After negotiations we concluded an Embassy Exchange with New Byzantium Region, represented by their Founding Nation Epsilon Andromedae. Two other regions are also a part of this ever Empire: The Isles of Arden and The World of Rocket Scientists.The Industrial Underground of Epsilon Andromedae is a massive, safe nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 1.998 billion are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.
It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, corrupt, pro-business government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Defence, Law & Order, and Public Transport. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 42%. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Information Technology industry, followed by Uranium Mining and Arms Manufacturing.
Several citizens have complained about scientists abducting their pets for experimentation, traffic jams are a common sight due to construction work from a massive overhaul of the nation's freeways, citizens live in superstitious fear of the mysterious glowing clouds that float over Epsilon Andromedae, and scenic mountain valleys are flooded with water as damming projects get underway. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force. Epsilon Andromedae's national animal is the Yewlus, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the Kheop.
