Alcyon Corporation

Alcyon Corporation
Organization
Industry:	Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Oneiric Research
Headquarters:	Semikawa City

Alcyon Corporation is a global megacorporation that develops and manufactures pharmaceuticals. Aside from its medical products, it is also known for a variety of other ventures, most notably its efforts in researching and protecting the public from the dangers of oneirosea.

History

According to most official materials, Alcyon Corporation was founded over 30 years ago. One comment states that it was 40 years ago, but it is unclear if this is due to a continuity retcon, time passing, or simply the commenter rounding up.

It began as a pharmaceutical company, which manufactured drugs for everyday illnesses. Soon after its founding, it began researching mist as a substance with potential medical applications. A few years after its founding, moon pools were invented, making Alcyon Corporation the only company in the world whose employees can physically enter oneirosea for research and exploration. As a result, it shifted its focus toward oneiric research and demon slaying.

18 years ago, Alcyon Corporation launched the diel project, which uses novel technologies to bring demons into reality as workers.

Organization

Structure

Alcyon Corporation is made up of six divisions, each with its own specialization. A member's division can be identified by the color of armband in their uniform. Each division has a leader and sub-units with their own officers, but all defer to the authority of the Command Division.

New employees are not sorted into a division upon hiring, except in rare cases where they are specifically scouted. Instead, they are classified as divisionless interns, though they may be assigned to work with teams from other divisions. Once they have earned a promotion, Command assigns them a division, taking into account their skillset, unique power (if any), and personal request.

In order to distinguish them from diels, ranked human employees of Alcyon Corporation are referred to as "divers".

Ranks

Each division member holds one of five ranks: sunlight, twilight, midnight, abyssal, or hadal. Each rank has an associated badge, the designs of which are based on diatom frustules.

The ranks are named after the zones of oneirosea. In theory, they represent the deepest zone that an employee is qualified to work in. For example, a twilight-rank diver is authorized to work in the sunlight and twilight zones, but midnight-rank demons are considered too dangerous for them to handle. However, since many employees do not work within oneirosea at all, ranks are often given along with promotions as a sign of seniority or favor. Thus, many leaders or officers within Alcyon Corporation hold high ranks even if they do not have notable combat abilities.

A special sixth rank, called benthic, is given out to a small group of elite agents know as the Benthic Strike Team.

Divisions

Mascot

Kawasemi-kun (かわせみくん), or Mr. Kingfisher, is the yuru-chara mascot of Alcyon Corporation. He is a dark blue anthropomorphic kingfisher with an orange belly and eyes, resembling the company logo, who wears the company uniform with a grey armband with a heart badge. He is frequently featured in the company's advertisements and merchandise. He has gone through several design changes, and items featuring his old designs are sought-after by collectors.

His official character bio is as follows:

Uniforms

Alcyon Corporation's uniform consists of a white dress shirt, black or division-colored tie, black slacks, and black loafers. Additionally, each employee is required to wear a division-colored armband on their left arm, decorated with a badge of their rank. Interns wear grey armbands with no badge.

An additional optional piece of the uniform is a knee-length black trench coat with a division-colored inner lining. This coat is mostly worn by high-ranking senior employees.

The corporation seems to be very lax about uniform regulations, evidenced by the fact that many employees customize their uniforms with jewelry, non-standard jackets, differently-cut sleeves, and so forth. Although there exists a form to have uniform modifications officially approved, few people actually fill it out, as rules regarding uniforms are rarely enforced. However, regulations on the armband are stricter. Several characters mention having been reprimanded for wearing it incorrectly.

Products

Aside from painkillers and everyday medications, Alcyon Corporation is also known to produce:

• Cosmetic Biomodifications: Hair colors and textures, eye colors, ear shapes, and skin patterns can all be changed with custom modifications from Alcyon Corporation. Hair mods are particularly popular, as unlike dyes, the hair will continue to grow in the modded color after the treatment.
• Genetically Modified Crops: Less sunlight-dependent plants engineered by Alcyon Corporation are grown at the vertical farm where Nanami's parents work.
• Several vaccines, though so far these have only been mentioned in passing.

Equipment

Alcyon Corporation also produces a number of specialized items specifically for its employees' demon-slaying and exorcism work. These are not commercially available, and in fact their inner workings are kept carefully secret from competing companies.

• Demon Cell: A mist-based medicine that awakens a mare in compatible humans.
• Moon Pool: A dimensional gateway that allows humans to travel into oneirosea with their physical bodies.
• Hypnotic Spray: A drug in a small spray canister, carried by Defense Division exorcists. Humans and changelings who inhale the spray are immediately put to sleep, but it has a short range.
• "Glass": A mist-based drug which roughly reproduces the effects of alcohol on demons and diels. After being deemed impractical for combat purposes, it is now served at a number of company bars.

Trivia

• "Alcyon" is an archaic word meaning kingfisher. Kingfishers seem to be a theme of Alcyon Corporation in general, appearing in its logo, as its mascot, and in the name of the city where it is headquartered.