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This first rule of Genesis is that any activity is going to cost something to the individual. In many cases this consists of the exchange of money. Money, however, does not always take the same form. A classic example would be the worth of rare resources. Humans, for instance, typically place great value in their planet's asthet-ically pleasing rare metals and gemstones, while Eebek, whose desert world has but a few scant drops, consider water a precious commodity. Each holds the other's fixation as totally worthless because they themselves are fortunate enough to virtually swim in the stuff. CURRENCY
This first rule of Genesis is that any activity is going to cost something to the individual. In many cases this consists of the exchange of money. Money, however, does not always take the same form. A classic example would be the worth of rare resources. Humans, for instance, typically place great value in their planet's aesthetically pleasing rare metals and gemstones, while Eebek, whose desert world has but a few scant drops, consider water a precious commodity. Each holds the other's fixation as totally worthless because they themselves are fortunate enough to virtually swim in the stuff. The intrepid explorer will find that what passes for currency in one sector does not necessarily do so in another. Thank-fully there are a few standard currencies which have evolved over time to be accepted almost universally. The most prominent of these is the PolySolar Foundation's trading credit, known as the Dit. The following is a short course in economics, Genesis style, and will give you a basic idea of the history, area of use, and rate of exchange for seven different currencies. Study well, my friends, of you may find yourself without a leg to stand on. All disks are issued by the Alliance Financial Trust and are protected by data-shields keyed to the owner's individual vocal / thermal sequence, ensuring only he or she will ever have access to their financial records. Even if lost or stolen, AFT representatives can usually reconstruct an accurate profile and issue a new Dit disk within a two days.The BattDelta warp technology began to be practically applied in the year 2119. This enabled the Megacorps, through the World Parliament, to expand their off-world explorations immensely. By 2134, the Corporate world gained full dominance over the World Parliament, and used this power to start the effective rape of all systems which they could get their ships into. About this time, the Milmoth debris field was discovered. The Corporations recognized the immense potential of this floating mineral gallery and immediately moved to exploit their find. Thought the conditions were poor, by 2140 there were over two million employees living in the Milmoth system. Earth was in a boom, corporations made millions and everyone was happy, for a time. The euphoria could not last, however, and by 2156 reality began 10 set in. The Corporations began to look to their own gain rather than the welfare of the miners who worked for them. The cost of construction of large, permanent power generators (of any kind) had risen far beyond what business-people of the time were willing to pay, an^i the newly formed colonies were beginning to be hit hard by a shortage in electricity. In 2160, the world Parliament made free migration off Earth almost impossible. In the outer colonies, people were beginning to get desperate. The boom was going bust. The years of fast living had drained the money from the pockets of the miners back into the pockets of the Megacorps. Many of the new worlds in the Hyades and Quorff quadrants were being recalled back to Earth, and those who couldn't be easily pulled out were left to fend for themselves. At this point in time, the miners and colonists in the outer quadrants had been paid in the currencies of the companies which employed them. There was no universally established currency which they could all consider valuable. The Milmoth confrontation changed this. In 2166 desperate Milmoth outer rim miners began demanding compensation for their various services with payments of stored electrical energy. The Bat, short for battery, is derived from long negotiated settlement between the miners and the companies. By establishing a currency based upon the value of electricity, the outer systems developed a viable ecoÂnomic atmosphere. The miners needed electricity in order to live, the companies needed workers in order to survive. The one began to exchanged for the other. The bat existed as a strong currency until the 2210's. After the dawn of the "new fusion" era financial forecasters predicted the imminent failure of the Bat due to the increased availability of cheap energy. The Bat's economic feasibility died in all but the outer rim systems. It would soon be replaced by the Dit. Still, the Bat is a commonly accepted currency in the further reaches of the First Sphere. Tourists and explorers in these areas are encouraged to carry a few bat's in emergency funds just in case they are needed.The DitWith the falling strength of the Bat threatening to pitch the markets into a deep recession, a new currency was eagerly sought. The new currency necessarily had to utilize many of the Bat's most promising aspects. Namely, it required the use of a universally acceptable computer system to keep track of all the funds available on the market. When looking for a rare substance upon which the currency could be based, the financial specialists of the PSF cam across the mineral Courant. Courant in one of the most sought after minerals in the Galaxy. This is a result of the minerals fundamental role in the effective running of the Deltawarp drive. Furthermore, it was proving to be one of the hardest minerals to find. It's quantities were low , it's value was high. It was perfect to base a currency on. The Dit was thus formed in the accounting departments of the PSF. ' "One Dit is equivalent to the current value of the stored potential magneto-gravitational energy of one cubic meter of the substance Courant, at neutral scientific conditions." ' - excerpt from the Economic Charter of the Alliance Financial Trust The currency was developed in order to allow the PSF to effectively control the flow of goods and services through PSF jurisdiction. Each world, colony; and space station had to use the Dit if it wanted to transport goods through PSF space. This revolutionized the economy of the First Sphere and created a universal monetary system which everyone could understand and use. Many coloÂnies and space stations adopted the PSF currency outright in order to attract more business. Today, almost all societies within the First Sphere, excluding large planetary populations, use the Dit as universally accepted within the First Sphere.The Dit operates as follows: Each user of the Dit owns a personal Dit disk. The disk incorporates a bio-electronic computer chip into its internal assembly to enable it to act like the modern-day equivalent of the wallet. The disk stores a personally set amount set amount of "cash" within its memory, plus the date, time and place of each transaction which takes place through the disk. To activate the disk, the operator must match both a voice analysis and a scan of the skin's bio-electric fingerprint. This makes each persons' dit disk almost impossible to break into. When a transaction takes place, the Dit disk is placed in contact with either a computer interface or a second dit disk. The two scans must be completed before a voice activated exchange of credit can take place. Both sides of the transaction are noted within each disk. Later, when the ow|ner returns home, the house computer automatically down-loads all the information stored on the Dit to the bank computer to update the customer's account. Similarly, if the owner uses any bank terminal the transactions are noted and the account updated. Anyone can access their accounts at any time through any globally linked computer. In a sense, these public computers act as banking machines, arid the disk is the access card. A final advantage of a Dit is that not only can it be formed into anything that the user wishes it to resemble, but it can also act as the user's passport and identification. The user will always be able to identify himself if he has his Dit disk upon him. As Dit disks are extremely difficult to forge, this form of personal identification is always accepted as valid. This is unless you are in of the more culturally backward quadrants of the galaxy. Slang: cred, credit, neutrinotaler, starbuck, trading credit, watt. The QoiThe second sphere is run by a government comprised of the Mahendoshi and Aracnian races. This strong, centralized government is very different form the PSF. Instead of goods traveling through government space in order to reach its intended destination, goods are sold to the governing races and then sold to the servant races, creating profit for the Empire alone. In the society, the Qoi is the established currency. Every race within the system has had the Qoi implanted within its economy as the dominant currency. The coin is a small oblong, clear mineral bead which has a hole in the end. There are only two ways to determine the difference between denominations. The first has to do with the sound the coin makes when flicked or bounced. The lower the sound, the more the coin is worth. Through many generations and re-issues the coin has been developed to produce a sound which all races hear. With the integration of the Sooacoli into the system, the Mahendoshi had to add a further distinguishing aspect to the coin. They found that the Sooacoli could effectively change the denomination of the coin by using their impressive vocals to mask the true sound. Thus, the Sooacoli could make a coin worth more or less that its true value. To avoid this, The Government began adding dyes to the production of the coins, enabling anyone to distinguish between denominations by the colour of the coin. Again, the deeper the colour, the more the coin is worth. Standard denominations start with a clear as the lowest denomination, and run to irredecent black as the highest. An interesting effect is created when a Qoi is spun upon a surface. The coin proceeds to stand upright and dance across the surface singing its denomination for all to hear. Only with much practice can this be accomplished with any real skill. The Qoi are kept upon a flexible, metal loop which can be hung around the neck or upon the arm. In order to remove a coin, the user merely finds the coin wanted and "breaks" the loop at that point. They then remove the coin and place the two ends of the loop together. The metal will bind itself back together, effectively remaking the string.RupeesThe Palladium based rupee is a common unit found mainly on Earth and in human centers. It was developed around the 16th century on the Indian sub-continent and is subdivided into 100 paisa. Denominations include the 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 paisa, and 1 and 5 rupee coins, with various plastic fabric bills for higher denominations The blue ten rupee note is printed with the holograph of Ceylon's district head, Rebyarna Ramannajighn Opar. Slang : blueback, crimp, tigressBolbBolb are an Eebek money represented by small, milky spheroids filled with about 50 milliliters of | unusually enriched saline water. They are made of hard, clear silicates, but can be digested in emergencies to prevent dehydration (1 Bolb has the effect of « litre of normal water). Merchants on Awmonee use the! bolb only as an aid to their extensive barter system, and| consequently bolb only has a direct material value - different denominations are simply different sized spheres. Bolb are naturally cultivated (somewhat like pearls) and are made extremely hard to counterfeit with advanced dyes and marking techniques. Traditionally they are carried by Eebek within the outer lip lining their stomach-mouth. Slang : bek buck, bulb, desert pearl.SlashThe slash is a black market exchange originally used by the blue Aracnians but now common throughout the galactic underworld. It involves the continued scarification and dismemberment of individuals unable or unwilling to provide convensional payment (although it is still required). For example, party A wishes to purchase a hot sensor array from party B, but has no capital. Party B can then estimate the item's worth in the digits, limbs organs and sensory devises of party A. If both parties agree, a temporary exchange is made. Note that under the terms of most contracts, the slashee may not regrow or buy prosthesis for said area for at least 6 months. Common dit conversions include; non-essential digits, 100; essential digits, 250; arms, 3000; preferred arms, 5000; leg, 8000; last leg, 10,000; hand, 1000; foot, 1000; primary sense organ (50% loss of use) 6000; primary sense organ (100% loss of use), 14,000 ... Slang : flesh cred, k'dit xcht, shred breadFree League CoinLeagues are pure hexagonal platinum slugs dusted with courant that are unregulated and extremely rare. They were minted about 260 years ago by a wealthy and somewhat eccentric Mahendoshi colonial miner who had formed a sovereign government on N'ming Louik after the Bwon Ch'chien slaver caste revolutions on Mardashu-ru. They are very ornate and are often thought of as the modern equivalent of Spanish gold doubloons. Whether whole or in their broken form, leagues are universally accepted as items of commerce and can be found in the most unusual of places. Slang : mikko an wienCONVERSIONS1 Dit = 0.11 Bolb, or 0.025 Free League Coin,or 3 Rupee |
