2024-02-18 - Press Briefing Summary on the 'Isaac Treaty'
- Log: 2024-02-18 - Press Briefing Summary on the 'Isaac Treaty'
- Cast: Asciel Colette
- Where: Isaac City
- Date: U.C. 0098 02 18
- Summary: A document summarizing announcements made in the wake of Isaac City's invasion, the subsequent re-formation of Chrome into Balena, and details of the agreement to negotiate legal accountability in exchange for assistance on Mars. (Owing to Controlled Acceleration, this was announced in July of 0098.)
In April 0098, a number of investigative parties coalesced to infiltrate Isaac City, the headquarters of the Chrome conglomerate. While it had long been suspected they were connected to various criminal fronts, it was only recently made known that they were the backer of wanted terrorist Asciel Colette, also known as Atrytone.
The joint operation to detain Asciel included a platoon of the Dominicus Corps, an investigator from the Gutsy Galaxy Guard, a team from the Photon Power Labs, and assistance from the elusive 'Mithril'. The breach into Isaac City triggered an evacuation of residents and personnel - many of them relocated to the nearby port of Yanbu, with some taking emergency trains further out to Medina. The rest were found in secure shelters within the city itself - casualties and injuries were minimal, though medical patients in particular may have had conditions aggrieved from relocation.
During the conflict, Asciel Colette caused extreme damage to the city infrastructure, including dropping numerous upper habitation blocks upon the investigators - they were subsequently rescued from the debris by Dominicus personnel. While several report that she was in critically damaged condition, footage of the very end of the conflict has been kept classified by Dominicus auditors. However, they confirmed that they were unable to locate the terrorist or her Armored Core, and have declared her MIA - she has not been seen since and her online platform has been inactive.
In the wake of the event and subsequent lockdown of the city by Dominicus, Chrome's board of directors have elected to be more cooperative than they historically have been. It is rumored that they were in talks to become a member of the Benerit Group, which have now fallen through, but press questions on that line of inquiry were shut down - many of their statements appear to be begrudging upholding of negotiations made with the Group.
Chief Financial Officer Mayval Kenek spoke the most during the briefing, and he confirmed many suspicions about Asciel's nature and identity. While he affirmed that she was a 'Controller-class' civil AI entitled 'OWL', one which would be illegal to build under Federation regulation, Kenek stated that she had not been built to qualifying specifications and had simply been designed for utility purposes, only to have increasingly gotten out of their control. He cited the multi-billion dollars in damages left to Isaac City as evidence that Asciel had acted in defiance of Chrome's intent. However, failure to restrain or terminate an AI in this condition still constitutes violations of those AI regulations, and it was affirmed by NUNE legislators that Chrome is still liable for Asciel's actions.
Negotiations between Chrome, the Benerit Group, and the NUNE reached an accord being entitled the 'Isaac Treaty'. While a lot of this treaty involves navigation of the legal status of Chrome's subsidiaries given their individual roles in Chrome's illegal activities, the major points are as follows:
- Chrome has formally declared bankruptcy, shedding most of its industrial holdings and subcontractors. However, its board of directors and their personal assets have re-organized into "Balena Strategic Research Solutions", henceforth referred to as 'Balena'.
- Most crucially, the entirety of Isaac City has been sold to the Benerit Group for astonishingly cheap - the Group has in turn rapidly divested itself of most of the city's property, selling off parcels and segments of it to its member companies, affiliates, and external investors.
- Balena has agreed to operate under the domain of a new project proposed by the Space Assembly League - the functional outsourcing of military re-development and infrastructure building on the still loosely held Martian territories. Most of their chief scientists and industrial personnel, including the board of directors, have agreed to relocate entirely to Mars, leaving behind only a small branch on Earth, who are assisting in pursuing the fugitive Asciel Colette.
- This deal made by Balena opens up a broader framework for a number of Earth-based companies, many of whom face increased pressure owing to falling outside of the Benerit Group's consolidating power. In exchange for establishing NUNE-friendly industry and military outposts on Mars to assist in reclamation projects against the Jovian Lizards, the NUNE and SAL will acquit them of several classes of criminal charges or extreme financial debts - however, they must be capable of financing it entirely on their own to be eligible. Nergal is already in talks to establish their 'Zio Matrix' division to aid in this project, but the Benerit Group is themselves putting their hand on the scale with their own member, Emeraude, preparing a similar endeavor.
- Many of Chrome's defense contractors and affiliated mercenaries displayed illegal 'Human PLUS' cybernetic modifications, with many of them having undertaken these procedures owing to extreme debt to the company. These debts have been forgiven, and further Human PLUS augmentations mandated illegal, befitting the Benerit Group's hard-tack approach to cybernetics. Given that continued maintenance on those already given cybernetic enhancement is needed, a black market around this technology has naturally sprung up very quickly.
While they were not present at the press briefings detailing the Isaac Treaty, it was confirmed that Chief Strategy Officer, Blytheford Humboldt, and Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Amali Vulavit, would remain as heads of Balena's Earth division.