By David C. Daoust
The Organization stretched throughout the Solar System. However, Bernard found himself living and working, the most, among the people of the Trade Consortium. His friendship with Zeke Otomo, led to many business opportunities. The two were a symbiotic pair; one side on the up-and-up, the other, hidden in the shadows. Their influence effected far more than just one another- but all of society. Their reach stretched into the very laws of the land.
A pure capitalist society did not have much of a reasoning for the outright banning of products. In fact, the banning of anything- handed that business over to the government— which was, by and large, creating a socialist institution; ‘The Old Ways’ were not anything those of the Trade Consortium wanted anything to do with.
In truth, most of what was banned- had far more to do with the companies that pushed them not wanting to be sued out of business every other week, rather than having anything to do with any kind of public safety concerns. Making it illegal, gave those that used such products no recourse for the damage received… locking up low level pushers, was a lot easier than companies paying out settlements for a product that could easily end a life, if not destroy a mind.
Of course, these laws created business for the Organization. These illegal products, needed to be moved; smuggled. As long as the demand was there, and people were making the decisions for themselves, Bernard did not see a problem with it. The Organization made a pretty penny.
When it came time for Bernard to buy his tower- he did not buy one on Alpha Prime as Zeke had… instead he chose Pinnacle City, the very Capital of the Trade Consortium. By this time, he was a father, had a young son… the Factions War came and passed.
His friend, Zeke, changed after the war- after he lost Patricia, that is. She was the first casualty- far from the last.
The war changed many things, the Trade Consortium among them.
In the beginning— the Trade Consortium still had the pure ideals of a capitalist society. Believe it or not, the Trade Consortium was once, itself, a Representative Democracy. At least, that was how it was originally intended. There were always stories of that ‘shadow government’ pulling strings- placing the officials they wanted, in the positions they wanted– rumored to be orchestrated by an Oligarchy of CEOs.
It was not until after the Factions War- after those big corporations swelled to gluttonous proportions, that the façade crumbled. The rich stopped with the pretense- just flat out raped the society of all its freedoms. Ideals fell to the wayside as fatter and fatter paychecks were promised. Fact is, everyone felt like they were in on the con; convinced themselves that they were actually on the inside, being cut in– gaining.
Small businesses were crushed or absorbed into the larger entities. This led to people being reduced to numbers on a page. Numbers that could be manipulated to raise or lower the quarterly projections. The act of making the faux-entity appear to have done better by taking from the workers, became a commonplace practice. So many people became dependent, that when these companies failed- they did not fall, as capitalism demands- instead they were propped up by government assistance.
Thus Capitalism was replaced with Corporatism.
It was here that the shadow government stood fully in the light as it is known in the present- with the most prominent, richest ‘Big Wig’- sitting at its head.
A blatant Plutocracy.
The Representative Democracy, itself, was replaced, to a degree that official positions– even that of the presidency itself, was filled not by a human representative- but by a ridiculous cartoon. Namely, a childish cartoon named ‘Ducky the Dolphin’. Ducky turned out to be Patty Martin’s claim to fame, as he first gained popularity as Ducky’s greatest adversary. Many of Patty’s early appearances involved the celebrity personality arguing with the cartoon dolphin— or just criticizing his latest actions. A whole slew of zany cartoons filled each cabinet position in turn. Over the years, some faded away to obscurity. Ducky, however, became a popular cartoon show on its own, one that still aired new episodes to this day.
It was one such cartoon show, a now much older, Bernard Vice, mindlessly watched from the huge plush bed that he carelessly lounged upon, well into the afternoon. It was not his bedroom. As lush and extravagant as it was, none of it was his.
In fact, it was his prison cell. Bernard awoke in this room, several weeks ago, all amenities taken care of— he had never wanted for a thing since his arrival… as restless and as trapped as he found himself, he has yet to find a way to freedom.
His life had been stolen away from him, as had many others. Each prominent CEOs; heads of companies, owners of vast Estates.
He has met them, just wandering the corridors of this strange mansion, or wandering the small tropical island that it was constructed upon…
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