Aperture Science vs the Black Dunes Research Facility

Aperture Science and the Black Dunes Research Facility are both government supported and contracted laboratories used for work on the Evancyan government's most radical and top secret projects, such as Project Sunflower, Project Ultraman and the MIProject. Both laboratories have a long lasting rivalry, one that is pushed by the government in the hopes that it will improve their efforts, as they compete for government contracts, resources and personnel.

## 1936

Aperture Fixtures, the private company which supplies the military with its uniforms, shower curtains and bed sheets, renames itself to Aperture Science and - thanks to the huge sums of money earnt from exclusive government contracts, as well as support from the government directly - begins branching out into scientific research and experimentation efforts. Their CEO, Cave Johnson, would buy an abandoned coal mine in the Waukee Valley and begin renovating it into an enormous research complex.

## 1938

The renovations are completed and Aperture Science Laboratories, as the facility is known, began operating for the first time. Experiments and research are conducted across all kinds of science, from simple agronomy tests to theoretical physics and study of dimensional travel. Johnson would personally involve himself with many of the experiments, particularly those involving humanoid subjects.

## 1945

The Government grants Aperture Science a contract in secret, giving them unique rights to work on Project 'Ultraman' a project aimed at creating 'supersoldiers' both physically and mentally. The Project involved copious amounts of illegal humanoid experimentation with synthetic and natural chemicals aimed at creating the "perfect mind and body" capable of resisting any kind of psychological or physical warfare.

## 1955

Aperture Science would reach the peak of its career, as it dominated the theoretical research sector and acquired many government contracts due to its long history of scientific research, making it a much trusted company.

## 1956

The new Government, under the leadership of Grand Chancellor Tissling Shinobi and the ICP, establishes the Black Dunes research facility as direct competition to Aperture Science. The Black Dunes team would quickly grow in size and competency thanks to government funding and first access to the best upcoming scientific and engineering minds. It was hoped that competition would create better results and more efficient research.

## 1958

Shinobi begins the MIProject and grants the contract to the Black Dunes team, and it would become the mainstay project for the facility until this day. This would also be the beginning of the long standing ties between the Black Dunes team and the SIS, with the facility being used for much of the SIS' surveillance and interrogation experiments. Their research projects would lead to vital breakthroughs in wiretapping and surveillance technology that are fundamental to the SIS' Project Merrymen and Resistance - the surveillance of 'anti-establishment groups' and restricting the movements of said groups. This includes civil rights groups, the Teaist religious societies, anti-war movements, Communist and Socialist political parties and even the Worker's Labour Party and the Shadow Cabinet members.