[Someone's a tad stressed. Then again, her Jaunt experience started with a Moebius flashback, so.]
Okay, you know the reality show part already. That reality show is called the Mythic Saga, and it's been running up here for over four centuries. The corporation that produces it is called Orwell Productions - I'm assuming there's a reference there because that's how Jaunts seem to work these days - and they're quite a bit older than that. Orwell controls about 45% of the entertainment industry; their main rival controls 40%, and the remaining 15% is niche companies, most if not all of which are actually controlled by one or the other of those. That rival company, not incidentally, has a reality show of its own - a live broadcast of genetically recreated animal species on another terraformed part of Earth. More on that in a bit, because it's likely relevant to what Orwell's planning for your group.
Orwell and this other company have an agreement in place that both companies need to agree before any new terraforming is started on Earth - I'm guessing you know by now that most of it's currently uninhabitable. Humanity is confined to space stations and moonbases at this point - the three space stations are Eurasia, Eastasia, and Oceania. Human society is regimented and micromanaged all to hell, with extensive childhood tests that determine what your eventual job is going to be. Their entire lives are planned practically to the millisecond - there's a garden up here with strict time limits, for example - and there's almost no social mobility at all. Given that, it's probably not a surprise that entertainment is big business - it keeps the masses distracted, and gives them something they sort of control.
Anyway.
Orwell's been accused and cleared of shady shit from time to time, but it's always been buried - I didn't have time to do a really deep dive into their systems for more specifics. I did find stories about "extreme" body-mods which are now made "by permit only" - three guesses as to how legal that is, however carefully worded - and references to side effects and deaths. I'm pretty sure brainwashing is involved on some level, but you'd probably know better than I would on that score. I have been talking to someone up here who's slated to be sent down as an actor, though, and he noted that no one ever comes back from their stints on the show. The humans up here... a lot of them don't think the Mythics are even real, and the ones who do are under the impression that being retired without dying onscreen is basically like actual retirement - easy job, decent pension. I haven't been able to learn much about recruitment yet, but I highly doubt that's on the level either. I mean, we're dealing with a so-called entertainment company with access to terraforming and extreme body-mod and/or mind-altering technology at the very least. There's gotta be some reason people don't seem to be noticing any familiar faces among the "Mythics."
Meanwhile, that other nature show? That's doing really well. Really well. "Talking about sponsoring Very Expensive trips down to Earth so paying viewers can actually interact with the animals" really well. So far Orwell's response has been to sponsor a month-long viewing extravaganza bullshit thing where lucky winners get to spend a month watching unedited live feeds and answering goddamned surveys. One of the questions on this week's survey? Which of these natural disasters would you like to see.
no subject
[Someone's a tad stressed. Then again, her Jaunt experience started with a Moebius flashback, so.]
Okay, you know the reality show part already. That reality show is called the Mythic Saga, and it's been running up here for over four centuries. The corporation that produces it is called Orwell Productions - I'm assuming there's a reference there because that's how Jaunts seem to work these days - and they're quite a bit older than that. Orwell controls about 45% of the entertainment industry; their main rival controls 40%, and the remaining 15% is niche companies, most if not all of which are actually controlled by one or the other of those. That rival company, not incidentally, has a reality show of its own - a live broadcast of genetically recreated animal species on another terraformed part of Earth. More on that in a bit, because it's likely relevant to what Orwell's planning for your group.
Orwell and this other company have an agreement in place that both companies need to agree before any new terraforming is started on Earth - I'm guessing you know by now that most of it's currently uninhabitable. Humanity is confined to space stations and moonbases at this point - the three space stations are Eurasia, Eastasia, and Oceania. Human society is regimented and micromanaged all to hell, with extensive childhood tests that determine what your eventual job is going to be. Their entire lives are planned practically to the millisecond - there's a garden up here with strict time limits, for example - and there's almost no social mobility at all. Given that, it's probably not a surprise that entertainment is big business - it keeps the masses distracted, and gives them something they sort of control.
Anyway.
Orwell's been accused and cleared of shady shit from time to time, but it's always been buried - I didn't have time to do a really deep dive into their systems for more specifics. I did find stories about "extreme" body-mods which are now made "by permit only" - three guesses as to how legal that is, however carefully worded - and references to side effects and deaths. I'm pretty sure brainwashing is involved on some level, but you'd probably know better than I would on that score. I have been talking to someone up here who's slated to be sent down as an actor, though, and he noted that no one ever comes back from their stints on the show. The humans up here... a lot of them don't think the Mythics are even real, and the ones who do are under the impression that being retired without dying onscreen is basically like actual retirement - easy job, decent pension. I haven't been able to learn much about recruitment yet, but I highly doubt that's on the level either. I mean, we're dealing with a so-called entertainment company with access to terraforming and extreme body-mod and/or mind-altering technology at the very least. There's gotta be some reason people don't seem to be noticing any familiar faces among the "Mythics."
Meanwhile, that other nature show? That's doing really well. Really well. "Talking about sponsoring Very Expensive trips down to Earth so paying viewers can actually interact with the animals" really well. So far Orwell's response has been to sponsor a month-long viewing extravaganza bullshit thing where lucky winners get to spend a month watching unedited live feeds and answering goddamned surveys. One of the questions on this week's survey? Which of these natural disasters would you like to see.