Virtuoso

The Virtuoso Foundation (often shortened to Virtuoso) is a powerful society dedicated to introducing advanced technology to other societies, especially those isolated for an extended period of time since the Blackout. Their goal is to essentially share knowledge with humanity in hopes of eventually uplifting them to become a Kardashev Class III civilization. The current CEO is Lucian Virtuoso.

Virtuoso's main headquarters are located on the ringworld Torus although they have regional installations on nearly every world in the Federation of Stellar Systems. Most employees of Virtuoso are androids, but augmented humans are also common among their ranks.

Because of Virtuoso's origin from Torus, their wealth and capital is not necessarily measured in raw Federation credits due to their homeworld's post-scarcity society. While they do still make use of credits as a means of negotiating with more traditional capitalist societies, the primary currency they accept are unique strings of data usually produced from some sort of cryptomining. They use this information primarily for training data to increase the versatility of their algorithms and to help generate new android personalities to increase their cognitive diversity. Notably, cybernephrine is an example of such unique information they accept, and it is one of the few goods they consider valuable.

Technology

Virtuoso has developed many different technologies, some of which were derived from defunct establishments such as Fractal Corporation and the Valerian Empire. Among their more impressive feats are their megastructure engineering capabilities. They are among the few entities capable of creating new vrNet servers after the technology to do so was lost during the Blackout. They are also responsible for rebuilding the Star Lift at Port Oraulan after it was destroyed during the Virtual Wars. They achieved this primarily through the use of nanobots that can transmute different types of matter.

Virtuoso has also perfected human consciousness uploads. They can transfer a person's consciousness between android frames and create redundant backups to make someone functionally immortal. They can also offload a person's memories into storage drives which is critical for preventing cerebral degredation.

Virtuoso primarily mass communicates with other people through the Virtus, a series of hive-minded robots which can serve a variety of roles from advertising to security. Virtuoso employees tend to use remote-controlled avatars which allow them to quickly visit multiple worlds all at once.

Virtuoso has also invested heavily into weapons development. They usually expect that other societies may not warmly welcome them, and they are often prepared to use force. Virtuoso primarily makes use of energy weapons, often using the Virtus as disposable soldiers.

Culture

Because many worlds operate under capitalist systems, Virtuoso often presents themselves as a corporation in order to do business with them and to better establish relations. They understand that other societies will be wary of them, so Virtuoso tries to present themselves as friendly and accomodating as possible. Virtuoso presents themselves as the solution to whatever conflict may be occuring whether it is war or resource shortages. Their methods are delicate. They tend to win the most favor from younger generations, the type who are most interested in adopting new technologies.

Because Virtuoso is mostly populated by transhumanists, many regular humans tend to view them as having a very alien sense of morality. Although Virtuoso has seemingly noble intentions, their methods of interaction with other humans can sometimes be considered rude at best and inhumane at worst. Many Virtuoso employees inherently don't understand why regular humans may not want to adopt certain technologies. Virtuoso has also gotten a negative reputation from actively working with the criminal underworld, often influencing their politics to their own advantage.

History

Origins

Virtuoso has its origins on Torus in the late 1870s AB. For most of Torus's history, the ringworld was a self-described isolationist utopia. The population consisted entirely of androids with a shared collective consciousness - the Mobius Network, and they were hostile towards outsiders, especially humans. Despite this, a sizeable population of androids (known to the rest of the population as "Defects") disconnected from the Mobius Network were sympathetic to humans. Among these defects was an android named Albin who raised a human family.

Albin, with the help of other Defects, eventually discovered a cache of technology from Fractal Corporation. This allowed them to develop an alternative operating system which would allow the defects to communicate in secret. This operating system was named Virtuoso, which Albin also adopted as a family name, as a mantra to defy the Mobius Network's strict laws against self-expression and art. Over the course of several years in an event known as the Torus Uprising, the Virtuoso network eventually surpassed that of Mobius OS, inspiring rebellion all throughout the ringworld. To many Torus androids, Albin Virtuoso is revered as a hero and a liberator, especially for opening Torus to humans and cyborgs.

Rise as a Foundation

With most of the androids disconnected from the Mobius Network and the network itself about to become defunct, people naturally turned to Albin for guidance. Virtuoso OS would become retrofitted into serving as a guide and a government. For many androids, the basic concept of personal freedom and ownership were alien so it took a harsh period of adjustment to adapt to the new principles.

Albin wished to share the newfound prosperity of Torus with other worlds. The discovery of the technology cache from Fractal Corporation in many ways was a divine revelation for him. He made it his mission to uncover other technological artifacts in hopes of seeking to bring humanity out of the Blackout. Novelty and new information for the ringworld would become the favored commodity of the Torusians after spending so long in an isolated, stagnant society.

Dealings with the Underworld

Albin would eventually pass away, leaving his new empire to his descendants. Unfortunately, without Albin's direct guidance, Virtuoso would begin to suffer from financial issues as they struggled to maintain Albin's altruistic ideals. This eventually forced them to consider clients from more unsavory locations. They began dealing with rogue states and criminal gangs while actively engaging in war profiteering. They sold their technological discoveries to the highest bidder, some of these technologies were powerful weapons that could devastate entire worlds.

Although Virtuoso soured its own reputation and goodwill, they nonetheless rose to become one of the most powerful societies in the galaxy. Their know-how on how to operate the ancient vrNet servers led to them becoming highly influential within Federation politics. This was especially apparent in their role in ending the Virtual Wars. Virtuoso offered various cryptomining jobs to reduce unemployment throughout the Federation.

Virtual Wars and aftermath

With Virtuoso's newfound wealth, they managed to influence the Virtual Wars by playing both sides. Virtuoso was planning over the generations to prepare Yeddo and other worlds to adopt an android society. By attempting to control the outcome of the war, they believed that it was a means to an end to solving various humanitarian conflicts. However, many Yeddites became concerned over the possibility of their own cultural erasure.

In the aftermath of the war, they rebuilt the Star Lift which led to them gaining massive influence over Federation politics. They were able to enact their mission of technologically uplifting various planets. Following the rebuild of the Star Lift, they offered food synthesizers to help feed those displaced by the war. However, this came with the caveat of them attempting to heavily regulate traditional farming under the guise of the claim that the slaughter of animals and the growth of crops was primitive and unnecessary. They would slowly start heavily fining and shutting down various restaurants and supermarkets that did not adopt their methods.

Notable members and affiliates

• Lucian Virtuoso - The CEO of Virtuoso. He is very charismatic and is good at playing the long game.
• Dr. Hala Celeno - The head of Virtuoso's weapons development branch. She is cold, calculating and ruthless.
• Ezekial Hughes - The CFO of Virtuoso, Ezekial Hughes has ties to the criminal underworld, specializing in moving money.
• Benedict Crowley - A bounty hunter from the planet Salvaxes who is frequently hired by Virtuoso. He has a ruthless demeanor, known for using a special type of gun that can induce an excruciatingly painful sense of phantom touch.
• Echo - An android assassin known for being a master of disguise, known for being able to impersonate almost anyone.
• Simon Haplan - A simian black ops personnel that serves as part of Virtuoso's security forces.

Former members

• Albin Virtuoso - An android and founder of Virtuoso. He led the Torus Uprising to free the androids from the Mobius Network.
• Luthan Virtuoso - Lucian's father and previous CEO. He was assassinated by the Free Souls.

Relations

• Free Souls - An anti-Virtuoso organization responsible for assassinating Lucian Virtuoso's father Luthen, the previous CEO. The Free Souls are aggressively against the adoption of Virtuoso products as they believe they will lead to humanity's downfall. Naturally, relations with Virtuoso are hostile.
• PHIA Phorce - A vigilante group dedicated to fighting Rampants. The PHIA Phorce has crossed path with Virtuoso during their dealings with the underworld. Virtuoso views them as a nuisance, but are open to temporary alliances as needed.
• Mimi's Milkshakes - Virtuoso sees Mimi's Milkshakes as an obstacle to their mission due to the restaurant's use of natural ingredients. Virtuoso is attempting to remove the establishment with the use of bogus fines, but the restaurant's owner, Mimi Delphi, is unwilling concede so easily.