FE News #1
Influencers... Influencers Never Change
One of my long-term minor side projects is a long-term worldbuilding endeavor and sci-fi trilogy called Frozen Embers. In a universe in which the Katechon Hypothesis is true, it tells the story of a planet Earth that is hurled out of the Sun’s orbit by a passing black hole, with the remnants of industrial civilization surviving beneath the ice - ruled over by oligarchic states and shadowy cabals, and beset from all sides by the elements and more Eldritch entities.
I don’t expect to finish Frozen Embers before AI makes human creative efforts redundant. Consequently, I decided to open source the worldbuilding (forthcoming) and just publish news extracts and short stories from this world for my own amusement within its own dedicated section that you can Subscribe to separately from the main blog.
This post contains three news stories from Cornucopia - the world’s largest megasilo, a cyberpunk corporatocracy located in oldworld!Baja California - about 5 years before the beginning of the main trilogy story. Here is a link to the world map to help you make sense of the locations.
***
Editorial: Cornucopia Economic Outlook for 1030
Eliezer Meyer-Karlin for The Cornucopian Economist
1030.01.05
CORNUCOPIA - The economy showed resilience in Q4 2029, with the Cornucopian Central Bank (CCB) holding rates steady at 2.25% to balance inflationary pressures against economic growth. The electronics industry in particular has displayed blistering growth of 10.3%, with Avogadro Inc. carving out a massive, state of the art new battery production facility in the Western Manufactrium. “We are setting new standards in energy density and portability in the industry. Our next-generation batteries will power everything from Mask Industries’ new Pelagia lithium-ion class passenger subs to the military borers of our proud Silo Defense Forces,” commented Oligarch Kurt Park, Magyster of Avogadro Inc. This promises to break Shenzhou’s global near-monopoly on this industry carried by DragonVolt EG and Jinlong Power Systems. However, as a primarily hi-tech company wading into the nitty-gritty of manufacturing, it remains to be seen whether Avogadro can compete against the Shanxue-based giants’ access to cheaper local labor and centuries’ worth of embedded process expertise.
Market analysts are cautiously optimistic about the next quarter, but there are fears of tremors ahead. The Domination has intensified its incursions against Cornucopia’s vassal silos in Railway Junction. Conscripted from the recently conquered Alamos territories, serious military experts such as Shashank Kofman do not believe the troops utilized in these “meat wave” assaults represent a serious military threat, advising citizens to disregard the “histrionic” chatter on Luntan. Rumors of Reich advisors remain unverified. However, they have succeeded in raising insurance premiums for railway cargo, forcing a greater share of Cornucopian trade onto much pricier submarines.
Compounding these problems, there are reports of a rapidly spreading rice blight in the Hacienda Silos of South Nexus that may reduce agricultural production by up to 15% this year. Food prices are already surging upwards in anticipation, especially rice (24%) and carp (35%). This is expected to result in significant inflationary pressures. Yggdrasil Labs personnel have been dispatched to study and contain the blight at the source. Nonetheless, in the short-term, we can expect a negative impact on the welfare of Cornucopia’s poorer citizens, especially the residents of the Lower Hive and the Warrens. This comes hard on the heels of the Koryos Affair and the reams on online conspiracy theorizing it unleashed since October. Berkeley Institute of Technology sociologists are raising the specter of social unrest. The Council of Magysters is reportedly preparing edicts on increasing subsidies on basic essentials, and has recently concluded a blizzard of new contracts with Gladius Entertainment.
The construction of the Pelagia class is expected to lower the time of Trans-Pacific voyages by 10% and cut costs by up to 40%. The flagship vessel Aurelia will set new standards in luxury service, and Oligarch Edgar J. Mosk, Magyster of Mosk Industries, recently revealed that she is scheduled to have her maiden voyage to Xiajing in Quintal 2030. She will be followed by at least four other vessels catering to business and casual travelers. They are expected to enter exploitation at a rate of one per every subsequent year. Xiajing is Tellurium’s second biggest and richest silo after Cornucopia. Consequently, quicker and cheaper Trans-Pacific connections will redound to the general benefit of Cornucopia, Shenzhou, and the other silos of the Pacific Ring Network. In the short-term, this will mostly fuel the tourism sector, but over time should have spillover effects on industry, trade, and innovation. There are tentative plans to introduce the Pelagia class to the Atlantic routes from Cornucopia’s outpost silo at Crocevia to Thule and Porto in the second half of this decade. Its greater range should just about allow for direct connections that obviate the need for recharging at the Atlantis Redoubt in the Mid-Atlantic.
***
Chimera Fighting Ring Busted in Cornucopia Warrens
Pranav Sanchez for The Cornucopian Chronicles (popular blog)
1029.07.16
So it appears that some “enterprising” mavericks set up a Chimera breeding ground right below our feet. It was raided in a combined operation of the Silo Defense Forces, Purist militia, and Sarefi Enterprises security forces on the Tenebris of September 15. In a brief but fierce gunfight, 7 gangers of the Koryos Klan in Derelict Row of the Warrens were killed, and a further 32 were subsequently remanded into custody. The scale of their gruesome operation was as shocking as it was unprecedented: Dozens of Chimerae were bred and harvested for their eggs, which would go on to our elite private dining establishments frequented by esteemed “businessmen” and “authorities” alike, while the surplus Chimerae were starved and made to fight each other when they were not used to dispose of the gang’s enemies. The battles were livestreamed on the Dark Tome, with unscrupulous netizens betting gweis on their outcome. The Chimerae have all been culled.
Although the most dauntless (or idiotic) adventurers are free to brave the Abyss that was Old Arcadia in search of Chimera eggs and other oddities, the breeding of Chimerae is strictly illegal not just in Cornucopia, but throughout the Anthropostrome, in light of the existential threat they pose to human life. We learned this brutal lesson during the Second Doom, and the Persians relearned it when they sought to weaponize Chimerae against their Gießerei and Sarkean rivals, several centuries ago. Throughout Tellurium, this is qualified as sabotage and heresy, the proscription for which is likewise universal: Death.
Following what is widely expected to be a speedy trial, the miscreants may expect a one way ticket to Tartarus Outpost, to be slowly lowered in a metallic cage to the lake where the fire is never quenched, or in the case of underlings, to assume new if mostly brief careers as Gladius celebrities. However, many questions are likely to remain unanswered. How did this operation survive so long - for two years? Which Lesser Houses were giving them a roof? Were Shadowsworn involved? How wide does the rot spread? Was this really the result of an investigation, or a banal failure to kick back profits to some influential party? The Koryos Klan is a small ganger outfit, and has now been extinguished, but they were previously believed to have patrons amongst the Saakartvelian faction of the criminal underworld, and we all know their links to… the arboreal-themed Magyster. As is usual regarding tidings from the Thieves World, there are more questions than answers.
***
Female Influencer Dies Trying to Take Execution Selfie at Tartarus Outpost
Alexandra Xueqing for The Cornucopian Chronicles
1029.08.21
The execution on October 20 of the nine Koryos Klan ringleaders for unauthorized Chimera breeding and what is now believed to be at least fourteen murders took a turn for the tragic and unexpected when a young woman amongst the spectators fell to her death into the lava below. 23-year-old influencer, lifestyle blogger, and Lesser House scion Chiara Nikolau had scaled the security fence around the observation deck and leaned back towards the chasm, angling for the perfect selfie with her Handy as the cages holding the condemned were slowly lowered into the fiery pit below. She lost her grip pulling herself back in and plummeted to her doom.
Chiara has been described by her father Charon Delphine as a “smart and cheerful prodigy” who “set goals and made them happen.” She was very active on social media, regularly posting photos of her meals and travels interspersed with the occasional bikini shot, most recently at the hot springs of the newly opened Marriott Oriental five star hotel in Xiajing, Shenzhou. Her Tomebook’s popularity had recently exploded, with viewership even exceeding that of explorer and inventor Jiri Sokolov, netting her an estimated $270,000 over the past year. This would have been sufficient to rescue her House from what is believed to have been quiet destitution, as the Delphines’ latifundia in the Caligo Sea is rumored to have been raided and cleansed out by the Black Corsairs several years ago. But these joys would have since turned to ashes in the mouths of House Delphine, which has no other known heirs. She also leaves behind her thousands of bereaved fans, at least one of whom has already tried to follow in his late idol’s missteps.
However, not all the online commentary was glowing with praise. “Hope she did a flip when she fell,” wrote /i/IvernianMisanthrope, garnering the most upvotes on the main Luntan thread. “Respect for her utter dedication to her craft, she selflessly sacrificed herself to give my Koryos bois one last moment of mirth,” said /i/Cynic1509. “One less useless thot… at least she saved the Domination some work when they come to dominate this dump,” commented /i/RedlerSimp88, garnering a host of approving replies before it was deleted.
Trolls aside, there is widespread consternation about the increasing obsession with selfies, especially in inappropriate or dangerous situations, by the new generation of influencers. “We are looking into reviewing security procedures during executions at Tartarus Outpost. It is unacceptable that anyone should have been able to breach the security barriers in such a fashion,” commented Astor Mavrodi, Deputy Chief of the CPD. “That said, all citizens must exercise responsibility for their own actions. Señorita Delphine played with fire and got burned. Tragic as this is for her family and friends, I do hope it serves as an object lesson for the yahoos who disregard risk to life and limb in search of the perfect selfie. It’s better to miss a second of your life than to lose your life in a second.”