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=== Races | Technology | Buildings & Organizations ===

====== NEW KOUROU SHELLAC CORPORATION (NKSC) ======

===== Overview =====

  * **Founding Year:** 2625 (six months after [[day_zero|Day Zero]])
  * **Founder:** Vira Antonis — former Last Frontier data-archivist 
  * **Headquarters:** [[Plant of the New Kourou Shellac Corporation|Plant of the New Kourou Shellac Corporation]], [[new_kourou|New Kourou]]
  *  **Purpose:** Manufacture tone-encoded shellac data disks and the hand-cranked lathes & sequencers required to read/write them, thus restoring a low-energy data-distribution chain for [[gaia|GAIA]] and its [[local_gaia_hub|Local GAIA Hubs]].

When orbital relays, satellites, and the ship’s quantum drives were fried in the crash, settlers lost every high-bandwidth channel; they needed an energy-lean, tamper-evident medium to keep GAIA’s Local Hubs patched. The New Kourou Shellac Corporation (NKSC) stepped up, pressing [[shellac_records|fungus-resin disks]] that could be tone-engraved and read on hand-cranked sequencers — no [[quantum_fusion_batteries|Quantum Fusion Battery]] drain required.

In 2631, after the [[great_war|Great War]], the plant was nationalised by the newly founded [[federal_confederation|Federal Confederation]] and re-flagged as the [[Federal Shellac Manufactory (FSM)|Federal Shellac Manufactory (FSM)]], which still produces GAIA firmware disks.

===== History =====

==== 1. Crisis Invention (2625) ====

  * Vira Antonis salvaged a micro-lathe and proved that native fungal resins could substitute pre-war shellac.
  * The [[settler_s_council|Settler’s Council]] granted NKSC an exclusive charter to supply every settlement with blanks, writers, and sequencers.

==== 2. Beta-Age Expansion (2626 – 2630) ====

  * NKSC engineers standardised the “tone-30” encoding (30 tones / sec = 9 kB / min) and sold upgrade kits to match.
  * A travelling “Maintenance Carriage” toured [[Hope|Hope]], [[arla_town|Arla Town]], [[Morningstar|Morningstar]], and [[Firetown|Firetown]] recalibrating village lathes.

==== 3. Public Retail Boom (2627 – 2630) ====

  * NKSC began pressing limited-run “Studio Shellacs” of [[weber_broadcasting_services|Weber Broadcasting Services]]  live-music sessions and sold them — together with hand-cranked tabletop players — to settlers at a stand on the [[new_kourou_food_market|New Kourou Food Market]].
  * Owning the week’s WBS disk became a mark of status; The [[new_kourou_courier_service|New Kourou Courier Service]] and the [[firetown_courier_service|Firetown Courier Service]] carried copies to [[firetown|Firetown]], [[arla_town|Arla Town]], [[Hope|Hope]] and [[morningstar|Morningstar]], which got mainly sold in local pubs, spreading a shared repertoire across the Free State.
  *   * Output scaled from 50 to 500 disks per month; half reserved for GAIA firmware, half for administrative ledgers & Weber Broadcasting Services broadcasts.

==== 4. Nationalisation → Federal Shellac Manufactory (2631) ====

  * Upon the formation of the [[federal_confederation|Federal Confederation]] the plant, patents, and staff were folded into the Federal Shellac Manufactory (FSM).
  * When the plant was folded into the Federal Shellac Manufactory (FSM), retail sales were banned. The disk presses now run almost exclusively for GAIA firmware and official communiqués.
  *  Ex-NKSC technicians covertly press “ghost batches” of music disks and player parts after night shift, feeding a thriving Gamma Age black market centred on Firetown.

===== Operations & Products =====

| Product / Service                | **Beta-Age Configuration**                                                                                                                        | **Gamma-Age Status (under FSM)**                                                                                                      |    **Typical Price (in [[kourou|Kourou]])**                                                               |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Fungal-Shellac Blank (25 cm)** | • Cold-pressed fungus-resin + silicate filler  • Capacity ≈ 6 MB at *tone-30* (30 tones s⁻¹)  • Embossed CRC ridge for tamper-check               | Still pressed in limited weekly lots; requisitioned via the [[gaia_system|Federal GAIA Agency]]                                                       priority list, then rationed to hubs & WBS. | Never sold on the Free Market, 100,- (Black Market Gamma Age)
| **Hand-Crank Lathe-Writer**      | • Cast-steel fly-wheel, dual-gear governor  • Interchangeable sapphire/diamond stylus  • Field-serviceable with ship-spare bearings               | Legacy units kept on hub sites; FSM techs perform quarterly overhaul & stylus swap. New builds forbidden to private owners.           | 500,- (Beta Age), 1.000,- (Black Market Gamma Age)                                                                  |
| **Clockwork Sequencer / Reader** | • Spring motor → constant-velocity platter  • Piezo pickup → optical coder → paper-tape punch  • Reads tone-30 & tone-50 formats              | Firmware flashed after every Thursday Kernel update; uncertified readers must pass CRC handshake or self-lock.                        |300,- (Beta Age), 800,- (Black Market Gamma Age)                                                                     |300,- (Beta Age), 800,- (Black Market Gamma Age)  
| **“Tone-30 Pro” Upgrade Kit**    | • Fine-cut stylus + head-weight kit lets lathes reach *tone-50* density (≈ 10 MB) • Sold to WBS for live-session masters                          | Re-classified as research-only hardware (energy-waiver required). Possession without licence is a class-D offence.                    |                                                                   |
| **WBS Studio Master Disks**      | • Mirror-finish blanks heat-pressed for ≤ 3 dB noise floor  • Issued in numbered sleeves to relay stations                                        | FSM archive sealed; no new masters pressed. Legacy copies survive in taverns, private collections, and a few relay attics.            |  25,- (Beta Age), 80,- to 100,- (Black Market Gamma Age)                                                                 |
| **EchoHorn Playback Kit**        | • Bronze pickup saddle, steel diaphragm, fold-out hardwood exponential horn  • Clips onto any sequencer for \~70 dB acoustic output — no power draw | Monthly production under FSM seal; black-market “ghost pressings” trace to after-hours shifts. Retrofit horns now illegal for resale. | 80,- (Beta), 220,- (Black Market Gamma Age)                                                                   | 
| **Field Repair Spares Pack**     | • Stylus set, governor springs, tension keys, lapping paste                                                                                       | Distributed only to authorised hub engineers; outlaws pay fortunes for intact packs.                                                  |                                                                   |

===== Impact & Legacy =====

  * **Data Lifeline:** Without NKSC/FSM there would be no practical way to move GAIA firmware under Beta/Gamma energy caps.
  * **Low-Tech Renaissance:** Sparked a cottage industry of mechanical craft, from music boxes to cipher wheels.
  * **Cultural Icon in the Gamma Age:** Disks doubled as mixtapes and manifestos; [[individualists|Individualists]] and [[outlaws|Outlaws]] still hoard “first-press” NKSC blanks.
  * **Audit Trail:** Physical, inspectable media underpin legal transparency — every treaty clause and land deed in the Federal Confederation exists on resin.

===== Tactical Advice for Dungeon Masters =====

  * **“The Arla Town Murder Disc” –** A popular tavern in [[arla_town|Arla Town]] has just received its weekly “Live Session” shellac from the New Kourou Shellac Corporation — supposedly a folk-set recorded by Weber Broadcasting Services. The publican mounts the fresh, fungus-resin disk on his crank-driven sequencer, drops the sapphire stylus … and the room falls silent. Instead of music, the groove plays a breathless audio log: a woman whispering coordinates, the scrape of boots, a panicked plea—then a visceral scream and the sickening crack of bone. The cut ends in hiss. Patrons scatter, the local [[guarding_troopers|Guarding Trooper]] detachment seals the tavern, and the bewildered Trooper-Chief hires the PCs to investigate …

===== Related Pages =====

  * [[beta_age|Beta Age]]
  * [[shellac_records|Shellac Records]] (Overview Beta and Gamma Age)
  * [[gaia|GAIA]]
  * [[Local GAIA Hub|Local GAIA Hubs]]
  * [[weber_broadcasting_services|Weber Broadcasting Services]]
  * [[exohuman_technology_of_the_beta_age|Technology in the Beta Age]]
  * [[the_exohuman_communication_system_in_the_beta_age|Exohuman Communication Technology and Media in the Beta Age]]
  * [[Plant of the New Kourou Shellac Corporation|Plant of the New Kourou Shellac Corporation]]
  * [[federal_shellac_manufactory|Federal Shellac Manufactory]] (Gamma Age)