wurde sie immer besorgter über die zunehmenden seismischen Ereignisse auf dem Mond. An scheinbar zufälligen Stellen begannen sich unerwartet Risse zu öffnen, was es Adorai schwer machte, zu bestätigen, dass ihre Maschine sie verursachte.

Laut Adorai, kurz nachdem sie begann, diese seismischen Ereignisse zu untersuchen, trat Victor in Verhandlungen ein, um eine weitere Extraktionsanlage auf einer bewohnten Welt zu bauen. Immer noch nervös, dass ihre Technologie für die lokale Bevölkerung gefährlich sein könnte, protestierte sie gegen die Erweiterung, aber er lehnte sie unter Berufung auf die massiven Gewinne, die die neue Anlage generieren könnte, rundheraus ab. Als ihr die Ergebnisse vorgelegt wurden, behauptete Victor, dass ihre "Beweise" eine Sammlung von Ungereimtheiten und Annahmen seien.

Der darauf folgende Streit eskalierte in den nächsten Monaten und führte schließlich dazu, dass Victor Adorai aus dem Unternehmen entließ. Die Zwillinge, unzertrennlich durch ihre Kindheit, waren nun in einen erbitterten Rechtsstreit verwickelt. Adorai verklagte Chemline Solutions und ihren Bruder auf die Rechte an ihrer Technologie, aber die ursprüngliche Firmendoktrin, die bei der Gründung des Unternehmens unterzeichnet wurde, legte die Extraktionstechnologie ausdrücklich als Firmenvermögen fest. Unabhängig davon erstreckte sich die Kette von Klagen und Gegenklagen über fast ein Jahrzehnt.

Im Jahr 2919 konnte Chemline Solutions das Werk in Gainey nicht mehr unterhalten. Aufgrund der Auswirkungen von Adorai's sehr öffentlichem Kampf mit der Firma, war die UEE zurückhaltend, weitere Lizenzen für die Technologie zu vergeben.

Victor versuchte jahrelang, einen Käufer zu finden, der die Gainey-Anlage übernimmt, um die Prozesskosten auszugleichen, aber niemand war bereit, die Verantwortung für die Immobilie zu übernehmen. Im Jahr 2923 entfernte Victor so viel Ausrüstung, wie er konnte, und versiegelte die Anlage dauerhaft.

Der Weg nach vorn
Heutzutage hat sich Chemline Solutions wieder hauptsächlich auf den Vertrieb von Industriechemikalien spezialisiert. Victor Zahid hat seitdem versucht, Extraktionslizenzen zu erhalten, aber die anfängliche Kostenanforderung, um die riesige Anzahl von Strukturen zu bauen, die für die volle Nutzung der Technologie erforderlich sind, ist nun zu einem größeren Hindernis geworden als die Zurückhaltung der Regierung, diese zu sanktionieren. Im Jahr 2938 führte Victor eine "Politik der offenen Tür" ein, in der geologische und Bergbau-Erfinder ihre Ideen einbringen konnten, in der Hoffnung, dass sie mit einem weiteren genialen Entwurf reichhaltig vertreten sein würden.

Adorai Zahid zog sich nach Abschluss der Versuchsreihe aus der Öffentlichkeit zurück und wurde Professor für geologische Studien an der Terra Universität. Im Jahr 2940 veröffentlichte sie ein Lehrbuch über Vermessungsethik, hat aber nie öffentlich über ihre Erfahrungen mit Chemline Solutions gesprochen.

Es ist unbekannt, ob die Zwillinge seitdem jemals direkt miteinander gesprochen haben.

This portfolio originally appeared in Jump Point 5.12.
To quote famed businessman Engel Nordigan, “a good business is blessed by the public. Profits can be spectacular, but if the public dislikes or even worse, distrusts a company, they will face an uphill battle.” Few corporations understand that mantra more than Chemline Solutions.

Humble Beginnings
Victor and Adorai Zahid didn’t have what many would consider a ‘normal’ childhood. Their parents, both employees at Kel-To ConStores, were part of the internal inspection teams making sure the various branches adhered to the corporate safety mandates, which required the family to be constantly on the move.

In Victor Zahid’s memoir, Titan, he recounted that the family would rarely stay in one place for more than a month, as they rotated through the thousands of Kel-To ConStores located throughout the UEE. For Victor and his twin sister, Adorai, this left little opportunity for any kind of stable home. They spent their entire childhood racing around various transport ships and Housing Exchanges while their parents worked. At night, their parents taught them from a meticulously constructed education curriculum, designed to allow them to test for Equivalency early. Their assignment during the day was simple: learn. They were encouraged to find out about the area they were living in, the people around them, anything. Each night, the children would need to present what they learned that day and then the parents would discuss the information.

“I didn’t get it at the time,” Victor wrote in Titan. “But in retrospect, talking about why this HEX was in a sad economic state or why that hauler we talked to was doing the things he was doing was their way to teach us empathy, to understand that everybody had a story.”

Although both of the twins were equally studious, their interests began to diverge as they got older. Victor developed a taste for commodity trading, often using his allowance to purchase small quantities of goods to trade at other stations. When he wasn’t actively buying or selling, he kept meticulous notes about prices from the TDD and local traders. Meanwhile, his sister Adorai became fascinated with the world of mathematics and engineering and studied all the various stations and ships that they encountered throughout their travels.

Both of the Zahid twins achieved Equivalency at sixteen and received partial scholarships to Terra University. Victor graduated with a dual-degree in economics and business management, which led to an immediate position at Clifton Brothers in Prime. Adorai stayed in school a little longer to earn a degree in geological engineering. During her final year, she was approached by reps from Edo Inc., a small mining and exploration exchange based out of Lo in the Corel system, to work in their planetary development division.

Although they spoke often, the twins did not see each other for almost ten years. Adorai stayed in one spot and progressed through the ranks at Edo. Victor, however, seemingly was unable to shake the transitory lifestyle of their youth. During that time, he left Clifton Brothers and went on to start a number of business ventures of his own, including an event planning company and a brief foray into band management.

In 2889, while Victor and Adorai caught up at their father’s 98th birthday party, Adorai told Victor about the experimental extraction technology she was trying to develop for Edo. Although the research was promising, financial projections as to the cost to implement these upgrades outweighed the potential profit margin, so the board of directors were moving to cancel the project. While she lamented having to abandon the research, Victor could see the potential. If successful, this technology could revitalize old dig sites. About two hours of intense discussion later, he proposed an idea: why not develop the technology on their own?

An Idea Into An Institution
Within the year, Chemline Solutions was born. Although its primary business would be as a provider of industrial chemicals (referred to as ‘the cash flow’ by Victor), Adorai was able to convince Edo’s board to sell her research to the fledgling company. As she got back to work, Victor tapped into the various connections he’d developed over the years to build the company’s initial client list. His goal was to build enough capital not only to support Adorai’s research, but also to have credits on hand by the time she completed it.

Between Adorai’s work behind the scenes and Victor’s business acumen, the company grew at a remarkable rate. Within five years, they operated out of six distribution hubs strategically placed throughout the UEE.

By the end of the 29th century, Adorai had completed her first functioning prototype of her new extraction process. Utilizing low-frequency seismic vibrations, the project (codenamed Resurrection within the company) delivered on its promise of unlocking previously inaccessible gas pockets for collection. With the company already making a steady profit, Victor was convinced that this would take the company to the next level.

Victor began scouring the UEE for potential dig sites. The answer was a small moon in a distant system.

Situated near the remnants of the first planet in the system (destroyed when the star went nova), Odin 1a had been extensively mined by a variety of companies for almost twenty years until it was finally abandoned in 2865. The moon, known as Gainey, turned out to have a significant quantity of gas pockets, and the lack of a local population made it an ideal site for the new tech. The only shortcoming was that twenty years of intensive resource harvesting had left a shocking amount of abandoned buildings, satellites and trash around the tiny moon, the cleanup of which pushed out their timetable.

Thanks to the condition of the moon as well as its remote location, the company was able to secure extraction rights at a bargain rate from the Planetary Development Bureau and immediately began construction on the extensive network of structures that needed to be positioned around the moon to house the seismic actuators that would extract the gas. By 2904, Chemline Solutions activated their first gas extraction facility.

Adorai’s theories started paying off almost immediately, but over the course of several years, she became increasingly worried about the increasing seismic events on the moon. Fissures began to open up unexpectedly in seemingly random places, which made it difficult for Adorai to confirm that her machine was causing them.

According to Adorai, soon after she began to investigate these seismic events, Victor entered into negotiations to build another extraction facility on a populated world. Still nervous that her technology might be dangerous to a local population, she protested the expansion, but he refused outright, citing the massive profits the new facility could generate. When presented with her findings, Victor claimed that her ‘evidence’ was a collection of inconsistencies and assumptions.

The ensuing argument escalated over the next few months and ultimately resulted in Victor firing Adorai from the company. The twins, inseparable through their childhood, were now locked in a bitter legal dispute. Adorai sued Chemline Solutions and her brother for the rights to her technology, but the initial company doctrine signed when the company was formed specifically stipulated the extraction technology as a company asset. Regardless, the string of lawsuits and countersuits spanned nearly a decade.

By 2919, Chemline Solutions couldn’t maintain the Gainey facility anymore. Due to the fallout from Adorai’s very public battle with the company, the UEE was reticent to provide any more licenses for the technology.

Victor tried for years to find a buyer to take over the Gainey facility to help offset the legal costs, but no one was willing to assume responsibility for the property. By 2923, Victor removed as much equipment as he could and permanently sealed up the facility.

The Path Forward
These days Chemline Solutions has pivoted back into primarily serving as an industrial chemical distributor. Victor Zahid has attempted to obtain extraction licenses since, but the initial cost requirement to construct the vast array of structures needed to fully utilize the technology has now become a larger obstacle than the government’s reticence to sanction it. In 2938, Victor instituted an ‘open door policy’ for geological and mining inventors to pitch their ideas, hoping to strike it rich with another genius design.

Adorai Zahid receded from the public after the series of trials was settled, becoming a professor of Geological Studies at Terra University. In 2940, she released an educational textbook about surveying ethics, but has never spoken publicly about her experience with Chemline Solutions.

It’s unknown whether the twins have ever spoken directly since.