Free Enterprise Complex

Origins/Major Influence: Crash Course Manual (Paranoia Unhistory Soucebook) [The setting itself is actually Post-Crash Complex, but it has been modified to be less stupid and to disguise its Unhistorical origins. It still retains some key elements though.]

Description: Free Enterprise Complex is primarily noted for its unrestrained capitalism (the sort of unrestrained capitalism that would make Ayn Rand drool). There is only one law on the books: the law of "supply and demand". Anything is on sale, and everything is legal: you just need the credits. Work is entirely voluntary, but if you cannot afford the mounting fees for room and board, you will be sent to the "Free Zones" to starve to death. Most individuals therefore sign up for a Service Group, agreeing to forfeit all their lives in pursuit of whatever the Service Group wants in return for a meager paycheck and a promise of promotion.

The so-called "Service Groups" are now essentially major corporations, with no anti-trust laws, codes of ethics, government regulatory boards, or morals to stop their expansion. The only thing would prevent one Service Group from dominating over the entire Complex is the fact that the "Service Groups" are reliant on each other: Power Services hoard the power, but PLC hoards the food and Tech Services hoard the clone banks. The Service Groups tend to check each other, leading to a cold war punctured by occasional bouts of assassinations.

"Secret Societies", though frowned upon, are legalized so long as you register your society affiliation with the proper authorities. They are tolerated as "small businesses" that provide essential services that the Service Groups have not monopolized yet. Death Leopard serves as the thuggish police, Romantics sells Old Reckoning artifacts, Computer Phreaks "discovers" blackmail material, Pro Tech produces specialized inventions, Sierra Club provides guided tours to the Outdoors, etc. There are three groups however that are routinely persecuted: Communists (for wanting to abolish the capitalist free market), Humanists (for desiring to "reform" this already perfect utopian system of resource allocation), and PURGE (for wanting to destroy The Computer that ensures the success of FE Complex). This persecution is generally justified as part of the law of "supply and demand"; if this law is to be upheld, then anti-market forces must be destroyed.

The Computer only concerns itself with controlling monetary policy, stimulating economic growth, and protecting the Complex from anti-market forces. This however means that less attention is paid to the actual chaos in Free Enterprise Complex caused by the "pro-market forces". Though token effort is made to stop, say, a bank robbery by Anti-Mutants or a shootout between Internal Security and Armed Forces, The Computer mostly turn a blind eye to the dangers of competition. The free market always will work out in the end, citizen.

There is no security clearance at all: power is based solely on how much wealth you have at the moment. But, the closest you can get to de facto rulers is the Free Enterprise secret society itself. They act as consultants to all the other Service Groups and secret societies, helping them to maximize their profits and market share. This gives Free Enterprise a lot of clout and knowledge that could then later be exploited for personal gains. Sometimes, consultants can help one Service Group increase its market share and then sell their services to a rival Service Group with the sole purpose of reducing their original Service Group's market share. Other times, consultants can covertly sell their services to the three banned Secret Societies, and may not even get caught doing so. Supply and demand.

Spy For Another Alpha Complex: Sometimes, Service Groups and Secret Societies have to be creative when making money. The best way of being creative is to either find new markets in other complexes, or steal products so that you can sell them back at your home complex.

• A spy working for a rival service group is operating in this area. Follow him so that we know what that service group is doing. Market intelligence is key to prosperity in this business.
• There is an IR Market in your sector that is ripe for a "hostile takeover". If you seize it for the glory of us, we'll give you a cut of the profits.
• A certain ULTRAVIOLET is interested in purchasing this black box containing Old Reckoning artifacts. Make sure it is delivered to him intact; we don't want to lose such an important customer.
• R&D's new superweapon may be worth millions, but what may be more valuable is how does one make it. Kidnap the R&D scientist responsible for this awesome invention, and hand it over to us. Death Leopard will do the rest.