AgInfusion is a Samura Industries subsidiary founded to repair the ecosystem of Planet Junyo in order to ensure sound functioning of Kusari fishing industry in the wake of the loss of Planet Kurile to GMG. Having discovered a species of silver-synthesising algae, the corporation aims to cleanse parts of the Junyo sea from the alien bacteria while providing nutritious plant food to fish. However, since repairing Junyo marine ecosystem is expected to take years, AgInfusion is involved in a variety of other enterprises including shipping, mining, security and research.


⯁ History

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The roots of AgInfusion reach as far back as 630 AS, when Samura Industries purchased Planet Junyo from the Kusari government. Faced with the collapse of fisheries on other planets, Samura offered to buy the planet from the government in order to begin a terraforming the otherwise almost sterile waters of Junyo's large ocean.

Unfortunately for Samura, the ace up their sleeve — a species of organisms from Planet Kurile, which itself had been discovered only ten years prior — would later prove to be a source of many headaches. The initial process of introducing the alien plankton, and with it various species of fish and shrimp from Honshu and Kyushu, was successful. Samura scientists and engineers managed to create an artificial biosphere in less than five decades. However, the conditions in the waters of Junyo were different than on Kurile, and the plankton could not thrive and multiply as much as it did in the dark, salty waters of the border world, and had to be occasionally replenished. By terraforming Junyo, Samura chained themselves to Kurile and its alien organisms, threatening the entire Kusarian food sector should the Sigma-17 planet ever slip out of their grasp.

Around 800 AS worrying discoveries started to be made regarding the alien-plankton-fed fish. Those who worked with the products of Junyo fisheries closely, as well as those who consumed large quantities of fish started displaying signs of illness when not consuming seafood for longer periods of time. Cardiovascular disease, weight loss, fatigue and depression were the most common symptoms. Samura researchers associated the maladies with nutritional deficiencies resulting from lack of omega-3 and omega-6 acids and soon began distributing supplement pills with Junyo salmon oil. However, in hushed voices on the upper decks of Shinjuku Station, rumours spread that the true cause of the diseases are the Kurile alien organisms.

In the 800s and 810s Samura's four-hundred-year-old relationship with the GMG started to deteriorate and eventually turned into outright hostility in the Sigma systems culminating in the GMG takeover of Planet Kurile in 824 AS. The fragile link in the Samura food production chain finally broke. While the consequences of losing Kurile didn't manifest immediately — whatever plankton inhabited the Junyo waters was still there, for now — it was obvious that the yield from the fisheries would soon decrease.


Four years later, during early 828 AS, a postgraduate of Kyushu University Faculty of Agricultural Science, Hantaro Honda, stumbled across the detailed description of the Junyo terraforming process and quickly realised that the loss of Kurile would drastically impact the food production chains of Kusari. Eager to look for solutions, Honda dedicated the subject of his doctoral thesis to researching alternative methods of repairing Junyo's ecosystem. He primarily experimented with species of seaweeds, whose growth could be boosted with Samura's branded aquaponic fertilizer HydroGro. Having found multiple viable candidates, he collected his findings and attempted to look for funding among Samura business elite.

The Samura investors were convinced that the matter could still be swept under the rug, and officially denied that there were any issues with the Junyo fishing industry. Their hardline stance forced Honda to look for investment elsewhere, and soon he found a small, boutique fund called Kurotori Holding, run from a smokey rented office on Shinjuku by a forgettable Samura accountant-consultant Hano Nobuyuki and an eccentric businesswoman of foreign origin Mel Rose.

Microscopic image of the algae cell structure.

Having successfully pitched his idea to Rose,^[1] Honda continued his research now funded by Kurotori. Almost by accident, he discovered that one of the algae species that he had looked into previously, aside from the normal products of photosynthesis also synthesizes of silver nanoparticles. Over the course of the experiment, Honda's team concluded that when supplied with appropriately large amounts of HydroGro, the algae can create a kind of silvery aura around itself, successfully sterilising the water from smaller organisms, including the Kurile plankton.


After the success of Honda's experiments, the trio founded a new company: AgInfusion. Rose provided the capital and took the position of President; Nobuyuki, thanks to his Shinjuku connections obtained the means to let the fledgling corporation operate within the Samura ecosystem and became COO; while Honda's academic and scientific success earned him the title of the Head of Research. They did not consider the lack of a proper CEO an impediment to their business.

The new corporation wasted no time in acquiring assets: Nobuyuki managed to secure a deal buying one of the Junyo fisheries for AgInfusion from an owner who had become disenchanted at the prospects of the marine business in Shikoku and scared of the rumours of fish-borne infections. While the company's headquarters address points to the same smokey room on Shinjuku where the first meeting of the company founders took place, AgInfusion's main place of business are the fishing platforms on Planet Junyo as well as a number of facilities on Shinkaku Station in Tau-29, where they have influence on the production of the HydroGro fertilizer.

While the vision of repairing Junyo ecosystem is lofty, it is also very far in the future. In the meantime, AgInfusion acquired a small but dedicated logistics fleet which is the company's primary way of turning a profit to fund the research and operations. In addition to the trade and mining revenue, the company also cuts costs by insourcing their own base security pilots as well as convoy and mining ship escorts. The new and improved HydroGro fertiliser also found moderate success in the market.

While the future of AgInfusion is uncertain, it seems painted in bright colours. The industriousness, as well as the goals of the company earned them leniency and sympathy from some of the Samura executives. Publicly, it is yet another Samura subsidiary with an uncertain purpose. While the Kusari industry giant still publicly refuses to admit there is a problem with their food production chain, with luck — and AgInfusion's success — they will never have to.

⯁ Diplomacy

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⯁ Operations

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Ag]-Name.Surname designation is used for ordinary employee snubcraft and escort ships.

Ag]-LV-Shipname designation is used for transport ships belonging to the AgInfusion logistics division. The LV stands for Logistics Vessel.

Ag]-Shipname designation is used for special-purpose vessels.

Shikoku — Planet Junyo is the home of the majority of Kusari's fish industry. AgInfusion owns a substantial area of the sea in the vicinity of the Ishizuki Plateau and operates one of the planet's fisheries. In recent years the output of the fisheries has been dwindling, however AgInfusion aims to change that with the introduction of its silver algae to serve as food for the forage fish.

New Tokyo — Many major arteries of trade cross through the capital system of Kusari. AgInfusion's nominal headquarters are located in the system, on Shinjuku Station's deck C, office 112A.

Kyushu — Kyushu University Faculty of Agricultural Sciences is the alma mater of AgInfusion's head of research Hantaro Honda. The company still makes use of the university's laboratories for its R&D effort, contributing to the education of the next generation of Kusari elite with grants and scholarships.

Tau-29 — Located on the edge of one of the ice crystal fields in the system, Shinkaku Station is where Samura's HydroGro production plants are located. HydroGro is the brand-name of a hydrocarbon-based fertilizer specifically suited for aquaponic growth. AgInfusion took special interest in the production of HydroGro and makes use of the product to grow its silver seaweed.

⯁ Communications

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