TEXT: >>> BEGIN NEPTUNE TRANSMISSION <<<
  From: Æon Trinity, Neptune Division
  To: All Æon operatives
  Transmission type: textfile
  Encryption: DSE
  Time is Money
  In the 22nd-century, gigantic corporations wield
  more power than many countries. Commerce is a
  science involving variables of advertising,
  promotion and target markets, with the goal of
  discovering the perfect consumer. Business isn’t
  just part of society, it is society.
  Business is Business
  The sixth Trinity Field Report, Corporate Life
  looks at business society in the 22nd century.
  From high-stakes corporate intrigue to middle-
  management skullduggery to entry level hell,
  this “minibook” sheds light on the dynamic, cut-
  throat world that is big business.
  >>> END TRANSMISSION <<<
  >>> <<<
  Trinity Field Report: Corpo-
  rate Life
  A Trinity Universe™ Update
  Available free of charge only here, TFR: Corpo-
  rate Life is an official resource for the Trinity
  game setting.
  >>> <<<
  >>> NEPTUNE TEMPLATE <<<
  Greetings Colleague —
  What follows is a brief primer on the history,
  culture and current activity of one of the most
  prominent social forces in modern life: the
  corporation. Along with religion and govern-
  ment, the corporation forms one of the most
  prominent abstract organizational concepts for
  human life. Being the youngest by far of the “big
  three” power structures, the corporation is
  probably the least predictable, the most innova-
  tive, the least reliable, and the most mutable of
  all. Ruled by only a single principle — profit
  über alles — corporations adapt and spontane-
  ously arise with a speed that no other organiza-
  tion can rival. Big business goes everywhere,
  oversees almost everything, and has a hand in
  every significant undertaking.
  Before moving on to the proper body of this
  document, I feel I should provide two warnings.
  First, the document you hold is necessarily brief.
  Æon has access to literally millions of files on
  various subjects relating to corporate style,
  history, motivation and action patterns. Some
  might claim that condensing such a broad subject
  does it, and you, a disservice: a little information
  might be worse than none at all. Take what you
  read with a grain of salt. Expecting to leave this
  document with anything but the most rudimen-
  tary understanding is foolhardy. Consider this to
  be a very grainy map of a foreign continent. It
  will give you outlines of lakes and let you find
  mountains, but don’t rely on it to get you straight
  to grandmother’s house.
  The second warning is that even the biggest
  corporation is composed of individuals. Even if
  you can confidently predict the actions of a
  particular business organization, don’t assume
  that every employee supports a company agenda
  — or is even aware of it.
  Keeping those factors in mind, here is an in-
  tensely condensed overview of the role of the
  corporation in modern life.
  Ad Astra
  Neville Archer
  Director, Neptune Division
  Æon Trinity
  Hope • Sacrifice • Unity
  >>> <<<
  >>> TRITON TEMPLATE <<<
  Corporate Theory and History
  — Professor Brenda Hamilton, Ph.D., Adjunct
  Historiographer, Neptune Division Associate
  The corporation as we know it had its genesis
  when European kings and queens licensed trade
  rights to groups of merchants and nobles in
  
  return for a piece of the action. This seemed a
  logical extension of the feudal system, in which
  the nobles owned the land and permitted serfs to
  work it in exchange for part of the harvest.
  Technical advances in transport made the owner-
  ship of these trade routes incredibly lucrative,
  and that resulted in widespread currency trade:
  after all, a slab of beef or bushel of grain
  wouldn’t have value forever. The nobles could
  only retain their wealth by transforming it into
  durable goods — generally ships with which to
  complete more trading voyages. This put a lot of
  money in the hands of shipbuilders, but these
  voyages, while rewarding, were both expensive
  and risky: therefore the traders spread the risk
  out among numerous investors, who received a
  proportionate return on their investment if the
  voyage was successful. As venture capital
  became more important, the owners of this
  capital (the banks) also grew in stature, until they
  were no longer limited to a single country.
  As international trade became increasingly
  complicated, the nobles subcontracted more and
  more of it to skilled laborers and non-nobles who
  would form the core of the later “bourgeoisie.”
  The drive to make trade and shipbuilding more
  efficient led to the development of the factory,
  which was the driving force behind the Industrial
  Revolution.
  The Industrial Revolution was (in extreme brief)
  the transition of the wealth focus from the
  countryside (the source of impermanent wealth
  like corn and chickens) to the city (the source of
  permanent wealth like ships, buildings and mass-
  produced tools). Although few people recog-
  nized it at the time, this was also the point where
  capitalism began to grow.
  Capitalism
  There are really two meanings of the word
  “capitalism.” There’s capitalism as an economic
  effect, and capitalism as a political theory.
  Economic capitalism is simply the process by
  which people with money lend it to people who
  need it. If all goes well, the people who borrow
  use the money to produce goods or services they
  otherwise couldn’t. They then sell these goods or
  services and make enough money to pay back
  the loan with interest while pocketing some
  profit. If it works, everyone’s happy: the lender
  recoups an investment and then some, and the
  borrower pays for the use of resources that he
  could not, otherwise, afford. To look at economic
  capitalism from a slightly more abstract perspec-
  tive, capitalism was a new wealth focus. Instead
  of perishable wealth (produce) or tangible wealth
  (tools), capitalism concerned the manipulation of
  intangible or symbolic wealth: the ability to get
  things done.
  The men who perceived many important things
  about capitalism were Marx and Engels, who
  then attempted to develop their own, alternate
  system for resource allocation. This system,
  communism, is still used in modified form in
  China today, and it’s basically an attempt to put
  the means of production in the hands of the
  government and then (eventually) directly in the
  hands of the workers. Communism was per-
  ceived (correctly, in some cases) as a tremendous
  threat to the entrenched power structures of the
  world at that time. One way that traditional, non-
  communist societies countered this perceived
  menace was by enshrining capitalism as a politi-
  cal and social theory — not just an aspect of the
  free market, but as a good in itself.
  Political capitalism is the theory that free compe-
  tition in an open marketplace produces the
  greatest good for everyone involved. It’s like a
  democracy where people vote with their yuan:
  the best (or cheapest) product attracts the most
  consumers, and the company that produces it
  thrives. The threat that another company might
  build a better mousetrap (or undercut their
  prices) drives every company to improve their
  products in an attempt to woo the consumer.
  Capitalist theory co-evolved with the early
  Darwin model of biology, which presented
  animals in constant competition for food and
  breeding rights. Our modern view of biology
  recognizes that cooperation is just as much of a
  factor in evolution (seen in everything from bees
  pollinating plants to the symbiosis between cell
  
  and mitochondria). As it happened, it was a
  tremendous factor in capitalist economies as
  well. Rather than competing for market share,
  companies realized they could combine their
  assets, form monopolies, and charge as much as
  they wanted. This trend was broken up in its
  earliest form in the then United States by anti-
  trust laws, but monopolies-in-effect arose again
  when the next wealth foci arose. These new
  wealth foci were information and the perception
  of value.
  Marketism
  The value of information and the nature of an
  information economy is visible today in the
  pervasive corporate espionage, in the licensing
  fees for Nihonjin technology, and in the down-
  load fees for software use and entertainment
  products. The impact of a value perception
  economy is subtler: it’s known as marketism.
  The end of the 20th century saw a surge of
  invention in communication equipment, with an
  accompanying boom in corporate entertainment
  for money. These new entertainment media were
  subsidized by advertising, which rapidly in-
  creased in sophistication. Eventually it reached
  the point where a product’s popularity often
  depended less on its quality than on the market-
  ing budget behind it. This was the genesis of
  marketism. Especially in the entertainment and
  fashion industries (where “quality” is highly
  subjective), the importance of creating the
  perception of desirability came to eclipse the
  importance of actual desirability. To put it
  plainly, it was easier to convince the consumer
  that your product was good than it was to make a
  good product.
  >>> OPEN NEPTUNE ARCHIVE <<<
  Pavementarianism
  — Excerpt: “Psychosocial History” holo-lecture
  series with Dr. Renee Lautrec
  The philosophy known as “pavementarianism”
  arose over 100 years ago. It represented the
  fullest extent of the perceptual schism between
  “nature” and “artifice.”
  Since antiquity, humankind saw itself as some-
  how separate from “nature” — be it by virtue of
  being made in God’s image, by being conscious,
  by using technology or through some other
  virtue. In the last decades of the 20th century,
  before Aberrants overshadowed virtually all
  other social concerns, there was an increasing
  movement toward ecology. People were encour-
  aged to value and preserve “nature” in the
  abstract.
  Pavementarianism was a backlash against ecol-
  ogy. It questioned the fundamental value of
  nature. The slogan “Pave the Planet” indicated
  the contempt for the products of biology and
  evolution: from the pavementist perspective
  nature became obsolete when humanity no
  longer needed an “ecosphere” to survive.
  The most common form of pavementarianism
  was simply rather cavalier about losing species
  and ecosystems here and there. The radical
  “pavers” didn’t want to ever see an animal
  except in a zoo or on a plate.
  Naturally, corporations which had chafed under
  the restraints of pollution ordinances and logging
  licenses were all in favor of pavementarianism,
  and corporate marketing efforts made sure that
  the philosophy got plenty of attention. Still a
  new social factor and viewed positively by
  many, Aberrants also became involved in a
  number of cultural issues, pavementarianism
  among them. The support of a few flashy, power-
  ful “novas” generated even more interest in the
  movement.
  This philosophy was based on a sort of
  biophobia that persists today. In the modern
  universe, however, people with a distaste for
  uncontrolled nature have the option of living in
  completely human-controlled environments —
  up the well, on Antarctica, at the core of an
  arcology or in one of the undersea cities. Back
  then, those options were not available, and the
  pavers had some impact on the public policy of
  their time.
  It would be easy to dismiss pavementarianism.
  Some say its only long-term effect was to inhibit
  attempts to protect the environment. Others
  claim it was a spur to the development of
  
  ecotech that’s used in hostile environments to
  this day. But anyone who thinks mankind has
  lost the longing to totally transform and control
  the terrestrial habitat has clearly never visited the
  Home Islands.
  >>> CLOSE ARCHIVE <<<
  The Livingry Theory
  R. Buckminster Fuller coined the phrase
  “livingry” to describe his idea for an alternative
  technology — one focused on living and happi-
  ness, rather than focused on war and death.
  In addition to being a mathematician, inventor
  and poet, Fuller was a student of history. He was
  particularly interested in the history of invention,
  and his research convinced him that most human
  innovation had focussed on new ways to kill and
  conquer. He yearned for a future in which the
  effort that had been focussed towards the mili-
  tary would be redirected towards providing food,
  shelter and health care for all.
  One would be tempted to dismiss Fuller as an
  idealistic dreamer if his analysis of corporate
  motivation had not proved so insightful and
  accurate. Fuller pointed out that a corporation’s
  sole raison d’être is to make profit, and that a
  corporation that hesitates because of ethics has a
  disadvantage when faced with an unethical
  business. In a dark reflection of political capital-
  ism, the market rewards the companies that
  blanch at nothing. The moral result is a race to
  the bottom.
  Fuller hoped that individuals would demand a
  new set of priorities from their governments and
  businesses. Unfortunately, conflict has continued
  to provide economic impetus for many countries
  and corporations. Not that this can be blamed
  solely on those institutions: neither Fuller, nor
  any politician, nor any CEO could have pre-
  dicted the Aberrant War or the Chromatic Con-
  flict.
  Current technology, however, is approaching the
  livingry that Fuller envisioned. In order to
  colonize space, we have been forced to develop
  efficient power sources, economical dwelling
  units, technologies to purify air and water,
  machines to produce food. It would take very
  little modification of a large space residence unit
  to make it into cheap housing suitable for use in
  the Blight zones or French countryside. How-
  ever, financial pressure from several metanats
  has resulted in excessive taxation on these
  technologies when the off planet companies
  creating them try to import them for terrestrial
  use. Not every country has these burdensome
  taxes, of course: only those with spaceports big
  enough to make large scale import viable. Vari-
  ous tactics have been used to keep these tech-
  nologies off Earth: everything from trumped up
  trade conflicts to groundless claims that the
  purification technologies could adversely impact
  Earth’s biosphere. Æon has investigated these
  claims, and found them groundless: clearly
  someone (or something) wealthy and powerful is
  exerting pressure to keep Earth using obsolete —
  but profitable — housing and personal support
  technology.
  It’s not hard to see who’s threatened by wide-
  spread prosperity and contentment: any govern-
  ment that relies on the engagement of its citizens
  has a great deal to lose from the apathy of happi-
  ness. Equally, any business that’s propped up by
  consumerism (and that’s almost all of them)
  definitely does not want to see people become
  satisfied and serene.
  >>> EARTH TEMPLATE <<<
  Corporate Life on Earth
  Despite the importance and wealth of the near
  space colonies and the incredible opportunities
  in the far colonies, Earth retains the bulk of
  humanity. Earth has the history, the infrastruc-
  ture and the biosphere we need. Accordingly,
  80% of humankind’s business is transacted on
  terra firma.
  Africa
  The idea of “karma” is an innately attractive one
  to human beings. We like to think that if you
  suffer long enough, you get rewarded. Africa
  appears to be a case in point. Famine and unrest
  followed decades of conquest. However, the
  instability of the region left much of its signifi-
  
  cant mineral wealth untouched. Now, under the
  umbrella of the UAN, Africa has become a world
  center of commerce and manufacturing. The
  corporate culture there is dynamic, optimistic
  and generally positive. After all, when business
  is good, you can indulge in a few luxuries, like
  ethical business practices. There are exceptions
  that prove the rule, however.
  GENEius, Inc.
  GENEius is a small, new bioengineering firm
  started by an Æsculapian and a Lunar million-
  aire. They haven’t garnered a lot of public
  attention: as far as the press is concerned, they’re
  working on organ replacement technologies.
  GENEius started out looking for a way to clone
  discrete human organs without using the existing
  expensive and exclusive methods. This isn’t an
  original idea, of course. Medical researchers
  have long hoped to create genetically tailored,
  rapidly (and inexpensively) produced human
  organs. This Holy Grail of medical technology
  eluded medical science for a dozen decades, and
  even by the 2100s remains a significantly time-
  consuming and expensive process. Only the
  wealthy can afford engineered organs; the
  majority of people must still rely on traditional
  organ donation or artificial implants. Even with
  tremendous hardtech advances and the imple-
  mentation of bio- and vitakinetic processes, the
  era of “organs on demand” has yet to be ad-
  equately achieved.
  Most medical researchers agree that the key
  involves combining hardtech and biotech pro-
  cesses. GENEius hoped to be the first to accom-
  plish this, becoming the interstellar organ pro-
  ducer. Imagine: every organ bank in human
  space could be replaced with GENEius equip-
  ment, providing perfectly tailored, gene matched
  organs to those in need.
  Unfortunately, the loss of the Human Genome
  Project data during the Crash, coupled with the
  perennial difficulties with cloning (technical,
  ethical and especially legal) ate up a great deal of
  GENEius’ capital without bearing fruit. Two
  years ago, the company changed its focus (a
  move which prompted its co-founder, Dr. Loretta
  Chen, to quit in protest) from discrete cloning to
  bioware prostheses. Put simply, GENEius
  worked to develop bioapps that resembled
  various organs and functioned the same way —
  much like the hardtech prostheses used now,
  though more versatile in application.
  The company was more successful at this, but
  unfortunately the costs involved in gaining the
  necessary biotechnological data and the talent to
  take it to the cutting edge proved shockingly
  exorbitant. The fees that GENEius charged in an
  attempt to recoup even a portion of its ongoing
  development costs were staggering — anyone in
  need of a new organ could get a top of the line
  hardtech replacement heart for half the cost. The
  financial impetus to continue simply was not
  there.
  The company was in desperate straits. Investors
  dropped like flies. As of the end of the last fiscal
  quarter, GENEius had been at work for half a
  decade and had absolutely nothing to show for it.
  In a surprise move, GENEius opened a new
  research facility just a few months ago. Favor-
  able development reports helped its stock re-
  bound splendidly. Someone pumped a great deal
  of cash into GENEius at its moment of greatest
  need, and the biomed firm is obviously working
  on some big project. The company has made no
  announcements as to just what it’s working on,
  but Dr. Chen was curious enough to do some
  checking and pass her findings on to us.
  She said the big buzz around GENEius concerns
  what was initially considered a minor cosmetic
  development — a bioapp skin that closely
  resembled human skin. Dr. Chen also learned
  that the company was working closely with the
  interactive sim branch of Stahu Entertainment.
  An Æon investigative team poked around co-
  vertly and uncovered two additional interesting
  facts: first, that Tangent Technologies was
  retained to develop a marketing strategy. (We
  even managed to copy one proposal and its
  comments, which is reproduced below.) Second,
  we learned that the big investment came from
  North America, leading to the speculation that
  Orgotek was funding some long-shot, outré
  
  research it didn’t want coming out with its own
  logo stamped on it.
  >>> OPEN MEDIA ARCHIVE <<<
  Dreams You Can Touch
  Have you ever wished your computer agent had
  a body? Not just a framework where the circuitry
  lived, but a warm, breathing human body?
  The next generation of interaction is here.
  GENEius Incorporated has perfected an android
  so lifelike that it can fool even the closest inspec-
  tion. In conjunction with Stahu Intersoft, the
  makers of the popular Victoria Companion
  software, GENEius is now taking orders for
  Victoria Walker — a dedicated version of the
  Victoria agent, in a body with her familiar
  appearance, but tangible without a sim suit.
  [Insert holo graphic of Victoria Walker to left of
  text in final ad placement. Make sure the image
  is tweaked to key on the top desired physiologi-
  cal characteristics for each major market.]
  [Contact and pre-order info goes at the bottom.]
  >>> Comments <<<
  The picture and title are perfect, but the text is a
  little weak, isn’t it? Why do we need to be so
  circumspect? Half our target market has a
  cyberassociative or neuroaddictive disorder
  already. The “Bed Doll” concept is not going to
  repulse them. Why not just call a spade a spade?
  Also, the ending is weak. We need something
  strong to close the deal.
  >>> CLOSE ARCHIVE <<<
  >>> OPEN TRITON ARCHIVE <<<
  Subject: They Walk Among Us?
  From: Todd ibn Ishaq, Triton Division
  To: Jose Miguel Valdez, Administrator, Triton
  Data Analysis: Earth
  Security: DSE
  Transmission type: textfile
  Date: 11:35:22 7.19.2121
  This is too preliminary to even be a preliminary
  report, but I had a brainstorm I needed to pass
  on. We’re looking at a company that, apparently,
  is secretly developing an unformatted bioapp
  that can physically pass as a human being. I’m
  infamous for crying “Qin!” whenever I see
  bioware, but follow me on this and see if it
  doesn’t make sense:
  1) The Qin are parsecs ahead of us in biotech
  development.
  2) If we consider something to be possible with
  biotech, they can probably do it already.
  3) Therefore, the Qin could easily create biotech
  “human suits.” (Personally, I’ve always won-
  dered why the suits they wear in public are so
  obviously artificial.)
  So the question is: have the aliens done it? (I
  know that if we were in their place, we would
  have. On the other hand, I know the dangers of
  ascribing human motivations to alien beings.)
  Bringing it back around to what we’ve seen here
  so far: Have the Qin provided the process to
  GENEius? Or, if they haven’t achieved these
  advances on their own, are they working with
  GENEius on developing the technology?
  You must admit that this sort of thing is right up
  the slugs’ alley.
  >>> CLOSE ARCHIVE <<<
  Language Systems, Inc.
  LSI is a giant in the vocoder industry. Its stock
  has been buoyant lately, bolstered by the antici-
  pated release of “Vox Populi,” the next genera-
  tion of translation software. I’ve been lucky
  enough to examine one of the prototypes: the
  Vox Populi modules are smaller and lighter —
  more like earrings than the clunkier old vocod-
  ers. LSI also promises that the Vox Populi
  software has doubled the density of previous
  nuance sensitivity algorithms. In other words,
  it’s supposed to take word choice, context and
  even tone into account when translating.
  Some people theorized that the Populi would be
  an instant translator, like EZ-Voice (LSI’s big-
  gest competitor). It’s not, and LSI defends its
  comparatively slow translation by phrase (rather
  than by word) with appeals to clarity. After all,
  there’s a radical difference between Mandarin
  grammar and Deutsche. While it’s only margin-
  
  ally faster than last year’s model, the Vox Populi
  is both smoother and clearer.
  A more impressive innovation is the inclusion of
  a short range radio transceiver. This allows any
  two Vox Populi to “talk” to each other in a
  shared translation language — specifically, in
  esperanto — if needed. In effect, it doubles the
  translation time, but it allows any two (or more)
  people equipped with Vox Populi to understand
  each other — as long as they both understand
  one language coded into their translators.
  LSI’s research and development team recently
  got a green light for an even more ambitious
  project — a universal human translator (or
  UHT). LSI already has a huge central language
  database, which can translate between any two
  of its thousands of languages and dialects. The
  UHT would be a different type of machine
  altogether: instead of merely comparing and
  contrasting until the words matched up, it would
  be programmed to use the linguistic patterns
  imbedded in the human brain, forging deeper
  and truer connections between the two lan-
  guages. Instead of translating like a person with
  a dictionary, it would have true fluency. In
  addition to being faster, a UHT would be effi-
  cient enough to distribute cheaply through the
  mass communication channels. For a nominal
  fee, a user could have every foreign speaker who
  calls translated.
  There are rumors that LSI is looking even fur-
  ther. It’s developed a fairly close relationship
  with the Qin over the years (having had little
  luck in making an alliance with China’s Minis-
  try). Now there’s talk of forming a bioware arm
  of LSI to work on developing translators based
  on telepathy. This will obviously have huge
  appeal considering the diversity of human
  languages out there, but now that the Upeo are
  back, translating alien languages is going to be a
  huge business.
  LSI has already filed a restraint-of-trade lawsuit
  in the FSA, claiming that Orgotek attempted to
  develop a monopoly on translating the Chro-
  matic language. Considering the accusations
  floating around that claim Orgotek was actually
  in league with the Chromatics, the Big O has
  taken the suit very seriously. Not only could a
  conviction (in a probably hostile FSA court) be
  expensive, the bad PR could be just as damaging
  for Orgotek — especially in light of the still-
  recent Huang-Marr scandal. My guess is Orgotek
  will play generous and openly give the results of
  its research to everyone. I also predict that the
  Federated States’ CSA will claim that Orgotek is
  holding back and use it as a pretext to force its
  way into the company’s database. But only time
  will tell.
  I haven’t been able to find out if there’s any truth
  to the claims within Æon that LSI has offered
  enormous bounties for the intact, preserved brain
  of a Chromatic or any Coalition race. Since the
  details of the second Coalition encounter are still
  classified, this rumor has the flavor of urban
  legend. On the other hand, if LSI was willing to
  spy on its customers to advance its own agenda,
  it would certainly have the resources (both
  financial and technical) to do so effectively.
  >>> OPEN TRITON ARCHIVE <<<
  Corporate Training Factories
  A Kazuhito Yamashita Exclusive
  The conveyor belt is a long polymer streamer,
  gliding silently down a factory floor. From the
  ineffable bowels of huge plastic and metal
  machines, parts are extruded, plopping like dung
  nuggets into the hands of waiting workers. Each
  worker seizes their particular part and then
  inserts, installs or integrates it into a whole. At
  the beginning of the conveyor belt is a small,
  clunky servomotor. That’s grabbed, and a little
  metal widget is stuck on. The belt moves, and a
  large plastic wheel is added. The belt moves, and
  two more protrusions are added, then two more
  at the next station. The belt moves every 20
  seconds, and while the pieces at the beginning
  are fairly simple to add to the whole, at the end
  the workers’ fingers must fairly fly, in unceasing
  motion for most of their four two hour shifts
  every day.
  What is this? A struggling factory deep in the
  heart of France? A subversive cabal, desperately
  
  producing weapons on Khantze Lu Ge? Karroo
  colonists trying to keep their ships running and
  their fooders fooding?
  None of the above. All these workers are poten-
  tial executives competing for positions in the
  upper echelons of the highly competitive Bootle
  Tootsie Toy Company (UAN).
  “In order to manage effectively, one has to know
  the product — inside and out,” says Eggbert
  Schaeffer, one of the “workers” at the factory
  and a recent graduate Unified Lunar U’s school
  of business. “Nothing teaches you the parameters
  of the product, its tolerances and its strengths the
  way building one does.”
  Even though the assembly could easily be done
  much faster by robots, the executives work
  slavishly — today they’re assembling interactive
  “Strike Force Psion” action figures — trying to
  stand out, trying to prove themselves worthy to
  be Bootle Tootsie managers.
  “It’s tough,” says Kristi Paranagas, another
  would-be BT exec. “Everyone is constantly
  looking for a way to make the factory more
  efficient. There was a guy two years ago who
  figured out that assembling the components of
  Glinty the Clown Interaction Theater in a differ-
  ent order would shave a second and a half off
  assembly time. He jumped on the fast track:
  most people don’t make that much of a splash,
  but everyone’s trying to get ahead.”
  Apparently some of the competitors aren’t above
  a little dirty pool: while none of the workers
  would confirm the story, two local cops told me
  they escorted three candidates away from the
  factory a month ago after they got into a brawl
  on the Purple Pupple Playset line.
  “It turned out two of the guys thought the third
  was putting tranquilizers in their snack bars to
  slow them down and make them look bad. When
  they found out, they came after him looking for
  blood. When we got there, the accused poisoner
  had knocked one out with a taser, but the other
  had him down and was flogging him with a belt
  buckle.”
  >>> CLOSE ARCHIVE <<<
  North America
  If an optimist can point to Africa as evidence of
  karma, a cynic could point to North America and
  say “See? It’s good to be bad.” Though still a
  shadow of its onetime glory, the Federated States
  have made something of a recovery. Industry
  rules the land in all but name, and it has created
  circumstances in which industry can thrive.
  Unions are dead and buried, their graves sown
  with salt. There’s no minimum wage and plenty
  of unemployed, desperate workers. Staffing is
  not a problem, and if you have factory casualties
  due to exhaustion or unsafe conditions, well,
  there are always more people in the fringe slums
  eager to get a steady paycheck in any factory no
  matter what the conditions.
  North American companies are trying to make a
  go of it on the strength of plentiful manpower
  and sheer aggression. It would have worked in
  the past, but modern industry demands technical
  skill. A boundless supply of warm bodies won’t
  cut it anymore. The North American firms that
  succeed are generally those whose operations are
  half as efficient as their competitor’s, but four
  times as large. The exception to the rule, of
  course, is Orgotek — but Orgotek has problems
  of its own these days.
  Orgotek
  If you’ve got stock in Orgotek or its subsidiaries,
  my advice is to sell now. On the other hand, if
  you don’t have any stock in the Big O, wait a
  while longer before you buy: I suspect that their
  downward trend is going to continue.
  A long-term recovery is possible, even likely.
  Orgotek’s assets, patents and presence have put
  it at the forefront of biotech research and produc-
  tion, and that industry as a whole has grown by
  leaps and bounds each year. On the other hand,
  Orgotek took a very bad one-two punch recently
  from which it’s still reeling.
  The first blow was the Huang-Marr conspiracy.
  Some Orgotek and Æsculapian researchers were
  uncovered developing bioapps that created and
  harnessed actual taint radiation in order to boost
  psion power levels. The Huang-Marr cabal
  
  secretly funneled Orgotek funds, equipment and
  facilities to carry out unethical (and usually
  deadly) experiments on unwilling human sub-
  jects. No definite link was ever made to top
  Orgotek executives, but rumors still abound.
  Orgotek could normally have shrugged off such
  a jab with little difficulty — bandage it over with
  press releases and dismiss it as the actions of a
  few rogue researchers. Sure, Huang-Marr made
  the Big O look bad. However, most of the blame
  fell on the Æsculapians. The media concentrated
  on the rex angle, not only because that connec-
  tion was far more concrete, but because it was
  more dramatic — humanity’s healers gone
  rotten, etc. But though the docs got nailed, the
  teks still took a glancing blow.
  Thing is, just as Orgotek was trying to clear its
  head from that shot, it got popped by the Chro-
  matics. Remember those aliens suddenly appear-
  ing in our Solar System piloting what looked
  disturbingly like Orgotek-designed biofighters?
  The Chromatic ships were so similar that when
  Gleeful Thon released the Lights in the Sky sim
  game, Orgosoft lawyers sued them for copyright
  infringement! The Orgotek subsidiary claimed
  that the “Chromatic fighter” portrayed in the
  game conformed to trademarked Orgosoft
  designs. (A judge who examined the game and
  the military footage of the attack stated that
  Gleeful Thon was within the tolerances of
  historical accuracy, and that the portrayal of an
  historic event permitted the use of the design.
  She stated on record that if conceptual piracy
  had occurred, the Chromatics had committed it,
  not the game company.)
  Let’s be clear: extensive Æon research strongly
  suggests that Orgotek had nothing to do with the
  Chromatics’ biotechnology. If the company was
  in league with the aliens, Cassel’s admirable
  cadre of spin doctors would have at least devel-
  oped a convincing lie months in advance. In-
  deed, considering how savvy the Prexy’s shown
  himself in the past, I would think they would’ve
  created distinctly different ship designs to throw
  off suspicion. Instead, the psi order was caught
  totally off guard. Its conflicting, hasty press
  releases supplement our behind-the-scenes
  research, indicating that the designs were some-
  how stolen or copied, just as Cassel claims.
  Unfortunately for him, a well-crafted lie would
  have persuaded more people than the blurted,
  stammering truth did.
  Coming in such rapid succession, these two
  events have staggered even Orgotek’s formidable
  PR machine. Currently, people aren’t paying
  attention to Cassel’s noble initiatives like
  Knowledge in Motion, and they’re forgetting
  about the electrokinetics’ defense of humanity
  against Aberrants. Instead, they’re seeing
  Orgotek as a sinister, secretive force. Viewed as
  an army with inhuman powers performing
  inhuman experiments and tied to inhuman
  invaders, Orgotek is starting to live up to the
  FSA’s accusations. At least, that’s how it appears
  to the general public.
  As if all this wasn’t bad enough, the recently-
  returned Upeo wa Macho may deliver the knock-
  out punch. The Æon Council hasn’t released the
  full details behind the Upeo situation, but it
  appears that many teleporters bear a considerable
  grudge toward the Electrokinesis Order. We do
  know that the Upeo voluntarily left Earth in 2114
  and that even before their departure, many were
  captured and enslaved by the Chromatics. Not
  surprisingly, I suppose, these Upeo slaves are
  among the staunchest believers that the aliens
  were in league with the teks. Even the Upeo who
  remained free after the Exodus accuse Orgotek
  of attempting to destroy or enslave them — the
  rationale the Upeo wa Macho offer for abandon-
  ing Earth in the first place.
  Regardless of the truth of these accusations,
  Orgotek and its subsidiary companies are start-
  ing to face even more negative scrutiny. This
  certainly doesn’t help the Big O’s sales —
  especially into space, where Orgotek has been
  trying with little success to get jumpers to carry
  their freight. While Æon has given Orgotek
  access to jump ships, the Leviathans are far less
  cost effective than Upeo ‘ports are. The jumper
  boycott has already pushed up the prices on
  those Orgosoft and Tekne products that have
  
  made it to the deep space colonies. Coupled with
  its problems on Earth, a barrier to extraplanetary
  trade is the last thing that Orgotek needs.
  >>> OPEN PROTEUS ARCHIVE <<<
  Subject: Even worse
  From: Jeff Kenyatta
  To: Alex Cassel
  Security: DSE
  Transmission type: holofile
  Date: 13:27:11 5.11.2121
  Our mole in Æon finally came through with the
  results of its teleportation tests. The bad news is,
  the Trinity’s been hiding someone with a
  teleportation mode, which can interfere with a
  Leviathan jump. The worse news is, their secret
  jumper only has it as an auxiliary mode.
  Here it is: straight, no chaser. Jumpers can
  sabotage Leviathans. Æon’s auxiliary jumper can
  impede a jump for about five minutes with
  effort. Now that the Upeo are back, the Trinity’s
  started tests with real teleporters. That data’s still
  out of our source’s reach. Still, based on the
  worst-case scenarios we’ve extrapolated, a
  skilled full teleporter could stop a Leviathan
  single-handedly. Again, this is speculation
  currently, but I think we’d do well to expect the
  worst.
  Alex, make peace with them if you can. I know
  you designed the jump ships’ Tessers to give us a
  hundred back doors if we ever need them.
  Problem is, what good does it do us to have
  every Leviathan under our control if the Upeo
  can pop in and shut ‘em all down? We cannot
  afford to have the Upeo wa Macho as enemies.
  >>> CLOSE ARCHIVE <<<
  South America
  In Africa, people work hard and it works. In the
  FSA, they work even harder, and it almost
  works. But to an outsider, it appears that South
  America’s economy works without the work. It
  seems, like in the Taoist verse, that they “do
  nothing, yet nothing remains undone.” The truth
  of the matter is more like a decidedly western
  adage about a swimming duck. Nothing seems to
  happen on the surface, but underneath — where
  you can’t see it — there is furious activity.
  Kostbaar
  Kostbaar — man, industry, legend and supposed
  “deity.” What is one to make of the contradic-
  tions and conundrums that tie together Kostbaar,
  Kostbaarism and Kostbaar Ltd.?
  The simplest explanation is that Kostbaar Ltd. is
  the sum of the relationship. An arrogant and
  talented young Dutch man took his family’s
  small fortune and parlayed it into a gigantic
  fortune. As a small fashion house, Kostbaar
  innovated wildly. He aggressively became the
  leading edge of fashion, providing couture for
  only the richest and most hip. Once he’d caught
  people’s attention, he moved downscale and
  began following the mainstream.
  By toning down his earliest designs, Kostbaar
  gave people something identifiable instead of
  alienating. At the same time, he kept a great deal
  of the complexity and flair of his early work, so
  that his mainstream clothes were different
  enough to be intriguing. It seems to have
  worked: in the course of 20 years, Kostbaar went
  from following current fashion to practically
  dictating it (it helps that his main competition
  was lost in the Esperanza tragedy). He maintains
  a small line of top end designs (just to keep his
  cachet with the trendsetters) but most of the
  effort of Kostbaar Ltd. goes toward producing a
  full 20% of the clothing worn in all of settled
  space. If one believes that the company comes
  first, then Kostbaar’s religious posturing be-
  comes nothing more than the antics of a talented
  seeker of publicity.
  An equally possible focus is Kostbaar the man. It
  may be that he is simply a supreme egoist, using
  every means at his disposal to live his life as
  flamboyantly as he wishes. Granted, one would
  need to be a megalomaniac to utter all of
  Kostbaar’s statements in complete seriousness
  (“I am the dominant iteration of human con-
  sciousness, and I look fabulous!”) but it’s pretty
  clear that he does not mean them that way. If one
  adopts this attitude, then his life has been one
  long, convoluted expression of self. Not surpris-
  
  ingly, self-expression (primarily through appear-
  ance) is a principle tenet of Kostbaarism.
  Perhaps one of those theories, or a synthesis of
  both, is true. Perhaps either one (or both) were
  true in the past. However, when one examines
  Kostbaar’s interviews and articles, it becomes
  increasingly difficult to think that’s all there is.
  Whatever else he is, Kostbaar is certainly bright,
  even a genius in his own way. If personal luxury
  and indulgence were his only priorities, would
  he have gone to the trouble of writing a thousand
  page autobiography that manages to be more
  about history and society than about his personal
  experience? Furthermore, would he have written
  “Kostbaar Life” by himself, without the aid of
  either ghostwriter or SI composition software?
  Check the Triton archives on this: the manuscript
  was written entirely by hand.
  Kostbaar is a rich man who likes to have fun. I
  don’t doubt that. But Kostbaar is also a smart
  man who wants to spread some pretty important
  ideas. (At least, he thinks they’re pretty impor-
  tant.) First and foremost is the importance of
  self-expression. Cynics argue that “Kostbaar
  wants everyone to be their own art — and he’ll
  sell them the paint.” Yet Kostbaar’s innovations
  in color-tuned clothes and programmed patterns
  took old optic-weave fibers in entirely new
  directions.
  Perhaps most importantly, Kostbaar constantly
  challenges the barriers between people and
  cultures. His very life calls into question the
  distinction between “individual” “corporation”
  and “religion.” History may record that Kostbaar
  has done humanity a service simply by widely
  calling those categories into question.
  Apoderado Designs
  Every so often, some software company goes
  charging up the hill of Artificial Intelligence,
  only to come tumbling back down without
  reaching the summit. Sometimes they fall with
  an innovative new code trick or algorithm set
  clutched in their hands, but no one has gotten the
  brass ring from the top of the mountain — a
  truly intelligent and self-aware machine.
  Apoderado is making the climb most recently.
  Like every other software firm, they’ve got
  talent, moxie and venture capital. Unlike the
  others, they’ve got help from the Norça as well.
  Common wisdom has it that the psion particle is
  the key to self-awareness: other machines could
  mimic the chemical functions of the brain with
  greater or lesser success, but none could repro-
  duce the brain’s noetic interactions. Now
  Apoderado is working with the del Fuego family
  on a biocomp that has noetic circuits in addition
  to standard bioelectric ones. In theory, this noetic
  computer will be capable of true reflection and
  free will. Rumor is, it will have to spend its first
  years of existence formatted to a psion, sharing
  that psion’s perceptions and experiences. By
  observing the universe through a human me-
  dium, the computer will come to be intellectually
  conscious on its own, just like a human.
  Given current computer and noetic theory, it is
  possible, I suppose. I wouldn’t bet the farm on it,
  though. The few times I’ve mentioned the idea to
  our Qin friends, they let out that odd, confusing
  sound they use for laughter.
  >>> OPEN MEDIA ARCHIVE <<<
  How To Dress Like a Billionaire
  — Dazyl Grenich, Lifestyles © 2120 MMI
  My fashion advice for the new decade is simple:
  no plain, no gain. The complicated patterns, the
  jingling hooks, the buttons and buckles and flaps
  of yesteryear are still fashion forward — if
  you’re touring an FSA arco or visiting your
  grandparents. If you’re dressing to be seen,
  though, pick one color and wear it. At the
  Sydney Media Awards, Cori Heisler was wearing
  a fabulous white sheath from Risoletto designs.
  (Congratulations on winning a Syd, Cori!)
  And you won’t see her in that gown again,
  sweethearts! You see, each Risoletto gown has
  no fasteners — specialized looms weave each
  dress design on the buyer’s body to get a sheer,
  perfect fit. The only way to get it off is to cut it
  or tear it!
  For the serious businessman, the latest fashion is
  ultrablack. This new biotech fiber was devel-
  
  oped by Artemis fashions — with (it’s rumored)
  a little help from the Qin. The amazing thing
  about ultrablack is that it sucks light in. Wearing
  it is like being wrapped up in night. A few lunar
  rakehells like to mix an ultrablack coat with a
  glossy black turtleneck and flat black slacks. For
  the heavy hitters in the business world, though,
  nothing makes a statement like a double-breasted
  ultrablack suit with a white or ivory shirt.
  Word from the rumormill is that Kostbaar isn’t
  too happy with the competition from these new
  innovators. You know what I say, darlings? It’s
  about time our special K had a wake-up call in
  the fashion department!
  >>> CLOSE ARCHIVE <<<
  Australia
  Australia is a prime example of a “virtual
  economy” — a marketplace, not of physical
  goods and practical services, but of ideas and
  high concepts and inchoate desires. The Austra-
  lian megameds produce comparatively little that
  can be touched or felt, but their manipulation of
  perceived value makes it a multibillion yuan
  industry. As noted earlier, the perception of value
  is often of greater worth than value itself. A
  mediocre product with excellent buzz will
  handily outsell an excellent product with a
  mediocre reputation.
  MMI, Genman, Stahu and the other megameds
  have an interesting — and powerful — position
  in the international marketplace. Each megamed
  consolidated scores of previously independent
  news and entertainment sources. Despite their
  pretence of impartiality, Genman and MMI news
  should be viewed with some caution when they
  report on the actions of other corporations. In the
  rarefied atmosphere occupied by the largest
  metanationals, every action is taken with full
  consideration of the repercussions for other
  metanats. If Genman runs a report saying that the
  new Reed Rosen design is unsafe, you can be
  sure that Genman has something to gain from
  Reed Rosen’s loss: similarly, any praise doled
  out by MMI is likely to be part of a hidden,
  baroque but very real quid pro quo.
  As for Stahu, its influence is subtler but possibly
  even more pervasive. People watching Genman
  and MMI believe they’re watching the truth, and
  they consider everything they see with the
  skepticism accorded to assertions of fact. Stahu,
  on the other hand, produces entertainment, and
  someone watching a fiction is much less likely to
  be distrustful. Perversely, the subconscious
  lessons learned watching “Laser Robot Death
  Police” or “Settlers in the Belt” may be more
  influential in the long run.
  FangTech
  FangTech stands out among the large Australian
  companies because its interest is remarkably
  tangible: Compared with the advanced marketing
  paradigms of MMI or OBC, the idea of building
  a better vehicle to go new places seems almost
  medieval.
  FangTech just unveiled its prototypes for deep
  space mining equipment. While rock mining is
  lucrative and established, FangTech’s designs are
  intended for use in the riskier, newer field of gas
  mining — sending ships skimming across the
  tops of gas giant planets in order to siphon off
  useful materials. With their experience building
  undersea vehicles, FangTech is an old hand at
  providing skin integrity and maneuverability in
  varying pressures.
  They are also said to be working on a “trybrid”
  craft — one capable of vacuum flight, atmo-
  spheric flight, and subsea operation. Such a craft
  would allow a gas miner to skim Saturn or
  Jupiter for water or other gasses, getting down
  into the atmosphere until the pressure was as
  great as any oceanic pressure on Earth, then
  emerge and get the goods to market all without
  the pilot leaving the craft. FangTech will likely
  position the craft as “one stop shopping” come to
  the water mining industry.
  Another blue sky project for FangTech is a
  mantle craft. Using olaminium and other orbital
  materials, FangTech is hoping to produce an
  unmanned craft that can travel not only through
  the pressures of deep sea water, but through the
  earth’s molten core. The scientific possibilities of
  such an endeavor are staggering: if the continen-
  
  tal shelves could be mapped from underneath,
  predicting earthquakes would become far more
  exact. Such a durable craft could be modified for
  extraterrestrial use as well, of course: something
  with heat shielding that good would be able to
  make a detailed survey of Earth’s sun, or of the
  Karroo pulsar.
  Asia
  China casts a long shadow across Asia, and that
  shadow is peculiar, from a corporate standpoint.
  China is a manufacturing powerhouse, but its
  goods are rarely exported: instead, they’re
  exchanged and allocated within the country,
  under the supposedly benign eye of the Party. Of
  course, these communists are firm believers in
  “incentives” — a worker who meets his goals
  has yuan to exchange for “luxury” items like
  extra food and increased heat in his flat. On the
  other hand, even the laziest, least competent
  worker in China is living the good life compared
  to many in the FSA and Europe.
  Compared to Asia’s introverted economy,
  Nippon has a definite interest in trade — but
  only according to its own agenda. No biotech
  comes in. Certain computer processes never go
  out. What Nippon wants from the outside uni-
  verse is biomass and raw materials, and what it
  offers in return are ephemeral (but essential)
  technological advances. Neither commodity has
  value forever: rice rots, steel rusts, and ideas
  become obsolete when the next brilliant pro-
  grammer has a breakthrough. That’s why the
  Nihonjin government has given tremendous
  support to ToshiGinko. Money, credit and liquid
  capital show no signs of losing their value any
  time soon.
  Wazukana
  Humanity’s biggest computer company has its
  problems. If it standardizes its systems, it runs
  the risk of its software being used on rival
  hardware. If it doesn’t standardize, it risks losing
  hardware sales to platforms that can run the
  latest must-have agent. Since Wazukana is at the
  forefront, any radical innovation it makes has a
  good chance of making its goods less profitable:
  but the computer field has always been one
  where innovation can yield shocking rewards.
  One piece of good news for the Nippon metanat
  is the current distress of Orgotek. As far as
  Wazukana is concerned, every day (and every
  yuan) the EK order spends dealing with suspi-
  cion, lawsuits and bad PR is one it doesn’t spend
  developing biocomputers. Wazukana is well
  aware that a “lesser” biotech firm might come up
  with something, but considers Orgosoft the only
  major threat. As it sees things, only WEI has the
  clout to push biocomps into household use, or to
  make them a business standard.
  Wazukana is built on a highly competitive
  model. Indeed, many openly call it “sharkish.”
  Wazukana is not expected to compete with other
  companies: with its tremendous dominance,
  that’s no challenge. It expects to ruin, assimilate
  or bury the competition. No, to forestall compla-
  cency, Wazukana has focussed its competitive
  structure inward, forcing its separate divisions
  (business hardware, business agents, home
  software, home utility agents, home entertain-
  ment agents) to compete with each other for
  profitability. The chief of the lead division gets a
  staggering bonus budget each year to trickle
  down through the works as he or she sees fit.
  The least profitable division suffers a univeral
  wage freeze for the year — no one gets a raise,
  not even a cost of living increase.
  The problem with this system is that when a
  division falls into last place, it tends to stay there
  as its best employees jump ship for other compa-
  nies — or even other divisions within Wazukana.
  Accordingly, the power politics at Wazukana are
  both Byzantine and brutal.
  >>> OPEN PROTEUS ARCHIVE <<<
  Transmission Intercept: Wazukana Internal
  ComNet
  — Proteus agent intercept, codefile EPP23,
  8.17.2120
  Individuals identified as Niimi Ryu (Vice Presi-
  dent) and Bruce Reddell (Senior Director, New
  Projects), Wazukana/ EnterAgency. Translated
  from Nihonjin.
  
  >>> transmission intercept begins <<<
  Niimi Ryu: …asked for a status report, not a
  sermon.
  Bruce Reddell: I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’ve just
  been thinking about the publicity backlash if this
  gets out.
  NR: It’s not going to get out, and even if it does,
  who’s going to break the story? One of Stahu’s
  pathetic news outlets? Four viewers will see it
  and two of them will think Stahu is trying to
  shift the blame for poisoning its customers. Or
  do you think Genman or MMI is going to give
  much time and attention to a story that makes
  one of their huge competitors look less mon-
  strous? Use your head for once. Even if someone
  wanted to blab this to the public, no one would
  dare. Losing our advertising would leave them
  bleeding, not to mention their reliance on tech
  support. It’s not getting out. And, again, if it
  does, no one will believe it.
  BR: All right. It’s just… what if the virus mu-
  tates?
  NR: We’re paying giga bucks for a stable,
  unpleasant but nonlethal virus. Do I have to tell
  you what’s at stake here? Interactive porn is a
  trillion yuan market. If this Stahu/GENE-who-
  ever thing can do even half the business we
  project, it’s going to throw sales from our divi-
  sion into a tailspin.
  BR: But infecting customers… I guess I just
  don’t like the precedent.
  NR: They’re not our customers. Do you want to
  see Wazukana/ EnterAgency become the last
  place division?
  BR: No. But we’re kind of putting all our eggs
  in one risky basket. What about our research on
  Humanimates?
  NR: Years away from what they’ve got. Besides,
  why should we bother doing all the expensive
  R&D? Once their venture fails — spectacularly
  — we swoop in, buy them up at a discount, wait
  a couple years until the buzz dies down, then
  bring them out with our software. There is way
  too much money at stake here to bother with
  your selfish doubts, Bruce. Now, can I rely on
  you, or do you want to go slinking back to
  fucking DataWarp?
  BR: …No, Ms. Niimi. I mean, yes, you can rely
  on me.
  NR: Good. Now, is the virus ready?
  BR: Yes. It’s harmless to the GENEius bioware,
  but causes fever and skin blisters in humans for
  about 20 days. It’s only contagious through fluid
  exchange.
  NR: Stupendous. Now, our plant in Africa —
  this is someone we can rely on?
  BR: Absolutely. The agent is in place and will
  have access to the Victoria Walker master gene
  matrix.
  NR: Superb. All we have to do is dose the DNA,
  sit back while our rivals implode, then buy up
  the pieces at a discount. See? Didn’t I tell you
  that you’d get on the fast track with us?
  BR: Yes ma’am. You certainly did.
  >>> transmission intercept ends <<<
  >>> CLOSE ARCHIVE <<<
  Europe
  What is there to say about Europe? Business can
  only thrive when it can compete, and Europe has
  been knocked back to subsistence farming in
  many areas. It doesn’t have the capital, the
  infrastructure or the consumer awareness to
  make a dent in sales from companies in the UAN
  or Luna. With a few notable exceptions in
  shielded countries, Europe is moving into an
  incestuous business spiral. Foreign markets don’t
  want many European goods: the manufacturers
  don’t have the advertising budget to create
  cachet or the shipping budget to make bargains.
  So European companies count on local sales, and
  adapt themselves to that market by producing
  their goods as inexpensively as possible. No one
  outside Europe wants its cheap goods. No one
  inside Europe can afford anything else.
  Voss Armaments
  The exception to the dismal rule of European
  commerce is Voss Armaments. The story of its
  success dates back to 2050, when it developed
  
  the Voss 1S1 — the first laser pistol that oper-
  ated off the same cells used for commercial
  appliances. Though underpowered compared to
  other laser weapons of its age, the 1S1 triumphed
  because it was easy to find ammunition — even
  in an emergency situation, when specialized
  laser clips were hard to come by. Voss diversi-
  fied into power cell production, and eventually
  common appliances were taking cells that had
  enough juice for a laser pistol, rather than vice
  versa.
  When Esperanza was launched, Voss was one of
  the few major European companies with no
  manufacturing space on it. (Reed Rosen was
  another, claiming that it was just wasteful to
  build cars in orbit and import them back down to
  Earth.) Voss was conservative, having been
  burned just a year before when a product that
  made heavy use of compounds that could only
  be manufactured in zero-g showed significant
  malfunctions when subjected to high pressures
  on Earth. When the Aberrants returned, Voss
  factories were protected enough to escape their
  depredations — and the demand for heavy
  plasma weaponry was greater than ever.
  Today, Voss produces the most popular laser
  weapons in Europe, the most popular hardtech
  lasers in the Solar System, and the most popular
  plasma weapons anywhere. Demand among
  Legionnaires for the new Voss 22P plasma pistol
  (commonly called the “deuce deuce”) is so great
  that Voss has temporarily taken it off the market
  for non-military consumers.
  With its profit margin secured by multiple arenas
  — the ongoing conflict on Khantze Lu Ge, the
  threat of the Coalition and tensions in Europe’s
  Deutsche Allianz and New Ottoman Empire —
  Voss has the resources to plan for the future.
  Specifically, it is looking for hardtech solutions
  to biotech threats.
  In essence, Voss is drawing a distinction between
  “living,” “machine” and “biotech” and hoping to
  find something that is only harmful to the last
  category. Early lab reports describe experiments
  with clouds of nanomachines (probably based on
  licensed Nippon tech) that search for the organic
  signatures of bioware and attack them. The early
  verdict is that the nanomachines aren’t discern-
  ing enough. If they’re small enough to function
  as gaseous cells, they can’t tell the difference
  between biotech cells and other inert but organic
  materials (such as silk, dead wood, certain
  plastics, human hair, etc.). If built large enough
  to be picky, they’re too expensive and compli-
  cated to cover a large area.
  Another possibility is producing some sort of
  noetic disruption — a tiny reflection of a jump
  ship’s psionic backlash could (theoretically) be
  tuned enough to temporarily “stun” any bioapps
  in an area while leaving human beings un-
  harmed. The big drawback of this approach is
  that no one knows how to generate noetic par-
  ticles with hard tech. (Of course, if Voss can find
  a way to produce psion particles — even
  untuned ones — with only hard tech, the impli-
  cations will reach much farther than a mere
  bioapp-disabling weapon.)
  As for using biotech to produce the pulse, such a
  weapon would self-destruct when used. A noetic
  pulse grenade might be possible, but the com-
  mon feeling among experts is that using one
  such grenade would probably set off all other
  nearby grenades of the type — meaning that you
  could only usefully carry one. In any event,
  biotech is not Voss’ forté.
  Simply the possibility of such a weapon has
  many biotech producers concerned, of course.
  Voss claims it’s doing this to protect humanity
  (and considering the use of biotech by the Chro-
  matics, it has a good claim) but it can’t have
  escaped the hardtech armaments manufacturer’s
  attention that such a weapon would render many
  competing products obsolete.
  >>> SPACE TEMPLATE <<<
  Corporate Life in Near Space
  Luna is a center for commerce in the Solar
  System. Its advantages — central location, weak
  gravity well, high population — more than offset
  the costs of maintaining the settlements’ struc-
  tural integrity. Perhaps the biggest factors in
  Luna’s favor, however, are simply newness and
  
  organization. Many business infrastructures on
  Earth have been in place (one way or another)
  for centuries. Potential inefficiencies were built
  into the system decades before the technologies
  they impede were developed — but once the
  problems became apparent, the cost of fixing
  them far outweighed the gains. On Luna, how-
  ever, the comparative newness has allowed
  investors to use the most advanced techniques
  and technologies, in the most efficient fashion.
  Stavros Weapons Designs
  Stavros, maker of the notorious “pimp daddy”
  model autopistol, has had several tough months
  due to a confluence of factors. One not-so-subtle
  factor was the clear presentation of its weapons
  in the hands of a gang of irritating, treacherous,
  inept and repugnantly perverse criminals in the
  popular vid “Red Sunset II: Darkness Falls.”
  This, in turn, was arguably due to pressure from
  Pope Benedict XVIII, who has publicly con-
  demned Stavros for refusing to contribute to his
  international fund for the victims of violence.
  Every other major handgun manufacturer agreed
  to raise the price of each weapon by two yuan,
  earmarking those monies for the papal fund.
  Stavros initially refused, reasoning that its niche
  was producing inexpensive guns and that its
  consumer base was unlikely to let a religious
  condemnation deter them from bargain hunting.
  The company’s existing consumer base changed
  little. The real pinch came from investments.
  Newsflats made enough of the story that a
  number of Stavros investors bailed out — pre-
  sumably due to “issues of conscience.” Once the
  price of the stock dipped, other Stavros investors
  got spooked, jumped ship and the stock price
  dropped even more. Stavros tried to alleviate the
  resulting cash crunch through a small price raise.
  The MMI special “Looking Out for Number
  Yuan” claimed that Stavros was betraying its
  previous rhetoric by raising its prices like every-
  one else — then pocketing the money instead of
  donating it. This alienated some Stavros consum-
  ers, who may not have cared about the Pope’s
  fund, but they weren’t about to stand for being
  robbed.
  After nine months, Stavros caved in and joined
  the papal fund, but by then the damage was
  done. However, its stock has seen a price upturn
  recently as people trade on the rumor that
  Stavros is getting into a new field. Æon knows
  that these rumors are true. Stavros has acquired a
  license to produce zero-gravity weapons for use
  in vacuum. In short, weapons for space ships and
  space stations.
  We’ve long suspected Stavros of underworld
  ties, but the company always seemed content to
  sell handguns to street toughs. It could be that
  the company is moving into a higher stakes field
  — arming pirates. Stavros’ Luna base puts the
  company in an ideal position to service that
  particular market. On the other hand, previews of
  its marketing data indicate that Stavros is plan-
  ning to pitch these devices to asteroid miners
  who are afraid of pirate attack.
  We haven’t been able to get a look at actual
  designs (tentatively titled the “Ship Guard” line).
  When asked, sources inside Stavros indicate that
  most SG prototypes seem to lean toward single
  use, fire and forget systems. If this is true, it does
  seem likely that they’re being designed for
  emergency defense, rather than sustained use.
  >>> OPEN MEDIA ARCHIVE <<<
  Our Customers Are #1
  — Excerpt: Stavros press release, 2.17.2121
  Recently, Stavros was invited to contribute to a
  religious fund. We declined. In response, we
  have been slandered, vilified and publicly con-
  demned. Now we’re going to tell our side of the
  story.
  If Orgotek, Aris, Voss and the rest of them want
  to band together in a price fixing scheme — and
  no matter how well intentioned the Pope’s fund
  is, it all amounts to gouging — that’s their
  business. Our business is, and always has been,
  providing personal protection technology that is
  both reasonable and reliable. Our customers
  know exactly what they’re getting, and they
  know they’re paying a fair price for it. We aren’t
  making pretty guns for firearm fetishists, and
  we’re not selling overpriced heavy weapons to
  
  spendthrift governments. We make no-frills,
  decent sidearms for the defense of everyday
  people. If our customers want to contribute to the
  Catholic Church, more power to them. But we’re
  not going to force them to.
  Our business is protecting freedom, not taking it
  away.
  >>> CLOSE ARCHIVE <<<
  ICE
  The International Consortium on Ecomining has
  embarked on a bold new enterprise — interstel-
  lar colonization. While the costs of starting an
  extrasolar colony are usually estimated in tril-
  lions, ICE’s new subsidiary — ICE Interstellar
  — claims that a self-sufficient colony can be
  built for only one billion yuan.
  The typical extrasolar colony has always been
  built on a planetary (or lunar) surface, predicated
  on an import/ export economy, stabilized with
  gravcrystals and other high tech solutions. Our
  current colonies were all built on extraordinary
  systems — either those with marginally
  Earthlike planets (KLG and Averiguas) or those
  with mineral or scientific value (Far Nyumba
  and Karroo). ICE Interstellar proposes to colo-
  nize solar systems that early clairsentient scans
  dismissed as marginal. All a human colony needs
  (it claims) is carbon, water, iron, nickel and
  silicon. If a system has enough of those ele-
  ments, in close enough proximity, a self-suffi-
  cient colony can be established with as few as
  500 people. Given the parameters ICE has set,
  over a dozen systems ISRA has catalogued
  would be suitable.
  The key to the ICE Interstellar scheme is using
  the simplest and most reliable technology pos-
  sible — almost exclusively hardtech. It proposes
  building modular units that can be assembled
  into gigantic space cities. The units, while large,
  are simple in design. The biggest cost is materi-
  als, not technology or construction (as with all of
  humanity’s other space stations to date). The ICE
  stations would operate on hyper-fusion and solar
  power. Everything would be built to double the
  tolerances of normal space stations, without
  many of the high tech elements that are consid-
  ered “natural” to a space station. For instance, no
  gravcrystals would be used: each station would
  spin to produce artificial gravity. Instead of
  costly, reusable meteor defense cannons, a few
  disposable warheads would be taken for large
  “nemesis” asteroids: the station walls would
  simply be built thick enough to withstand most
  meteor strikes. If more armor was needed, rock
  could easily be mined from the system itself.
  A 500-person colony would need one large
  freighter and two small mining ships, capable of
  either mining an asteroid belt or skimming the
  atmosphere of a gas giant (if the system had an
  appropriate planet). The population could triple
  in size before it would need to expand the city,
  and with that much person-power they’d be able
  to create their own habitat modules from local
  asteroids. That’s the theory, anyhow.
  Biological needs are the biggest barrier, and ICE
  Interstellar claims to have overcome this ob-
  stacle with help from the Qin, who have devel-
  oped several “symbiot species” able to produce
  food, oxygen and potable water from human
  byproducts and either sunlight or electricity.
  <1>Deep Space
  Business in deep space is the most long term,
  risky, investment-intensive environment there is.
  Consequently, the profit potential is also the
  highest, but almost no one can afford the stakes
  except governments and metanats. The Upeo
  strike (because that’s what it really amounts to)
  was a blindside attack against those who in-
  vested in extrasolar colonies. Now the teleporters
  are back on the job and facing competition in the
  form of Leviathans (licensed out by Æon, of
  course) and the small band of Star-Crossed. Still,
  it’s anyone’s guess if extrasolar commerce can
  recover any time soon.
  Karroo Mining Consortium
  Karroo is doing well, financially. Chromatic
  attacks drastically cut down the colony’s mining
  output, and the mining it did was for materials to
  repair the station. However, with recontact and
  steady jumps between Karroo and Sol, there’s a
  
  tremendous market for Karroo minerals. The
  main reason for this is a sense of altruism.
  People like to feel they’re helping the less
  fortunate through their purchases, and the plight
  of embattled Karroo is dramatic enough that
  everyone wants a piece of it. The money and
  material that have been charitably donated to
  Karroo are approaching staggering levels: it
  would take two Leviathan jumps just to carry all
  the food and clothing: there’s enough for every
  individual on Karroo for 100 years.
  Few people recall that Karroo was originally
  established as a research outpost as well as a
  mining station. The scientists on hand during the
  lost years studied as much of the Crab Nebula as
  they could. They also spent quite a bit of time
  observing the Chromatics. Their findings are
  currently in great demand by numerous
  Earthside agencies, and have already resulted in
  an influx of even more scientists — from as-
  tronomers and physicists eager to learn more
  about the unique nebula to exobiologists and
  exosociologists rushing to examine the remain-
  ing Chromatics.
  This same sense of drama makes Karroo attrac-
  tive to a few well-heeled tourists and to the
  boldest of neutral pioneers. While many people
  on Karroo want nothing more than to get back to
  Earth, there are plenty of people on Earth who
  are eager to weave themselves into the story of
  Karroo.
  The Star-Crossed
  While not a corporation in the traditional sense,
  the so-called “Star-Crossed” teleporters are
  certainly a major factor in any consideration of
  interstellar commerce. The Star-Crossed are
  those teleporters who have broken all ties with
  the Upeo wa Macho and operate independently
  of Bolade Atwan’s authority.
  Though small in number, the Star-Crossed have
  already made substantial sums of money by
  moving goods and personnel for two clients the
  Upeo seem disinclined to work with — the
  Ministry and Orgotek. The jumpers’ willingness
  to work with Orgotek may decrease as time goes
  by, however: without a Prometheus chamber, the
  only way the Star-Crossed can grow is by re-
  cruiting those already accepted by Atwan.
  (Considering the Upeo Proxy makes a point of
  choosing candidates who show the order great
  loyalty, pickings are bound to be slim. After all,
  the Star-Crossed themselves make up less than
  5% of the total number of active teleporters.) So
  far, most of the Star-Crossed’s new members
  have come from those jumpers who were held
  captive by the Chromatics during the time of the
  Upeo exodus. Many of these recently-liberated
  teleporters are convinced that Orgotek was in
  league with their alien captors, and refuse to
  work for or with the Big O.
  In any event, this should not be considered to be
  a corporate competition in the classic sense. The
  Upeo still base their prices on their personal
  priorities (instead of charging what the market
  will bear) and the Star-Crossed are at a definite
  disadvantage in terms of numbers and experi-
  ence. On the other hand, it’s more competition
  than teleportation had before. What happens next
  is anyone’s guess.
  >>> END FIELD REPORT <<<
  Corporate Life Credits
  Author: Greg Stolze
  Developer: Andrew Bates
  Editor: Carl Bowen
  Layout and Typesetting: Chris McDonough
  © 1999 White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights
  reserved. Reproduction without the written
  permission of the publisher is expressly forbid-
  den, except for the purposes of reviews, and for
  blank character sheets, which may be reproduced
  for personal use only. White Wolf, Vampire the
  Masquerade, Vampire the Dark Ages, Mage the
  Ascension and World of Darkness are registered
  trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All
  rights reserved. Werewolf the Apocalypse,
  Wraith the Oblivion, Changeling the Dreaming,
  Werewolf the Wild West, Trinity and Trinity
  Field Report: Corporate Life are trademarks of
  White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.
  
  All characters, names, places and text herein are
  copyrighted by White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
  The mention of or reference to any company or
  product in these pages is not a challenge to the
  trademark or copyright concerned.
  This book uses science fiction for settings,
  characters and themes. All science fiction,
  geopolitical scenarios and psi-related elements
  are fiction and intended for entertainment pur-
  poses only. Reader discretion is advised.
  Check out White Wolf online at
  http://www.white-wolf.com; alt.games.whitewolf
  and rec.games.frp.storyteller
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Trinity/Trinity Field Report - Corporate Life.pdf