Corporate Profile: Cerberus Bio-Engineering (CBE)

Classification: Tier-1 Black Budget / Clandestine R&D

Public Face: High-end medical pharmaceuticals and terraforming adaptability solutions.

Real Purpose: Unregulated genetic modification, weaponized wetware, and trans-humanist experimentation.

Motto: "Evolution is a choice. Make yours."

The Facility: "Tartarus Deep"

Location: 1.2 km beneath the Elysium Planitia, Mars.

Access: Highly restricted. Accessible only via a magnetized high-speed freight elevator concealed within a nondescript deactivated fission power plant on the surface.

The facility acts as an inverted pyramid shaped skyscraper drilled into the Martian crust. It uses a pair of fusion reactors for unlimited power and heat, making it independent of the Martian energy grid.

• Levels 1-10: Administration and "White Market" manufacturing.
• Levels 11-30: Personnel habs and security barracks.
• Levels 31-50 (The Skunk Works): Containment labs, live-subject testing (The "Kennel"), and the Cryo-Archive.

Executive Officers

Chief Executive Officer

• Dr. Aris Thorne
• Archetype: The Visionary Sociopath
• Description: A gaunt man who rarely blinks. Rumored to have replaced his own endocrine system with a synthetic regulator to eliminate fear and empathy.
• Role: Secures funding and manages the macro-vision of "Post-Humanity"

Director of R&D

• Silas "Stitch" Vane
• Archetype: The Mad Surgeon
• Description: His hands are multi-tool cybernetic prosthetics designed for precision surgery. He views flesh as wet clay.
• Role: Oversees Project Chimera and all live-subject experimentation.

Head of Security Operations

• Commander Lena Volkov
• Archetype: The Fallen Paladin
• Description: Ex-Mars Terrestrial Army Special Forces. 60% of her skeletal structure is reinforced carbon-fiber. She runs the facility like a black-site prison.

Political Assets (The "Leash")

CBE operates with impunity because they own the people who write the laws.

Senate Contact

• Senator Cassius Reed (Committee on Terraforming & Defense)
• Leverage: CBE provides him with illegal, experimental organ replacements that keep him alive and well past his natural lifespan.
• Function: Blocks inspections of the Elysium Planitia site; classifies CBE energy spikes as "seismic activity."

Congressional Contact:

• Representative Jaxon Krell (Trade & Tariffs)
• Leverage: Massive gambling debts held by CBE shell companies.
• Function: Ensures CBE shipments (labeled as "Bio-Hazard Waste") bypass customs at the Olympus Mons Space Elevator.

Corporate Assets

• The "Hellhounds": A private security battalion (approx. 200 units). These soldiers are test subjects for mild combat-stimulants, making them fearless and highly aggressive.
• Shell Corporation: "Green Leaf Hydroponics:" Used to purchase massive amounts of fertilizer and biomass, which are actually used for cloning vats.
• The "Charon" Shuttle: A stealth-modified transport ship used for smuggling sensitive cargo (and VIP prisoners) between Mars and Phobos.

Product Catalog: Known (The White Market)

These products are legal, expensive, and provide the cover revenue for the black budget projects.

Product Catalog: Secret (The Black Market)

These items are illegal, highly volatile, and sold only via encrypted channels to syndicates, mercenaries, and corrupt governments.

The "Berserker" Gland (Implant)

• Description: A bio-engineered gland attached to the adrenal cortex. On command, it floods the system with a combat cocktail (synthetic adrenaline, pain suppressors, and aggression enhancers).
• Side Effect: 40% chance of cardiac arrest or permanent psychosis ("Cyber-Psychosis") after prolonged use.
• Cost: 150,000 Creds + Installation.

Neuro-Phage Toxin (Weapon)

• Description: an aerosolized virus that targets specific genetic markers. It can be programmed to kill a specific lineage or individual while leaving others unharmed.
• Cost: 750,000 Creds per canister (custom coding extra).

Project Chimera:

The "Stalker" (Bio-Weapon Unit)

• Description: A human spliced with predatory DNA (often chameleon or arachnid) and cybernetic reflex boosters. Used for assassinations. They can climb walls and blend into shadows thermoptically.
• Cost: Contract only. 2 Million Creds per hit.

"Ghost" Memory Wipes

• Description: A chemical lobotomy that erases the last 24 hours of short-term memory without leaving physical brain damage.
• Cost: 5,000 creds per dose. Popular with kidnapping rings and corrupt cops.

Pertinent Information and Rumors

• Disposal Protocol: There is no trash collection at Tartarus Deep. Failed experiments and "retired" employees are reportedly fed into the biomass recyclers to feed the next generation of clones.
• The "Screaming" Network: Hackers have occasionally picked up encrypted data bursts from beneath Elysium that sound like digitized human screaming. CBE claims this is "data compression noise."
• Rivalry: CBE is currently in a silent war with Omni-Tech, a cybernetics rival. CBE agents frequently target Omni-Tech shipments to steal hardware for integration into their biological horrors.