By David C. Daoust
Brioche. Brioche was a chemical compound common throughout Trade Consortium food stuffs. It promised low cost production of a wide array of foods- which could then be sold at greater profit.
Obviously, this was a miracle product for Consortium execs; they could not wait to get it circulating. In reality, it was a new form of junk food, though without the increased aggression common with such foods withdrawal, while still equally addictive; the more you ate, the more you craved.
Brioche was never intended to be consumed as abundantly as it is today.
In small doses, Brioche could be consumed without any noticeable aftereffects. Though as people became accustomed to it, it became more and more common to eat Brioche in larger amounts.
In large amounts, Brioche had a way of increasing sweat production of those that partook. This led to a large amount of sweaty people, though as this became the norm, it only increased the popularity of appearing sweaty; glistening skin and slicked-back wet hair became stylish amongst the Trade Consortium citizens.
It was not long after, however, that the ‘super-rich’ preferred a dry head, to that of the sopping mop of the lower classes. Though by this time, the entire Consortium was thoroughly addicted to the substance, which in turn popularized the idea of wearing wigs.
Thus the Big Wigs found their namesake.
Emanuel H. Grady started his professional life as an executive working for Peruke Inc., one of the largest corporations in the Consortium.
Emanuel was Consortium born- and Consortium raised, though he did not find the life promised, fulfilling. To him, the Consortium was one big ball of contradiction. Many of those, of the lower classes, were pacified by propaganda- liberal movies, popular entertainment and the like. Which raised generations of children, that believed the Trade Consortium, was more liberal than it actually was, which in turn led to teachers favoring those liberal ideas!
This led to schools teaching lessons that were counter intuitive to the society- Only to churn out students that, upon graduation, were suddenly hindered by those same ideas; students that could not find a way to break ‘up’ into the promised lifestyle of the Big Wigs.
The hindrance was prevalent throughout the Crag, with the exception to those that became teachers. To the teachers, it all seemed to add up, these teachers, which would eventually be the people hiring, would than hire those same people they taught. Not because of a change in society, but an ability to parrot back what was taught, all to insure not only employment, but also their tenure at the school.
Emanuel found that he had spent the first half of his life, trying to break free of what he had been taught early on. To break free of the idea that ‘the Board’ cared for –all- citizens; that all was fair and just as long as you followed along with government edict.
He had to break free of the idea that he could ever move up in such a corporation as Peruke Inc. He saw these liberal ideas as more than just a hindrance, but as a tool of control, a tool that could be disastrous in the wrong hands, though one he could harness himself- for the benefit of all.
It was not until he turned to faith alone, that he finally broke free of the yoke that was placed around his own neck. ‘By faith alone’ was a common phrase, a phrase Emanuel tried to work into every sermon he ever gave. He collected those lost and downtrodden throughout the Consortium, from every class, every walk of life, and showed them what faith could achieve- through faith alone.
Mostly he showed them by collecting their coin, all to prove that his lifestyle was a reward for that same faith. It was not long after, that he took to wearing a wig, like those of the super-rich, as some form of trophy or status symbol.
It was this following of liberal minded people, that he promised ‘Providence’ to- through faith alone. That was what he said, that was what he promised when he led the people of ‘Grady’ to set up their town. All with the idea, that through their faith, this ball of rock and sand- would become the flourishing, life-giving, moon that was promised to them and their ancestors, for so long, throughout the Ark Age.
That was in the beginning, to make it happen, to keep the people’s faith in him, and more importantly keep their coin flowing into his coffers, he had to make deals- Deals to acquire the help from the corporations. Twin Crown, at the time, was Consortium owned. It was a worthless dead rock to the Consortium; it was not profitable at all.
It was Emanuel that convinced the corporations he could make it profitable. ‘Course, this was one speech that did not involve the phrase ‘by faith alone’. He convinced them he could transform it. Populate it with workers, with consumers; tax payers that would then need to keep the machine running, to keep their bellies fed. Grady enslaved the population to the corporations that were needed to keep the civilization on its feet.
Bumps were hit. Taxes were raised. New taxes were made, ones that would affect the entire moon. Tariffs were out of ‘small governments’ scope, but registering droids was not uncommon throughout the Onion, in fact it was a popular way for governments to make coin off what was once free to the people. A toll into the Starport seemed the next logical step.
It was not enough, even the meager coin pulled out of the First Wave’s pockets wouldn’t cover the debts. Emanuel was forced to borrow more and more. His faith was that the moon would turn around on its own, and that all the borrowing and all the false promises would be negated once the moon could sustain itself. The borrowing dipped into the red, and Emanuel was forced to make deals with gangsters and the like- All behind the peoples backs. Gambling was brought in, Star-Speeder races were glorified to keep the coin flowing.
He was not surprised in the least that Twin Crown kept changing hands- currently held by the Red Faction.
Grady was truly living by faith alone. As all the coin they had, was not their own. All the food they ate- was paid for by someone else. An ever growing debt to the population, all to maintain the image to the good people, people that were also forced to turn to shadier dealings to maintain the life promised to them.
It was one such person that had silently slipped into upper chambers of the Starport, unseen to the lone man that occupied it. A chamber that Emanuel had used to hide himself away from the rest of the population of Grady. A population that was currently crowded within the wide inner landing pads of the Starport, as their town was currently being destroyed by the rogue drones.
Emanuel peered out of the large picture window, witnessing the destruction below, in truth he was relieved. Relieved that, while the town was destroyed, the people would never know that it was destroyed years ago, by his own greedy machinations. The relief was enough for his mind to wander to the fortune he had managed to squirrel away without the populations notice.
Emanuel knew the relief was ill placed though, as the knife cut deep into his throat. For the man that had slipped into the chamber unseen, was not alone in the knowledge that Emanuel was a fraud.
That Emanuel had taken advantage of the people, with promises of Providence, promises of faith rewarded, for nothing more than faith alone. Emanuel could not know how close this strange man had been to saving his failing crummy hotel; At last, this man had won big on a Star-Speeder race, only to have the loser skip out without paying.
It was enough. The man had followed along for long enough! He was tired of blaming himself, blaming himself for not having enough faith, tired of living day by day on a dust ball moon, waiting for his reward. This man, at last, decided to put faith in himself… to do everyone a favor…
The last image Emanuel saw, as his life bled out over his chest, was that of a thoroughly destroyed Grady, smoldering debris reaching in every direction, as the skies above, inexplicably to all those on the ground, turned black as night as the small spherical ball of light, that was the distant Solargate, suddenly winked out.
