Poronor (0603, C300AC8-B)
With no atmosphere and very low gravity, Poronor specializes in the manufacture of extremely delicate machinery and electronics that would be difficult to produce under more Terra-standard conditions. Geothermal activity deep under the planet's crust produces oxygen as a byproduct, allowing for unregulated access to air for most of Poronor's residents. Additionally, access to near-infinite medical-grade liquid nitrogen from Heroninine (0505) and cheap labor in the form of refugees from Agemarnoull (0605) allows corporations here to aggressively cut costs and out-compete worlds doing similar business.
Locals fall into three main classes: management, laborers, and contractors. Management live extravagant lives on unfathomable salaries and copious quarterly payouts from "profit incentives." They pay laborers generously to live and work in one of the many surprisingly luxurious manufacturing-industrial complexes that dot the barren landscape of the planet, each their own self-contained cityscape. By and large, laborers are content with their jobs and lifestyle, assured of long-term job security, sufficient PTO, and several serviceable paths toward retirement.
"Contractors" is the local euphemism for Agemarnoull refugees who have taken jobs in less desirable factories, presented with no better options. They accept predatory contractsātantamount to indentured servitudeāwith no guarantee of breathable atmosphere, much less PTO and retirement, if they don't meet quota.
Patrons
- Porter Ernst, refugee.
Muscled and lean, in thick work clothes. She wants help moving up to 2000 fellow refugeesāmen, women, childrenāoff-planet. She has managed to "save up" 9000 credits as a down payment on the first "parcel" of passengers. She assures you that her contact on Ender Station at Kara (0601) will take care of whatever payment you think is fair.
The ports on Poronor are run by laborers, who are generally lax about cargo inspections and eager to accept even small bribes. Upon delivery at Vonderagoza, Ernst's contact (he introduces himself as "Mauricio") pays whatever you demand, up to 10,000 credits per passenger. Once his men have safely removed the passengers to his transport ship in place nearby, he openly answers any follow-up questions. His motivations are far from altruistic: he plans to sell the refugees to an off-planet sweat shop at a sizeable markup. He will gladly honor the same deal for any more Poronor refugees you bring to him, up to the full 2000 people.
- Calyx Ellison, VP of Operations, Jovinalia Engineering.
Thin and balding, with a high collar and limp bowtie. He explains that he suspects Aurelio Aurelius, his longtime rival and VP of Operations at Mungrath Holdings, has stolen a particular objet d'art from his modest collection. It is a small statuette of a woman and her pet urtrat, worth nothing in itself, but of immense sentimental value. He offers 10,000 credits for proof of the statue's whereabouts, or 60,000 for its safe return.
The statue is in a very secure safe in Aurelius's sub-basement art gallery, among dozens of other expensive paintings and sculpturesāa total of 100,000 credits for 2 tons of cargo. The large estate is guarded by two underpaid patrol guards and a state-of-the-art AI surveillance system that sends video of suspicious persons directly to law enforcement.
- Walker Ulysses, fence.
Small and portly, with a full beard. He's looking for a buyer for 6D tons of food-grade oil-based lubricant he acquired from vague sources. He's willing to part with it for cheap (2,000 credits per ton), though he doesn't recommend shopping it around anywhere on Poronor as he's "lost" the official manifest papers. He can supply the name of a reliable buyer on Budovioma (0502) for an extra 500 credits.
Everything here is "above board," as far as exchanging stolen goods goes, except for his supposed buyer: the person, one "Christine Fabian," doesn't exist.