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HEADQUARTERS OF THE FRONTIER SUPPLY COMPANY

Overview

Location: Industrial Ring, New Kourou
Address: NE Industrial Ring Road 2
Surroundings: Adjacent to the Plant of the New Kourou Shellac Corporation (NKSC).

Opened in March 2626, the Frontier Supply Company (FSC) headquarters bundled warehouse, mechanical workshop, cassette‑packing floor, and a tiny dispatch office into one long, riveted hangar. From here, Talia “Quickshot” Maren scaled a single prototype dispenser into the planet-spanning Frontier Quickdraw Network, supplying essential goods to every corner of the Free State of Settlers.

The complex operated until the 2631 Peace Treaty brought the Federal Confederation and its Communardist controls. Private distribution channels were nationalized; the site was seized, its inventory redirected to Federal Allotment Centers, and the remaining infrastructure folded into the Federal Allotment Agency. The building was decommissioned by late 2631 and partially stripped for reuse elsewhere.

Architectural Significance

Construction Material: Sandwich of hull plates and freight-crate timber over a bolted truss skeleton salvaged from Last Frontier cargo gantries.
Floors: Single sprawling ground level plus a narrow mezzanine catwalk system over the packing lines.
Design Purpose: A linear “cassette loop” — producer goods arrive at the north dock, get packed into standardized Quickdraw cassettes mid‑hall, and roll out the south doors to courier carts.

Patchwork plating, exposed spring-winders, and chute-test rigs gave the interior a tinkerer’s lab vibe more than a corporate HQ.

Building Structure

Ground Floor

Packing Hall:Long benches where Refill Prep Crews sorted soaps, nutrition packs, snacks, and chew meats into sealed refill crates and sachet bundles — ready for courier runs.
Mechanics Bay: Racks of torsion springs, weighted levers, and gravity chutes; technicians calibrated pull strengths and drop angles for each Quickdraw model.
Bulk Warehouse Bay: High-bay shelving for unopened producer crates; climate screens for heat‑sensitive goods and a lockable quarantine cage for suspect or damaged stock.
Receiving & Sorting Dock: Pallet scales, ledger tables, and a stencil station to mark producer codes and revenue-share tags.
Dispatch Platform: Two broad roll-up doors sized for Courier Service carts; loaded cassettes slid down wooden rails into waiting wagons.
Restrooms (2): Gender‑neutral facilities featuring the AuroraSan-System

Mezzanine Catwalks

Founder’s Nook: Talia’s perch above the mechanics bay—maps of settlements pinned with brass tacks, strings marking install routes.
Contract Alcove: Three desks and a battered stamp press where revenue-share agreements were negotiated and logged.
Tool Crib & Parts Bins: Labeled drawers of springs, ratchets, chute flaps, and spare coin-clutch gears.

Street-Side Kiosk (Public Annex)

Demo Quickdraw: A transparent-sided dispenser showing the spring-and-gravity guts in motion; settlers could practice a “pull” and watch the cassette cycle.

Look and Feel

The HQ smelled of oiled steel, cardboard, and a faint tang of ration-pack preservative. Light leaked through mismatched hull seams, tracing dust motes over rows of numbered cassettes. Springs twanged and ratchets clicked as techs stress-tested mechanisms; every so often a dropped lever clattered through a gravity chute, punctuating the steady rasp of hand files.

Hand-painted hazard stripes edged the railings; chalk diagrams of drop angles and pull-force curves covered sheet-metal walls. Couriers in patched leathers hauled crates up plank ramps, while ledger clerks scratched tallies into grease-stained books. Outside and through the bay doors, refill- and maintenance courier riders on snorting Hoos clomped in and out — dismounting to grab crates, tightening saddle panniers, then kicking off again toward the next Quickdraw on their route. Everything felt provisional yet precise —improvised materials bent into reliable service by stubborn ingenuity. Most of the HQ’s bones and skins were salvaged Last Frontier hull ribs, cargo rails, cryo‑freezer panels, and crate timber —bolted, braced, and tar‑sealed into an improvised patchwork that somehow held together.

Roles and Responsibilities

Exohuman Staff

Logistics Director – Talia “Quickshot” Maren (1): Sets deployment priorities, signs revenue-share contracts, coordinates refill runs.
Mechanics Lead (1): Oversees spring calibration, chute alignment, and field-repair protocols.
Refill Prep Packing Crew (6): Load goods and stack outbound pallets.
Receiving Clerks (2): Check producer shipments, stencil codes, and enter share data into ledgers.
Courier Dispatcher (1): Matches refill routes to rider schedules; tracks empty cassette returns.
Refill & Maintenance Couriers (8): Ride Hoos to each Quickdraw, restock goods on-site, fine‑tune springs and chutes, log sales and maintenance in field ledgers, and haul back empty crates.

Automated / Semi-Automated Aids

Butler Bot – Demo Host (1): The Butler Bot operates the public demo Quickdraw, explains mechanics to visitors, tallies small cash sales.
Maintenance Bots (2): The Maintenance Bots rebuild trigger arms, replace worn bushings, and salvage Last Frontier parts.
Cleaning Bot (1): The Cleaning Bot sweeps metal filings, oil drips, and packing debris; polishes chute surfaces to reduce friction.

Public Access, Operating Hours & Rhythm

Public Annex Window: Open 09:00 – 15:00 for demos and emergency purchases.
Warehouse & Packing Shifts: 06:00 – 14:00 and 14:00 – 22:00.

Security Measures

Bar-Latch Gates: Heavy slide bars drop across both loading doors after dispatch; only Talia and the Dispatcher carry the iron keys.
Manual Alarm Whistle: A compressed-air horn at the annex window blasts three long notes to summon nearby Guarding Troopers.
Regular Patrols: A local Guarding Troopers Unit patrols the Industrial Ring regularly

Player Interaction Possibilities

Legal interactions:

Apply for Work: e.g. as Refill Prep Packer, Refill and Maintenance-Courier
Negotiate Shelf Space: Pitch your goods to the Logistics Director, bargain over revenue‑share percentages, and secure slots in the Quickdraw cassettes (goods-only refills).
Quickdraw Demo & Tour: Watch the transparent machine cycle; learn how cassettes load and levers reset.

Illegal interactions:

Ledger Forgery: Alter revenue-share tallies to skim credits or hide illicit goods.
Goods Swap: Sneak contraband into a pallet destined for a distant outpost.
Spring Sabotage: File down a trigger tooth so a rival producer’s goods jam in the chute.