Great Plains Research Institute



GPRI, or “The Institute,” is a theoretical and applied research laboratory near Darren City in the Principality of Darren. It has achieved world renown in several areas of scientific endeavor, most notably genetics and nuclear science.

Projects at GPRI are segregated into at least three discrete levels of confidentiality, with reports of at least two additional levels of higher secrecy. Level 3 projects are not acknowledged to outside parties. Level 2 projects are acknowledged in general terms, but only select details are released. Level 1 projects are openly discussed. As examples, the nuclear weapon development in the 1930s and ‘40s was a level 3 project, only made public after the Alice Disaster. The development that led to Amaize was a level 2 project, re-set to level 1 when it transitioned from research to business and marketing.

GPRI was founded in the early 1900s by a group of University of Darren professors, and operates on a mix of private and public funding. Lately, with the unprecedented income resulting from the success of Amaize, there has been little need to seek government grants. This has led to demands from Prince Darren for greater insight into GPRI operations, as well as a greater share of the Amaize profits.

Though never publicly admitted, it is widely assumed that a GPRI program is responsible, directly or indirectly, for the presence of superhumans following the Alice Disaster. It is known that Bruce Kent (Atomic Man) was once a GPRI employee, and Atomic Man has been seen entering GPRI facilities on multiple occasions.

Other important projects of GPRI include research into the effects of Fractalized Maple Syrup from the 1960s on. It is a level two project. The Minister of Psychosomatic Health, a Adolph Von Vergenstein, spearheaded the investigation of the effects of FMS. The founding members of the company Simulanomicon were members of GPRI Artificial Inteligence department when they created Simulatron, a controversial reality simulator.