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Overview&History:
Walter Eadie Hughes arose to prominence fairly recently as a businessman. Born to a family of rancher-farmers in Whitewood, South Dakota, the big man from a small town graduated MIT with degrees in economics and statistics at the age of 21. From there he traveled abroad and studied at Tilburg University (Netherlands) for a year before returning to MIT to finish, additionally earning a doctorate in econometrics. Completing post-doctorate studies at the London School of Economics & Political Science, he then began work as an actuary, eventually finding himself in the employ of the Knightfall’s Kamelot. Following the deaths of Quintus and Andres Knightfall, the acquisition and transformation of the company into Avalon by Antonia Dain, Hughes was let go.
After spending a brief period of time unemployed and an even shorter period working as a consultant for several smaller companies (a field in which he still dabbles), Hughes turned his accumulated funds to his own benefit. That same year he formed Hughes Capital Investment, based in Buffalo, New York, specializing in commodities and debt purchase/resale. With his business acumen it wasn't long before the veteran of finance was back on his feet and turning a profit in the labyrinthine yet lucrative world of consumer debt collection.
Holdings
In the short time since its inception, Hughes sought to spread the influence of his company, first throughout New York, and then beyond. HCI holds several subsidiaries, including:
| Æsir Packing & Shipping |
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| Handles packaging and shipping commodities, for both official business and their under-the-table, "legal-adjacent" ventures including the trafficking of drugs, animals, organs, people and more. As well as conducting legitimate business with other entities, both public and private. |
| Wrangler Recovery Systems |
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| A collection agency allowing the debt buyers to forego outsourcing if a collection issue persists (since they don't have to pay a percentage to another company), to more accurately determine which approach is best; and in many cases, shepherding business to HCI—creditors conducting business with WRS is often a precursor to said creditors deciding to cut their losses, allowing Hughes to purchase the debt for mere cents on the dollar, earning a profit collecting what he can, and selling remaining "paper" to other buyers. |
At any given time, HCI owns billions of dollars worth of unpaid debts, some troublesome, but most proving extremely profitable. It is a complex landscape partly regulated by the United States' Fair Trade Commission but marked by many shrewd and ruthless players—including debt buyers, collectors, brokers, street hustlers and criminals—all working together, and against one another, to recoup every penny on every dollar. Despite regulation it is an often-lawless marketplace. Large portfolios of debt—usually in the form of spreadsheets holding debtors’ names, contact information and balances—are bought, sold and sometimes simply stolen. Hughes owns many portfolios, gained both legitimately and otherwise, and rarely has much trouble collecting. Although his work makes no headlines, some in the field suspect it has something to do with the relative ease of reaching him for a personal appointment. But recondite information suggests more at play. If nothing else...
Herein lies the utility of HCI's third subsidiary.
GRIMSEC, LLC
The only daughter company that is a partly-owned subsidiary, as opposed to one wholly-owned, GRIMSEC is a security company employing both armed an unarmed guards, depending on accounts. While the parent company, HCI, doesn't hold 100% of GRIMSEC's shares, Hughes does hold a controlling interest and a greater degree of absolute control despite not holding title as GRIMSEC's chief executive officer.
The founder is one, Oleg Grimsrud, a Russian immigrant-turned-citizen of mixed heritage who entered the United States in 1992. His past as a KGB agent is kept tightly under wraps and, at least in the public eye, he was squeaky clean, instead emphasizing his Norwegian heritage for the sake of his company. Grimsrud and a few close contacts formed GRIMSEC as a small, privately owned contracting company in the same year as he earned his citizenship, protecting private property, people, and surreptitiously working as mercenaries to make ends meet. While making a livable profit for its few members, the company did not grow much but resisted attempted buyouts and assimilation from larger companies for many years.
Shortly after its formation, HCI made a quiet buyer's arrangement with Oleg. In adopting the security company under HCI, they could push for greater growth than GRIMSEC alone, while allowing Grimsrud and his company to maintain de facto autonomy. Compared to a Russian immigrant, Hughes had the credentials to earn more contracts, and the money and backing to support more workers until they could begin to turn a profit. And as he needed, Oleg had a mind for espionage and security, the manpower and unscrupulous connections to serve as a perfect squad of enforcers where needed. When Oleg stepped down, all of this was passed to his son, Arthur, groomed for the position for nearly as long as he'd been alive.
GRIMSEC sends regular reports to HCI, ensuring adoption of a particular organizational vision, and Hughes has the final say in larger financial decisions. However, Grimsrud remains both chief executive officer and operations manager. While Hughes does hold a controlling share and a significant degree of final control, Grimsrud generally regards himself as independently managing the subsidiary. He maintains the freedom to formulate and implement strategies for the GRIMSEC's daily operations and is largely left to his own devices, such is the trust between men.
GRIMSEC, like many security companies, recruits heavily from ex-military personnel, including those considered too old to continue serving, those with dishonorable discharges, and those entering from foreign militaries, PMCs, and ex-mercenaries. There is an extensive vetting procedure including a background check. This process is to protect against espionage and infiltration, ensures which employees possess traits desirable to do what is necessary in their line of work, and otherwise eases sorting personnel into different jobs based on traits and capabilities. Standard contracts are still held, and many officers meander about their daily lives none the wiser to the dark side of their employers. But for those who express a willingness—and even desire—to do more, other opportunities await.
Dirty Laundry
As with his father, many of Arthur's associates are still effectively mercenaries and thugs. Along with enforcers not on the official payroll, they engage in many guided tactics for the purpose of increasing Hughes' and Grimsrud's (and their own) wealth and power of influence over New York. Including threats, extortion, destruction of property, and worse, in ways that aren't easily traceable back to their employers. Many of these under the table agents are belong to a gang colloquially known as The Sons of Ragnarok, covertly playing on Grimsrud's Viking heritage and the name of his alter ego, appealing to ideas and imagery intended to embolden allies and intimidate others. And while neither HCI nor GRIMSEC have officially expanded beyond the state, there do exist clandestine "sleeper" agents who dwell in and report on various parts of the country (New York and beyond) in preparation for future plans.
There is a strict adherence to a chain of command. With the most damning of evidence kept on a need-to-know basis for those highest in the hierarchy, many footsoldiers engage with drugs, prostitution, and other illicit acts for the safety and support of themselves and their families without any awareness of the depth of their connections or who they truly work for. To preserve this secrecy, when working with the Sons, Arthur operates exclusively in the guise of his alter ego, "Ragnarok." Hughes avoids contact with this group altogether.
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