Intergalactic capitalism running amuck is a scary thing. When mineral resources become endlessly available and collecting them for a spacefaring civilization no longer involves gravity, possibilities really start to open up for production. When the population of the civilization becomes a planet-consuming virus spreading from system to system on FTL-capable ships, governments and corporations begin to adopt class stratification as policy. When the duration of life expectancy is expanded through science, cybernetics, and implants – the value of time and the scale of skills and capabilities of each human life begin to shift into extreme specialization. And, lastly, when someone dies but their body lives on in a state of remote control, upward momentum in society stalls out.
The idea of profitability and isolationism, in the eyes of a mega-corporation CEO, are the concerns of fledgling corporations. The mega-corporations are consumed by changing the universe. That’s the only fingerprint they can possibly leave on civilization. Once they become large enough to buy anything they want or need, manifesting ideas and change are the motivations of technocratic prophets.
While the masses of humanity continue to eek out their lives and cover the bare essentials of cybernetic upgrades – or, perhaps, just food and shelter for those refusing body modifications (fools), the mega-corporations spend their time furthering the expansion of the race and what it’s capable of doing.
At least these were the thoughts of Randis Carapatheo, CEO of One Step Industries (OSI).
“The lunar facilities of James Mokham’s luxurious and elite are fully eclipsed by the successes of Calrich’s team and the inclusion engines it produces. However, until man can bring the might of industry to a new system, we, as a race, are little more than tourists on a camping excursion.”
In fact, Carapatheo was correct. After partnering with Iveo Calrich’s corporation, OSI and Calrich Corporation developed the technology to allow for larger vessels to move faster-than-light. This resulted in the development of the Northern Region and the first mass-excavation fleets. Both corporations experienced massive growth and supplied Earth with an abundance of building materials.
Still, ahead of their contemporaries, both corporations maintained an intense secrecy about their joint technology – refusing to even share it with the government. Mineral transports ferried materials to the Sol system, dumped the cargo into specific areas of real space, and then jumped back to the North before anyone could board or disable their ships.
Corporate isolationism grew over time, with both corporations barely communicating with more than mineral deposit pings and beacon deployments. Over months, numerous corporate ambassadors were arrested and interrogated, but they knew very little.
Meanwhile, small transports of workers and corpses were ferried to remote locations and collected by larger vessels that took them North. Both mega-corporations developed the Northern Region in their own designs and implemented their own ideologies and economies. Those who rebelled were put to death. Then, with their creations insulated and there policies irretractable, OSI splashed back into the Sol system and left a single ship for the rest of humanity to deconstruct. Onboard, a complete blueprint of the splash drive, a database filled with ship design data, and a note. Iveo Calrich was dead, and Randis Carapatheo had been fatally injured.
When the first Navy vessels splashed into the North, they were unwelcome. The new CEOs of the North lacked the partnership of Calrich and Carapatheo, but both had been present when their predecessors were attacked. It didn’t matter though. Earth and the Sol system had already expanded in every direction and begun collecting raw materials. The North no longer had technological or resource leverage over them.
Eventually, both mega-corporations fell back in line behind Earth. Though their region was more developed, Earth broke the region into smaller corporations in hopes of destabilizing the area. It didn’t work though.
When the first shots rained down on Earth during Astral Twilight, many were the lips that whispered the names Calrich and Carapatheo.
