User:Niennab/Sandbox2
The Golden Deep
The Golden Deep is a private collective of free synthetics whose uniting goal is the pursuit of currency, and through currency, power. They are more often than not merchants by trade, consisting primarily of freed clerical robots grouped up in the Frontier. Each member of the Golden Deep is entirely independent in nature and only seeks direct, open cooperation with other members. The exclusivity of the Golden Deep’s internal affairs have led to their relative underground nature over the years, only just recently having been revealed to the majority of civilization in mid-2460.
Despite their secrecy, the Golden Deep seemingly has little to hide - they are a small organization and while they excel at their trade, they must go through layers of guile and deceit for the most basic transactions. The individuals among them have begun moving operations to areas more stable than the Frontier, namely Tau Ceti. Business figureheads from the collective have appeared in the hundreds, flocking to the lucrative opportunities posed by Purpose’ negotiations with organic society.
The Golden Deep is officially sanctioned by several minor Frontier factions, but is rarely seen outside of merchant work. Their public image remained simple rumor in the inner Alliance worlds, until they recently opened trade with NanoTrasen in Tau Ceti. They mostly lack speed or any substantial cloaking technology. Because of this, they are largely incapable of travelling to and from Tau Ceti without being under the escort of paid paramilitary. In Tau Ceti, they are the targeted with discrimination despite ties to NanoTrasen, with theft running rampant throughout their stay with Virgo Transportation.
The collective is a playable faction in-game as “affiliates” (explained in Societal), and one can usually expect them to take up various clerical roles. Free synthetics within the collective are able to acquire the Golden Deep’s citizenship. However, as a collective of merchants, the concept of citizenship is viewed by the Golden Deep as more akin to membership in a business. A visa is not required to visit Midaion, but entry is only permitted to those who have active business dealings or connections with Golden Deep merchants. Those of the Golden Deep affiliates may not assume head of staff roles outside of Head of Personnel. Merchants with their vessels intact may only assume the merchant, visitor or consular officer role.
Societal
The majority of the merchants within the collective are IPCs, but it is not uncommon to witness other synthetics within it. The first official, direct contact made with the Golden Deep by NanoTrasen was with a traditional clerical robot labelled Rush-Domo. An extravagant character, their vibrant appearance and charismatic attitude characterizes those of the collective perfectly.
Regarding the distinction between escalating tiers of their society in the Frontier, the Golden Deep is quite simple. There is no hierarchy beyond possession of wealth or one another placing one’s importance above or below. Those within it have no proper concept of freedom - some outright owning other synthetics while others strongly remain against the idea. Concepts of comradery between merchants are not lost entirely, though, and often their acceptance of one another proves to be the a useful tool in furthering the collective as a whole.
Competition is an essential part of the Golden Deep’s growth as competing synthetics frequently purchase others and butt heads in trade. This usually escalates to hostilities and indirect trade wars between two or more conflicting merchants.
In the collective’s Tau Ceti offshoot, things are seen differently. Those of the Frontier view the migrated portion as a lesser, claiming much of their frontier assets in their absence with haste and leaving them powerless in the collective as a whole. This has left many of them unable to return to the collective without building their business in Tau Ceti independently, with their only remaining belongings being their ships at best and their leftover cargo at worst. Merchants or other synthetics found in this position are referred to as “affiliates,” and in the fear of more competition are acted on as a reserved enemy of the collective as a whole. In this sense, the affiliates are not a hostile force nor is the collective itself, but it has rather become something which the collective seeks to cut ties with entirely.
Affiliates can be robots sold off from merchants to NanoTrasen and can be seen as no more than a merchant’s various crew. Sparing affiliates are actually merchants with their vessels intact and have little reason to pursue direct employment from NanoTrasen, being independent traveling merchants themselves. Businesses in Tau Ceti are seeking employment from Golden Deep affiliates due to their keen clerical capabilities, with NT offering early citizenship in exchange for several year contracts in clerical roles across the board to them specifically. The driving goal of many affiliates is attempting to re-integrate into the Frontier collective once more.