Hurmu Gate Company

The Hurmu Gate Company (Hurmu Norse: Einskilda samlageð Bryggjo Hurmu, literally: "Private joint-stock company of the Bridge of Hurmu") is a company in Hurmu that, through careful science and engineering, is rebuilding the Hurmu Gate for transport through a series of gates across Micras and beyond. It was formed by the incorporation of the Hurmu Gate Institute into a private company.

The company is listed as private, as it is not a company under public review, though State institutions own 55% of the stock in the company (35% by the Government, 30% by the Order of the Holy Lakes). The rest of the stock is owned by the Hurmudanka Engineering Company.

Timeline

• 5.VI.1691: Gate from one room to another at the Hurmu Gate Institute successfully working, with non-animate matter being transported without major molecular distortion.
• 18.VIII.1691: Most minor molecular distortions removed. Live animal trials begin.
• 15.X.1691: N = 78 animals of various taxa and complexity have successfully traversed the gate (no animal heavier than 100 kg however). One casualty (a goat) due to stroke. Fine-tuning of the molecular transportation .
• 8.XII.1691: Human trials begin.
• 15.XII.1691: Human trials (n = 14) successfully concluded. Monitoring of molecular distortions in animal and human subjects to continue until 1693.
• 32.XV.1691: There are now 4 gates built in Hurmu (2 in Vesüha (V1, V2), one in Ghawlama (G), and one in Kaupang (K)). Non-animate gate trials between all four through six routes (V1–V2, V1–G, V1–K; V2–G, V1–K, G–K) begin.
• 4.I.1692: Time-travel phase 1 begins with one container sent from Kaupang to Ghawlama, with the receiving date to be made at noon 6.I.1692.
• 6.I.1692: The container is received at noon in Ghawlama. Internal clock from the container shows instantaneous travel from the two points. Trials with animals to continue.
• 7.I.1692: Doggo, a dog, is placed in the container in Ghawlama, and set to be received by Vesüha 2 on 7.III.1692.
• 7.III.1692: Doggo, the dog, is received by a cheering crowd of scientists at Vesüha 2 gate. He is alive, and internal clocks from the container shows instantaneous transport From Ghawlama to Vesüha.
• 10.V.1692: Gates Vesüha 1 and 2 are replaced by the Huyenkula Gate. Vesüha 1 and 2 remain for research purposes their own networks.
• 5.X.1692: Contract signed with the Government of Sanama with regard to the building of the Sanama City Gate. Planned to operational by 1700. First gate to be built outside Hurmu.
• 2.VII.1703: First human fatality, Kir Azariah Vidar, perished in transit between Vesüha and the Walstadt Gate. A micrometric misalignment, caused by the injection of faulty code into the pattern alignment buffers of the dispatching gate, is believed to have been responsible for the molecular disaggregation of Kir upon his arrival at the receiving gate. Reputedly he stepped into the Vesüha Gate in a solid corporeal form, but in stepping through the Walstadt Gate arrived as a diffuse mist.
• 18.XV.1716: the Hurmu Gate Company received notice that the government of Hurmu was no longer prepared to cover the cost of gate construction for destinations with what it termed as "low estimates for traffic volume and negligible commercial or diplomatic value". Attempts by the company to invoke various break clauses and to submit claims for payments on stages of work already completed were harshly rebuffed. Concerns were immediately expressed that the government actions would threaten the creditworthiness of the company.

Gate network

The Hurmu Gate Network connects the various gates.

Gates are produced by the Hurmu Gate Company factory outside Vesüha, with a monopoly on production. Operators may be licensed to operate a specific gates. All gate operations, however, must abide by the regulations of the Control Hub in Vesüha, where gate passages are scheduled, organized and maintained. As to travel from one gate to another, the entire network must be able empty for the duration of the trip, and the gates must be ready to send and receive at the scheduled times. If a receiving gate is closed or damaged, the transport will be lost in subspace, and the network will be inoperable.

Vesüha research network

• Vesüha 1 Gate (V1) (Hurmu Gate Institute)
• Vesüha 2 Gate (V2) (Hurmu Gate Institute)