continuing
As I was picking myself up off the shooter’s shack floor, I glanced over to the TV.
The ballplayers were all wandering around the field, looking skyward. Evidently, there was this hellacious explosion…even the television sports commentators were speculating as to what happened.
Whoops.
I looked out into the quarry. The wall that I had charged had receded some 75 feet.
There was rather a large amount of shattered, blasted dolomitic limestone now in the quarry. Enough, I found out later, for a full month’s worth of orders.
We never did find the blasting mats. I think they sort of evaporated.
Luckily, the quarry is essentially an open amphitheater in plan view; basically a big hole in the ground with vertical limestone walls. The shockwave of the blast that didn’t spend itself shattering the limestone into which it was housed, blew out laterally, hit the opposite quarry wall, rebounded, and then dispersed, rather energetically, vertically upward.
I set off car alarms for a 20 block radius.
There were no broken home windows, as the lion’s share of the shock wave was redirected upward.
Good thing there were no low flying zeppelins or dirigibles in the area...
I waited the requisite time to allow for any loafers. There were none, so I jumped into the nearest wheel loader and began clearing the quarry floor. Hell, I had to so I could open the front gate.
As I was clearing the floor, making pile number eight of the loose rock I had liberated, I heard the characteristic whoop-whoop of emergency vehicles.
I parked the wheel loader, opened the front gate, and raised the green flag. That was enough blasting for one day.
A few minutes later, three police cars zoom into the site. Two were local city cops, and one was a state trooper.
“Hi, guys!” I waved, “Nice day, innit?”
“Doctor Rock! We should have known.” One of the local boys groaned.
“Hey, I did call you beforehand, as per procedure,” I said.
Polack the cop walks up, just knowing I was responsible. “Yeah, but we didn’t figure on you terrorizing the entire city.”
“Polack! How goes it?” I asked.
The other local cop and the state trooper look to Polack, “You know this maniac?”
“Oh, hell yeah. For years. Don’t worry, the good doctor is mostly harmless.” He chuckles.
“Damn. OK. I guess everything’s OK. Just no more shooting today, please, Doctor. It’s going to take hours to calm everyone down.” He laments.
“Yes, sir. I’m done for the day.” I reply, snickering slightly.
The one local and state trooper depart, shaking their heads in amazement. This left Polack to follow me over to the shooter’s shack to mooch a cigar and whatever else he can find.
“Jesus Hula-Dancing Christ, Rock. What the hell was that? I was all the way out in Whitewatosa and heard you.” He asks as he sneakily snakes a smoke out of my case.
“Just some common chemicals in the proper proportions.” I snicker.
“Which were?” he asks.
I go in the back of the shed and toss him an empty container of one of the parts of the binaries I used. He catches it, reads the label, and drops it like a live grenade.
“Binaries? Fuck! Like what you used at the tower?” he asks.
“Yep. I used just a little more.” I reply.
“Little more? Damn, as I said, we’ve been briefed on the stuff. This shit’s nasty.” He shakes his head.
“Yeah. Fun, too.” I reply.
Polack grabs a Sprechler’s Cream Soda out of the fridge as I opt for a cold Cream Ale and shot of potato juice. Hell, I was done for the day, so…
We sit around and have a chat, just shooting the shit, as it were. Manly topics, so the conversation eventually steered over to guns.
“Hey!” Polack remembers, “That’s right! You fucking owe me. Let me borrow that fucking cannon you carry. I want to show the chief a thing or two.”
“Yeah, that’s right”, I agree, “When do you need it?”
“This Friday, after shift. It’s the monthly qualifiers for us.” He notes.
“Are pyromaniacs allowed in?” I ask.
“To observe? Sure. To shoot? Nope. Insurance regulations.” He says.
“What time?” I continue.
“1800 hours.” He tells me.
“I’ll be there. I’ll bring my gun and an assortment of loads. Hey, this could be fun!” I evilly smile.
“Doctor. You’re doing that thing again. You’re grinnin’ like a shithouse rat. You know how much that scares me. Stop it.” He pleads.
“No worries. Friday at 1800 hours.” I reply, grinning.
Polack slurps down his Sprechlers, snitches another stogie, and squeals out of the quarry in a cloud of dense dolomitic dust.
I arrive back at our flat, after stopping for two frozen custard Turtle Sundaes, to go. I give one to an appreciative wife and I ask her about her day.
“Oh, went shopping with Oma. Got the cutest shoes, and a new purse, and…oh well, never mind. You’ll see.”
Between bites of Turtle Sundae, she asks how my day went.
“Oh, my dear. I had a real blast.” I replied, not lying in the least.
Monday, after my first classes, I’m back in the faculty lounge, savoring a Greenland Coffee.
There was the usual instructor chatter when Dean Vermiculari walks in.
“Good morning, Dean!” I say. “Care for a sit-down and a coffee?”
“Good morning, Doctor Rock. Yes, please to both.” He replies.
I fix us both a fresh Greenland Coffee and return to our table. I hand him one and sit down to savor my soupçon.
“How was your weekend?” I ask the Dean of the College.
“Oh, very nice. Had a fine time catching some perch and crappie out on Lake Genever. I see you had a victorious weekend as well. Twice.” He smiles.
“Twice?” I asked.
“Well, your handling of the tower demolition made all the papers. Very, very well done, Doctor. I congratulate you.” He smiles.
“Thank you, Dean. That means a lot. Just doing what I can with what I’ve got. But twice?” I replied.
“It wasn’t front-page news, but I saw there was some, well, let us just say, ‘energetic activity’ out at the Silurian reef limestone quarry yesterday.” He grinned.
“Oh, yes. I had a job to do and well, as I always say: ‘Nothing succeeds like excess.” I smile back.
“Quite. This beverage you’ve created is really rather extraordinary, Doctor. Again, I thank you.” He tips his mug my direction in the age-old Midwestern salute.
“It’s a little recipe I picked up on my last expedition to the northlands. I grew rather fond of the concoction.” I replied.
“Ah, I see. Marvelous.” He smiles.
“Thank you, Dean. High praise indeed.” I reply.
“Which leads me to…ah, Doctor Rock. I have another favor to impose upon you.” He says, all serious.
“Yes, Dean? How can I be of service?” I ask.
“We, as you no doubt know, have many, many fine extractive mineral company connections. We actually receive quite a large amount of funding and endowments from them. They recruit here extensively for our young geoscientists. Now, since Dr. Pataariki has left for industry himself, I would like to appoint you as the College of Natural Sciences corporate liaison.” He explains.
“Indeed?” I replied, too stunned for words for once.
“Yes, indeed.” He continues, “It will require travel, mostly domestic, and delivering symposia at various companies on differing extractive geological subjects. You will also serve as host and university coordinator when they are present on recruiting tours. There will, of course, be additional remuneration to accompany the added responsibilities.”
I slurped my coffee, thinking furiously.
“Could I please first discuss it with my wife before I answer?” I ask.
“Oh, Doctor. Of course, of course. Take your time. I will not require a reply until… tomorrow.” He smiles, finishes his coffee, thanks me again, and toddles out.
“Yow, Es!” I exclaim, “This is one hell of an opportunity. It’s never before been offered to a junior professor. This will cement my tenure-track. It’s going to be a bitch with time, though. What do you think I should do?”
“Well, Rock, honey, I think you should do…” Es begins.
“No! None of that ‘do what you think is best’ stuff. I want your own thoughts, just like when I decided to go after my doctorate.” I explained.
“OK, then.” Esme looks all serious like she’s going to deliver a bipartisan political speech.
“Yes.” She says, firmly
“That’s it?” I ask.
“Yep. You asked I answered. We’ll make it work. We always do. You can’t let the Dean down. You will accept tomorrow without fear or qualms of your wife’s hesitations, of which I harbor none.” Esme proclaims.
“Did I ever tell you of the myriad reasons I love you so?” I ask.
The next morning I meet with Dean Vermiculari. He’s pleased that I accept and hands over to me the charter. Then the lists of company representatives, their contact information, and some other secret stuff that I can’t divulge right yet.
A raft of oil companies will be coming in the late spring semester, so I need to contact each and every one to solidify dates, times and positions for which they’re recruiting. But that’s for then, I have something more proximal for now.
I have a Friday appointment with Polack the cop at the town police shooting range.
I arrive spot on time with my Casull .454 Magnum pistol, in its carry bag, along with a small duffel crammed with Pyrodex, Tannerite, and selection of specialty loads I had Herman the German, the inveterate gunsmith, create.
Herman the German, his actual sobriquet, was this incredible gunsmith, craftsman, and all-around artillery specialist. Have any sort of problem with a rifle, shotgun, or pistol? See Herman. Gun holding too high? See Herman. Barrel warped? See Herman. Need solid gold projectiles for a certain one-off job? See Herman.
Herman the German can sort it out.
Just never ask him: “How?”
“Ach! I’ve lived so long to learn, and you want it free? I’ll fix it, you pay, but I am only one knowing how!”
Herman was a cranky old Kraut, and has lived here for as long as anyone can remember. Even my Grandfather had deferred to Herman when he had some particularly delicate machining operation that need special attention and was unique.
As far as anyone knew, Herman had no family, but was never at a loss for friends. He was one of the most popular, and well known, but still oddly really unknown, kind of mysterious, old bastards in the entire community.
Herman the German liked me because I could obtain for him certain high-energy things he couldn’t. All were entirely legal, but some were sort of out there in the gray zone.
He also liked that I was educated, as he held education in the highest esteem. He also liked that I was of German extraction myself.
I often made it a point to drop by with odd and unusual high-octane potables while never expecting anything in return other than a story or a shared cigar.
Herman created some special loads for my .454 Magnum, which he prized.
“I like your gun, Doctor Rock, it is so big! I can still see well enough to build things for it.” He told me one day over cheroots and Schnapps.
Herman was a character to be certain. It must have been the pixie in him to dream up some of the specialty rounds he created for me to share with the local constabulary.
He lived out in the county by himself in an old farmhouse. He had a full machine shop in his basement, complete with forge, metal handling equipment, and a firing test range.
He handed back my .454, rather solemnly.
“Doctor, I am afraid to say I couldn’t test all the special rounds I’ve created for you. I need to patch the hole in the cinder blocks in the downstairs range. Your gun punched right through the back…” he apologized.
Now, Herman does all sorts of work on the local’s deer rifles, the police’s ordinance and has even worked some with the Baja Canada National Guard. Some of the little novelties he’s dreamed up for me are the first to escape his homemade basement test range.
I felt oddly honored.
After proving who I was to the nice range officer, I looked around trying to find Polack.
“It’s 1550. Where the hell is Polack? I wondered.
“Rock! Over here.” Polack calls to me.
He motions me outside to the police department’s tactical outdoor range. I had thought all along he was referring to the indoors police target range. This might pose some problems.
The tactical range was a series of clapboard shacks, all setup and designed to represent some downtrodden urban inter-city landscape. There were a couple of junked cars, broken sidewalks, storefronts, houses, bus stops…in short, all things necessary to replicate the seediest sections of a settlement where malefactors live and breed.
The cops all run around this range, shooting at bad guy pop-up cut-outs and avoid the not-bad-guy pop-up cut-outs. They’ve got music blaring, firecrackers going off, all trying to re-create a shady deeply urban environment. Points are awarded by the accuracy of fire on the run, time to maneuver the course, and the ability of not gunning down innocent bystanders.
It is not the best place to test a .454 Cusall. This hand cannon recoils like a fundamentalist Christian being solicited for donations to Anton LaVey, shoots flames and incandescent gasses like Smaug after a hard night of drinking and a stop at the Taco Bell buffet, is louder than a dime-store Karen demanding to see a Manager, and more powerful than a Ghost Pepper suppository.
To quote Joe Piscopo: “It shoots through schools.” Especially faux-schools made of plywood.
A .32 or .38 cop special is the correct weapon here; even a 9mm is a little heavy. Enough power to make a serious dent, easy on control, light on the recoil…a good tactical weapon.
But, nothing succeeds like excess.
Polack’s Chief is running around, capping off his ‘big ol’ .44 Magnum, and making the valley echo. He punches considerable holes in the pop-up cut-outs, but has such a hard time handling the recoil, his score is barely passable.
Polack runs his test with his standard 9mm sidearm and qualifies easily. However, he’s nowhere near done with his Chief yet.
I suggest to Polack we have a shoot-off. And since a .44 Magnum bullet ‘is so close to a .454 Magnum’, which it isn’t…the .454 Casull generates nearly 85% more recoil energy than the .44 Magnum; that we’d need something other than holes punched in plywood to judge the efficacy of each.
We are literally just down the road from Max Yazzer’s farm and market. They’re the place you go for your Halloween jack-o-lantern. However, now, he has a surplus of melons.
I think you can see where this is headed…
I borrow Polack’s personal conveyance and run down to Max’s farm. I return with a trunk-load of elderly, overripe, cheap as chips, melons. Watermelons, Honeydews, Musks, and Casabas.
We place them in strategic areas on the course, five for the Chief to find, and five for Polack.
A .44 vs. a .454 melon-wise results in pretty much the same sort of mess: high-velocity fruit spatter. Although, the Chief was very impressed by the report of the .454. So, after running the tactical-melon course, clear demarcation of a winner was elusive.
OK, OK, clever dicks. How about this? A standing shoot-off? We’ll set up 3 melons each at 30, 20, and 10 yards. Beginning at 30 yards, your time will be until you take out all three melons. But, they’re not going to be in a straight line, we’re going to make them somewhat camouflaged. You will stand in one small demarcated area, hunt those miscreant melons, and bring them to justice. Fastest time and greatest display wins, as determined by the Police Peanut Gallery.
Polack and the Chief agree.
The Chief goes first and dispatches the melons, with a fair amount of spatter, in 15.3 seconds.
Not bad.
Polack is next. He wipes out all the melons and creates some thoroughly impressive displays with Herman’s ‘special’ rounds. Normal ballistics for the .454 are, for a 250 grain (16 g) bullet, a muzzle velocity of over 2,400 feet per second, developing up to 2,800 ft-lb of energy.
Herman’s hot loads are double that.
Polack wins the day on impressive high-velocity melon distribution, but misses, so close, with a time of 17.0 seconds.
Recoil’s a bitch.
Then there are Herman’s ‘specialties’.
The Chief is duly impressed and even comments that his ears are ringing even with the ear protectors. He asks to inspect the weapon. He is even more than duly impressed.
Polack knows what’s up and asks the Chief if he’d like to give a whirl.
Of course, the Chief can’t back down.
Polack loads the .454 with 5 of Herman’s specialties: hollow-point rounds loaded hot, compressed, and tipped with alkaline earth metals, like metallic sodium and metallic potassium…
We set up the nastiest, glorpiest, just barely-holding-together, overripe, laced with Tannerite (an impact-actuated low-explosive) watermelon at the ‘Concealed Carry’ distance of 5 meters.
We slowly fade back into the distance to avoid the inevitable ‘Gallagher reaction’.
The Chief fires one, and just nicks the top of the melon. Don’t laugh, with the type of recoil and heft of the sidearm, and tensing up in anticipation, it’s easy to be off the mark initially.
The second round impacts dead-center. Now, alkaline earth metals and water don’t get along really well. In fact, their relationship is explosive. Especially explosive when delivered at 2,900 feet per second.
The Chief catches a huge smattering of vitamin-packed watermelony back blast goo.
He’s not entirely happy. He looks positively grisly with all that blown-up melon schmoo on his nice, neat uniform.
He returns my gun and bans me from ever showing up at the police range again.
Polack is on traffic duty for the next month.
He figures it was well worth it.
Back at the flat, Esme is shaking her head and wondering if I’ll ever grow up.
“I may grow old, but I’ll never grow up.” I reply.
I see I have several missed phone calls. Ah, me; no rest for the weary. Back to company-university liaison duties.
After I had contacted these companies, I receive no less than 12 requests for symposia, talks, and seminars to be given to various level of industrial scientific employees in their respective companies.
I am now slated to give academic conferences on stratigraphy, sedimentology, and seismic structural geology to different companies in Houston, Oklahoma City, Denver, Casper, Corpus Christi, New Orleans, and Tulsa. In the next 12 weeks, I’ll be giving no less than 8 talks in seven cities.
I speak with Dean Vermiculari on how best to handle the situation. He understands and appoints two graduate student teaching assistants to handle my classes while I’m on the road. That relieves me of being physically there, but I still have to grade papers, compose lesson plans, and keep things running smoothly until finals.
Besides giving the talks, there’s travel to oil fields, production facilitates, manufacturing plants, hotels, restaurants while I’m in town…the pace is excruciating. I’m gone more than I am at university. Plus in my time back home, I’m still the ad hoc master blaster for the limestone quarry.
Then, there’s the companies arriving on campus, and the roles are reversed. Now I’m the welcome wagon and have to sort out the logistics of receiving the company representatives. I need to set up the colloquia to introduce the companies to the prospective students, arrange lodging, arrange passes for the university, transportation, “Meet-and-Greet’s, ad infinitum.
I knew this was having a bit of effect on me when I came back to the flat after one particularly grueling ordeal of canceled flights, full hotels, missed connections and lukewarm reception by the company workers.
“Hello”, I said, as I walked in the flat, “I believe you have a reservation for…”
Esme just stood there, wondering if I was having a laugh.
No, I wasn’t. I was completely hallucinating from road weariness, lack of sleep, jet lag, and total disorientation. This continued on for the next approximately 18 months.
Esme was beginning to have second thoughts about all this.
My teaching load was diminished by one whole introductory course. However, I was still flying hither and yon, delivering symposia, meeting with young geoscientists and getting to know the ins-and-outs of the Oil Industry.
I found it particularly fascinating.
Time marched on and it was once again it was the recruiting season. We had no less than eight oil companies visiting the university in their quest to swell the roster of their junior scientists.
I’m still busier than a one-armed paperhanger in a windstorm, but have settled into a groove of sorts. I know the company recruiters and they now know me. I’ve actually struck up friendships with several. Particularly since I take them to the best local restaurants and bars after their recruiting duties are finished.
I’ve met with recruiting representatives of Shrill Petrol, Mexxon, Nobil, Nocono Oil, Flug, Geddy, Brutish Petroleum, and Qexaco.
The recruiting season is winding down and I find myself with Red (not Adair), of Nocono Oil.
“Well, Doctor Rock”, Red states, “Another fine recruiting run. We’ve snagged two of your young geologists and one geophysicist. I’d say it was almost a perfect score.”
We’re sitting in the Norton’s Steakhouse. After a couple of prime pink porterhouses, we’re working on the post-dinner double vodka and bitter lemon for me, and Lagavulin for Red.
“Almost perfect?” I ask.
“Yeah. There’s been this one small nagging concern from our company higher-ups.” Red continues.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“We need some more senior people. For one thing, we’ve recently opened a new petroleum laboratory down in our Houston office. Going to need some serious talent to run that show.” Red says.
“I see”, I reply, “And…?”
“We need mentors. Those with varied and far-flung knowledge. They must be well educated, global in experience and stature, with an [ahem] diverse set of skills.” Red notes.
“Whew”, I agree, “That’s a tall order. You want my help with names of possible candidates? Is that it?”
“Not as such, Doctor.” Red drains his drink, motions for me to do the same, and orders another round.
Our drinks arrive and Red downs half his in one gulp.
“Well, then”, I continue, “How can I help?”
Red chuckles, “For someone so educated, you can really be thick as two short planks at times.”
I sit back, and sip my Old Thought Provoker.
The mercury-vapors light off.
“No!” I say, incredulously.
“Oh, yes.” Red smiles.
“No?” I ask, slowly taking in the possible effects of what he’s hinting at…
“OK, Doctor Rocknocker”, Red gets all serious and corporate, “We’d like to offer you a position at Nocono Oil as Senior Laboratory Manager and Head of Corporate Continuing Education.”
You could have knocked me over with a grenade. I was stunned. I fumbled with my drink.
“Red, you old con artist” I reply, “Is this a set-up?”
Red, serious as a heart attack, looks directly at me and replies, “Doctor Rock, absolutely not, it’s a genuine offer.”
He slides over a folder with some papers inside. “Here are the particulars.”
Reeling, I accept the folder. I open it and right after the corporate logos and legal bullshit, I see a tall figure with a whole raft of zeros trailing behind it.
I read furiously. The job would be both interesting and challenging. It would be in Houston, with travel and teaching at all other company outposts on a regular basis. I reexamine that figure from before and verify that I’m not now hallucinating.
The job comes with furnished, corporate-paid housing, incredible benefits, loads of opportunity for advancement, more opportunity to travel, really generous vacation time…
“Right. On the level?” I ask again.
“Yep.” Red bluntly says.
“Well”, I gulp, “you know I have to discuss this with Esme”, whom he’s met several times previous.
“Of course, and you probably want to finish out the semester, correct?” red asks.
“Oh, yes.” I reply. There would be a monsoon of paperwork and other grunt work I’d need to conclude or hand over if I were to accept this offer.
“OK, then”, Red finishes his drink, motions for me to do the same, a real rarity; but I was in another dimension at this point. He orders another round and sits back, waiting on a refill.
“You have two weeks to reply” Red states.
“I know that’s not a terribly long time, but we need to fill this position ASAP. Can I ask for that? Your answer, yea, or nay, within a fortnight?” Red demands.
“Yes”, I reply. “I at least owe you that.”
And that was the end of the discussion for the night about me joining the private sector. We stayed a few more hours, chatting, smoking my cigars, and discussing everything but the lumbering elephant in the room.
We part outside as I need to head back to our flat. Red wants to go downtown to one of those “Gentleman’s Clubs” he’s heard were so famous at the time.
I was flummoxed the whole cab ride home.
It was late when I returned, but I simply had to wake Es with the news.
“Rock, for pity’s sake, its 2 o’clock in the morning!” Es protests. “Can’t this wait until later?”
“Sorry, my dear” I reply, probably as serious as I ever had with Esme. “This is a potential game-changer.”
“What is it? Are you OK?” Esme trembles.
“Oh, I’m fine. Better than fine.” I reply.
She’s relieved.
“Then what’s so important?” she asks.
“Um…how would you like to move to Houston?” I ask.
“You going to teach at Cougar High (University of Houston)?” she inquires.
“Nope. Brace yourself. I’ve been offered a job with Nocono Oil.” I finally spill the beans.
Esme is slightly stunned and sits down.
I go to the wet bar, fix me a bracing potato juice and citrus and Esme a stiff white Zinfandel.
I hand her the wine and she is still semi-dazed and digesting the information.
I slurp a good portion of my drink, retrieve her Sobranjes and me a cigar from my Turkmenistan humidor.
I sit on the couch next to her and hug her soundly.
“Esme? Es? Earth to Es? You in there?” I joke.
“Oh, Yeah. Rock. Really? Hang on”, she leaves, returning with her housecoat as this might take a little time.
“So?” I ask, “Your thoughts. Now! Immediately! Initial reaction!” I try to jar her back into reality.
“Well, what do you want?” she asks.
“C’mon, my dearest. You know I hate that. No, what do you think? What do you honestly think?” I reply.
We both fire up our smokes, and I refresh our drinks. We return to the dinner table where Red’s folder lies.
“Es, here. Look at this.” I say, sliding the portfolio over to her.
She reads like a hungry man at a Vegas casino buffet. I can tell where she was stopped by something extraordinary.
“This is for real?” she asks, “Red’s not pulling a fast one?”
“Nope. It’s the genuine article”, I tell her, “He needs my reply within two weeks.”
“Rock, Rock…I just don’t know. It’s a lot to process at 0230 in the morning. Let’s go to bed and have a think in the morning. You have the luxury of at least that amount of time.” She notes.
“Right again, as usual”, I say, “Stuff it. It can wait.” We toddle off to bed.
The next morning, over Cuban omelets and Greenland Coffees, we sort through the particulars.
“Rock, it’s an extraordinary offer. But, do you want to leave teaching? I remember how you got all animated by Dean Vermiculari giving you the corporate liaison job and how that would improve your shot at tenure.” She notes.
“I just don’t know. I’m still shell-shocked.” I tell her. “Let me go to school and we’ll pick this up tonight. We both have work to do no matter what. Oh, bloody hell. I hadn’t considered your job. Another wrinkle in the mess.”
“Don’t you worry about that”, Esme smiles. “One catastrophe at a time.”
“I do so love you.” I hug her soundly. “Think I should mention this offer to anyone at school?”
“No. Definitely not.” Esme shakes her head. “Let’s figure this out on our own.”
“I agree”, I say, kiss her and depart for school once again.
The next week was a blur. Recruiting duties were dragging and I was being preoccupied.
Even my students noted the lack of in-room explosions lately.
I spend the next Saturday at the quarry, doing some small amount of blasting. I quiz the quarry owners about their progress in acquiring a new master for the quarry’s operation.
“Oh, Doctor Rock” they gush, “You’re doing such a fine job, we haven’t really looked. Why do you ask?”
“No particular reason at this time, I reply, “But perhaps you might want to begin looking”
The chinks in my armor were finally starting to show.
Sunday was spent out on Sliver Lake, with Esme and me chasing the elusive crappie, perch, and bucketmouth bass. It also gave us a chance to clear our heads from work, school and other such intrusions. We both needed a bit of downtime.
Later that night, after a meal of beer-battered fillet of crappie and perch on the barbie, we sit down at the dinner table.
The portfolio sits there, taunting us.
I get up, makes us both our drinks, sit down and declare that this is it.
“Es, darling” I say, “its nut-cuttin’ time. We need to make our decision.”
“You’re right.” Es agrees, “Time for risk-reward analysis. Get some paper and some pencils.”
We spend the next few hours listing the pros and cons of accepting the Houston position or staying here and pursuing my tenured professorship.
After several hours, I stretch, stand, and go to the fridge. I retrieve the bottle of Bollinger Les Vieilles Vignes Francaises I had purchased the other day.
I return to the table with the wine and the glasses, pop the cork and pour us both a glass of high-brow bubble water.
I hug and kiss Esme like I had just returned from a long, solo expedition.
“Esme, my darling. I’d like to propose a toast. First to us. Hа здоровый!”
“Cheers!” Esme replies.
“Secondly to Red, Dean Vermiculari, the quarry guys, Polack the Cop, and all the others that makes our life weird around here.”
“Seconded”, Es echoes.
“Finally: to Houston, Texas. Our new home!” I finally add.
The next morning, Dean Vermiculari peers over the top of his pince-nez glasses. He’s not looking overly happy with me right now.
“Why is it, Doctor, that everyone that receives the job of corporate liaison ends up going with corporate?” he asks.
“Perhaps it’s just the exposure to another world that exists beyond academia.” I reply, truthfully.
“Doctor Rocknocker,” the Dean gravely states, “I am not at all happy about your decision. We had great hopes for you here and you were riding right up the tenure track. Another five years and it would have been assured.”
“Five years is a long time, Dean”, I state the obvious.
“Yes, indeed.” The Dean replies frostily. “However, you are young. Perhaps you need to get this private sector nonsense out of your system, then you can return to academia where you belong.”
“Perhaps, perhaps”, I reply.
“Please, do consider this option down the road. You and your antics will be missed here, by students and faculty alike.” He says.
“I will, Dean, I promise.” I reply “However, for now, it’s time for my boot heels to be wanderin’.”
“Doctor, I will miss your strange and unique way of looking at life. I reluctantly accept your resignation at the end of the current semester and wish you all the best in your newest endeavors. Please remember us when corporate support for academia is mentioned in your new company.” he says.
“I promise you, Dean, I will not forget what I’ve learned here and what you’ve taught. It’s the least I can do,” I reply. “I will never forget my roots.”
“All I can ask”, he concludes. He stands to shake my hand. We shake and my audience is over.
I resign from the quarry a week later. They haven’t found a new blaster but wish me well on my new journey. I tell them I’m here until the end of the semester, so I won’t leave them high and dry.
I tell Polack the Cop about all the goings-on.
“Who the hell can I roust for beer and cigars now?” He whines. “Let me know when you get to Texas if they need any cops. I wouldn’t mind trying’ that. Hell, maybe a Texas Ranger!”
“A Cheesehead Ranger…?” I assure him I will and pass a box of cigars to him as a parting gift. He gives me a mayoral-signed get-out-of-jail-free card.
“Now you can drive that old Harley just as crazy as you want.” He chuckles.
“Thanks, Polack.” I say, shaking his hand. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I sold my bike a week earlier.
Red was very chuffed with the news.
“Snagged me a big one this time!’ He laughed, over the phone.
There was enough paperwork, considerations and decisions to be made to last the remaining time Esme and I had in-state until our move. Already, a moving company had arrived, done inventory, and was preparing for our move to Houston.
Esme resigned her position and decided she wanted to take some time off. She wanted to be a housewife, a colleague, and not have to work for once at an outside job. My new position allowed for that in spades. Besides with her credentials, anytime when she wants to re-join the workforce, there are myriad opportunities in the Bayou City.
We made the choice of housing out west of town, in Katy, Texas. We could have chosen Sugarland, Addicks, Greenspoint, Greenway, or the Memorial area. However, these west Houston company properties were closest to the job and largest in square footage.
My students got wind of my resignation and relocation. They threw me an unexpected farewell party at the Gast Haus. It was nickel-beer night and since they were footing the bill, it all worked out just fine.
I would miss the old place. The camaraderie, the seasons, the university; hell my home these last many years. I’ve been on many, many expeditions, but I always returned home.
Now, home was moving and was awaiting our arrival.
Esme and I said our farewells to our families as well. We were the first through college, the first ones to travel international, the first Doctor in the family, and the first to leave the state.
That’s a lot of familial firsts.
I had to keep reminding everyone it wouldn’t be the last. Hell, we’re just moving to Texas, it’s not like we’re off to Greenland or Mongolia…
[Gasp]
We saddled up Es’s old Chevy Nova, took one last, lingering look in the rearview mirror, and said fare thee well to our previous lives.
“We’ll be back. Someday. I promise” I told the city of our youth and young married adulthood.
We decided to drive to Houston because we had the luxury of a bit of time. We needed the stretch to chew over some interpersonal and private things on the way to the next chapter in our lives. Besides, the weather was good, the roads ahead open and clear, and Texas had no ‘Open Container’ law, yet.
We pointed the old Nova south and hit the gas.
A week later, we’re wandering around our new house in Katy, Texas. Our belongings, scant though they may be, arrived the day after we did. Esme and I spent the next couple of day rearranging the house, buying necessary domestic bits and pieces, and getting to know our new neighborhood.
First thing, though, Esme wanted to replace the old Nova. I concurred, but insisted we keep it as a second car and went out to purchase our first new car as a couple.
I wanted a Land Rover. We ended up with a glossy black Toyota 4-Runner. Close enough.
I was scheduled to show up at my new job the next Monday.
I had my own parking spot, complete with “Reserved for Dr. Rock” painted on the bumper block. I was shown my new lab and was introduced to my seven laboratory assistants. I was shown the catalogs I could use to order what I needed and went over the requisition procedures.
I was trotted around to meet the company CEO, CFO, CIO, VPs and many, many more company executives and managers. I’ve met with presidents and heads of state, I was impressed but not overly. They seemed like a more or less nice bunch of chaps.
Almost exactly five weeks to the day from our arrival in Houston, I come home, yelling “Darling, I’m home!”
Esme comes to greet me with a rib-rearranging hug. She tells me to sit at the dinner table, where my long hard day at the office drink, cigar, ashtray, and lighter are already set.
“How was work, dear?” she asks, sitting down with her Perrier water.
“Oh, it’s going great. The knotheads let me have an open-ended budget until I get the labs sorted just the way I want it. These guys pay their bills on time and I have carte blanche at Wards Scientific, and other supply houses. My crew is great, no interpersonal crapola, and hard workers. I can smoke in my office and no one dares give me shit about my cigars. I’m getting to know the exploration department quite well. They’re really interested in our expeditions and are more interested in my opinions of their new exploration directives.”
Esme just smiles and sips her water.
“Odd”, I thought.
“That’s great, dear.” She says. “I am so glad to hear it.”
“Me too”, I say, “How are you holding up after all these weeks alone?”
“Oh, I’m getting used to it.” She smiles.
And smiles. Beatifically. Glowing.
“What?” I ask.
“Remember what we talked about in the car on the way down here?” She asks.
“We talked about a lot of things…” I say, suddenly my eyes grew very, very wide indeed.
“Yes. You’re going to be a father. I’m pregnant, Rock.” Esme smiles.

Born 90 years ago in the wake of the most brutal war in history, two Hungarian boys survived the horrors and helped form the greatest team the world had ever seen. Faced with war yet again, they decided to run for their very lives and found a new home in Barcelona.
Being overshadowed by Puskás in the national team and Kubala at Barça, unfortunately the names Zoltán Czibor and Sándor Kocsis are rarely spoken these days, but during their careers they were widely recognized as one of the greatest players of all time. Forming the legendary attack that hypnotized fans in the newly built Camp Nou, they helped establish Barça as a true powerhouse of European football.

Early life and football during the war

Zoltán Suhai Czibor was born on August 23rd 1929 in Kaposvár, Hungary. Some time after his birth, his family moved to Komárom. He started playing football with his two older brothers and soon they joined the local club as amateur players. He debuted as a 12 year old. It was the middle of World War II , so living off football alone was impossible. To survive as a teenager Czibor was forced to do hard labor in factories and worked as a train engine driver..
Sándor Péter Kocsis was born on September 21st 1929 in Budapest. Living in the capital may have saved him from famine and hard labor, but it brought him closer to war as 38 000 citizens died during the liberation of Budapest and the city was destroyed by allied bombings. He only started playing football at a club after the war when he signed for Kőbányai TC.

Ferencváros and forming the Honvéd team

After just a year at Kőbányai, Kocsis was noticed by Ferencváros, the biggest club in Hungary. He signed for them in 1946 at the age of just 16. During his first season he met a fellow young player from Budapest - Kubala. Even though Kubala left for Czechoslovakia after just one season, the Ferencváros squad was improving every year. Kocsis was very young and didn’t get too many chances in his first few seasons, but he grew as a player while training with Ferenc Deák, who was one of the best players in the world at the time and is to this day the eight greatest goalscorer in history. Czibor finally moved to Budapest in 1948 and the great team was formed. Ferencváros won the league with mind blowing 140 goals scored in just 30 matches. However, the squad that looked ready to dominate for years was about to be destroyed.
In 1949 Hungary officially became a communist country which forced many players like Kubala to leave. It also meant that the club system was about to be changed. Hungarian party leaders made a genius, but vicious plan that would potentially ruin club football in order to create a great national team. And it worked.
The plan was devised by Gusztáv Sebes who became the national team coach in 1949. As a player during the 30s, he admired the great national sides of Austria and Italy who based their strength on having almost the entire squad from one or two clubs. Austrians formed their team around Vienna clubs Austria and Rapid, while the Italians used a Juventus based squad. He also adopted the idea of total football from Jimmy Hogan, an Englishman who coached MTK Budapest and Austria Wien during the 20s. The rise of communism gave Sebes, who ran the workers union, the power he needed to turn his vision into reality, as he was named deputy minister of sport. Initially two clubs were chosen for his project. Honvéd was given to the army, while MTK was given to the ministry of internal affairs. MTK was later discarded as they were known to be a right wing club, but they got to keep and develop their squad. That left Honvéd as the only appropriate club to be the base for a great national team.
The plan was simple, but very effective. As the army club, Honvéd had rights to any player that served the military at that time. The club already had quite a foundation with Ferenc Puskás and József Bozsik and were previously coached by Béla Guttman who fled the country in 1949. Now able to basically take any player they liked for free, Honvéd was becoming a team to be feared. Kocsis and Budai joined from Ferencváros, Lóránt joined from Vasas and Grosics was recruited after he was caught trying to defect. Czibor was one of the players who tried to avoid serving the military. He faked being a student at the university and cleverly signed for Csepel which was a workers club and as such didn’t get harassed by the army. After years of waiting, Sebes insisted and finally in 1953 Czibor was conscripted into the army and thus Honvéd.
Naturally the squad made from the best players Hungary could offer dominated the league winning 5 titles in 6 years. Sebes and the MTK coach Márton Bukovi developed and perfected the new revolutionary 4-2-4 formation, that would help the team attack and defend as a cohesive unit, rather than the rigid old 2-3-5 formation also known as WM formation. This formation utilized the fact that Hungarians had great strikers who could be more than the traditional striker whose only duty was to score the goal from close range. Both Kocsis and Puskás were great with the ball at their feet and could pass quickly and accurately which allowed them to surprise and outplay the opposition who didn’t know how to deal with them. With Czibor on the left and Budai on the right, both being able and often playing on the opposite side, the attack was deadly. Traditional fifth attacker was now moved to the midfield to function as a box to box player that initiated and usually finished the attack. That position was played by Péter Palotás or Nándor Hidegkuti. Even Grosics as the goalkeeper had more freedom in his play and inspired keepers like Yashin who later revolutionized the role.
With the fast paced attacking football which further evolved the idea that is known today as total football, the Honvéd side was basically used as a training ground for the national team. It allowed Kocsis and Czibor to flourish because it fully utilized all their qualities. Kocsis scored 153 goals in 145 games for Honvéd, while Czibor managed 58 goals in 80 games.
Honvéd became popular around Europe thanks to the Hungarian national side. Every big club wanted to play friendlies with a team from behind the iron curtain. That showed that football could connect people regardless of politics and lead to the creation of European club competitions. The basis for this was a friendly match between Honvéd and Wolverhampton, the reigning English champions, after the tragic World Cup of 1954. The game was played on December 13th in England. Early goal from Kocsis wasn’t enough as Wolves came back from 0:2 to win 3:2 just like the Germans did a few months earlier. Wolves manager Stan Cullis proclaimed his team “the best in Europe” as they had defeated “the greatest team in history”. Journalists across Europe disagreed, claiming that Real Madrid, Barcelona, Stade Reims or AC Milan are superior to the English side and attributing their victory to extremely poor pitch conditions which made it hard for the Hungarians to play their quick passing football. They were asking for a competition to see which club truly is the best. Next season the first European Cup was played.

The Mighty Magyars

It’s ridiculous to talk about any Hungarian player from the 50s without talking about their national team.

Creating a phenomenon

With all the success Honvéd had, in the end they were basically a glorified training facility since 1949. The communist party didn’t decide to focus on football as the main national sport randomly however. Hungary were already an extremely strong team ever since the 30s and played the World Cup final in 1938, losing 4:2 to Italy. Many people today think that if not for World War II, they would’ve won the 1942 World Cup.
Strangely Hungary refused to compete in the 1950 World Cup which was held in Brazil. Their first big competition came in 1952 with the Olympics in Helsinki. Back then the Olympics were almost as prestigious as the World Cup so the teams competing were the best in the world. Hungary absolutely stomped the competition with a goal difference of 20-2. The final against Yugoslavia was won in last minutes with goals from Puskás and Czibor. Kocsis finished the competition as the second best scorer with 6 goals, behind Yugoslavia’s Branko Zebec. One of the FIFA officials at the competition was Stanley Rose of the English Football Association. The English thought themselves to be the best team in the world at that time so he invited Hungary to play a friendly game against England.
In 1953 they won the Central European International Cup which was the predecessor to the European Championship that we have today. The friendly against England was finally arranged, the date was November 25th 1953. England who had a habit of picking the best player in each position to form the national team were shown what it truly meant to have team chemistry. Hungarians blitzed the English side, leading 4:2 at half time while still missing a ton of chances. The game ended in a 6:3 victory and a hat trick from Hidegkuti. This game broke the delusion the English media had and showed them how modern national sides should play. It was dubbed “Match of the century”. Some of the English were not convinced however, stating that it was just a bad day for their team. The rematch that was played in Budapest just one month before the 1954 World Cup was sure to change the minds of even the most stubborn England supporters as the Magyars massacred them 7:1 with braces from Kocsis and Puskás. Alf Ramsey who played for the losing English side later adopted Sebes’s philosophy and formed his World Cup winning team around West Ham United players.

The 1954 World Cup

Hungary arrived as clear favorites, having been undefeated for four years and having the strongest team and individual players. They were drawn into group B with West Germany, South Korea and Turkey. The system was a bit different than it is today, after two games the best two teams from each group would advance, if there needed to be a tie breaker it was played afterwards. Hungary smashed South Korea 9:0 with a hat trick from Kocsis and a goal from Czibor, while Germany smashed Turkey. Turkey then beat South Korea. Knowing that his team will easily beat Turkey in the tie breaker, German coach Sepp Herberger cleverly decided to rotate his squad against the Hungarians and instructed his players to play rough with dirty tackles on their key players knowing that even with suspensions those were his bench players. The plan worked and Puskás suffered a fractured ankle, while other players suffered minor injuries. The cost was the biggest humiliation in German football history as they lost 8:3 with four goals from Kocsis.
Bad luck continued as Hungary were drawn against Brazil in the quarter finals, Brazil being considered the only team good enough to challenge them. Everyone expected this to be the best game in history of football, but it ended up being one of the dirtiest and was later named “Battle of the Bern”. Hungary was left without its captain and best player, but the game started well for them as they were leading 2:0 after just 7 minutes with a goal and assist from Kocsis. Two penalties were awarded, one for each team. After the penalty for Hungary, Brazilian fans invaded the pitch and attacked the referees, so police had to intervene. The game was played under heavy rain and the two teams were fouling each other constantly. Bozsik and Nilton Santos got into a fight so they were both sent off. Brazil scored, but their hopes were killed again by Kocsis who set the final score 4:2 with an absolute banger from outside the box. After the game ended fans got into a massive fight and Brazilian players later invaded Hungary’s dressing room to continue the fist fight. Players were bruised and Sebes got hit in the head with a bottle. The game ended with 42 fouls, 4 cautions and 3 dismissals. Referee Arthur Ellis noted: “I was so happy when I got that game, I thought it will be the greatest football spectacle of all time, the greatest moment of my career. But they behaved like animals, it was a disgrace for the sport. With today’s rules the game would’ve been stopped because every player would’ve been sent off”.
With even more injuries and exhausted, the Hungarian team was struck with poor luck yet again as their semi final opponents were the reigning world champions Uruguay. The game, as every other in the competition, started really well for them. Czibor opened up the score with a weak but very precise volley into corner of the net. Hidegkuti added a header to make it 2:0. Fatigue was showing as the game was nearing its end and Uruguay came back in last few minutes with two counter attacks. Believing that they truly cannot be beaten at a World Cup, the Uruguayans rushed to attack as the extra time started. Kocsis was quick to kill their enthusiasm with two of his trademark headers to win the game. They won but at a high cost since they were exhausted from fighting the tough South American teams. Some said that Kocsis had to be carried out of the stadium since he was so tired he couldn’t walk. The big final was just three days away.
Everyone was prepared for the final game. Named “The miracle of Bern” by the Germans, it was the disaster of Bern for the Hungarians. Problems were already present before the game started. The tired team had trouble getting sleep due to a village fair in front of their hotel. The weather was terrible with heavy rain slowing down and ruining Hungary’s quick passing game, especially since they didn’t have modern boots for different weather like Germans had with Adidas. Puskás started, but was barely ready to play football which was risky considering that substitutions weren’t a thing yet. Problems weren’t noticeable when Hungary took the quick 2:0 lead with goals from Puskás who slotted in a deflected Kocsis long shot and Czibor who used his blistering speed to cut the backpass to the German keeper and slotted the ball in the empty net. But the German spirit that we know today was born on that very day, just 10 minutes later the score was leveled. Second half was nearing its end when Helmut Rahn scored the winner in the 84. minute. Hungary dominated most of the game and had numerous chances, they hit the woodwork 3 times and had 2 shots cleared off the goal line. They had 16 shots on goal in total, but all in vain. They didn’t lose fairly though as the final was one of the most controversial games in football history. There were three major refereeing mistakes. The second German goal was scored after a clear foul on Grosics who dropped the ball after a corner kick, which Rahn slotted into the empty net. At the very end of the second half Kocsis got hacked from behind in the box, but the ref said no penalty. Puskás scored a legitimate goal in the last second of the game, but the offside was called. Referee was from England, who Hungarians humiliated just a month earlier. Lastly, perhaps the biggest controversy came after the game as there were reports that the German team was given nazi performance-enhancing drugs which they were told were vitamin C injections. Studies done 50 years later confirmed the story was likely true based on the symptoms that German players had in months after the game.
In the end that game marked the start of the great German national side that is to this day the most consistent in the world, while Hungary never again came even close to achieving glory.

Post World Cup period and “starting” the revolution

Hungarian loss wasn’t received well by the public nor the communist party. The people who were oppressed for years finally snapped after the tragic loss and came out in thousands to protest against the communist party. Party needed to blame someone, as losing to West Germany who were enemies of the highest order was seen as a disgrace. But the team never gave them a chance to punish them. They continued to win games over the next two years. Their last big game came when the hostility between USSR and Hungary was at its peak and exactly those two teams met in Moscow in September of 1956. USSR had never lost a game on home soil before, but they have also never met the team this strong. It was a tough match dominated by Hungary, but the score in the end was just 1:0, courtesy of Czibor’s shot with the outside of his foot which blasted past Lev Yashin. There are stories that Czibor shouted: “We can defeat communism!” after his goal. The game itself, combined with the waterpolo game between the two sides at the 1956 Olympics, did little good to calm down the anti-Soviet riots in Budapest that were going on. One month after the game all hell broke loose.

Legacy and world records

In the end the Magyars lost only one game in 7 years, unfortunately for them the most important one. But not winning the World Cup never truly tarnished their legacy. They are regarded to this day as one of the best teams of all time and they indeed are the best ranked team in history by today’s FIFA elo ranking. They hold an incredible amount of records, both individual and team, that remain to this day.
They are the first team to beat England, Scotland and USSR on their home soil. They are the first team in history to defeat Uruguay at a World Cup. They gave the hardest ever defeats to Germany, England, Romania, South Korea and numerous other teams. They have ridiculous stat of 42 victories, 7 draws and 1 defeat in 50 games, with Sebes having the greatest win ratio out of any national team coach in history. Also they scored in 73 consecutive games and were undefeated for 4 years. They hold the record for most goals scored by a single team in a world cup with 27 goals in just 5 games.
But more important than all the records is the way they changed football. They broke the WM formation that was used for 60 odd years. Their approach to tactics, physical preparation and team selection was later used by every single national team and club. The idea of total football that somewhat began with English coaches in the early 20s and the Austrian wunderteam was finally presented to the world in its full glory and was later adopted by Rinus Michels who himself said that he was greatly influenced by the “best team ever”. Michels and Cruijff went on to implement total football into clubs and build the entire club philosophy around it, forever changing Ajax, Barça and others as the style evolved to what we can still see today.

European Cup that changed everything

With them greatly influencing the creation of the first European Cup in 1955, Honvéd refused to participate as the Hungarian champions, deeming the competition unimportant. Indeed at the time nobody could have known that the European Cup would evolve and become the Champions League that we have today, but even after the first season it was evident that international club competitions had quite an audience. Honvéd won the Hungarian league again and this time they decided to participate. In the round of 16 they were drawn against Spanish champions Athletic Bilbao. It was late 1956 when the team traveled across the continent to play their first ever European Cup game. It ended in a 3:2 loss. As they were preparing to return to Budapest, they got the news that an all out war erupted back home. Known as the Hungarian revolution of 1956, the Soviet army invaded Hungary and thousands of people died. Honvéd players were left shocked, but were thankfully already out of the country. They arranged for the away leg to be played in Brussels, but it ended very poorly for them as the Honvéd keeper got injured during the opening minutes and Czibor had to step in as a keeper. They managed a 3:3 draw which saw them eliminated from the competition.
As the revolution was over, Honvéd players had the option to come back home, but the majority of them refused to, fearing for their and their families’ future, as well as their footballing careers. They started a world tour to collect money so that they could survive. That didn’t go well with the Hungarian Football Association who filed a report to FIFA and asked for them to get banned, which FIFA shockingly accepted. Banned from playing professional football, the players started an illegal tour around South Europe and later South America. Many of them tried playing for different minor clubs to support themselves.
Legendary Hungarian player, now coach, György Sárosi was managing Roma at the time and he needed a winger so he invited Czibor to join the Italian side. Just as he received the money from his contract the Italian federation banned further signings of foreign players, which meant that Czibor had to pay back all the money. He was now in debt, without a club and desperate. Next season he joined Kocsis at a minor Swiss team Young Fellows from Zürich where they spent one season. The two players were likely close friends as they were seen next to each other in most team pictures even before and especially after they defected.

Finding a new home in Barcelona

Fate finally lead the two Hungarian stars to Barcelona in 1958. The club was looking for reinforcements to challenge the now dominating Real Madrid team that had already won 3 European Cups in a row, as well as other strong Spanish teams. The 50s saw Barça grow as a club to the point where they almost doubled their fanbase, thanks mainly to the huge success in early 50s. The “Barça of the five cups” squad lead by Kubala brought the club to new heights. Now the Les Corts was too small even with its 60 000 seats. Camp Nou was opened in 1957 and the incomes kept rising, but the club went into debt to pay for the construction of the largest stadium in Europe. Barça was hungry for European glory and the sporting directochief scout Josep Samitier was looking to sign world class players for as little money as possible. Samitier often abused his good relationship with Franco and his government to arrange transfers of foreign players which were very hard and tedious procedures at the time, only reserved for Franco’s favorites like Real or Atletico.
Kubala who himself never found glory in Hungarian national team, wanted to help his struggling brothers, but also knew that they possess the quality that could help Barça reach the top. Puskás was snatched by Real Madrid, but Kubala managed to convince Kocsis and Czibor whose debts he paid. They cost 100 000 dollars each and in 1958 the Camp Nou crowd had the pleasure of watching not one, but three Hungarian magicians on the pitch, as Kocsis and Czibor signed 3 year contracts with the club.
Even though they never really played outside of Hungary, the two newcomers adapted immediately, as was expected from such household names at the time. Luis Suárez said half a century later: “Most of us were usually weary of foreign players, especially from Eastern Europe, but they were really nice people, very calm and shy. Wonderful friends and teammates, not to mention their quality as players. Today they talk about Kubala or me, but back then they were the football stars, we were just Barça stars.”
Both Kocsis and Czibor scored on their debuts for Barça, Kocsis in a 4:1 victory against Betis and Czibor in a 6:0 trashing of Valencia. In 1958 Barça’s attacking five was widely regarded as the greatest in the world, even ahead of Real Madrid’s. Kubala, Kocsis and Czibor, together with Suárez were regulars, while the final position was challenged for by Villaverde, Eulogio Martínez and Evaristo. Czibor added the long needed width to the attack, while Kocsis was another source of consistent goals since Kubala was getting older. A major part of the success was Helenio Herrera who also came in 1958. Although he is regarded today as the inventor of catenaccio, the most utterly defensive style of football, Herrera’s Barça played relatively attacking football, relying on their front 5 to generate goals and entertain the fans, while the popular “HH” tried to fix Barça’s leaky defense.

Slaying the monster and the curse of Bern

Barça dominated the league in 1958/59 season with convincing beautiful football. They destroyed Valencia on the first matchday. Real Madrid was beaten 4:0 at the Camp Nou with a hat trick from Evaristo and a red card for Czibor who got into a fight with Madrid’s José Santamaría, whom he already fought with in World Cup semifinal. Barça also won Copa del Generalísimo that season to seal the double. The final was played against Granada side coached by ex-Honvéd coach Jenő Kalmár. Barça won 4:1 with two headers from Kocsis.
At the time the European Cup had some prestige, but so did the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The competition was originally based around players from different cities combining themselves into a team. The reality was, however, that most cities just used the strongest club to represent them, regardless of where the players were from. Soon it turned into a club competition. Competitions were played over the periods of two years and Barça won the first two editions in 1958 and 1960. The final of 1960 was played against Birmingham City. First leg in England ended in a 0:0 draw on a muddy pitch under heavy rain. Barça players were also tired, having played Sevilla just three days earlier. Kocsis and Eulogio spearheaded the attack as Suárez, Kubala and Czibor were left out. Return leg was played a couple months later. Barça team was now in shambles and without a manager after their European exit so Birmingham hoped to surprise them. Barça won that game 4:1, with a brace from Czibor who was now well rested. He scored Barça’s second and third goal in his usual manner with a nice shot from the left wing.
Apart from the Fairs Cup, Barça as the champions of Spain participated in the 1959/60 European Cup and were considered one of the favorites. They started strong absolutely smashing CSKA Sofia 8:4, Milan 7:1 and Wolverhampton 9:2 with Kubala scoring hattricks against CSKA and Milan and Kocsis adding one against Wolves. The opponent in the semi final was very well known and very scary indeed. The very first European clasico was about to take place. Unfortunately for Barça, Kubala had a major falling out with Herrera some time between the two Wolves games and was permanently benched by the Argentinian. Fans were mad and blamed it on Suárez who started underperforming. Additionally Kocsis and Czibor struggled as a result since they both worked best with service from more creative players. The team that looked unstoppable got absolutely run over by Real Madrid, losing 3:1 both times. Puskás scored three while Kocsis managed one goal. Herrera was sacked the day after.
Despite being without a coach, Barça had enough of a lead in La Liga to win it again. The club surprisingly hired a Serbian coach Ljubiša Broćić in the summer, despite him not working in Spain before. He struggled in La Liga, mostly in away games. When Barça drew Real Madrid in the round of 16, most culés were praying to at least lose with some dignity this time. But, as they say, you never know in football. Broćić’s team became the first in history to knock Real Madrid out of a European competition as they won 4:3 on aggregate with Luis Suárez being the absolute man of the match which later that year earned him the Ballon d’Or ahead of Puskás.
Broćić was sacked in January however as Barça kept falling down the table in La Liga. Interim coach Enrique Orizaola took over. Barça easily passed the Czech champions Spartak Hradec Králové, but struggled in the semi final against Hamburg. After winning 1:0 at the Camp Nou, Barça found themselves 2:0 down against Uwe Seeler lead Hamburg squad. But in the last attack of the game Kocsis scored yet another legendary header to force a play-off game which Barça won 1:0 and reached their first ever European Cup final.
The location of the final game was sure to send chills down the spine of any Hungarian, as it was being played in Bern. Problems begun even before the game as Luis Suárez announced that he was leaving for Inter, probably due to his year long fight with the fans. The opponents Benfica were hardly the favorites, especially since their best ever player Eusebio only came to the club a few months later. Their biggest strength was their genius coach Béla Guttman, another Hungarian. The game started well for Barça as Kocsis scored a header from a Suárez cross. History seemed to repeat itself unfortunately. Benfica scored a goal 10 minutes later and immediately a second one after Ramallets dropped the ball on the goal line. The goal was given. After a Benfica cross in the second half the ball was cleared directly to their striker Coluna who was waiting outside the box because his nose was broken. He smashed a volley past Ramallets and sealed the game. Barça dominated most of the time, they hit the woodwork five times including a shot from Kubala which hit the left and then the right post, but the referee said no goal, even though in a similar situation earlier he gave Benfica the goal. Another Kocsis strike was cleared off the line. Czibor managed to score an absolute banger with 15 minutes to go, but Barça were unable to make a comeback.
For Hungarians the Wankdorf stadium seemed cursed, especially since the three German goals were very similar to Benfica’s goals. For Barça this season seemed like a start of a good period on paper, but in reality it was the last chance of an aging generation. Barça would have to wait 14 years before they even participated in another European Cup, 25 years before they played another final and 31 year until they actually won it.

Inevitable retirement and later years

After the final things were looking grim. The team had no coach, lost the Ballon d’Or winner and best player, changed the president after 8 years and lost their most influential figure in Josep Samitier. On top of that Kubala and Czibor left the club, heartbroken after their defeat. They both joined Español. Czibor left Español after one year and had short stints with Basel, Austria Wien and Primo Hamilton in Canada.
Meanwhile Kocsis decided to stick around as he loved the club and the city. With nearly all of his teammates gone, he had to carry Barça forward. Since there was little quality compared to previous seasons, Kocsis ironically played more than ever at the age of 33. Naturally the following few seasons were the most prolific for him as a goalscorer, but the club failed to win anything other than a Copa title. In 1962 Barça played in Fairs Cup final against Valencia, but got smashed 7:3 on aggregate with Kocsis scoring all three goals for Barça. In the Copa final against César’s Zaragoza in 1963 he scored a goal to help Barça win 3:1. Next year Barça played in Cup Winners’ Cup for the first time. Opponents were again Hamburg and after two games the score was even, again. Kocsis was left heartbroken in Switzerland for the last time in his career, as his two goals were not enough and Barça lost 3:2 in the play-off game in Lausanne. His contract ended in 1965 and he retired from football.
After his retirement Czibor moved back to Barcelona where he opened a restaurant called Blue Danube (Kék Duna). After the fall of USSR, he finally returned to Hungary in 1990. He moved back to his hometown Komárom with his wife, son and daughter. The local club made him their honorary president and founded a tournament that carries his name. He died from lung cancer on September 1st 1997.
Kocsis also opened a restaurant in Barcelona after he retired, called Golden Head (Tete d’Or). He began coaching at Barça as an assistant coach. From 1972 to 1974 he coached Hércules. Unfortunately his coaching career was cut short. In 1975 he got diagnosed with leukemia and was hospitalized, after which his leg was amputated. Few years later he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He went to Budapest one last time in 1978. Exhausted from the illness and knowing that he has no chance to survive, he threw himself out the window of his room in Quirón hospital in Barcelona on July 22nd 1979. He was just 49 years old. In 2012 his family moved his remains from Barcelona and placed them in the Basilica of Budapest on his 83rd birthday. The ceremony was attended by his surviving teammates from Barça and Hungary as well as Sandro Rosell and Leo Messi.

Legacy

Sándor Kocsis was second only to Puskás when it came to strikers of his generation. Strong, quick, smart, with soft touch, good dribble and a very precise shot Kocsis’s biggest strength however were undoubtedly his headers. Probably the greatest header of the ball in history of football, the Golden head as he was called, could and did score headers from any position. His unusually strong neck meant that he could provide such power that it often times surprised the opposing keeper. Combined with good and smart positioning, as well as a decent jump, it made him a force in the air. Even though he was a complete player, Kocsis usually played to his advantage which is why a large portion of his goals, more than 400, were headers. He formed great partnerships with Budai in the national team and Luis Suárez at Barça as they provided him with plenty of assists.
Another part of his game that was extraordinary was his clinical finishing. Kocsis was never as good of a player as Puskás or Kubala, but he was the most clinical striker in the world. To this day he holds the highest goal per game ratio in a World Cup with 2.2 goals per game and second highest for a national side with 1.1 goals per game. He was the first player to score two hattricks in a single World Cup. He scored 111 goals in 184 games for Barça, winning 2 La Ligas, 2 Copa del Generalísimos and 1 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. He was the top scorer in Hungary three times, in 1951, 1952 and 1954, two of those times he was also the top scorer in Europe, but the Golden Boot was not introduced yet. Off the pitch he was a quiet and introverted individual who disliked his fame. He always worked on himself and tried to improve constantly. He was soft spoken and well mannered, a true gentleman.
Zoltán Czibor was widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers to play the game at the time. What he lacked in height (being just 1.69m tall) , he made up for in sheer power with his blistering speed and cannon of a left foot. He could have played any position on the pitch, but he was mostly used as a left winger and more rarely a right winger. He was a creative dribbler, some would say crazy, and had an incredible footballing IQ. His through balls and especially his runs behind the opposing defense caused havoc, but the most feared part was by far his shot, as most of his goals were scored from outside the box, whether with his preferred left foot or his right foot. He rarely settled down for just strong low shots, with most of his shots smashing right under the crossbar which made them near unsaveable. Another one of Czibor’s great attributes was his calmness under pressure. Czibor was the definition of a big game player, having scored in every single final he ever played. He wore the blaugrana colors 84 times and scored 36 goals, while winning 2 La Ligas, 1 Copa del Generalísimo and 1 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. He was the top scorer in Hungary in 1955. As a person he was a humble family man and a big patriot, loud, funny and very witty, also a vocal leader on the pitch.

Pictures, videos and squads

Ferencváros team in 1948 and the Honvéd team in 1953 with Kocsis as their top goalscorer
Golden Team before the England game , their legendary starting XI and their lineup before the 1954 World Cup final
Kocsis and Czibor in their traditional Hungarian jersey
Czibor kicks the Brazilian keeper during the “Battle of the Bern”
Kocsis about shoots the ball against Uruguay
Czibor moments before he scored in 1954 World Cup final
Czibor passes the ball to Kocsis as Lev Yashin rushes out to intercept
Kocsis dribbling the Soviets in 1956
Kocsis’s heading abilities were unmatched since his earlier days all the way up to his time at Barça
Kocsis and Czibor after signing for Barça in 1958
Helenio Herrera’s Barça team
Kubala, Czibor and Kocsis were inseparable 1 2 3 4
Barça’s front five was world class and stacked at the time: Villaverde, Kubala, Czibor, Kocsis and Suárez , Villaverde, Kubala, Eulogio, Suárez, Czibor , Evaristo, Kocsis, Tejada, Kubala Czibor
Barça squad before the 1961 European Cup semi-final against Hamburg
Barça squad before the 1963 Copa final against Zaragoza
Kocsis at his tribute game against Hamburg, 1968 and the poster for the game
Kubala, Ramallets, Gensana, Rodri, Segarra and Gràcia carry Kocsis's coffin to his grave at Montjuïc cemetery in Barcelona
Czibor returns to Hungary after 34 years of exile
Ramon Alfonseda , the president of Barça Players Association, is awarded with the Hungarian golden cross for honoring and preserving the memory of Hungarian Barça stars Kubala, Kocsis and Czibor. The event happened this June and was attended by families of all three players , the son of each player was presented with a special Barça jersey carrying his father’s name and they recreated the legendary picture
Final against Yugoslavia in Helsinki, 1952, highlights
All the goals from the 1954 World Cup
(un)Friendly game against USSR in 1956 that “started the revolution”
Amazing documentary on the Hungarian Golden Team
Winning the 1959 Copa del Generalísimo with a brace from Kocsis
First and Second leg of the final against Birmingham in which Czibor scored twice
Semi final against Hamburg in 1961 highlights
European Cup final against Benfica, 1961, highlights
European Cup final against Benfica, 1961, full game
1963 Copa del Generalísimo final highlights, Kocsis scored the second goal
The Golden Team squad in 1954
Barcelona squad that almost reached the top of Europe

Welcome to the 73rd [Lets Build]!
TOPIC: Cyberpunk Corporations

Die Roll	Result
1	Priceless Perception: A company that specializes in cybernetic replacement of the eyes and ears of extremely wealthy individuals so that they cannot perceive anybody below a certain income threshold.
2	Remmeron - a corporation specializing in producing bioware and biological research. The largest share holder is a vampire. Unknown to the public he portrays himself as a playboy who spends most of his night hours attending social affairs. His corporation is running secret research to create ways for the infected to walk in the daylight and Co exist with the general populace without being detected.
3	Uropa: a corporation dedicated to deliveries. It owns the massive packing and delivering system of drones throughout the nation. Some say there's a key (or keys) to be able to take control of the massive army of drones, but the President of the company, Dr. Drake Dorrinell, has said nothing to the press. Others also say Uropa partakes in illegal trafficking of people and drugs, hiding under the wealth and power of Dr. Dorrinell.
4	The Immersion Institute: Dedicated to producing the most realistic simulated experiences available. Perhaps their trade secret is a dark one, extracting memories and experiences from its own unwilling customers.
5	Waygo - A transportation service in the vain of Uber or Lyft, except the vehicles are completely self driving, they also deal in long haul freight services as well. They have cornered the market on land based transportation and over the last 20 years they have bought and dismantled nearly all traditional car manufactures and converted their factories to facilitate the maintenance of their self driving fleet. Their economic power is derived from the boon in metro living. They have used their influence to lobby nearly all major cities to outlaw manually driven cars, under the guise of keeping the roads safer. This however, only strengthens their position, creating a monopoly over transportation within the metro areas. They lobby heavily to loosen or rewrite the regulations regarding self-driving-car safety and their social media division works hard to astroturf positive news about their brand while discredditing the news of deaths, accidents, and other unfortunate incidents involving their vehicles. Their long haul trucks are often referred to as Meat Grinders by folks outside of the metro area due to their complete lack of object avoidance protocols. Incidents of Waygo Truck related deaths have been investigated in the past, but there are rumors that the AI at the core of Waygo not only manages the navigation of vehicles, but also operates a sanitation protocol for all of the government mandated camera logs as well. With all the misinformation being spread by Waygo itself, it's almost impossible for the average metro citizen to know what is true and what isn't. However, for all the folks still trying to make a living in the midwest ghost states, the grim reality is that traversing the Waygo funded roadways offers more risk than reward.
6	DeltaSafe - a security and bodyguarding corporation staffed entirely by modified clones of the same woman - Delta Degree.
7	Advanced Bionics: Was on the cutting edge of human augmentation 40 years ago, but are now a shell of their former selves. They produce outdated tech at a relatively low price.
8	The Farm, specializing in lab-grown protein-based foods, a.k.a. artificial meat. The process is highly automated, and requires specialized (and trade-secret) raw materials to grow their product.
9	The Takakura Heavy Industrial Manufacturing Concern (TK Heavy) - by far the largest company of the New Meiji Empire, TK Heavy makes everything from mining drills to household appliances to nanotech implants. Their orbital launch arm, Starlifter, puts more mass into orbit annually than it's next three competitors combined. TK Heavy has headquarters arcologies on all seven continents, and fields corporate security forces that rival most governmental militaries.
10	CyberWorld - A company specialising in androids that function as servants. There is a 10% chance that when androids are abused they will become sentient
11	Eterna: Stores and contains the consciousness of willing and paying participants. Think the company from the "San Junipero" Black Mirror episode. Unbeknownst to the users, Eterna will harvest the thoughts and ideas of the contained users and sell that information and data for its own profits.
12	Formisa specializes in worker chic, for the fashion-conscious wageslave. In addition to looking snazzy, the designer work uniforms also tend to increase workplace efficiency by up to 2%. Women who wear their ForMrs line of maternity outfits tend to bounce back from childbirth faster, but also have a suspiciously high rate of multiple births. The zealously-defended company secret is the illegally potent genetically-enhanced ant hormone treatments in every item of clothing the company produces.
13	FylakíTech offers industrial cyber-services including computation and data storage. By synergizing with our parent company's Incarceration Services department, we utilize unused organic computing power to put those resources at your disposal! Availability may be limited by prisoner populations, so don't wait! Contact a representative now!
14	Security Downloadables (SD) - "Personal protection in your pocket." Ever find yourself in a bad back alley and need some firepower? Ever hired a gun and had him stab you in the back for a higher bidder? We have, and we know a better way! Give us your dimensional location ID or take a translation beacon device and help can be yours in SECONDS! Access your SD app via your personal communication device, and our perfectly loyal, genetically engineered and cybernetically enhanced Security Soldier will materialize at your location! SD-SS cost by the minute and are directly billed to your linked account. Should you run out of funds our Guardian will return to us immediately. Access a new payment method and you can resummon your protector again. Don't get caught in a bad spot without some credits to spare! Now should you need guaranteed protection, you may opt in to our Overdraft Protector service. After your regular payment is rejected, we will continue service at a rate of 125% of your usual rate. This will be added to your pending balance. You will have within the month to pay back the bill, and any late fees accrued within that time. Failure to do so will result in you being teleported back to our HQ. There you will begin your voluntary admission into our Security Defender Training and Re-Education Program, unless you know someone who can take your place. Security Downloadables - Security, Loyalty. Absolutely.
15	Iaur - a feywild based corp run exclusively by elves. Mainly they focus on building portals to bridge the gaps between worlds, but they also use the feywild for agriculture, as well as magical cure all's
16	Imperium - A very tech-focused corp, these guys are responsible for the creation of the machina, a fully integrated virtual world that links every device on the planet.
17	Metal Muscle: A corporation which has made it's fortune in augmentation tech. Everyone from athletes to the working class citizen want/ have what they offer. "Via out patient injections to the muscle group(s) of your choice, you too can have Metal Muscle." Note: This tech can be nano bots, a growth hormone, metal fibers to resist muscle tearing, etc. They can have a "shelf life" after which time you need additional shots, or you could get the "deluxe" version that lasts your lifetime (and beyond for a great badguy army twist?). Perhaps they have experimental additional options as well.
18	Bhinneka- An Indonesian Fashion and Makeup Megacorp. Rose quickly to prominence on the strength of its nanopersonalized mascara line and a very successful advertising scheme. The company's tagline is "Beauty in Diversity."
19	Hometown Slab: Run by a family of farmers stretching all the way back to the 20th century, this corporation uses local labor to grow, harvest, season, cook and distribute artisanal vatgrown meat products. It's very hipster-oriented: the company tailors its meat DNA to replicate local strains of pork, chicken, etc., as well as local traditions of seasoning and cooking. Its iconic commercials feature strapping young people using scythes to carefully harvest only the finest cuts of flesh.
20	Zombodgets- A powerful, popular corporation with great name recognition and a large number of offices and factories. Oddly, no one seems to know exactly what they actually create, or sell, or do.
21	CryoLife - a corporation that specializes in cryogenic technologies. Clients can purchase or rent a cryogenic chamber to be revived at a later time and date, preserving their youth. Clients who fail to pay on time, or family members who do not pay, forfeit the body to CryoLife to do as they wish.
22	MoodChip Inc. - corporation that specializes in microchip technology that can be inserted into neuralware/headware. These chips can stimulate a range of emotions, or can modify memories. Never feel sad again. Get over your traumatic events!
23	Harbinger Carrier Services: The region's #1 inter-city transportation service for thing that need protecting. "When you see a Harbinger logo, your package has arrived, Guaranteed."
24	V-AMP: Produces torso-mounted battery chargers that generate power by processing the bloodflow into and out of the heart. People who have a V-AMP charger installed are twelve times more likely to suffer cardiac arrest in their lifetime.
25	Sick sticks' a co-op company of witches and warlocks that sell foci.
26	Meat Messaging' a messaging and delivery service that brings food and/or packages in some cases they also work as couriers for dead drops or in person communications. Police Checkpoints aren't all that interested in shaking down the pizza guy.
27	Amter - A company that sells vitamin d supplements and various other sunlight related products,like tanning beds and growing lights. May also fund various endeavors that make these products more desirable by hiding their main "competitor"
28	The Pythia Corporation - Named after the Oracle of Delphi (and because the oracle corporation exists), The largest manufacturer and distributors of security cameras, webcams and digital camera parts. It's an open secret that they have eyes on every corner of the city, thanks to a backdoor to each of their products and a team of vigilant "Oracles" watching the streams, and is often the first visit of any shady customer looking for information.
29	The Darwin Institute - A cross between a business and a university, dedicated to the "art" of genetic modification. More often than not this results in the catastrophic release of titanic rampaging monstrosities or armies of brutal mutants that somehow end up in the employ of terrorist groups. People are not sure how they manage to still qualify for grants, question how they have not been shut down with extreme prejudice and wonder where the hell their warped understanding of darwinian theory came from but nonetheless, their "successes" such as the super cow that provides affordable high-grade kobe beef and extreme male enhancement hormones still get use within the populace. Even barring the side effects, such as the afforemention rampages (From both the cow and the male enhancement).
30	Martin-Giuliani Cloning and Genetics LLC - Named after and run by the top experts in cloning and genetic manipulation, Christopher R. Martin and Leonardo Giuliani, MG-CG LLC is the leading factor when it comes to biomedicine, flash-cloning, disaster relief, pleasure, and military. MG-CG LLC has its fingers in many different pies. The Medical Industry for full body testing of different affiliations of the body to further understand the effects and find ways to cure them without wasting lives or breaking any violations. The Medical Industry also greatly benefits from flash-cloning, greatly reducing the waiting time for compatible donors. Many suffering from disasters, natural or manmade, MG-CG LLC many different relief vehicles as well as specially trained staff, Clones or Originals, are always a welcomed site to those in desperate need. Many people nowadays want to feel pleasure in a more immersive and real way. Though Androids were a good medium, many wanted to do away with the plastic skinned sex bots and wanted the real thing. Fortunately for them, MG-CG LLC came into the picture. Now people can go ahead and find a Clone of their liking, whether that Clone of someone they don't know or of a famous celebrity alive or dead. Anything's possible with a little bit of DNA. MG-CG LLC is a leading benefactor for the military, constantly supply the government with mechanical and genetic wonders. Sometimes Biomechanical wonders to turn the tide. Why send one man into the field when you can send seven of him? Or even an army of Clones made from a few Originals to lead them?
31	Karham Safety Equipment Co. - Shrouded in controversy, the Karham corporation throws all subtlety out of the window and openly advertises their arsenal of compact high-caliber firearms alongside locks, safes and the like. The company prides itself on providing anything one could need to protect their property. In Karham's mind, this includes, among others, a flashy purse that unfolds into a .50 cal sub-machine gun. The advertisements promise that their weapons have been tested for maximum stopping power on foreign fronts. They're pretty reliable, though, so who cares.
32	The Vladnic Corporation - Whatever the occasion, whatever the budget, this private security firm can provide exactly what you need. From single bodyguards to teams of well armed security forces, if you have the credits you will be safe. In addition to the muscle, the Vladnic Corporation also offers the latest security technology, including fully-integrated automated defense solutions and total-coverage ID scanning. The most popular Vladnic service is the Budget-guard. These employees are sourced directly from the military to defend an individual for a short period, perfect for a high-risk transaction or dangerous journey.
33	Ranberg - The largest housing supplier in the district, Ranberg offers homes from mere credits through to luxury mansions. With a strict non-eviction policy, Ranberg will happily house even the most destitute of society, providing a warm place of comfort while they get back on their feet. The Column, the latest Ranberg offering, features homes for some twelve thousand people, and offers a work scheme to repay arrears for those who fall behind.
34	StrawMan - A former subsidiary of Al-ASA/Greatair before the company was destroyed, StrawMan survived the riots following the revelation of the Great Air Hoax by sheer luck. A water refiltration company, StrawMan is marked by modest profits and an especially paranoid management.
35	Vermeer Wiring- An internal electrical company, Vermeer is also a shadow audit organization, investigating for multinational companies and keeping local corruption manageable. Most of their own employees don't know about that side of the business.
36	Entropy Incorporated - A large company which everyone knows about, but no one really knows what they do, exactly. Their buildings appear everywhere, and are instantly recognisable due to being entirely jet black, with black tinted windows. Looking through said windows are usually met with dark gas and shadowy figures rushing about. Every now and then, products with their label shows up, but they never work like normal ones would, such as a refrigerator that cools down food by shunting heat into a miniature void, or a marker that writes by rearranging a material's molecular structure to reflect the set colour. There is no set type of product, with objects ranging from weapons to kitchen appliances bearing their name. No one knows exactly where they come from, but each are mastercrafted, being able to outperform any other product of the same type, and impossible to disassemble, with no visible seams or screws. The company's logo is a white orb with 4 large arrows that extend from it towardsthe cardinal directions and another 4 smaller ones that extend between them, creating an 8 pointed star set around a circle.
37	Akursor - Simply a modern firearm brand which produces in America. It is said that the steel used in their insanely well protected factory halls is not always paid for and someone spread a rumor of titanium parts being actually re-cycled cyberorganics of killed cyborgs. Akursor's CEO Vincent Maren is well known for his blog posts and straight to the face interviews in which he calls cyborgs and implants in-general a cheap trick for "genetically weaker" people to survive. He however has also won the trust of many because of his multi-racial programs plus he married a troll woman. His hatred is geared towards implants in general. Which nobody knows: Maren is terribly afraid of doctors and hospitals too.The weapons by Akursor do not come with any neural interface linking. They are simply really modern guns.
38	Samsara Corporation - Founded by the enigmatic visionary Sri Chandrasekhar, Samsara revolutionized energy production, weaponry, and most aspects of travel with the Samsara Multiverse Conduit System. By using the difference in ground state energies between two universes as the catalyst, SMCS systems open small, temporary portals which allow for abundant and varied uses. Multiverse Conduit devices can provide nearly limitless power by connecting a generator to the magnetic field in the heart of a neutron star, allow for antigravity fields to be generated by targeted application of higher gravity fields from nearby black holes, and even have applications on the battlefield. SMCS warheads are specifically forbidden by treaty, but all manner of directed energy weapons and railgun systems have a Samsara unit at their heart, to say nothing of the Projectile Interdiction system that can puff oncoming fire into a perfectly harmless alternate universe, with just the hint of brimstone odor.
39	Suborganic Microsystems - A newly founded company operated and funded by a shadowy individual known only as "Mercy." The corporation is currently occupied performing secretive research into new applications for existing nanobot technology. Their first and so far only product has been a way to reprogram nanobots designed to help in reproductive dysfunction to instead modify a mother's child before it even enters the womb, effectively turning the future child into a slave pre-programmed to some day do the drone owners bidding. On face the company does not seem to sell this program to the public, bartering only with governments and special interest groups but with the right connections perhaps it is possible to acquire some of these reprogrammed nanobots. Perhaps in the future "Mercy" may even have more products to offer their secretive customers...
40	Ameratsu Light Incorporated - Specializing in fiber, optical and digital transmission of data. Ran by a board of 9 individuals that has their headquarters built underground near Hong Kong. They have several branches, most notably, one in LEO(Low Earth Orbit) called the Overdome. Heavily involved with corporate data transfer and military asset overhaul. ALI is responsible for updating military gear to the latest in data transfer and sharing technology.
41	Tanuki Excavation Enterprises - A corporation Specialized in creating, maintaining, assessing and infiltrating Underground complexes. Orphelia H. Dachs has turned her families rather conservative Digging-Company into a multinational mercenary Pool, that is well known for using heavy machinery to get the job done.
42	ProcTec - A food processing company, with proprietary ownership of a new-age food processor that can remove the most harmful parts of reconstituted meat and mix in spices. Ran an incredibly successful marketing campaign, Process It!, that demonstrated the uses of the processor.
43	Kodiak Inc. - A better kind of Bear Trap. Created by engineer and former corporate spy Gregory O'Neal, Kodiak focuses on innovative security for offices and vaults. (In)Famous for the Koshi Corridor, a hallway trap that wiped a multitude of teams during the Siege of San Antonio.
44	Robert Construction - A spot construction business known for high prices for extremely quick work. Owned by former child actor Robert Teh. Need a 37-story tower on a current vacant lot? Call Robert Construction, and it can be up before sunrise. Need a clear line of sight to the CEO's picture window and a quick egress? Robert can build it.
45	Someone's Child - A large arms corporation, exclusively dealing with nonlethal weaponry. Owned by Obijbwe Adikadat, a former mercenary and decorated sniper.
46	Sincorporated - Sells supposedly "blessed items" that, while normally illegal, are "guilt free" because "the lord wanted you to have them!" They use religious exemption laws to dodge lawsuits and court cases left and right, and the government's constantly looking for a concrete piece of evidence to pin them down like the cockroach they are.
47	Unitech - A mega-corp that specialises in Private security and corporate and financial services. Unitech also manufacture their own power armour weapons and space vehicles. They lead the field of non-lethal weapons such as EMP, expanding foam and Sonic weapons .
48	Zyodine - Tech leaders in Stealth tech, computing, augments and space craft shield and energy weapons. A heavily Asian influence in style.
49	UCI (United Conglomerates of Industry) - UCI is more like a culture that a Corp. The tribal nature of its workers mean that they rarely pass on their skills and information to anyone out side their guild (Tribe). UCI specialise in massive structure building, mining and manufacture of arms and equipment. UCI Power armour has been described as "Like wearing a JCB digger."
50	Pantheon - War is an Art form. Pantheon are weapons specialists. If you want to kill a lot of people and look like a mythical god doing it, Buy Pantheon.
51	Gaia - Terraforming corp that has reinvented the field of bio-synthetic augments and power armour. These "living" devices can change a body while acting and looking like it was born there.
52	CrashingSnow - holographic display company with some bad rep. Allegedly the people that use too much the display get white noise sometimes.
53	Meat Market Incorporated: A subsidiary of one of the powerful, earth-biased mega-corps, MMI offers "bargain priced!" bio-modifications and gene-modding for low income individuals. MMI Fleshsculpters and doctors are known for their "no-questions asked" policy, which works out well for the criminals that frequent the MMI clinics, in order to get a leg up on their rivals.
54	Ursine Securities: A massive PMC, infamous for crushing the "Free Mars!" rebellion during the One Year War. Ursine Securities makes use of a mix of expendable clone soldiers, genetic war beasts, and gene-modded special forces troops, during its deployments, in order to keep the opposition on its toes. Is currently taking contracts at the individual and tactical level, but the bulk of the company's forces are deployed on Trappist-1, where they are engaged against House La-Paz's troops.
55	The Forge: A Co-op comprised of some of the finest engineers, scientists, and craftsmen in known space, the Forge is the bleeding edge of technological advancement. However there are a few caches: the items for sale are always a limited run, are impossibly priced, and usually what ever the co-op felt like producing at the time. It's usally worth it though; The Lunar Hegamony ended the power of the mega-corps after annhialating their holdings and forces with Forge produced black-hole bombs.
56	Ungula Tech - Originating from a twen-cen recreational stim company, Ungula has evolved into a full-spectrum sim-stim provider. They provide everything from nanite-enhanced digital mindscapes to SimSense virtual nerve recouplings. Granted, most of their offerings aren't strictly legal to experience for customers, but legal wrangling has still kept it legal to sell for the company. Repeated attempts to genetically engineer the company's historical mascot have met with creatures suicidal with existential angst. The company produces dozens every year, anyway. After all, they might get lucky.
57	Schemä - A luxury fashion company that designs outfits that require extensive body modification to wear. Currently embedded in scandal as a competitor exposed Schemä's involvement in and cover up of an influencer's death as a result of surgery to fit their fall line up.
58	Pulze - A company known for their heart implants that records data on your internal organs in order to track your overall health. The company was recently purchased by a larger conglomerate who used Pulze as a dumping ground for their debt, causing it to go bankrupt. The shut down of the server has lead to many of the adopters suffering heart failure due to the failing implants.
59	Classic Steel, Incorporated: The intellectual property/trademark owner of a virtual who's-who of once famous weapon brands that have been reduced to little more than a set of logos and overseas manufacturing contracts. All the guns you saw on the vid screen growing up? They make them, cheap, effective, completely devoid of tracking hardware or network-enabled components, and with the serial numbers struck exactly as deep as the law requires and not a single thousandth of an inch more. Want John McClane's Beretta 92? They can send it to you overnight, and take no responsibility if you load it with APDS rounds. Want Snake Plisskin's MAC-10? You got it, along with a guide sheet of where not to take your Dremel tool lest you convert the gun to full automatic and void your warranty. John Rambo's M60? They can give you a bulk discount.
60	SecondScape- an Augmented Reality corporation that gets its main source of revenue through the ads populating its AR. SecondScape users can use the 'free' version indefinitely, allowing them to see, interact with, and within a monthly limit, add features to the AR. They could also buy the 'premium' version with a weekly subscription, allowing them to briefly dismiss ads and removing the limitation on content creation per month.
61	Engrammatics Inc.- originally a small startup without the backing of any megacorps, Engrammatics quickly took off due to a lack of competitors in its field. If you've ever wanted to learn everything you can about a new hobby, impress your friends with sick skills, get your kids qualified for the top schools- or hell, skip that and just qualify them for the workforce right away, you've come to the right place. After the installation of a modified neurojack, it's easy as pie to insert Engrammatics' patented neuro-translational learning (NLC) chips, so you can download whatever skills or know-how you need.
62	Blackdawn Rise- operating a pocket dimension has never been easier! Thanks to the development of novel, precise, safe subspace isolation technology, Blackdawn Rise offers you (for a low monthly fee per cubic foot plus substantial extra fees for certain activities, such as landscape relocation or abnormally-sized transfer portals) the ability to create your own personal paradise, no questions asked. If you buy the SubSafe package, they'll even encrypt the signals needed to access your pocket dimension and anonymize all records pertaining to its access! ...supposedly.
63	Sukhbataar Enterprises- in a world that wants to take away your guns, you should never be without 'em. Sukh-E offers a great way to hide your firearms and holdouts, by installing undetectable concealed compartments within your body. The parts are guaranteed to interface just fine, irregardless if they were installed in flesh or bionic, and can activate with a neural command to put weapons in your hands whenever you need them. Newer models use forced-relativity technology so that you can stuff improbably large weapons inside your body.
64	Podnet- want immortality? Does the prospect of continuing your existence in the cold, hard shell of a gram-descendant robot fill you with dread? Does the idea of other people holding on to a computerized version of your personality scare the living daylights out of you? Then Podnet has an offer for you! We don't ask for your brain scans- we just need a genetic sample! As long as you're wearing the Podnet Reactive Engram Backup (REB) brace, when you die, we'll activate a clone of yours and transmit your consciousness at the last possible second! Of course, if you're the kind of person who loves yourself so much you just wish there were more of you, we're in that business too. We can grow up to a specified number of clones and sync your minds together for the true multiple consciousness experience.
65	Solon Arco- everyone's seen their products, even if they don't know their name. Solon Arco runs the sanitation and ecological regulation of nearly every arcology in the world, and expects to fully buy out all other arco-engineering companies within the next two decades. This is the one megacorp that no other institution is willing to lay a hand on. If you're an employee, sure, everyone hates you for being a sellout, but you have a real healthcare plan, an actual chance for one of your grandchildren to eventually retire, and you get sick days about once every two years! Higher-ups in the company can routinely afford stuff like immortality protocols and their own personal hoversporters. The company itself is practically untouchable in any legal or fiscal sense.
66	MEGA- a space-transportation company that ironically advocates for the superiority of Earth. Their advertising department creates propaganda about how great it is to live there (or, you know, anywhere inside the asteroid belt), while also creating conspiracy theories and disasters in deep-space habitats to make them seem like terrible places to live. MEGA runs most of the shipping and transportation in the Sol system, and owns a lot of living space on Earth and the other Center Habs.
67	Data Breach - We get it, sometimes people make mistakes and information gets out that was not supposed to. But don't worry Data Breach understands and is willing to help! If our viruses capable of shutting down and deleting data doesn't help, our large selection of mechanical assassins equip for any job will. And best of all, you and your company can remain anonymous while we do our job to ensure your informations safety from getting into the wrong hands. Remember when the data starts leaking we at Data Breach will make sure that leak gets patched up.
68	Sharpten Pharma- a big producer of stimulants, sober agents, and anti-addiction supplements. Their stims, colloquially known as "sharps", enjoy widespread use in para/military orgs. Conspiracy theorists would have you believe that the anti-adds are just experimental drugs that Sharpten pushes out onto the market in order to get loads of human test data; there's certainly a lot of anecdotal stories out there about how the anti-adds mess with users' metabolic and neurological effects without actually addressing addiction behavior, so they might be on to something.
69	XO Farms- leaders in innovative means of healthy superfood production, XO grows crops and gengineered animals in expensive space installations. The rich pay exorbitant prices for the supposed health benefits of spacegrown food. To drive the idea home, the things they sell aren't things we'd consider expensive, Whole Foods-style superfoods today e.g. potatoes or carrots. Think of rich people treating bland mashed potatoes and baby carrots as New Age guilt-free haute cuisine.
70	ReduxX- clientele wear well-hidden (or implanted) tracking and sensory gear to record their daily lives. This stores everything from the surroundings to the client's biometrics. At a ReduxX-compatible simstation, a client can upload their experiences, share them, go through others' experiences on their public profiles, and relive past experiences using a limited AI to simulate what would've happened if the client had made different choices in that experience. ReduxX openly and shamelessly sells the information it gets from its clients to interested agencies, especially news outlets and developers of next-gen predictive analytics.
71	The Human Spectrum- this genmod corporation "believes strongly in the strength of the human race". Everyone is a person, regardless of what physical flaws they might have, so their mission statement argues that 'traditional' genmodding, with its goal of physical perfection, is unethical and dangerous. Rich people who desperately want to be part of a counter-culture go to The Human Spectrum's clinics to bring out physical 'flaws' in their family genetics (ranging from receding hairlines, minor allergies, or crossed eyes to albinism or legitimately threatening 'flaws' like sickle cell anemia or muscle wasting), or just straight up add disabilities to themselves to feel more 'natural'. In an era where all the rich can be physically perfect, physical imperfection is the hot new thing.
72	NuTune- do you ever feel like your voice just sounds like crap? Hate cheapening out with a vox-box to make it sound better? NuTune can fix your voice without any need for bionics. Thanks to nanosurgery and regenerative medicine, NuTune can transform even the squeakiest, most horribly accented voice into a beauty at any pitch! It can even fix speech impediments, or so goes the claim, and clients can order from a list of popular voices or come up with their own. Want to sound like Darth Vader? Aretha Franklin? Your favorite 0g rugby commentator? It's all possible with NuTune.
73	Ya'at'eeh- A broadcasting company focusing on narrow, careful and shielded broadcasting waves, coded messages, and communications. There is rumored to be a master list in the company's central offices with information on every customer.
74	Black Gold: although they started out as a petrochemicals company in the mid-1950s, after dozens of rebrands and strategy changes, this energy company now sells predominantly biosynthetic fuels manufactured in vast aerostat and orbital farms. Although battery technology has come a long way, if you want to fuel a jet fighter or a rocket, weld or cut a metal, make a plastic part, or lubricate a machine, BG probably supply a fluid or a gas to suit. Held in private hands since their inception, aside from occasional "legally innovative" part-flotations on cooperative stock exchanges, the operations of this firm are simultaneously very visible and very secretive. They tackle competition hard and ruthlessly by dumping against competitors, and it's rumoured through the occasional black operation as well.
75	C&P Futures: Based out of several truly enormous datacenters, this corp (originally Cassandra-Pandora Futures) sells just one thing: predictions of the future. They are never, ever, ever wrong, though sometimes enigmatic or opaque in their public statements, which they make only occasionally and usually on matters of pressing import. Buying their insight is expensive even by the standards of the uberwealthy, and their operations are enigmatic to say the least: nobody has ever met an actual representative of the corp in person. It communicates only via spokespeople and, occasionally, lawyers; every customer interacts only with a neutral, effortlessly polite, androgynous voice on the other end of a telephone. The firm seems to have no employees at all, and no obvious CEO or other senior staff, and it's held by a web of legal vehicles and off-planet corporations that exceed even the usual standards for a megacorporation. It has never specifically commented on the rumours floating around the 'net that the corporation is actually a front for a sentient AI which absorbed a quantum computing startup and a number of prediction markets in the early century. But they're just rumours.
76	Viridian Dynamics: A Contract Reseach & Development Corporation. Will reseach anything for a price. Anything from weaponized pumpkins to advanced productivity chairs to advanced cryo-preservation solutions. You are better off asking for Ted if you need help.
77	TiNatus- An explosives company that focuses on implantation of explosive material in inconspicuous items. Famous for a series of amusing advertisements, declaring "anything can be a bomb!"
78	Puzzle Corp. - Seemingly they are a franchise of popular escape rooms. In reality they’re measuring the problem solving skills of individuals to recruit them as freelance agents for corporations who will pay the highest bid.
79	The Company Under the Bed - Insanely wealthy parents pay this company to genetically engineer bodyguards for their children based on their crayon drawings. Occasionally, if the monster bodyguard fails, the monster grows insane with remorse and escapes into the streets. C.U.B. also has a branch specifically for hunting these monsters and ensuring nobody investigates the company for making them.
80	The Re-Write: A social media influence corporation which promises to allow its users to alter their internet footprint and replace their comments "with what you realize you should have said." The company has faced lawsuits for allegedly changing the comments of what non-customers have said, but no one has been able to produce any proof.

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Welcome to the 73rd [Lets Build]!
TOPIC: Cyberpunk Corporations

Die Roll	Result
1	Priceless Perception: A company that specializes in cybernetic replacement of the eyes and ears of extremely wealthy individuals so that they cannot perceive anybody below a certain income threshold.
2	Remmeron - a corporation specializing in producing bioware and biological research. The largest share holder is a vampire. Unknown to the public he portrays himself as a playboy who spends most of his night hours attending social affairs. His corporation is running secret research to create ways for the infected to walk in the daylight and Co exist with the general populace without being detected.
3	Uropa: a corporation dedicated to deliveries. It owns the massive packing and delivering system of drones throughout the nation. Some say there's a key (or keys) to be able to take control of the massive army of drones, but the President of the company, Dr. Drake Dorrinell, has said nothing to the press. Others also say Uropa partakes in illegal trafficking of people and drugs, hiding under the wealth and power of Dr. Dorrinell.
4	The Immersion Institute: Dedicated to producing the most realistic simulated experiences available. Perhaps their trade secret is a dark one, extracting memories and experiences from its own unwilling customers.
5	Waygo - A transportation service in the vain of Uber or Lyft, except the vehicles are completely self driving, they also deal in long haul freight services as well. They have cornered the market on land based transportation and over the last 20 years they have bought and dismantled nearly all traditional car manufactures and converted their factories to facilitate the maintenance of their self driving fleet. Their economic power is derived from the boon in metro living. They have used their influence to lobby nearly all major cities to outlaw manually driven cars, under the guise of keeping the roads safer. This however, only strengthens their position, creating a monopoly over transportation within the metro areas. They lobby heavily to loosen or rewrite the regulations regarding self-driving-car safety and their social media division works hard to astroturf positive news about their brand while discredditing the news of deaths, accidents, and other unfortunate incidents involving their vehicles. Their long haul trucks are often referred to as Meat Grinders by folks outside of the metro area due to their complete lack of object avoidance protocols. Incidents of Waygo Truck related deaths have been investigated in the past, but there are rumors that the AI at the core of Waygo not only manages the navigation of vehicles, but also operates a sanitation protocol for all of the government mandated camera logs as well. With all the misinformation being spread by Waygo itself, it's almost impossible for the average metro citizen to know what is true and what isn't. However, for all the folks still trying to make a living in the midwest ghost states, the grim reality is that traversing the Waygo funded roadways offers more risk than reward.
6	DeltaSafe - a security and bodyguarding corporation staffed entirely by modified clones of the same woman - Delta Degree.
7	Advanced Bionics: Was on the cutting edge of human augmentation 40 years ago, but are now a shell of their former selves. They produce outdated tech at a relatively low price.
8	The Farm, specializing in lab-grown protein-based foods, a.k.a. artificial meat. The process is highly automated, and requires specialized (and trade-secret) raw materials to grow their product.
9	The Takakura Heavy Industrial Manufacturing Concern (TK Heavy) - by far the largest company of the New Meiji Empire, TK Heavy makes everything from mining drills to household appliances to nanotech implants. Their orbital launch arm, Starlifter, puts more mass into orbit annually than it's next three competitors combined. TK Heavy has headquarters arcologies on all seven continents, and fields corporate security forces that rival most governmental militaries.
10	CyberWorld - A company specialising in androids that function as servants. There is a 10% chance that when androids are abused they will become sentient
11	Eterna: Stores and contains the consciousness of willing and paying participants. Think the company from the "San Junipero" Black Mirror episode. Unbeknownst to the users, Eterna will harvest the thoughts and ideas of the contained users and sell that information and data for its own profits.
12	Formisa specializes in worker chic, for the fashion-conscious wageslave. In addition to looking snazzy, the designer work uniforms also tend to increase workplace efficiency by up to 2%. Women who wear their ForMrs line of maternity outfits tend to bounce back from childbirth faster, but also have a suspiciously high rate of multiple births. The zealously-defended company secret is the illegally potent genetically-enhanced ant hormone treatments in every item of clothing the company produces.
13	FylakíTech offers industrial cyber-services including computation and data storage. By synergizing with our parent company's Incarceration Services department, we utilize unused organic computing power to put those resources at your disposal! Availability may be limited by prisoner populations, so don't wait! Contact a representative now!
14	Security Downloadables (SD) - "Personal protection in your pocket." Ever find yourself in a bad back alley and need some firepower? Ever hired a gun and had him stab you in the back for a higher bidder? We have, and we know a better way! Give us your dimensional location ID or take a translation beacon device and help can be yours in SECONDS! Access your SD app via your personal communication device, and our perfectly loyal, genetically engineered and cybernetically enhanced Security Soldier will materialize at your location! SD-SS cost by the minute and are directly billed to your linked account. Should you run out of funds our Guardian will return to us immediately. Access a new payment method and you can resummon your protector again. Don't get caught in a bad spot without some credits to spare! Now should you need guaranteed protection, you may opt in to our Overdraft Protector service. After your regular payment is rejected, we will continue service at a rate of 125% of your usual rate. This will be added to your pending balance. You will have within the month to pay back the bill, and any late fees accrued within that time. Failure to do so will result in you being teleported back to our HQ. There you will begin your voluntary admission into our Security Defender Training and Re-Education Program, unless you know someone who can take your place. Security Downloadables - Security, Loyalty. Absolutely.
15	Iaur - a feywild based corp run exclusively by elves. Mainly they focus on building portals to bridge the gaps between worlds, but they also use the feywild for agriculture, as well as magical cure all's
16	Imperium - A very tech-focused corp, these guys are responsible for the creation of the machina, a fully integrated virtual world that links every device on the planet.
17	Metal Muscle: A corporation which has made it's fortune in augmentation tech. Everyone from athletes to the working class citizen want/ have what they offer. "Via out patient injections to the muscle group(s) of your choice, you too can have Metal Muscle." Note: This tech can be nano bots, a growth hormone, metal fibers to resist muscle tearing, etc. They can have a "shelf life" after which time you need additional shots, or you could get the "deluxe" version that lasts your lifetime (and beyond for a great badguy army twist?). Perhaps they have experimental additional options as well.
18	Bhinneka- An Indonesian Fashion and Makeup Megacorp. Rose quickly to prominence on the strength of its nanopersonalized mascara line and a very successful advertising scheme. The company's tagline is "Beauty in Diversity."
19	Hometown Slab: Run by a family of farmers stretching all the way back to the 20th century, this corporation uses local labor to grow, harvest, season, cook and distribute artisanal vatgrown meat products. It's very hipster-oriented: the company tailors its meat DNA to replicate local strains of pork, chicken, etc., as well as local traditions of seasoning and cooking. Its iconic commercials feature strapping young people using scythes to carefully harvest only the finest cuts of flesh.
20	Zombodgets- A powerful, popular corporation with great name recognition and a large number of offices and factories. Oddly, no one seems to know exactly what they actually create, or sell, or do.
21	CryoLife - a corporation that specializes in cryogenic technologies. Clients can purchase or rent a cryogenic chamber to be revived at a later time and date, preserving their youth. Clients who fail to pay on time, or family members who do not pay, forfeit the body to CryoLife to do as they wish.
22	MoodChip Inc. - corporation that specializes in microchip technology that can be inserted into neuralware/headware. These chips can stimulate a range of emotions, or can modify memories. Never feel sad again. Get over your traumatic events!
23	Harbinger Carrier Services: The region's #1 inter-city transportation service for thing that need protecting. "When you see a Harbinger logo, your package has arrived, Guaranteed."
24	V-AMP: Produces torso-mounted battery chargers that generate power by processing the bloodflow into and out of the heart. People who have a V-AMP charger installed are twelve times more likely to suffer cardiac arrest in their lifetime.
25	Sick sticks' a co-op company of witches and warlocks that sell foci.
26	Meat Messaging' a messaging and delivery service that brings food and/or packages in some cases they also work as couriers for dead drops or in person communications. Police Checkpoints aren't all that interested in shaking down the pizza guy.
27	Amter - A company that sells vitamin d supplements and various other sunlight related products,like tanning beds and growing lights. May also fund various endeavors that make these products more desirable by hiding their main "competitor"
28	The Pythia Corporation - Named after the Oracle of Delphi (and because the oracle corporation exists), The largest manufacturer and distributors of security cameras, webcams and digital camera parts. It's an open secret that they have eyes on every corner of the city, thanks to a backdoor to each of their products and a team of vigilant "Oracles" watching the streams, and is often the first visit of any shady customer looking for information.
29	The Darwin Institute - A cross between a business and a university, dedicated to the "art" of genetic modification. More often than not this results in the catastrophic release of titanic rampaging monstrosities or armies of brutal mutants that somehow end up in the employ of terrorist groups. People are not sure how they manage to still qualify for grants, question how they have not been shut down with extreme prejudice and wonder where the hell their warped understanding of darwinian theory came from but nonetheless, their "successes" such as the super cow that provides affordable high-grade kobe beef and extreme male enhancement hormones still get use within the populace. Even barring the side effects, such as the afforemention rampages (From both the cow and the male enhancement).
30	Martin-Giuliani Cloning and Genetics LLC - Named after and run by the top experts in cloning and genetic manipulation, Christopher R. Martin and Leonardo Giuliani, MG-CG LLC is the leading factor when it comes to biomedicine, flash-cloning, disaster relief, pleasure, and military. MG-CG LLC has its fingers in many different pies. The Medical Industry for full body testing of different affiliations of the body to further understand the effects and find ways to cure them without wasting lives or breaking any violations. The Medical Industry also greatly benefits from flash-cloning, greatly reducing the waiting time for compatible donors. Many suffering from disasters, natural or manmade, MG-CG LLC many different relief vehicles as well as specially trained staff, Clones or Originals, are always a welcomed site to those in desperate need. Many people nowadays want to feel pleasure in a more immersive and real way. Though Androids were a good medium, many wanted to do away with the plastic skinned sex bots and wanted the real thing. Fortunately for them, MG-CG LLC came into the picture. Now people can go ahead and find a Clone of their liking, whether that Clone of someone they don't know or of a famous celebrity alive or dead. Anything's possible with a little bit of DNA. MG-CG LLC is a leading benefactor for the military, constantly supply the government with mechanical and genetic wonders. Sometimes Biomechanical wonders to turn the tide. Why send one man into the field when you can send seven of him? Or even an army of Clones made from a few Originals to lead them?
31	Karham Safety Equipment Co. - Shrouded in controversy, the Karham corporation throws all subtlety out of the window and openly advertises their arsenal of compact high-caliber firearms alongside locks, safes and the like. The company prides itself on providing anything one could need to protect their property. In Karham's mind, this includes, among others, a flashy purse that unfolds into a .50 cal sub-machine gun. The advertisements promise that their weapons have been tested for maximum stopping power on foreign fronts. They're pretty reliable, though, so who cares.
32	The Vladnic Corporation - Whatever the occasion, whatever the budget, this private security firm can provide exactly what you need. From single bodyguards to teams of well armed security forces, if you have the credits you will be safe. In addition to the muscle, the Vladnic Corporation also offers the latest security technology, including fully-integrated automated defense solutions and total-coverage ID scanning. The most popular Vladnic service is the Budget-guard. These employees are sourced directly from the military to defend an individual for a short period, perfect for a high-risk transaction or dangerous journey.
33	Ranberg - The largest housing supplier in the district, Ranberg offers homes from mere credits through to luxury mansions. With a strict non-eviction policy, Ranberg will happily house even the most destitute of society, providing a warm place of comfort while they get back on their feet. The Column, the latest Ranberg offering, features homes for some twelve thousand people, and offers a work scheme to repay arrears for those who fall behind.
34	StrawMan - A former subsidiary of Al-ASA/Greatair before the company was destroyed, StrawMan survived the riots following the revelation of the Great Air Hoax by sheer luck. A water refiltration company, StrawMan is marked by modest profits and an especially paranoid management.
35	Vermeer Wiring- An internal electrical company, Vermeer is also a shadow audit organization, investigating for multinational companies and keeping local corruption manageable. Most of their own employees don't know about that side of the business.
36	Entropy Incorporated - A large company which everyone knows about, but no one really knows what they do, exactly. Their buildings appear everywhere, and are instantly recognisable due to being entirely jet black, with black tinted windows. Looking through said windows are usually met with dark gas and shadowy figures rushing about. Every now and then, products with their label shows up, but they never work like normal ones would, such as a refrigerator that cools down food by shunting heat into a miniature void, or a marker that writes by rearranging a material's molecular structure to reflect the set colour. There is no set type of product, with objects ranging from weapons to kitchen appliances bearing their name. No one knows exactly where they come from, but each are mastercrafted, being able to outperform any other product of the same type, and impossible to disassemble, with no visible seams or screws. The company's logo is a white orb with 4 large arrows that extend from it towardsthe cardinal directions and another 4 smaller ones that extend between them, creating an 8 pointed star set around a circle.
37	Akursor - Simply a modern firearm brand which produces in America. It is said that the steel used in their insanely well protected factory halls is not always paid for and someone spread a rumor of titanium parts being actually re-cycled cyberorganics of killed cyborgs. Akursor's CEO Vincent Maren is well known for his blog posts and straight to the face interviews in which he calls cyborgs and implants in-general a cheap trick for "genetically weaker" people to survive. He however has also won the trust of many because of his multi-racial programs plus he married a troll woman. His hatred is geared towards implants in general. Which nobody knows: Maren is terribly afraid of doctors and hospitals too.The weapons by Akursor do not come with any neural interface linking. They are simply really modern guns.
38	Samsara Corporation - Founded by the enigmatic visionary Sri Chandrasekhar, Samsara revolutionized energy production, weaponry, and most aspects of travel with the Samsara Multiverse Conduit System. By using the difference in ground state energies between two universes as the catalyst, SMCS systems open small, temporary portals which allow for abundant and varied uses. Multiverse Conduit devices can provide nearly limitless power by connecting a generator to the magnetic field in the heart of a neutron star, allow for antigravity fields to be generated by targeted application of higher gravity fields from nearby black holes, and even have applications on the battlefield. SMCS warheads are specifically forbidden by treaty, but all manner of directed energy weapons and railgun systems have a Samsara unit at their heart, to say nothing of the Projectile Interdiction system that can puff oncoming fire into a perfectly harmless alternate universe, with just the hint of brimstone odor.
39	Suborganic Microsystems - A newly founded company operated and funded by a shadowy individual known only as "Mercy." The corporation is currently occupied performing secretive research into new applications for existing nanobot technology. Their first and so far only product has been a way to reprogram nanobots designed to help in reproductive dysfunction to instead modify a mother's child before it even enters the womb, effectively turning the future child into a slave pre-programmed to some day do the drone owners bidding. On face the company does not seem to sell this program to the public, bartering only with governments and special interest groups but with the right connections perhaps it is possible to acquire some of these reprogrammed nanobots. Perhaps in the future "Mercy" may even have more products to offer their secretive customers...
40	Ameratsu Light Incorporated - Specializing in fiber, optical and digital transmission of data. Ran by a board of 9 individuals that has their headquarters built underground near Hong Kong. They have several branches, most notably, one in LEO(Low Earth Orbit) called the Overdome. Heavily involved with corporate data transfer and military asset overhaul. ALI is responsible for updating military gear to the latest in data transfer and sharing technology.
41	Tanuki Excavation Enterprises - A corporation Specialized in creating, maintaining, assessing and infiltrating Underground complexes. Orphelia H. Dachs has turned her families rather conservative Digging-Company into a multinational mercenary Pool, that is well known for using heavy machinery to get the job done.
42	ProcTec - A food processing company, with proprietary ownership of a new-age food processor that can remove the most harmful parts of reconstituted meat and mix in spices. Ran an incredibly successful marketing campaign, Process It!, that demonstrated the uses of the processor.
43	Kodiak Inc. - A better kind of Bear Trap. Created by engineer and former corporate spy Gregory O'Neal, Kodiak focuses on innovative security for offices and vaults. (In)Famous for the Koshi Corridor, a hallway trap that wiped a multitude of teams during the Siege of San Antonio.
44	Robert Construction - A spot construction business known for high prices for extremely quick work. Owned by former child actor Robert Teh. Need a 37-story tower on a current vacant lot? Call Robert Construction, and it can be up before sunrise. Need a clear line of sight to the CEO's picture window and a quick egress? Robert can build it.
45	Someone's Child - A large arms corporation, exclusively dealing with nonlethal weaponry. Owned by Obijbwe Adikadat, a former mercenary and decorated sniper.
46	Sincorporated - Sells supposedly "blessed items" that, while normally illegal, are "guilt free" because "the lord wanted you to have them!" They use religious exemption laws to dodge lawsuits and court cases left and right, and the government's constantly looking for a concrete piece of evidence to pin them down like the cockroach they are.
47	Unitech - A mega-corp that specialises in Private security and corporate and financial services. Unitech also manufacture their own power armour weapons and space vehicles. They lead the field of non-lethal weapons such as EMP, expanding foam and Sonic weapons .
48	Zyodine - Tech leaders in Stealth tech, computing, augments and space craft shield and energy weapons. A heavily Asian influence in style.
49	UCI (United Conglomerates of Industry) - UCI is more like a culture that a Corp. The tribal nature of its workers mean that they rarely pass on their skills and information to anyone out side their guild (Tribe). UCI specialise in massive structure building, mining and manufacture of arms and equipment. UCI Power armour has been described as "Like wearing a JCB digger."
50	Pantheon - War is an Art form. Pantheon are weapons specialists. If you want to kill a lot of people and look like a mythical god doing it, Buy Pantheon.
51	Gaia - Terraforming corp that has reinvented the field of bio-synthetic augments and power armour. These "living" devices can change a body while acting and looking like it was born there.
52	CrashingSnow - holographic display company with some bad rep. Allegedly the people that use too much the display get white noise sometimes.
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Since there was such a strong response to my post about how I got rid of my tennis elbow last week, I wanted to share with you a couple additions I made.
I'm just copy/pasting the new sections straight up here since it's not terribly long:

1. Ten­nis Elbow STRAP: For the laborer (or pro ath­lete) who can­not avoid pain-inducing move­ments because their job depends on it.

I’ve used this ten­nis elbow pad/strap and it was a great help for actu­ally reduc­ing the pain dra­mat­i­cally. It is sim­ply an excel­lent way to help sta­bi­lize the ten­dons so that you are not in pain when you HAVE to use your arms. (Note: This can be found in any cvs/walgreens pharmacy type store.) This is great for peo­ple whose job depends on repeat­edly doing things that con­stantly inflame their con­di­tion (such as lift­ing bags of what­ever). In fact, the way to know if the pad is on right is the fol­low­ing: Do some motion or pick up some­thing lightly that causes the pain to occur. Then put the strap on (the pad goes on about a cou­ple inches from the elbow more or less) and try that same move. If the pain doesn’t occur, then you’ve put it on prop­erly! If the pain still occurs, play with the posi­tion until you get it on right. How­ever, the pad itself is NOT a replace­ment for the extensor-strengthening exer­cises! This is merely to try to help pre­vent the ten­dini­tis from wors­en­ing due to overuse.

2. Sup­ple­ment with Col­la­gen and Vit­a­min C (but avoid taking a sep­a­rate Calcium/Vitamin D supplement)

Per­son­ally, I'm avoiding taking the rest of my Calcitrate: I noticed that when I take Cal­ci­trate (Cal­cium + Vit­a­min D) sup­ple­ment that my ten­nis elbow pain would come back!!!
I still take a mul­ti­vi­t­a­min and drink cal­cium for­ti­fied almond milk so I’m surely not avoid­ing cal­cium but I’ve noticed this time and time again that tak­ing the cal­cium sup­ple­ment brings back the pain. And I could feel the pain not only where the ten­nis elbow is but pretty much in the entire fore­arm and elbow joint. Pretty strange. And the only rea­son I actu­ally caught on to this pat­tern was thanks to when I did a couple cycles of Lyle Mcdon­alds Ulti­mate Diet 2.0 plan. Lyle rec­om­mends large amounts of it to fur­ther help enable fat metab­o­lism in the first 4 days of each cycle. So in those four days, I was think­ing my ten­nis elbow had come back due to all the exer­cise, but it actu­ally dis­si­pated in the final three days of the cycle. Then when it came back on the week after when I started the new cycle, I realized the calcitrate was the culprit again. Sure enough, any­time I’ve tried tak­ing it, the fol­low­ing day my fore­arm has been in pain. Anec­do­tally I found other peo­ple on the inter­net with this expe­ri­ence. Some have expe­ri­enced the pain ini­tially com­ing up but going away after sev­eral days of per­sis­tently tak­ing it. I’ve tried tak­ing it for two weeks straight hop­ing it would go away, but to no avail, so I’ve decided not to mess with it. It could also be the Vit­a­min D that’s caus­ing it, as I’m not certain.

NOTE: I didn't get rid of my tennis elbow by using a strap and avoiding calcium. These two topics are pasted here because they are merely updates to the original full article that has a lot more advice and exercises.