- “The future is now.”
- ―Motto
The Mirage Corporation was a private security consultant and research organization featured in the Futuristic Paradox of the Roach Chronicles. Upon discovering Fractured-Space Energy and the key to harnessing its power, the Mirage Corporation became a dominating megacorporation, assuming control of Paradise Island and opening the door to vast technological advancements throughout the entire Arc 3 universe, rendering it a utopian paradise. As a result, the Mirage Corporation rose to become the world's largest megacorporation, rivaling its competitors the 501st Corporation and Atlas International.
However, following a series of events regarding a failed research project that led to a global blackout of the world's F-Space energy, the Mirage Corporation soon found itself struggling to regain its footing as Atlas International overtook the Mirage Corporation's position as the number one megacorporation through their development of an artificial replacement of F-Space energy. As a result, Atlas International was able to successfully push the Mirage Corporation into bankruptcy, allowing them to buy out the remnants of the Mirage Corporation and its assets.
History[]
Sometime in 2089, the Mirage Corporation was founded, serving as a private security force for the country of Paradise Island, particularly in the capital of New Elpis. In 2095, the Mirage Corporation discovered the Central Vault in the northern region of the island. Upon opening the vault, they discovered a strange pocket dimension within it, housing advanced alien technology, as well as a surplus of raw universal energy. To study and experiment with this newfound technology, the Mirage Corporation founded a private research company within its ranks, dedicated to reverse-engineering the alien technology and energy in order to convert it into technology that could be used to advance the human race.
By 2105, the Mirage Corporation was successful in their research and was able to distribute and sell their new technology around the world, allowing their new technology to overtake technology of the past. In the process, Paradise Island became a beacon for the world's advanced technology, as demonstrated by the futuristic buildings and technology seen throughout the cities and towns of the island. The Mirage Corporation had also established their new headquarters next to the vault, which they had converted into a restricted area in order to prevent outsiders from entering the vault. Despite this however, black market dealers were able to find alternative ways into the perimeter in secret, where they began stealing technology from within the vault in order to sell on the black market. To combat this new wave of crime rising on the island, a team of vigilantes known as Techno was formed in 2130 under the guidance of the Mirage Corporation in order to help assist them in recovering the stolen technology and returning it to the vault. One of the members of Techno, Nakata Hayashi, the younger sister of Tomiko Hayashi, was given a job as an agent of the Mirage Corporation after she was wounded during a mission and given an augmented arm.
In early 2143, the Mirage Corporation successfully developed and released a serum worldwide that would allow organic beings to adjust their biological age, enabling them a form of immortality. Additionally, the Mirage Corporation began the development of Project X, an experiment that would test if organic beings could potentially harness F-Space energy within them. To avoid human experimentation, the Mirage Corporation created a synthetic body that would serve as the test subject for the Project X experiments and F-Space energy exposures. Unfortunately for the Mirage Corporation, details regarding the project were leaked by hackers in order to uncover the Mirage Corporation's plans with the energy.
Futuristic Paradox[]
On August 24th, 2143, the Mirage Corporation headquarters was raided by a joint group of hackers and black market dealers, who sought to steal the Project X synthetic body for their own uses. During the raid, the power to the facility was knocked out, causing a power surge that affected the underground testing labs, where Subject X was being developed. With no power to synthesis the F-Space energy being pumped into Subject X, the canisters containing the energy next to its table destabilized and exploded, sending out a shockwave of F-Space energy throughout most of the base. Following the explosion, Subject X began to move, having been brought to life. Examining his hands, Subject X began to question his existence before the F-Space energy within him began to show him brief visions of the future.
As Subject X wandered the halls of the facility, he discovered that everyone who was exposed to the shockwave was transformed into a zombie as a result of being exposed to raw F-Space energy without proper protection. When he found that a zombie was in his way, Subject X attempted to order the zombie into standing down. However, the zombie ignored him and began charging towards Subject X. In a moment of panic and desperation, Subject X unintentionally fired a beam of energy from his hand, zapping the zombie and causing its eyes to turn purple. Intrigued by this discovery, Subject X once again relayed orders to the zombie, to which it this time complied and followed his exact orders. Realizing that he could use the synthesized F-Space energy within him to control the undead that have been exposed to raw F-Space energy, Subject X soon unleashed another F-Space energy shockwave of his own to take control of the undead within the facility, ordering them to build up their numbers by infecting the survivors. Simultaneously as Subject X unleashed his shockwave, four soldiers who had managed to avoid being infected awoke after being knocked unconscious from the first blast. As an alarm blared, Nakata's voice echoed through the facility's intercoms, informing survivors of a designated temporary refuge at the facility's upper levels, where gathering survivors would wait until an extraction team arrived.
As the undead converged onto the four's location, the four soldiers began battling through the various labs and hallways of the facility in order to reach the rendezvous. As the undead continued to ravage the facility, Subject X's visions began to become more frequent until he collapsed onto the ground in sheer pain. Subject X was then transported to an apparition of the interior of the Central Vault, where a mysterious voice explained to him that he was destined to arrive here. Subject X questioned the reasoning for the visions he was experiencing, to which the voice explained that the visions, when pieced together, would show of the universe's destruction due to the unnatural amount of F-Space energy within the universe. Fearful of this, Subject X asked the voice on what he should do in order to prevent this disastrous outcome. The voice merely chuckled, saying that the universal stability must be mended by removing the problem before Subject X awoke back in the facility. Realizing that the Mirage Corporation and their mass-produced technologies involving F-Space energy was dooming the universe, Subject X manifested Stormbringer for the first time, announcing that he would devote his newfound existence to purge the universe of the Mirage Corporation and their work in an effort to maintain balance; Subject X soon announced his new name: Blackout.
Meanwhile, the four soldiers were able to reach the upper floors, where they met up with Nakata and a few other survivors. As the survivors prepared to exit the building, Blackout smashed down the doors to the room, ordering his undead forces to continue their attack. While the survivors tried to contain the situation, they were ultimately overrun and consumed by the undead. However, Nakata was able to avoid being slaughtered and attempted to flee, only to be stopped by Blackout. Nakata questioned who he was, to which Blackout revealed that he was Subject X, having been given a purpose by the F-Space energy within him to mend the universal stability that was fractured by the Mirage Corporation. Sensing that Nakata could be useful, Blackout ordered his undead forces to apprehend her while he prepared the "surgery". As Nakata screamed for mercy, Blackout hacked into her augmentations using tools left behind by the hackers, where he was able to use her augmentations against her to control her mind. With Nakata among his ranks, Blackout ordered his forces to mobilize for New Elpis, the capital city of Paradise Island, as he began his campaign to purge the world of the Mirage Corporation and their technologies.
By the end of his ruthless crusade, Blackout managed to strip the world of its F-Space energy but was unable to safety dispose of it due to Techno's interference with his plans. As a result, the entirety of the Arc 3 universe was destroyed from the excessive amount of F-Space energy gathered in one location.
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