Gatewatch

"When it comes to security, there is no one better than Gatewatch. My father founded this company with a few of his veteran buddies to help keep the city safe; he expanded to protect everyone, everyhere from the threat of breach." -Shane O'Shea, president of Gatewatch

Type

Corporation, Security

Leader

Shane O'Shea

Related Professions

• Gatekeeper

Related Technologies
Realm Engine

New Business, Same Model

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When Gatewatch was founded in Felshi in 1907 by Mason O'Shea, it was nothing more than a traditional mercenary group of retired veterans following the end of the Great War. Laws had been passed less than one year earlier that would require businesses utilizing realm engines to hire some level of security. Mason, who had been homeless for some time decided to put what little money he had into getting gear for him and a few friends from the war. And while other security options were available, Mason's price was too low to pass up for smaller companies who were being legally forced to pay for it.

Crowe Power Incident

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In 1909, as Gatewatch was approaching its second anniversary, Mason had grown his company to over twenty employees, many of which were veterans. But as the second year of business was coming to an end, an explosion erupted from just out of Felshi at the Crowe Power Station. Crowe Power utilized two large portals to run steam pumps; one to the water plane two feet wide to supply water and another to the fire plane five feet wide to heat the water and drive the system.
A breach occured and before the operating technician could switch the emergency shut-off, the elemental broke the seal on one of the pumps. The explosion of steam boiled anything in the vicinity, including the on station security. Mason's team raced to the scene where they quickly began focusing efforts on ensuring all portals were closed. After fighting a couple smaller elementals, they proceeded to help with evacuation and fire fighting. Gatekeepers were considered the heroes of that day.

Investigation and New Legislation

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Following Crowe Power, an investigation occured. Officials discovered that plant workers hadn't been properly monitoring the pumps for breaches and that security wasn't sufficient for the potential of breach. Crowe Power wasn't held legally responsible for the event since they hadn't broken any laws, but many protested the company's disregard for life and called for better security.
Mason O'Shea agreed, proposing a law that would require security teams to be certified by qualified groups such as his, something he had proven at Crowe Power. He also claimed security teams should be unified under one umbrella so it is easier to respond to events. The resulting legislation was just that; security companies would become government certified, with Gatewatch handling certification as a government contracted business. While the responsibility on Gatewatch was great, as blame for any incident would indubitably fall on them, being in charge of who is and isn't competition has advantages.