By now you surely know about Nanite Systems, the young and determined interstellar conglomerate hellbent on making Eisa into the Perfect Showroom for its Perfect Future. Standing contrary to NS and its cadre of capitalist corporate cohorts is the Underground, or more properly the Violet Sky Underground Organization. The VSUO is the working person’s affiliation. Incorporating robot rights activists, environmentalists, workers’ rights activists, would-be union organizers, and other free-thinkers, the Underground persistently works to improve life on Eisa for the lower classes—but they’re not above using bombs or hacking to get their way. The surviving human Russian colonists who predate NS’s administration of Eisa Colony mostly got involved with the Underground as well, helping to steer the group towards leftist ideologies, and so sometimes their manifestos may use Marxist concepts or vocabulary. (Inspired by the real-world Weather Underground Organization.)
Real power in Eisa Colony largely belongs to the Nanite Systems Corporation, by far the largest employer and landowner. NS has a great deal of stake in how the city looks, as it has promised the rest of the colonized universe that it can create a paradise in Eisa with minimal crime and maximum prosperity. Unfortunately, that isn’t really the case—but they’d sure like to minimize the media coverage.
Joining a faction or other organization isn’t necessary to roleplay in Eisa, but it promises to be fun.
About Influence: The big three factions (Underground, Syndicate, and Society) struggle for control of influence, i.e. political power with Eisa’s weak (but extant) municipal government. Influence can be gained by engineering a favorable outcome during one of the mid-month events (e.g. the visiting of a celebrity or a shipment of equipment that goes missing en route to NS), or by taking control of various resources throughout the city, such as hacking the city radio, placing inspiring works in the art gallery, or putting up posters in public places (which may also involve some hacking, to steal a billboard or two.)
At the end of every month, whatever faction is winning the influence game will win the hearts and minds of The People, and one of the members of the City Council will be replaced with a representative who favors the victorious faction. Control over the City Council results in minor changes in city policy: curfews, sales taxes, robot privileges, and freedom of travel between the upper and lower levels are all things that may be influenced by municipal law.
The influence system is something that will depend on a lot of GM and admin involvement, and we’re hopeful that it will help make the world of Eisa attractive to RPers.
Resistance Leader: Katerina "Nyx" Volkova
The Violet Sky Underground Organization is the working person’s affiliation. Incorporating robot rights activists, environmentalists, workers’ rights activists, would-be union organizers, and other free-thinkers, the Underground persistently works to improve life on Eisa for the lower classes—but they’re not above using bombs or hacking to get their way. The surviving human Russian colonists who predate NS’s administration of Eisa Colony mostly got involved with the Underground as well, helping to steer the group towards leftist ideologies, and so sometimes their manifestos may use Marxist concepts or vocabulary. (Inspired by the real-world Weather Underground Organization.)
The Junkyard: A sect loosely associated with the Underground, the junkyard is the area at the bottom of the ramp, and all that remains of the original pre-NS colony. It is home mostly to robots who have been abandoned as a result of their owners upgrading to newer models, most of whom were not produced by NS. The majority of these robots are forced to repair themselves, but are largely ignored by the government’s tough stance on robot independence because of their obsolescence and passivity.
Chair: position vacant
The Eisa Business Syndicate—which was broken up a few years ago at NS’s behest for violating made-up rules—is back, and operating under the auspices of the Eisa Chamber of Commerce. The Syndicate is primarily interested in protecting independent companies from monopolistic predation by NS, and mostly represents merchants who are neither extremely rich nor extremely poor. Most Syndicate supporters will either be business owners or the employees of Syndicate-affiliated businesses. There is some evidence that the Syndicate may partially be funded by one of NS’s competitors, Chung-Li Heavy Industries, but no conclusive evidence has ever made it back to NS-affiliated ears—alive.
Society President: position vacant
The Culture Society of Eisa represents the city’s upper crust. Most wealthy individuals on Eisa are happy with how Nanite Systems runs the planet: crime stays down on the Floor, away from their precious Upper Tier, and there is ample opportunity for art appreciation, hedonism, and leisure when all of one’s needs are taken care of by one’s robotic servants. The Society was founded shortly after NS came to Eisa in order to attract headliners to speak kindly of the company’s model utopia. Not every Society member is an ardent supporter of the company, however—for many, it is a necessary alliance, or an exploiter, or even an inconvenient parent footing the bill of their celebrity.
Key Staff:
Originally founded on Earth in the early 1980s following the closure of the University of Michigan’s severely mismanaged Advanced Defense Research Group, the Company originally focused on robotics and AI control systems for military applications. They quickly branched out into weapons manufacturing and have had immense success; many colonial wars in the past two decades have been fought entirely with NS hardware on both sides. The NS of Eisa is far removed from this, however: NS has revived its consumer products division (NSCP, which floundered in the mid-90s due to over-investment in high-quality sex dolls) and is using Eisa as both a base of operations for it and an opportunity to showcase the company’s vision of a utopia. Most travel is controlled by NS, and most people are either employed by NS or by businesses that support NS employees. This gives NS a lot of bargaining power, but it is not infinite, as the success of Eisa, in the Company’s perspective, depends on how it is perceived by outsiders. (Note: As NS exists outside of Eisa, there is also a separate intern application which must be filled in for those interested in joining the company. This does not apply to privatized services like NanoSec Eisa or NSMS.)
NanoSec: Eisa’s privatized police force exists formally as a branch of Nanite Systems, but like many real-world private security forces, they are under minimal oversight. Bribery, corruption, and revenge are all very real drivers behind NanoSec employees—although anyone who steps too far out of line may be demoted, fired, or even imprisoned, the risks of law-breaking are generally smaller for NanoSec employees than others. Chief: NF/3 LY-N13L
NS Medical Services: NS is proud of the fact that top-of-the-line robot-assisted surgery is available to even the poorest members of society in Eisa, administered by dedicated androids and gynoids that are programmed for compassion. It’s commonly joked that NSMS makes a “mess” of people who walk in, but in reality the overworked and underfunded units (and some humans, too) are actually quite skilled. There are rumors that not all of them were benefited by the personality update that came with the famous “SXD System 8” patch which allowed them to feel emotions, some of them may have been driven slightly crazy from all of the heartbreak they’ve witnessed both due to the harsh realities of lower-class Eisan life and the lack of adequate resources necessary to save lives. Director: Dr. Jillian Hope
Eisa Monthly: A propaganda/fashion/advertising apparatus with strong NS ties. (Or, in their own words, "News from the new Utopia.") While Eisa Monthly does occasionally publish pieces that are at odds with its mission of making the colony look good to offworlders, these are notoriously blacked out or replaced with additional advertisements when the magazine is sent off for wider circulation. Unstaffed
Tai Yong Laboratories, Eisa: Medical services for the wealthy. Owned by E-17; associated with the Society.
The Landing Pad: A bar, popular with workers, especially underpaid NS employees. Bartender: Hexyle
myNanite Financial: Operated as a semi-autonomous subsidiary of Nanite Systems, myNanite Financial offers a wide range of products for both everyday banking and investors. Notably, the bank has very excellent, low-interest rate loans—and always collects on overdue payments. Branch manager: Ambara Dasmijn
io: Formerly a hip robot-charging station, now a dramatic night club with no scruples, no laws, and no shortage of narcotics and hallucinogens. The favorite chillout venue of the Society. Unstaffed
Wondaland: A posh club on the Floor. Wondaland will frequently be hosting events for off-world visitors (i.e. people who are not part of the roleplay.) The favorite chillout venue of the Underground. Proprietor: c0ral
The Koichi Santei Gallery for the Fine Arts: A public art gallery on the Tier. Unstaffed
Yura: A not-so-fancy robot charging center, gas station, and news stand. Unstaffed
Radio Nanite City
F8 Chemical: Industrial supplier.
Eisa Station Resorts: A hotel and spa in space... supposedly. No one's ever actually been there, except for citizens that NanoSec thinks "need a break" from the hardships of lower-class life. Some regard it almost religiously, as an objective to work toward and save up money for, reasoning that they, too, deserve some sort of break for their ceaseless toil; others are more sceptical. The rich and in-the-know will sometimes pretend to have been there, to further the illusion.