Private A Better Biogenesis

[Mr Black]

Planet: Echelon
District 16: Biogardens
Tag: Liin Terallo

Old cooling towers hissed like dying extractor lungs, exhaling artificial winter into a district that hungered for more. Vertical farms ran high with low-budget hopes, wheat lit in neon, vat-grown fungus towers, cylindrical nutrient columns, all crammed into the endless dark like someone had tried to plant a forest inside skyscrapers and just given up halfway through. Budget Cuts.

Under escort, Black stepped out of an Apex armored hoverlimo, adjusting the cuffs of his suit, his ritual preparation. Dark sleek armorweave, tailored enough to hide cybernetics, expressive enough to make you think he owned the place, or at least rented it under the guns of Apex's legal team, a far more dangerous behemoth than any Star Destroyer.

Behind him, Broca carried Black's other briefcase, the heavy one that resonated faintly, one nobody on Echelon liked seeing opened unless there was a profit in it, because sure as the stars, there was always a bill to start with. "Current biomass allocation?" Black asked, scrolling through projections on his holopad.

Annasun, his white-haired hapan assistant, didn't look up from her own datapad. "Failing, again. Imports from the Outer Belts stalled, our core world supply lines are in chaos with the alliance collapse, and District 6 is rationing nutrient grade five."

"Five?" Black sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's not food; that's beige paste with barely a calorie to count."

Walking under suspended nets, thick tangles of hydroponic veins supported by carbon pillars. A dozen drones whirred overhead, spraying recycled moisture vapor like perfume in a place perpetually dying of thirst. Between aisles, corporate agri-staff shovelled their slurry, feeding processors, and pretending the entire district wasn't balanced balanced on a cliff edge to collapse.

And then the number hit him again. Echelon's Projected population in under seven years... 1,000,000,000,000. One trillion mouths to feed.

Balen Var Black, who had once restructured half a planetary budget over lunch, let out a low quiet whistle. "Echelon," he remarked, "you beautiful, miserable overachiever." At the central control platform, the Bio-Gardens' 'Board Room,' which was really just a partially cracked transparisteel mezzanine overlooking leagues of artificial mushy green, Black exhaled to a dead stop next to the chairs.

Broca his large olive-tanned assistant set the briefcase down beside him, Black glanced toward the secured access corridor where Ms Liin Terallo would be arriving under ASF security escort. A former director, a collapsed world behind her. A scientist with a mind sharp enough to cut durasteel and enough biomolecule expertise to rewrite a nutritional economy, if the galaxy hadn't already failed her enough first.

"Alright," he said quietly, straightening his jacket to readiness. "Let's make sure she sees the problem before she hears our pitch." Tag her interest before discussing terms or chasing her off. A large holo-display came to life in front of him, mega spirals of consumption charts and loss curves into decaying forecasts, painting the Bio Gardens in grim light.

He gestured to Annasun, his white-haired Hapanese assistant. "When she arrives, bring her up. And try not to spook her with the statistics. Ease her into the pending apocalypse." Black took a step closer to the rail overlooking the district: vertical farms processing like dim, wounded organs of a giant trying to stay alive.

"Time to see if a brilliant scientist and one a very tired executive can keep a trillion people fed…" He smirked, talking under his breath, lowering his reflective glasses down his nose. "Or at least postpone the food riots till after the quarter-end." He clasped his hands in front of himself, his posture confident and theatrical as ever.

 

[Liin Terallo]

It is not often that people from my old life in the Corporate Sector reached out to me. And it is even less often that anyone reached out to me requesting my help. At first I had considered it to be a ploy by bounty hunters to draw me out to a specific place to capture me. But a further study of the message disspelled that possibility.

And so I found myself on Echelon; a world that I had never once set foot on before. It was a world that seemed to try to be another Coruscant, but different. There was nothing natural about this place. Everything was artificial. Everything was mechanical, or some holo-mirage.

I was glad to be escorted through it; for I surely could not know the way myself. Such a location is easy to get lost in, and I did not need to get lost.

My attire is much more simple than what I was used to wearing in my old life. Instead of fancy gowns; I now wear simple shirts, long skirts and long jackets. I had lost a bit of weight while living on the run, yet I hope that my well kept hair distracts from that. Appearances are everything, afterall. And I had to make sure that I could live up to the lie that I planned on telling Mister Black. Looking the part was all a part of that. Otherwise, how else would he believe me?

I could not imagine what I was being brought here for. But it certainly was not for my research.

Tag: Mr Black

 

[Mr Black]

As the ASF officers parted fully, a Duros stepped forward first. He wore a well tailored grey suit, understated as corporate wear often was, but expensive, the kind meant to reassure rather than impress. His hands held neatly before him as he inclined his head.

"Miss Liin of New Cov," the Duros said evenly. "Former Director of the New Cov Biomolecule Company, planetary representative, and principal architect on several pre-collapse biomolecular trade frameworks. You are received under Apex Holdings' protection and welcome within District Sixteen, the Bio Gardens."

Only then did Black step forward, removing his glasses and offering a relaxed, open smile that hoped to take the edge off the meeting.

"Ms Liin," he said, voice warm and precise. "Balen Var Black. And for the record, I'm genuinely pleased to make your acquaintance." A small pause, with a touch of levity. "Anyone who survives the Corporate Sector and a planetary collapse tends to be either very dangerous or very clever. I'm hoping for the latter, but preferably both."

He gestured toward the open vista beyond the transparisteel rail: stacked vertical farms, nutrient towers, cooling arrays bleeding mist into the air like an artificial exhale. "Echelon doesn't grow food," Black continued, his tone finding honesty, "It maintains it. Imports most of its biomatter, recycles what it can, prepares what it's allowed to, and then pretends the rest will sort itself out." A holo image grew beside him, population curves rising faster than the district beneath them could ever hope to follow.

"One trillion residents projected within seven years. Consumption curves outpacing our efforts. Recycling efficiency decaying quarter by quarter." That last bit stung the most! He tilted his head slightly. "Not a crisis yet. Just a very patient disaster holding a boarding ticket." He let the display fall down, refusing to drown her in data she already understood.

"The problem isn't just producing more," he said, low now, more respectful. "It's producing better. Biomatter that sustains longer, adapts faster, and doesn't collapse the moment supply lines hiccup or prices rise." Because prices always rose. "Something stable enough to keep this world breathing… even if it never truly thrives."

"As you can see," Black added lightly, "it's a small ask. No trouble at all."

Liin Terallo

 

[Liin Terallo]

I held my breath a little as the Duros mentioned my old titles and positions. The loss of New Cov was a sore spot for me. Yet one day it will be free again. I am certain that my parents are still working on their plans for rebellion to reinstate our homes neutrality and full control over our resources. And then I will be able to go home again once more and pick up where I had left off.

At least that is my hope.

I dip my head to him in kind and then turned my attention to Mister Black as he approched to introduce himself. At least he did not address me with any of my formal titles. Miss Liin is more than enough for me.

A small smile tugs at my lips as he mentions me being dangerous or clever. I do not consider myself either of those things. Unlucky, perhaps; with some laboratory smarts. But in a lot of things outside of my laboratory; I feel as though I am no different than a child for my life has been more or less sheltered.

I shifted my focus from my internal thoughts to Mister Black as he outlays his reasons for bringing me here. A trillion people is almost unimaginable for one that has hardly ever set foot on worlds like this. How any such world can sustain itself; I do not know. And from what I can see; it clearly cannot.

The gardens need some work. The nutrients are in very low supply; and it is because of that that the food supply dwindles. At least they have learned the benefits of vertical gardnening.

And now it was my turn to speak. And so I did so after quickly crafting my response in my mind first. Afterall, it has been some time since I had worked for anyone other than myself. "A small ask, indeed, Mister Black. What types of fertilizers do you use? The cheapest? Or the best? How often are the soils replaced? Are the crops rotated to ensure proper enrichment of the soils? I would love to see some samples, if I could, please."

Tag: Mr Black