Haven Authenticator Foundry has no upgrade path — it is built once, at this level.

If the Cipher Foundry is where the secret is made, the Authenticator Foundry is where it becomes inescapable. Technicians here embed raw cipher chips into copper-wire contact arrays — a process that creates a tamper-evident physical bond: cut the wiring, and the chip's authentication key self-destructs. The resulting authenticators are what every major commercial exchange in settled space requires: commerce hubs, trade nexuses, and any high-volume market serious about verifiable transactions. The Federation licenses them at fixed rates. 'Fixed' in the sense that the Federation fixes the rate. The alternative is running your exchange unverified, which the other empires have collectively decided they will not do. The Federation considers this a satisfying arrangement. They arranged it.