Exochem

ExoChem is a clandestine consortium that specialises in faster-than-light travel technology. They are the sole suppliers of devices known as “FORM cores”, which act as the central component of a space vessel’s FORM Drive. Third party component manufacturers who wish to create their own FORM drives order cores from ExoChem to place into custom housing with varying specifications. ExoChem imposes no royalty fees other than the up-front cost of the cores themselves, which would make it seem that ExoChem is a charitable organisation that wishes only to further the progress of humanity - while keeping a monopoly on the technology, of course. They are also responsible for the fuel used by FORM drives, alcubium, branded as Exofuel, which they also only charge up-front costs on. This kind of practice is presumed to make it easier for small businesses to sell, so anyone who runs a fuel-stop station can refuel ships with Exofuel, which helps them maintain their monopoly.

However, nothing concrete is known about the power structure of the company itself, including the identities of the CEO, investors, or any lower down employees. Nor is the location of any manufacturing facilities owned by the company known to anyone in the Bubble, leaving the assembly process of the FORM cores a mystery. Anyone tied to the organisation has clearly made themselves disappear, covering their tracks thoroughly. ExoChem have never advertised open positions within the company, which makes it hard to discern where they get their employees from, if they have any. Due to their existence being known since the early 2400s, it is obvious that they don’t have any anthro employees as some have theorised.

History

Not much is known about ExoChem’s founding, but estimates put their establishment sometime in the early 2400s, or at least well after The Slip. 2464 is the furthest back any known mention of them goes, with this apparent first mention of ExoChem being from TSI’s own programme to create faster-than-light drives around the same time. ExoChem reportedly stepped in, making contact with TSI to put forward their own solution that actually functioned. While they were more primitive than the FORM cores of today, with slower speeds and higher rates of failure, ExoChem’s technology just about worked. TSI initially tried to compete with ExoChem, but they simply couldn’t work out how their drives functioned. In the end, with speeds that allowed humans to reach the next star in a matter of months rather than tens of years, TSI adopted ExoChem’s technology in a business partnership. The CEO of the company, who is not named, refused a dinner invitation from the Chigan dictator at the time, politely stating that he wished to remain private.

Later on, however, it became apparent that ExoChem was selling their technology to other nations, too. However, neither Elempia, Hashia nor Chiga had much choice other than to keep buying from them, as they were the only suppliers of then-named “FTL drives” that worked. This reveals that their monopoly on faster than light travel stems from more than a thousand years ago, cementing themselves as the sole torchbearer of the industry.

They continued to refine their technology through the ages, achieving greater speeds using less fuel as time progressed. During the Border War in the 3100s, both Hashia and Chiga attempted to sway ExoChem in their favour, trying to force them to stop selling FORM cores to the other nation. ExoChem refused both offers, continuing to supply both nations with cores. They soon released a rare press release supposedly written by the then-CEO of the company, still unnamed, stating that FTL travel is a gift to humanity, regardless of political stance. Chiga and Hashia both slammed this statement while simultaneously ordering more FORM cores from them, while Elempia praised the decision as a fair and just proposal, given that they are the only provider of such technology thus far.

After the border wars, they entered a three-hundred year long silence. The only communications were between the consortium and other companies, and they were purely business-based. No press releases happened until 3412, when they announced a major breakthrough in FORM technology that brought travel times between Sol and Alpha Centauri (the route they often use to advertise their travel times) to five hours at most. The technology would further improve from there, going from five hours to two hours.

Secretive Nature - Conspiracies

Many rumours and accusation surround ExoChem due to their clandestine nature. Such is their secrecy that no-one truly knows where they get their technology from, or if they even make it.

It is unclear how much revenue the consortium earns from their products and monopolistic practices - they don’t publish financial documents and are not registered in any nation. Instead, they simply deliver their goods via large transporters. While it is possible to trace cargo back to its source, ExoChem change the source with every shipment. To add to the mystery, individuals have tried to track down the facilities where these goods were imported from, but they found that the addresses are simply fake and the facilities non-existent. They instead found that the addresses point to airless, rocky planetoids on the outskirts of the bubble that are completely deserted upon arrival.

There are some conspiracy theories that accuse ExoChem of purposefully tampering with the FORM cores so that they don’t work whenever a ship gets too close to a star system they own, but these are mostly unfounded and blamed on untimely malfunctions by third party FORM drive providers - ExoChem declines to comment. There are rumours that a member of the conspiracy community tried to enter one of their systems via a lightsail-powered vessel, but was never seen again. However, there are no sources that show this to be true and the person in question is never named in most versions of the story. Even if it was true, many debunkers rationalise that anything could’ve happened between the stars, such as running out of provisions or a malfunction.

The biggest reason many conspiracy theorists point at ExoChem stems from the technological level of the products themselves - the cores and fuel included. Many scientists have attempted to examine the cores and reengineer them, but to no avail - the technology observed by those who tried to examine it was too complex/compact to make any real detail discernable. What’s more is that it is seemingly impossible to disassemble a FORM core without destroying it entirely, rendering it inoperable. This means ExoChem have access to manufacturing methods that aren’t available to even the richest of corporations, which only fuels speculation about their true identity.

Only one thing is certain: they are here to stay, and they are the foundation of all human interstellar travel. The people should be thankful - not sceptical.