Intergalactic Summit

TENSIONS MOUNT IN ERAM AND BEYOND
ERAM SYSTEM
METROPOLIS
113.11.10

On the date on which construction of the Arek'jaalan project's so-called "Site One", tensions among the baseline populations of not only Eram, but outlying system in addition, are beginning to mount.

This project is described by its creator, Hilen Tukoss, currently in the employment of Minmatar Republic corporation Eifyr and Co. following a high-profile defection from the Caldari State and Zainou Biotech, as "a joint construction project being undertaken by the Arek'jaalan collective" and a "proof of concept", demonstrating with "unprecedented clarity, a capsuleer interest in Sleeper research" and their capability of and interest in "large-scale construction efforts to further said research".

Further, and the source of the concerns of many baseline civilians, he goes on to note that "it represents an unprecedented collaborative effort between capsuleers and an empire faction", commenting that they "hope to work with every empire in time". Indeed, a project so closely linking one of the CONCORD-recognised nations with the capsuleer population outside the direct employment of empire corporations is very much a new sight in the cluster, with the arguable exception of the Jovian Directorate's release of capsule technology to the Caldari State in Y.C. -12.

There are those, however, who question the wisdom in authorising - or even considering - such an initiative. Chief among detractors' reasons is the notoriously violent, erratic behaviour of many capsule pilots, especially those who go 'freelance' rather than remaining in the employment of a particular empire corporation, as Tukoss did first with Zainou and later Eifyr.

"How," one Eram resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, asks, "is it that when a capsuleer wishes to bring the freelance podders into the game, it is agreed without an apparent second thought by our government, whilst there are multiple, large-scale groups opposed to these people that consistently fail to gain traction with these same governments?"

He continues, after noting the failure of governments across the cluster to bring freelance capsuleers to heel: "To be blunt, this is a concerning precedent. Yes, those in favour of the idea will dismiss this as 'scaremongering' or, at best, 'extending a limited idea too far', but consider, for a moment. If we allow one capsuleer project the authorisation and resources of a government, how long is it before another comes along to do the same? Another, and another, and yet another. We have seen this kind of escalation before, and indeed recently: CONCORD's authorisation of capsuleer planetary industry gave any podder fresh out of training the legal ability to plant their extraction and processing facilities on our planets. Not just barren or storm planets of limited population, but temperate, widely inhabited, central worlds."

"You need not look far for an example. Eram itself is not a quiet, backwater system... but look to the second planet. Temperate. How easy would it be for a capsuleer to force the relocation of hundreds, thousands of people by beginning the process of establishing planet-based industry there? How many times has this already happened?"

This fear of the empires starting their descent down a slope many would describe as more frictionless than slippery is the unifying element of the vast majority of criticisms. That, however, is not to say that it is the only concern held about the Arek'jaalan project's presence in Eram.

The sudden establishment of its headquarters in Eifyr's Eram station was well-publicised at the time, and despite the mixed opinions that surrounded it then, residents do seem to be moving their attentions away from what has been described in the media as "that sinister Charon packed to bursting with Sleeper technologies" in which Tukoss arrived from the state under Electus Matari escort, and out of which he began work on both settling in Eram and the Arek'jaalan project.

Now, the focus beyond the aforementioned issue would appear to be on the consequences of such a project, ranging from the mundane and pragmatic to the more outlandish.

Many non-capsuleers are disconcerted by Tukoss' apparent eagerness to bring so much Sleeper technology through from the unknown regions to a single, large known-space repository, but more worry about the influence freelance capsuleers could have on the research of such technology. In the first days of the project, one capsuleer suggested that a Sleeper ship be brought through a wormhole for study in a system connected permanently to the stargate network, for instance; such suggestions combined with the stereotypically aggressive nature of the capsuleer have lead a number of people to highlight the strong possibility that the Arek'jaalan project would eventually be used for weapons development, further extending capsuleers' power and capacity for destruction, already seen by billions as greatly excessive.

Not all are concerned about Arek'jaalan, however. There are those who, in fact, welcome it: there exist a number of fringe religious movements, founded in the aftermath of the Seyllin-type Main Sequence Anomalies and the publicisation of the discovery of the ancient Sleeper civilisation, that venerate the Sleepers as the hands of deities, or deities in their own right. These, for the most part, welcome the opportunity for them to be more closely studied, though there is a minority claiming that "their machinery is not for Man to know".

Site One construction is scheduled to reach its conclusion in twenty days, on 113.11.30.

People fear that which they don't understand, it's really that simple.