Taylor Providence

The Syndicate
Manager of Portfolio Druthers
Chief Executive of Providence, Inc.
Lieutenant Chairwoman, Symposium #WV3200

Description


~The enigmatic cunning of a woman of substance that excels in the corporate world steps onto the scene in a pair of black heels. This gorgeous Caucasian woman limits her age nowhere beyond thirty, though the tiny and knowing smile on her lips belies her experience. This is Taylor Providence and she didn't break the glass ceiling. She kicked it between the legs and climbed across its broken back to reach sterling new heights. Her own feminine height remains average: no taller than 5'7", and she can't weigh more than 120 pounds. The brunette takes exquisite care of what she has though. Taylor boasts smooth and unblemished skin while maintaining only an average if healthy physique. Her golden-brown hair stays professionally styled, though the exact fashion depends on avant-garde whim and the flavor of her dress. Most often, she dons a top-of-the-line expensive women's suit, possibly slacks but often a skirt. Taylor enjoys bold and complimentary colors, like deep blue or snow white. Sharp clicks of her accompanying heels mark Taylor's assertive gait and proud posture. A self-assured and shrewd glimmer lingers in cool, fathomless aqua-blue eyes. That gaze conveys the woman's domineering and compelling charisma. High cheekbones and only sporadic jewelry, mostly gold, delivers a conservative and even haughty demeanor. And yet despite Taylor's beauty, determination, and style, the woman falls below the radars. She's a mover and shaker, the woman behind the scenes that people don't even want to notice unless they hunger for the same influence over their environment that she already commands.~

OOC: Appearance 4 (gorgeous); Style 3; Cloaking 3

"This is the future."

"And you don't get to be in it."

History


Harder Times

Perhaps it really was divine providence that Taylor was born just before the crash of '29. Her aptly named family, the Providences, managed to keep their spacious, upper class home in Long Island, New York. Her mother, Deborah, was a seamstress who worked out of the home. Her father, George, was a stock market agent on Wall Street. When the Great Depression hit, he was one of many despondent men who threw themselves out of tenth-story windows. Taylor's mother was forced to find a better paying job at a textiles factory called Practical Patterns. Taylor and her two older brothers, Russell and Charles, as well as her younger sister (who was born after their father committed suicide), Sarah, all pitched in to get through this trying time.

And they lived through it well enough, mainly by making every dollar count. When the children were old enough, they also worked. Taylor became a clerk in a general grocery store while attending grade school. A smart cookie, she graduated at the top of her class. Taylor left time in her life to join her family at their Methodist United Church. She even dated a little, though the relationships were nothing serious.

As for continued education, scholarships weren't enough. She knew there wouldn't be enough money for college and had to keep working and save. Taylor switched jobs to work at Practical Patterns with her mother. Meanwhile, World War II broke out. Charles and Russell were drafted to fight the Japanese on the Pacific Front. Their departure was hard on the Providences, who were a close family despite (or because of) the loss of the father. At least Taylor could help in her small way. The factory made uniforms for the Armed Forces, a fact that Taylor was quite proud of.

While Taylor matured, her potential grew more subtly noticeable. She ended up as her family's fiscal planner. She had a great mind for budgeting and could easily do any arithmetic in her head. Taylor was also an ambitious and industrious worker, even as a child. The girl could always recognize thrifty individuals out in crowds, as if they were her kinsmen. Taylor never did lose faith in money -- hers or the government's. She always knew the economy would bounce back from the Great Depression.

Fractured

That didn't prevent bad news from hitting the family again in 1945. Both brothers died fighting the Japanese. Taylor watched her mother fall miserable, unable to raise Taylor or Sarah properly. Taylor loved her sister and helped bring her up, all the while working and studying in the hope of future college attendance. The full weight of so much responsibility bore down on Taylor. It was a lot to expect of a seventeen year old. Though no one ever knew, Taylor suffered a mental breakdown one night that year. Her mind felt as though it were fractured into dozens of different desires and dreams. Taylor pulled herself back together over a night of intense reflection by refocusing on her short-term goals.

Her recovery earned her the notice of CEO, Webster York, who was inspecting the factory the next day. Actually, Mr. York was a Manager of the Syndicate, a Convention of the secret Technocracy, whose goals included the security and prosperity of mankind. He recognized industrious Taylor's great potential to likewise become an agent of that Union. He brought Taylor on as an executive assistant (admittedly, just a secretary). With her raise, Taylor gladly sent money to her mother and sister. She no longer lived in Long Island though. She moved to New York City, there to study economics at a Syndicate-operated university, Karberson Technology.

And Taylor learned the in's and out's of corporate life under Webster York's patient guidance and shrewd savvy. He administered no exams, but constantly tested Taylor "on the job". He left things for her to figure out and observed her interactions with colleagues and clients. Soon she became an "insider" on Wall Street. By 1953, Taylor rose to become a board member of the company. Her ambitious was retriggered to full throttle. She knew she could go as far as she wanted and nothing could stop her but her own hesitation.

More and more, Taylor was leading the company. Webster York was preparing to retire. Prior to his retirement, he warned Taylor about the supernatural Reality Deviants. They were a major reason the greater Technocracy formed in the first place. She should avoid them, he warned. Not once during her early rise to power did she catch hide or hair of RDs, fortunately. By 1960, Taylor felt fully confident to be in charge. The fractured thoughts floating in the back of her mind merged again. And as they did, Mr. York oversaw how she merged Practical Patterns with Glacier Products, a house wares production company. With that corporate growth, Webster York retired. Now Taylor Providence was the CEO, one of the first female CEOs of the modern era!

Mergers

And Taylor proved to be an energetic leader. She used cutting edge economics and masterful predictions of financial trends. She also innovated new sale plans of her own. Taylor ignored the pop culture of the era, privately deriding the rhetoric of drug-addled hippies and neo-fascist anti-Communist nuts alike. So focused was she on her career that Taylor had no time for a social life. Her sister was married with children and together they sadly attended their mother's funeral. That was about the limit of Taylor's social contact in those active days.

She instead concentrated on keeping up-to-date with corporate technology. Taylor was right on the ball introducing electronics of all sorts into the daily routines of the company. Nonetheless, Taylor never forgot the value of manpower. She treated all of her employees respectfully, paying them handsomely and offering great benefit packages. Of course, one should never mistake niceness for weakness. Over the years, Taylor maintained control as CEO. When the company went public, she remained the chief stockholder. And no amount of threats, cajoling, or harassment could sway or frighten the powerful woman. Glass ceiling? She shattered it and jabbed handfuls of shards into her rivals' eyeballs. No one could topple Taylor from her vaunted position of wealth and authority.

Thus, Taylor began to realize her true potential. She absorbed and merged many other companies into hers, involving a variety of different commerce and industry. In addition to Glacier Products' line of house wares, Taylor acquired Brite Ideas (electronics), Morsel Mechanics (auto parts), and Hausen Chemicals (good, ol' "volatile chemicals"). Because Taylor knew how vital style and appearance was to personal success, Practical Patterns remained her favorite subsidiary of all.

And an important asset was Vixen Luxury Cosmetics, a line of beauty products for women. It was also a site for Empowered Syndicate researchers to develop heightened methods of physical longevity. Those were products in which Taylor invested and researched herself heavily, knowing that her path to success would take many years. She would have to stay in her prime to survive. So was born Providence International, a new mega-conglomerate on the corporate scene. And while Providence International thrived, Taylor continued to absorb or bankrupt numerous competitors over the years.

Mobbin'

Though her company continued to develop, it was not without growing pains. The La Cosa Nostra began to rough in on her territory, so to speak. They exerted strong-armed influence on her junior executives, forcing them to indulge the mobsters with embezzled funds from Providence International's trusts. Taylor notified the police but their investigations came to no avail. She had no choice but to hire Enforcers from the Syndicate to oppose the Mafiosos. Then she began to hear that perhaps a jealous Financier, Gilliam Hutton, was behind the LCN meddling. This stock investor was a fellow member of the Syndicate, no less!

So a shadowy war with the mob was waged for the next few years. Taylor herself was drawn into the action more than once and she was forced to defend herself in brief but brutal little gunfights. The close encounters brought another epiphany to Taylor's consciousness in 1973. Why fight those who can be subsumed and absorbed? Why destroy something that would be more useful if it worked for a person? And at least, Taylor recognized, it would be safer and more prudent to attack her enemies from an indirect fashion.

For the next few years, Taylor established a treaty and began to compromise with the mob. She allowed herself to appear like a typical corporate officer, afraid of the big bad criminals with guns. She let them heavily invest in the newest division of Morsel Mechanics. Morsel wasn't just making car parts. They were designing cars and put a whole new line of automobiles for the middle-class consumers of America. Taylor made sure the vehicles were ugly and inefficient. The cars didn't sell and, in fact, that division was bankrupt. So were the mobsters who foolishly invested in the division. With too few dollars to pay off their enforcers and assassins to punish Taylor, especially since she still had a small army of her own enforcers to protect her, the LCN backed off.

And Taylor recovered from that sacrifice by investing in and purchasing new and vaunted alternative energy productions. Solar and wind power were quite en vogue. Taylor had great timing in this regard: the Arab Oil Embargo of the 70s just hit the economy. Alternative energy was booming. Taylor didn't get any tips. It was pure Financier instinct. With Daedulus Industries (solar) and Dunatis Technology, Incorporated (wind), now under her fingertips, Taylor had an eye to the future.

Reagan Era

And that future included a shift of headquarters from New York City to Chicago in 1981, where she was welcomed by the local Technocratic Symposium as the next Syndicate Chairwoman. Taylor liked the landscape of the Midwest: windy but even. Besides, Dunatis and Morsel Mechanics were headquartered out here, too. Furthermore, it relieved any continued strife with that asshole, Hutton.

Taylor spent most of the 80s lower on the radar, too. She began to heavily invest in her companies' interests instead of expanding. She deepened the value of her existing assets and took advantage of the wonderful tax breaks, courtesy of Reaganomics. At the same time, Taylor maintained her own integrity in spite of the rather tasteless era. She kept herself simple yet stylish, avoiding the garish new wave sensations that turned so many other people into postmodern peacocks. Taylor also stayed out of most media, avoiding periodicals save for a few choice interviews in magazines like Forbes and American Success.

And the Financier also kept most of her investments in America. She distrusted the influence of foreign enterprise and refused to "sell out" to cheaper manpower abroad. She exported certainly, but accepted few imports in any state of production. In that way, she differed from most corporate moguls of the era. Yet still Providence International thrived, proving that pluck and genius was more than enough to stay under one's budgets. Watching that success, Taylor came to understand a greater economic reality in 1986. Money defined itself; if its value was truly respected, the equitable markets were self-replicating and boundless.

Perhaps because of that comprehension, or maybe her maternal streak, Taylor took on a number of charities and pet projects. She still had no time for a social life, and that was perhaps wise. She exposed herself to the public eye enough through such benevolent events like her financial backing and public speaking of charities for breast cancer, adoption, and poverty. Taylor came across as the "moderate financial genius", a true product of the Reagan era. Time magazine nominated her as "Woman of the Decade", reflecting her ruthless business savvy and softer, compassionate side. Some voiced wonder at how she managed to keep herself looking so young and beautiful, so Taylor prudently withdrew from the public eye. She still supported her charities, but appointed lessers for the speaking events.

Pogrom Realized

And that really marked the end of Taylor's relatively peaceful years. As the 1990s dawned, a sense of desperation began to pervade the world. Taylor adapted to this fearful sentiment by dipping her fingers into pies she once refused to touch: organized crime, politics, and mass media. Her immense influence surrendered those kinds of contacts and assistance on a local scale in short time and she immediately extended that power-brokering throughout the Midwest region. She wasn't the leading Syndicate Financier in America's Bread Basket...yet. She was certainly drawing a lot of impressed nods from her aloof seniors, all the same.

That was when Taylor began to notice meddling in her new business interests. This time her assets weren't doing what they should have been doing, and were highly expected to do. Investors made illogical purchases and politicians cast their votes against the platforms she helped them write. Comparing the analyzed information of the unaccountable events against Syndicate computer databanks, Taylor suspected that vampires, calling themselves Kindred, were involved here.

She turned to another Convention of the Technocratic Union, the New World Order. From this agency, she requested information and constant surveillance of these Kindred. She exchanged use of her media influence to display their own commercials and corporate videos for their assistance. Meanwhile, taking no chances, Taylor beefed up her security by hiring more "Magic Men" Enforcers from her own Convention. Some were appointed as bodyguards, others (like Bruce Orson) were dispatched to oversee specific aspects of her corporate empire.

Three-Player Chess

With her improved surveillance abilities, Taylor observed rising hostilities between the Chicago Kindred and the "Garou", which was what the werewolves called themselves. She soon formed a plan to set them against each other and take out two Reality Deviant birds with one stone. Taylor "dressed down" her presence, her Resonance, and pretended to be a weak female CEO. She brought on a junior executive she trusted more than any other (and a fellow Empowered Syndicate man) named Wesley Patrickson. Together they would masquerade as a team-up in which he would pretend to prop up Taylor with his own business savvy. Playing on the RDs' chauvinistic follies, Taylor and Wesley met with the so-called vampire Prince of Chicago, Lodin, and Lodin's business allies. They worked out a deal in which Taylor gambled some of her biggest assets, such as Morsel Mechanics (again, heh). No matter what was offered this imperious Lodin, it had to include a deal that turned parkland into real estate development called "vital" for the cooperative deal between Lodin's business interests and Providence, International.

And just as Taylor counted on, the Garou were outraged that their parkland would be subsumed and turned into more office buildings. In his arrogance, Lodin cared little; he hoped the real estate deal would force the annoying "Lupines" out of town. When the Garou began to attack Kindred, Lodin ordered a mass Blood Hunt on every Lupine in Chicago. The result? Bloody warfare that threatened to shatter the secret existence of the supernatural. But Taylor made sure the New World Order was all over "scene sanitation" while she herself stayed hidden to avoid any werewolf wrath directed at Lodin's business partners.

When the dust settled, many Kindred and Garou alike were dead. Lodin himself was among the slain. Yeah, big loss. As written into the business deal, Providence International took back over all gambled assets. First thing Taylor did was cancel the real estate development deal! That way, she blunted the Garou's wrath, appearing to "quail to the frightening pressure" of their own corporate-types ("Glass Stalkers" or some such Reality Deviant nonsense). Once that her safety was certified, Taylor even acquired some of fallen Prince Lodin's equity as it went up for grabs on the open market. It wasn't as if vampires could or would write living wills (nuck, nuck).

Firewalls

Unfortunately, Taylor's success chafed other Reality Deviants. Starting in 1996, Taylor was forced onto the defensive. Virtual Adepts, computer hacking technomancers extraordinaire, began to target her impressive corporate accounts. She lost several hundred thousand dollars to the electronic thieves. Infuriated, Taylor hired a team of computer security consultants, the Guardian Angels, to assist and monitor her system integrity.

And Taylor herself dived headfirst into the battle, learning all she could about computer and electronic security. Who said an old dog couldn't learn new tricks? Still, their efforts met with limited success. They regained only $50,000 or so of lost monies and caught nobody. The Virtual Adepts evaded their counter-attacks like the slippery eels they were.

Still, the problem encouraged Taylor to take e-security more seriously than ever before. The hackers were getting far more sophisticated, numerous, and bolder. She took the consultation team on full-time, making Guardian Angels E-Security Consultation the smallest company yet to member the mega-corporation of Providence, International. With their help, Taylor improved corporate security to be airtight and constructed many more security measures to prevent future hacking. Her firewalls became known as impenetratable, and that was proven when the Virtual Adepts tried a parting "middle finger" gesture by trying to infect her corporate systems with a "2YK" virus at the turn of the millennium. Her aggressive security systems shredded its Trojan horse disguise and blasted the tough program right down. The Virtual Adepts hadn't harassed Taylor Providence or her mega-corporation since.

New Life

In the midst of these clashes, since 1999 Taylor wondered if she discovered what she always lacked in her life before: love. She and Wesley were dating and rapidly growing more serious in their relationship. Wesley wanted children, and so did Taylor. But she did not feel like she could bring a child into a shady world filled with so many dangers yet. Taylor first decided her welcome was wearing too thin in Chicago; too many RDs still remembered and hated her name.

So she began to shift her personal investments and equities to another Midwest town. Taylor chose Kansas City; though it lacked Chicago's centricity, it was still a central hub for industry and commerce in the region. Taylor dispatched her new (Empowered) executive assistant, Dominique Wilbanks, to the city ahead of her move. Dominique could head up the new offices of Providence, International, being established there. Dominique would also help strengthen Taylor's local connections and influences among the political, financial, and even criminal worlds. Dominique even helped Taylor acquire new assets in the form of Blue River Dockyards (boatyarding) and Silo Plains (a local farming conglomerate).

And as Taylor prepared for this move, she had another flash of insight in 2001. This time, inspiration crashed together in her consciousness to nail home a macroeconomical fact. Everything -- everything­ -- was just another form of currency. Everything really was for sale in one way or another. While a hero wouldn't sell his courage for money, he would sell his courage for heroism. All things could be bartered and exchanged. And the least of which, Taylor recognized, was cash. Only a step above cash for the Empowered like herself was Primal Energy. Primal Energy was a bioelectrical power source only Empowered agents like she could channel, and a source Reality Deviants also horded and produced. Why let them keep such a valuable asset unchecked, Taylor wondered? Why pursue an impossible Pogrom to kill them all when it could be easier to "live and let live"...for a price?

Providence Tithe Act

Thus was born the Providence Tithe Act of 2002. Kansas City, Missouri, would provide wonderful testing grounds for this new Syndicate (and potential Technocratic) policy towards Reality Deviants. While Taylor brainstormed and experimented with the technology that this would involve, she brought the reality of the old Pogrom crashing down on Kansas City's supernatural residents. As vampire hunters among the Sleepers targeted the vampires of the city, Taylor focused instead on the superstitionists of the Nine Traditions. She funneled plenty of funds into the Convention of Iteration X, encouraging them to mount a cooperative assault on the Traditions to shake them up.

The Chairwoman of the local Symposium, Ellis Parnell, was a very conservative member of the Disbursements aspect of the Syndicate. She did not approve of a Financier like Taylor muscling into Kansas City, but the regional Symposium overrode her concerns. Taylor knew there would be friction between Ellis and herself and she agreed to stay as nothing more than lieutenant to Ellis on the local Symposium. And after all, Taylor got the Traditions to come to the negotiation table, something no other Technocratic official in the region achieved. The compromise Taylor struck with the superstitionists was simple: surrender a monthly fee of Primal Energy (which they called Quintessence) and the Pogrom would not be enforced, and they could live in peace. Since the local Tradition Masters were not hardheaded fools who wanted to fight, they capitulated.

That success brought the Technocracy's spotlight on Taylor Providence. Who she was and what she was doing became front-page news on the "internal newsletters" that circulated throughout the global Union. She enjoyed the attention: Taylor well knew that her idea was cutting edge policy. It faced criticism, of course. Wouldn't tithing the Traditions exacerbate tensions? Ah, but wouldn't attacking them or their families, setting fire to their homes and chantries, only infuriate them more? What was the alternative? Ignore them? Impossible. Taxation made sense to anyone who wanted to avoid needless bloodshed. As for the other Reality Deviants...they did not pose nearly as much danger to the Union as the Traditions. No accord was necessary. They could just be robbed of their Primal Energy through advanced technologies. If that pissed them off, Iteration X could clean them out. They'd be slapped with the Providence Tithe Act and like it...or find out if they could survive superheated globs of plasma lobbed down their throats.

The problem, of course, was for Taylor to spearhead this experimental policy and technology and survive. It all focused on her now. If it failed in her hands, or worse if she were to be murdered, the PTA would falter and probably be forgotten. The mindless violence of the Pogrom would continue. So Taylor strengthened her corporate defenses, including the hiring of more Enforcers and bodyguards.

Daniel

Taylor was almost ready to move out of Chicago, too. Instead of feeling fat and safe in a little nest as others might, the adrenaline of her new and cutting edge policy secured Taylor. She never was a woman who liked to sit behind closed doors. She loved to be on the offense. That was where Taylor felt safe.

And that was why she finally consented to Wesley's growing desire for children. In 2005, Taylor gave birth to Daniel Charles Providence. Unfortunately, Wesley was not a supportive father. Throughout her pregnancy, the man grew more demanding and expectant. He acted as if the masqueraded roles they put on years ago for Lodin were true. The obnoxious behavior was not tolerated for long. Taylor dumped and then fired Wesley. She easily kept custody of Daniel.

Taylor took her son and moved to Kansas City. The boy took over Taylor's ambition. Whereas she once excelled just to excel, to further the purest form of the Syndicate's goals, and to become the most powerful woman she could become, Daniel redefined her raison d'etre. Everything she did, from common investments to the Providence Tithe Act, was all for him. Daniel would have a safe and prosperous future. Taylor intended to make sure of that personally.

Tower Penthouse (Laboratory)


~There are many offices within Providence Tower in the financial district of Kansas City. In fact, beyond the boardroom lies an office Taylor Providence herself often occupies. But one she frequents even more regularly lurks behind walls that most employees do not know. The penthouse was taken for this purpose, tucked away from the rest of the skyscraper by a barren antechamber known as a reflection chamber. One can enter the reflection hall, which contains velvet walls and soft benches, from the main corridor. But on the other side of the small room lies another heavy, oaken corporate door. This portal leads into Taylor's private abode, and one can enter only by the correct security code and the sliding of a unique identification card at this door.

Yet once inside, many visitors might wonder what the security is all about. The room looks like little more than the private study of a wealthy financier. Certainly, there are some hi-tech commodities in here. The far wall is a great plate window but clearly it's been meshed with the latest in visual electronics. With the press of a button, the clear window's fantastic view of the city can be switched to a television program, a computer monitor, or even state-of-the-art video communications. The heavy oak desk was professionally crafted, and upon it rests an elaborate personal computer set-up -- the best computer available today, with every bell and whistle. Otherwise, the study's sidewalls are lined with bookshelves, filled with tomes of reference and philosophy. The floor is carpeted a rich crimson, complimenting the sienna brown paneled walls. The chair behind the desk is a perfectly calibrated ergonomic masterpiece, designed to enhance posture and relaxation alike. Standing next to the computer's wireless mouse pad, which is rarely used due to the computer's voice activation modules, is a photograph of a sleepy infant: Daniel Providence. Beyond the desk, there sits a heavy steel safe. Its enclosed contents pertain namely to advanced pharmaceutical supplements and enhancements as well as bullets of various smithy. The whole Tower Penthouse possesses a feel of cloistered intellectualism, technology, and devotion. There is no question that this chamber welcomes only its mistress: its well-blended appearance contains secrets few would even understand.~

OOC: Cloaking 4

Significant Other


Taylor teamed up with her biomechanics department head to further both their Scientific goals in 2012. But in Lijuan Xixang, she discovered both an apt mind and ambitious hunger that mirrored her own. Though their methods differ wildly, Taylor feels a kindred spirit in the Iterator, and they merrily experiment together.

Lijuan

Significant Other


While Dominique Wilbanks has worked for Taylor since 2000, Dominique's area of expertise was designed to be Kansas City. It wasn't until 2006 that Taylor finally shifted gears to focus especially on Kansas City, and so the two began to work together at last. In order to gain more local influence, to network and broker power more effectively, Taylor and Dominique began to spend time together outside of Providence Tower. Dominique made amazing contacts in town and began to introduce Taylor to all of them that summer. But those working dates gradually grew more and more familiar, especially as Taylor discovered which team Dominique batted for. Curious and attracted to the posh executive assistant, their working relationship secretly blossomed into more.

Dominique

Weakness
Mama Bear


Taylor wants all the honey, she wants her cub to grow up healthy and safe, and she will become like a maddened grizzly bear mauling a camper's 5 year old kid if her cub is threatened. Taylor behaves very cavalieristic and brutal towards her enemies, including and especially Reality Deviants. Drawing the lines between one's enemies and oneself assures a showdown.

Likelihood of Corruption


Average.

Taylor knows the Syndicate is dirty and corrupt, but she's confident she can resist its poison. The problem is, even if Taylor can stand against the tide, she's one of the few.

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