Escher Complex
COMMUNITY REPORTSThe remainder of this article contains lore created collaboratively by the Blaseball community.
The Escher Complex, located in the Infinite Cities of Los Angeli, is the current headquarters of the Society for Internet Blaseball Research. It has the outward appearance of a pre-Unslamming office building, with most walls being constructed of mirrored glass. The Society Data Witches’ home field of the same name is located on the roof, and spectators are sat upon the roofs of neighboring buildings during the rare occasion it hosts a legitimate ILB game.
Formation
Ground was broken on the otherwise unassuming Leonard Building in 1985, with construction completing on schedule but well over budget in 1988. A six-floor, multi-tenant structure, it served as the central offices for several mundane businesses for years until the Grand Unslam removed the need for business in Los Angeli. It sat unoccupied for several weeks, until Taco News Unlimited ran a story about a vacant building with an interior vastly different than the exterior would suggest, and gave the Leonard Building a new name: the Escher Complex.
SIBR Occupancy
The Headmistress formed a committee consisting solely of herself, and voted to move SIBR’s headquarters from their somewhat remote office in Boise, Idaho into this new-old structure. The vote stood, as The Headmistress alone provides a quorum, and the move was completed just before Opening Day of Season β4. SIBR is the sole occupant, and have divided the Complex into several distinct areas, known internally as “Biomes.”
Biome I: Data, Analytics, Publication
Data, Analytics, Publication, designated as Biome I, is the production division of SIBR. Any and all information that leaves the Complex must first pass through Biome I, and as such the Biome to house those employees is large and well-funded. Datum Criminale is the head of this division, and many speculate that the division itself was partially named after them. Most employees require the use of DAP’s facilities on a day-to-day basis, as they have the only functional printer in the building.
Biome II: Council Chambers
The Council Chambers are the most mysterious and elusive of the Biomes, with the building’s non-Euclidean interior actively leading most employees away. Councilmembers reportedly receive a letter in the mail each morning with instructions on how to successfully navigate the complex.
Biome III: Lakes, Rivers, and Streams
The LRS Biome is located in an extremely large open area, surrounded on all sides by the Escher Complex in various orientations. The sun can be placed in any point of the sky via a complex series of rotations, and there exists native flora from every region of the former United States. LRS provides the Salmon Institute for Blaseball Research the waterways they need to gather data and run tests on fish. This is related to blaseball. They promise.
Biome IV: Tourism
SIBR, as the preeminent research society for an internationally popular splort, hosts a large number of visitors and tourists from around the world. This biome provides these visitors the opportunity to explore the entire (approximately) 3,000 km² facility via a series of rooms with exhibits of past work and windows into all other biomes, excluding the Council Chambers. This achieves three main goals for SIBR:
1. Prevent visitor interference with experiments or employees
2. Provide an accurate representation of the work that goes on in the Complex
3. Gather data. Always gather data. Data. Data. Data. Data.
Biome V: Operational Security
The Operational Security Biome is under the sole discretion of Major “XVI” Arcana, SIBR’s head Arcane Security officer, and her partner Espresso “Emmy” Machine, Los Angeli’s most highly skilled penetration tester. It contains the Proving Grounds, where they (and their team, when they require additional bodies) produce security methods, and attempt to break them.
Biome VI: Front Office
After the formation of the Society Data Witches, Biome VI was sectioned off from Biome I and became designated as its own area, to serve as the physical location of the team’s front office. Turing Capybara is the most senior member, except on Tuesdays. All of the team’s equipment is stored here, and a permanent door to Biome VII is conveniently present.
Biome VII: The Field
Biome V is also known as the Escher Complex, specifically, the blaseball field located on the roof in Euclidean space. It has every regulation element required of an ILB blaseball field, with the exception of spectator capacity. SIBR has sidestepped this restriction by installing bleachers on the roofs of surrounding buildings. No owner or tenant has yet to file a complaint.
