The Iris Institute for Advanced Metaphysics
The Iris Institute for Advanced Metaphysics is the Fortrop's most prestigious and secretive academic institution, located on the Iris station.
Its official mandate is to study, codify, and understand the fundamental laws of the FOC-86, with a primary focus on the phenomenon of Weaving. In reality, it serves as the Council's primary think tank for metaphysical power. Its true purpose is to dissect, weaponise, and ultimately ensure the Council of Commanders' absolute dominance over the reality-altering abilities that permeate their world. It is a place of profound genius and equally profound moral compromise.
Methodology & Research
The Institute's methodology is ruthless and detached. They prioritise the acquisition of knowledge above all else. While they build complex simulations, they do not hesitate to conduct live experiments when necessary, viewing individual lives as an acceptable cost for groundbreaking data.
The Institute's research is always on the cutting edge of the Fortrop's current crises. They are currently dedicating all resources to analysing the Ghost Signal, desperately trying to decipher its meaning, and attempting to find a counter or cure for the Weaver's Blight, a task which has yielded no results and has cost the lives of several research teams
Structure
The Institute is organized into three main departments, each with its own focus and internal rivalries.
Department of Theoretical Metaphysics
This is the heart of the Institute, home to the theorists and abstract thinkers. They do not practice Weaving but develop the complex mathematics and universal laws that govern it. This is where most of the Commanders of Science build their careers.
Department of Applied Weaving
This department tests the theories provided by the theorists. They are responsible for developing new, practical applications for Weaving, from advanced materials science to new forms of surveillance. The theoretical work behind the Null-Fields likely originated here.
Department of Cognitive and Parapsychic Studies
The most feared and secretive department. It studies the effect of Weaving, the Ghost Signal, and the void itself on the human mind.
Its work involves live human test subjects, often "donated" from the political prisoners of the Underdeck. The most dangerous and unethical experiments are conducted here, and their failures are rumored to be the primary source of the horrors dumped in Station 15
History
The Institute was founded as humanity settled in Fortrop. The Council, recognising that this new power could shatter their control, gathered the most powerful Weavers and the brightest surviving scientists. They established the Institute out of a dual sense of desperation and ambition.
Its early history is dark and bloody, filled with stories of researchers driven to madness or killed in catastrophic experiments as they struggled to create the first formal theories of Weaving, turning an art into a science.
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