Datalite
Datalite first came into being as a data storage firm in Lawrence, Kansas in 2016 known as Jayhawk Data Services. It originally provided data storage and backup services to the University of Kansas and to local educational and research firms. Over the first few years of its existence, it continued to grow, constantly increasing its data storage and security capabilities. By 2020 it was serving financial institutions and government agencies and had added offices in locations throughout Kansas and Nebraska. In 2021, Julian Ball, an engineer with Jayhawk Data, invented what is now known as the Infinite Echo machine, a form of quantum computer whose exact technological specifications are still unknown. This innovation led to Jayhawk Data's instant rise in the world of information, technology, and communications. Following this tremendous corporate surge, Jayhawk Data bought out industry rival, Quantum Lite, and relocated its offices to Phoenix, Arizona, where it is headquartered today.
Since its move to Phoenix, Datalite has continued to improve its information and technological capabilities, and has continued to acquire related and competing companies, positioning itself as the industry leader in computing technology in 2039. Datalite offers data storage, retrieval, and backup services to clients ranging from individual users to the largest corporations, and its Infinite Echo servers have, to date, never been compromised. Datalite offers unlimited, secure server space, web hosting, and ISP service to anyone who wants it, for free, and boasts the fastest and most reliable connectivity anywhere online. Furthermore, any user can access Datalite's processors for almost any sort of remote computation. Effectively, Datalite has turned its Infinite Echo machine into a megacomputer accessible by anyone, anytime, for almost any sort of operation. It refers to its suite of technological services as Universal Computing. It generates revenue through specialized add-ons to its service, advertisement sales, and from corporate data security packages.
Besides its Universal Computing and data services, Datalite has also moved into the world of communications and satellite technology. Along with Halon, Datalite has put over 500 satellites into Earth's orbit and is a leading supplier of geoinformation.
Infinite Echo
The Infinite Echo machine is the backbone of Datalite's entire corporate and technological structure. It is thought to be housed in Arizona, though its location (or locations) is known only to elites within the corporation. To add to the uncertainty regarding the machine, it is unknown to the public how it works. Since its inception, it has captured the imagination of technophiles and technophobes alike, being at times lauded as the future of computing or the ultimate doomsday device. Conspiracy theories abound about Infinite Echo, ranging from claims of emergent Artificial Intelligence bent on controlling all of humankind to rumors that it contains within its memory banks every piece of data every recorded by humans since the dawn of civilization, which, of course, includes the personal information of every man, woman, and child living or deceased. Datalite denies that it accesses the private data of its users or that Infinite Echo has any AI capabilities beyond that of any other computer currently on the market.
In game terms Infinite Echo is a Genius, High-Capacity, Quantum Megacomputer with seemingly unlimited data storage capability. Anyone with an operable computer or phone, and an account with Infinite Echo can login to it anywhere in the world, anytime. In effect, it is its own self-contained global intranet that exists within the broader global internet.