Llawes is the name of the ubiquitous megacorporation dominating Caer Sidi. Whether discussing the corporation itself, its many projects and endeavors, or the family for which it's named, it's undeniable that Llawes is a global presence... though some of that presence may be obscured by names of various subsidiaries.

Though its reach is vast, Llawes is far and away most famous for its possession of the Fallen Star -- and, subsequently, its creation of Unbleeders. To date, the only legal way to become an Unbleeder is through Llawes' life-saving (or, rather, life-preserving) insurance and procedure.

Family

It is impossible to discuss the Llawes Corporation proper without the context of its founding family. Though the business has been family-run and -inherited for generations, it shot to relevance under the leadership of Bethan and Gareth Llawes: the parents of its current CEOs, siblings Ceridwen and Bran.

When the Star fell, the Llawes family was able to claim it due to what was essentially a convenient coincidence of real estate law. Though the family and its corporation were already gaining traction, the knowledge, technology, and power gained by that acquisition accelerated its reach by quite a bit. By the time the first Calon Ddi-waed were created, they were already a household name. Add a monopoly on immortality, and...

Unbeknownst to the general public, one of the two prototype Unbleeders was Bethan and Gareth's youngest son, A████. Sickly and frail from birth, this was the family's last-ditch attempt to save A████ from death's door. The procedure was successful; A████ was revived as Ari. However, the family publicly proclaimed A████ as legally dead, and Ari's identity as the Llawes' son remains a secret known only to very, very few.

Shortly after A████'s "death," Bethan and Gareth disappeared for reasons unknown. They certainly haven't officially retired, but rather dropped quietly out of the public eye, leaving the management side of things to their remaining children.

Current CEOs: Ceridwen and Bran

The Corporation is visibly headed up by Ceridwen Llawes, the elder Llawes sibling. While she comes across as reasonably congenial in her public appearances, she's described by those who have spent any actual time with her as "cold" and "focused to a fault." Still, Ceridwen cares very deeply for her work - the Corporation exists to help people, and her business-minded personality is well-equipped to lead it to do so, at any cost. Under her guidance, Llawes has sunk record amounts of capital into various areas of research, and her leadership has also led the corporation to record profits. .

Officially speaking, Ceridwen shares her job title with her brother, Bran. In practice, it's her job, while he takes on the boons and burdens of celebrity. A partyboy and socialite, he's constantly on tabloid covers for reasons celebratory and derisive alike. He's long since learned that it's best if he keeps his hands out of company business and only spends his own money on his own projects... from which he tends to get distracted and leave by the wayside.

Headquarters & Divisions

Though Llawes has headquarters in nearly every major population center worldwide, its origins and thus its main HQ lie in Caer Sidi. As one might expect, the main Llawes HQ is an architectural marvel: a tower of sleek, black glass looming over Caer Sidi. It protrudes out from a wider base, with plenty of room for all of Llawes' many branches, endeavors, and events: it takes up an entire city block! Not included in this block is the Star Enclosure, which is attached to HQ via sky bridge over the train tracks.

Before Unbleeders or indeed the Fallen Star itself, Llawes specialized in transportation. Now, there are no shortage of divisions and specializations under the Llawes umbrella -- and roof. A small and non-exchaustive list of Llawes' most prominent divisions includes:

• Science & Research: Llawes invests an extensive about of capital into research on all manner of topics. Particularly popular are those related to Unbleeders, but other research (especially regarding the Falling Star or, more secretively, anomalies) is also both welcomed and encouraged.
• Security: On scales both small and large, Llawes has an immaculate roster of security. Some of these are in active employ, whether in HQ or otherwise, while others are connected with third parties whose needs might be better served by their talents.
• Technology & Robotics: Though starmetal is primarily conserved for the creation of Unbleeders, study of its properties has led to a massive leap in tech work. Recently, Llawes' Llawebots (pictured left) have become particularly popular.
• ...and design, manufacturing, finance, PR, HR, marketing, sales, legal, so on and so forth!

Llawes Unbleeders

As stated, the only legal way to get an insert and be revived is to do so through Llawes Corporation.

Unbleeder Orientation

Upon waking in HQ (or after they're escorted there from whichever Llawes clinic performed their revival procedure), newly-minted Unbleeders are required to undergo an orientation. Before it begins, however, they're given a check-up in a limited hospital ward. It's a short process, but due to the circumstances (death), it's sometimes necessary to stay laid down briefly to stave off dizziness, depersonalisation, any lingering rigor mortis, etc. Once cleared, they're given an exit survey by the science team and are handed off to their orientation group.

Each group of new Unbleeders gets a tour of Llawes HQ and of the wing dedicated to new Calon Ddi-waed, then is shown to their rooms. Once settled, they're taken to meet the other Unbleeders currently in orientation, and they all share a meal together. This will be their "team." The rest of orientation consists of direct training: training to remove the heart; to turn it into a weapon; combat training; and target practice, for those who have ranged weapons.

Unbleeders in orientation also undergo a good amount of counseling -- partially from trained professionals, partially from casual, recorded sit-down sessions chatting with Ari¹, making sure theyre stable. (Stable enough to use, at any rate.)

Unbleeders are required to stay in orientation for a week after revival, primarily so that doctors can keep an eye on their status. However, they're welcome to stay for up to a month as they adjust to their new lives. The wing is equipped with its own cafeteria, gym, pool, library, limited grocery store, so it's far from an unpleasant place to stay -- albeit a bit cramped.

Jobs and Duties

Once out of orientation, the Unbleeder begins the long, long process of paying off their inserts. As with any financial process, this looks different for everyone: the exorbitantly wealthy are able to pay off their inserts near-instantly, while most find themselves in debt for quite a long time.

Those in the latter category make regular payments. While they're welcome to do so from any job, there are certain incentives to working for Llawes in some way. For example, Llawes employees are given subsidized housing for themselves and their families, receive certain benefits, so on and so forth. Such is one of the many reasons Llawes' headcount continues to expand year after year.

In Llawes' employ, there are no shortage of jobs one can find. As for jobs specifically tailored to Unbleeders, however, of note are any job where it would be convenient to send an immortal combat-ready force. They're pointedly not law enforcement, but they can operate as enforcers, security, or bodyguards for Llawes. More serious and/or unsavory work like infiltration exists as well; however, Unbleeders are naturally driven to protect, and generally more suited towards work in line with that instinct.

Insert Programs

Given its extensive and groundbreaking research on Unbleeders, it's unsurprising that Llawes has a number of programs in place to further said research. Often confused due to their (perhaps intentionally...?) similar names, the two most prominent of these are the Insert Renumeration Program and the Early Insert Program.

Insert Renumeration Program

Llawes Corp has been running the Insertion Remuneration Program for the entire course of the existence of Unbleeders -- up to and including now, and the foreseeable future! Functionally, the IRP is a trade: financial compensation for research participation. Willing participants allow for their researchers to try out new and unusual aspects of the insertion procedure, and Llawes pays off (at least part of) the price of inserts.

Research topics include everything from strange and dangerous cors, to massive numbers of inserts, to testing the limits of how long they can wait before resurrection. All these things are possibilities if you sign up for insertion remuneration!

If anything goes wrong, the payment goes to next-of-kin. Usually, people who sign up for the IRP aren't dead yet -- so it's easy enough to mix up with the Early Insert Program, with which it has this in common. In fact, it seems like the Corporation almost encourages this confusion...

Early Insert Program

As the shrewd out there might have already guessed, there's much to cover up regarding the EIP. The Early Insert Program was the term used to categorise Unbleeders created within the first seven months after the development of the procedure. It was a difficult, experimental phase, with fewer participants than has become Llawes's standard, a high percentage of which signed up for post-insertion experimentation.

The results were very successful... from a scientific perspective, at least. Ethical issues arose, though these were quieted with hefty settlements where possible and other methods where money would not suffice. And, of course, this period of time led to the Unbleeder program as it is now: a program that can be relied on in times of need, to return humans to the lives they no longer need to leave behind.

Timeline ^{RWE = Real World Equivalent}