The thing about governments, Adam mused, was that they were slow and bound by red tape. The various compartmentalised departments carried with them an institutional inertia that was almost impossible to overcome. They all did things their own way and tended to loathe change. With such immense size in terms of manpower, resources and procedures, it was easy to see why.
As such, the old nations of Earth had been slow to react to the realities of intra-system exploitation and colonisation. They had been even slower to react to the rush of inter-system colonisation and expansion and they had utterly failed to respond to mankind's first contact with a hostile alien species.
As such, their control over the process of colonisation itself was practically non-existent. The competing systems of identification and authentication as practised on Earth held little sway on the rapidly progressing and expanding wave of human colonisation. Settlements didn't much care about where people had originally come from and they cared even less about what papers they carried with them, supplied from distant and increasingly irrelevant nation states.
All that was to say, it was shockingly easy to become a registered citizen of Eden Prime. The process had been completed by simply walking into a system of pre-fabs, waiting ten minutes and writing his name down while getting a picture taken.
As far as the burgeoning colonial administration cared, that was all they needed to know. If Adam caused problems while on the planet, they would deal with it and if he didn't? They had gained another productive citizen.
It wasn't often that the terms 'agile' and 'streamlined' could be applied to government processes, but somehow this burgeoning world had managed it.
"Wonder how long before they calcify." Adam scoffed, walking outside with new identification in both hard copy and digital. Not surprisingly colonial services were located in the centre of the capital city. Supposedly the area had been pretty dense up until around a year ago.
In the immediate aftermath of the First Contact war, apparently the spectre of possible alien invasion had caused a wave of policy changes. Different worlds had reacted in different ways, but Eden Prime?
Not far away from where he stood, there was a massive hole being dug into the ground, dozens of metres deep. Even as he watched, hundreds of men laboured to finish preparing the foundation of what would one day become a towering arcology. Equipped with a large Mass Effect based kinetic barrier, it was hoped they would provide enough protection to hold back a hostile invasion until the System Alliance Military could respond in force.
How well that would work out for them, only time would tell.
Although the concept of defensive arcologies did intrigue the man. Adam tucked the idea away into the back of his mind.
Now armed with legal identification and heavy with fresh cash, the world hopper had to decide what his next course of action would be. Although the common adage of requiring money to make money rang true, it was only part of the picture.
The dark haired man mused over the problem for several days, turning the problem over from all angles and debating his next move. In the meantime Adam had little problem with indulging himself in the local delicacies, such as they were. The novelty of being on an alien world had yet to wear off and the man hoped that the childish glee he felt would never fade.
Businesses could fail. This was a simple fact of life. As such, it needed to be something that Adam could use the Armband to prop up and support, at least during the early days. However it couldn't require too much of his time, because that would defeat the purpose. Being tied down and chained to a shaky foundation wasn't exactly what he had in mind.
It also needed to supply value to his future endeavours, whatever they turned out to be. Having a chain of restaurants wasn't anything to sneeze at, but Adam failed to imagine how that could help him fight off the reapers or aid in whatever mischief he decided to throw himself into. That may have been due to a lack of imagination on his own part, but if so, there was nothing to do about it.
Almost an Earth week had passed, his days full of establishing a firm understanding of the state of Eden Prime and the other swiftly growing outposts Humanity was establishing. With the access to distant star charts and surveys completed by the Citadel Council, something of a gold-rush was taking place as dozens of convoys set out to begin claiming new worlds.
Adam briefly considered the old nugget of wisdom that during a gold-rush, the best way to make money was to sell shovels. But considering he was late to the party and would be starting from scratch, competing against established starship construction companies, he had a feeling that by the time brand new ships began to leave whatever yards he could assemble, the party may well be over.
Still, another nugget was tucked away into the deep reaches of his mind.
Eventually, Adam struck across the perfect foundation. While performing a deep dive into the capabilities of Omni-tool micro-manufacturing, he'd become intrigued by larger scale variants. Omni-gel technology hadn't completely replaced all manufacturing because good old fashioned mass manufacturing still outperformed the technology at larger scales.
Silvers' factory for example seemed to employ traditional machining for the bulk of his hover tractors, with only a few specific electronics created using Omni-Manufacturing. Back on earth such a thing would have been impossible, requiring long supply chains to dedicated factories. In the future, as long as the raw materials could be sourced, even small factories could create almost everything on site.
This assumed that the materials were relatively mundane however. It appeared there were a few exotic materials that required special treatments to fully create and they didn't play well with the process of being melted down and kept in a liquid state, or encountered issues during the application process.
So it wasn't the be all and end all, the last word in industrial capacity... but it sure could help.
A little more research led Adam to discover the perfect business enterprise. There was a new wave of business emerging across Earth, Humanity having been exposed to the business by contact with the Citadel.
Omni-halls.
The concept was simple- Omni-tools with the capacity to perform micro-manufacturing were very much luxury items and not something your average person would just own. Neither would they own any of the larger, increasingly more expensive variants.
So the Citadel races had created a business where access to such devices was both simple and easy, charging the cost of material and manufacturing with a small service fee.
Adam's Armband could create the materials that would fuel the business, meaning with every transaction, he wouldn't just be creating money from the aether, it would also be legally acquired currency.
While that would eventually be subject to taxes, Eden Prime and many colonies had incredibly lenient taxation policies, with nothing being required in the first three years and only then slowly ramping up.
Adam got to work immediately, feverishly researching everything about the slowly ballooning industry. Placement, layouts and competitive pricing were foundational knowledge to even begin competing.
He brought out a plot of land down one of the capital's many arterial roads, buying out a clothing store that seemed to be struggling. The prefab was centrally located and well positioned to attract customers, but competition from another nearby store seemed to have spelled its doom.
Adam placed an order to Earth for a dozen oven sized industrial grade Omni-fabricators and then set about transforming the prefab to his specifications. The shipment could take up to two weeks so there was plenty of time, but the dark haired man wasn't eager to perform the work himself.
He had money now and this was a job for the help.
"There needs to be a welcoming main room." Adam explained to an older man going slightly to seed. Nigel was one of the many who had replied to his adverts for skilled workers and had the recommendations to prove it. Leading a small team of five men, their previous work was readily available to observe via the 'net and Adam had no qualms about dropping their expensive wage. "White and open. There will be six fabricators on each side of the room, inset in drywalls. At the far end will be the person manning the help desk. Behind them will be the door to the back-room, where the Omni-gel canisters will be set up in the distributor. The piping will run behind the drywalls."
"Right, right." The chubby old worker nodded, tapping away at his Omni-tool, adjusting the mock-ups Adam had sent him to precise scans of the prefab unit. "Sounds like it'll work, this is one of those bigger units. But if you don't want the main floor to be a squeeze, the piping space will have to be a little tight. No other way around it."
Adam leant in to observe the plans being displayed and after a moment of side eyeing the now empty prefab, could only nod. It wasn't exactly perfect, but the design was good enough.
"That'll have to do." Adam nodded, giving the contractors the final go ahead. With work orders in hand and the technology of the far future, they set to work. The estimated finishing time was far faster than anything he would have ever expected to see on Earth, although that might be because of the bonus he'd dangled over their heads.
If the initial idea worked out, Adam had ideas on how to expand fast. There were much larger Omni-fabricators available on the market and even in the best case scenario, he doubted all twelve units would be in use all at once. The dark haired man eyed the neighbouring units, a gleam in his eyes.
During the period before his venture became active, Adam didn't wait around. The first thing was to track down a sampling of Omni-gels. Through some arcane process, the people in this universe were able to break down a variety of materials, including metals and turn them into a suspended liquid form. This liquid was then used in the Omni-fabrication process, applying up to dozens of different Omni-gels and using Mass Effect fields to create fully viable pieces of technology.
It was as different from 3D printing as a bow was to a railgun.
While Adam could spend his time forming material from the Armband and then melting it down with a better Omni-tool to create Omni-gel, instead he would just purchase as many samples as possible.
The cannisters used to contain the gel came in a variety of sizes, ranging from the tip of a thumb to larger than a truck for the most industrial of purposes. The smallest were most readily available for purchase, let alone cheaper, so Adam settled for those. During his perusing, the dark haired man made sure to scan the larger empty containers with his Armband.
The back-room to his developing shop was completed first and once he had the space available, it was time to prepare his actual wares. One by one, he created larger empty canisters and proceeded to create copies of the smaller versions, transferring the contents of dozens and then hundreds to fill the greater vessels to the brim. Once complete, he scanned the now full barrel sized canisters.
Now left with a pile of thousands of little empty omni-gel canisters, Adam could only sigh before using his now upgraded Omni-tool, reducing the vessels down into their component elements and filling several more of the large containers with mundane materials.
Leaving it all piled up in a corner for eventual insertion into the distributor that would connect all the Omni-manufacturing stations into a cohesive system, Adam left for the day, determined to get a drink.
Since he was most certainly not going to man the store himself, finding an employee to man the front desk was his next task. They would only be there to handle any customer issues during a small chunk of the day and changing out the empty Omni-gel canisters in the back room, and it wasn't a demanding position.
Adam would give the shop a month to prove itself as a proof of concept and if it achieved steady business, would begin to expand to other locations of Eden Prime and eventually, beyond. To avoid putting an onerous burden on himself and the Armband to always be present to resupply the stores, Adam had devised a simple system.
Cheap materials would be sourced locally and brought in bulk to keep prices down, while the more expensive materials would be sourced via the Armband. He'd supply the large barrel sized canisters of Gold, Platinum, Eezo and other expensive materials that could shift the line of profitability.
While there were many uses for these materials, the day to day demand should be pretty minimal, allowing the large containers to last without the shop needing constant resupply.
Adam had no intention of allowing himself to be tied down.
Over the following days he conducted several interviews over lunch in an upscale cafe, sitting outside in the shining sun and enjoying the warming rays. It was always nice to see after the incredibly long periods of darkness. He wasn't sure if it was the lack of backbreaking work without reward or just the remaining high of his impossible circumstances, but Adam thought living a life of leisure suited him perfectly.
"So, while school's out I thought it would be a good idea to pick up some light work, y'know?" The blonde girl chirped happily. His latest interviewee was a pretty teenager, with an upbeat and fresh air to her. She seemed to be one of those people that were naturally cheerful and brought the mood along with them, inflicting it on everyone the girl interacted with.
It was exactly what Adam was looking for, an airy and welcoming presence that would draw in costumers and leave a good impression. Not that he would let it show just quite yet.
"So you're still in school?" He asked, frowning as he glanced back down at the application.
"Yeah, but like, there's still five weeks before I need to go back and you said the hours are flexible?" Sandy replied without missing a beat, shrugging with a bright smile. "If it's something I want to keep doing when next year starts, I can just come in in the evenings, right?"
"Yes..." Adam allowed, elongating the words. The Omni-hall would be open sixty-four hours a day, every day. As a largely self-help business, this wasn't unusual and was relatively common from what Adam had seen. Or at the very least, it was a frequent occurrence on Eden Prime.
"So it's fine then? Great!" Sandy said, giving an exaggerated sigh of relief and running a hand across her brow, flicking away imaginary sweat. "When's the big opening going to be?"
"Just over a week from now." He smiled, unable to suppress the motion anymore. Adam wasn't often fond of those who just assumed so much, so quickly, but this girl managed to pull it off. He caught his previous words and corrected himself. "Sorry, still on Earth time. Three days from now."
The elongated nature of daylight and nightfall on Eden Prime had been one of the best and worst parts of being on an alien world. You could wake up and go to bed with the sun still shining, only to spend spent the next day in total darkness. It was a surreal experience and Adam could see the locals adjusting and slowly changing their own cultures to fit their new homes unique quirks.
"I'll be there then!" Sandy smiles, her blue eyes shining. "Assuming I have the job of course."
"If you want it, it's yours." Adam replied, stretching his hand out.
"Yesss!" The girl cheered, white teeth on full display. She shook his hand enthusiastically, pumping up and down. "First job, get! That new Omni-tool model is mine!"
"Glad to help." The reality traveller chuckled, leaning back in his seat and just observing the celebrating girl.
This would work.
And work it did.
Adam's Appliances opened on schedule and drew in a modest trickle of customers that remained steady in the weeks to come. For the initial few days the prepared supplies were enough to tide the shop over. As they began to run out however, Adam set up contracts for the most frequently used materials, mostly structural polymers and common metals. Once everything was in place he handed over the maintenance to Sandy.
As Adam had suspected, the young girl handled the few customer service needs with aplomb, leaving a good impression of the store. There had been a few kinks to work out in the opening days, some of the piping that routed the Omni-gel not fitting quite right, or packaging debris blocking the tubes. Once everything was broken in however, business began to flow without issue.
With drum sized canisters full of Element Zero, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Iridium, Palladium and Rhodium connected to the distributor, there were no demands on Adam's time, leaving the man free to continue his research.
All indicators seemed to point towards the fact the shop would have been profitable even without his ability to completely negate costly resupply, so Adam began building plans to branch out in all the other cities on the planet. If he finagled the location, Constant might even be able to support another shop or two...
"Hey boss man, you doing good?" Sandy asked, skipping into the back room. With the first few weeks- Earth weeks- having passed, Adam wanted to get a report from his first employee.
"Well enough, well enough. Only thing still tripping me up is the day/night cycle." Adam answered honestly, stretching in his chair and yawning loudly. "Just when I think I'm adjusting, it plays havoc on my sleeping schedule."
"Ha, it'll do that. We've- my family and I- have been off of Earth for almost five years, and it still takes some getting used to!" Sandy assured him, sliding smoothly into a seat opposite her employer, blonde ponytail bouncing. "My little sister's the only one out of the lot of us that doesn't have trouble."
"Was she young when leaving Earth?" Adam asked.
"Yeah, little brat was only four. People think the younger you are when settling in on a new world, the easier it is to adjust." The blonde explained, spreading her hands helplessly with a playful pout. "I love it here, but I'm starting to think of leaving when I'm old enough."
Adam nodded and after another minute of small talk activated his Omni-tool, glancing at the notes he'd taken. "Right, I suppose first my question is- what's the most common thing customers are asking for or saying?"
"Guns." Sandy replied instantly, firing off a finger gun at the dark haired man. "Pewpew. They keep asking if we'll get a fabrication license for the shop."
Adam blinked, not have expected to hear that of all things. As of now he hadn't delved into the deep and murky world of licenses, Fabrication Rights Management countermeasures against unauthorised copying and the logistics of the interstellar economy.
In short, it was a complete mess of red tape and rights issues that only a lawyer could love, those most cursed of existences.
It was an unfortunate truth of the current state of the Citadel and something that Humanity was rapidly coming to grips with: scanning technology had grown so advanced that all but the most sophisticated of devices could be fully copied by anyone with the resources to do so. At that point, barring biological components or exotic materials, the widespread availability of Omni-fabrication made unauthorised copying not so much as a possibility, but a mere matter of time.
In such a business space, there wasn't much room for manoeuvring around the issue. You could try impregnating your tech with FRM technology, designed to spoof scanners and frustrate attempts at thieves gaining a complete blueprint. There appeared to be a constant war being waged, with advancements and countermeasures that progressed at breakneck pace. Deploying such a solution to your products was both highly costly and would only work for a limited time. It was a delaying measure because sooner or later the FRM would be broken.
Was it worth it to spend so much money just to operate without competition for a short span of time?
Many thought so, but just as many didn't. In their eyes illegitimate copies were just a fact of life that you would have to live with and work around.
The partial solution that had been developed was to simply offer a complete licence of all your products for a relatively small fee, on a subscription basis, usually for a quarterly period.
In this way, many companies traditionally thought more of as hardware focused acted more like software developers. Their mission statements became rapid prototyping of ever more effective components, to push out the latest updates that would push them ahead of their competitors.
Weaponry wasn't just a part of this vicious cycle- they were one of the primary drivers of the phenomenon. With numbers nearing half a trillion, the martially inclined Turians were a voracious black hole that powered a civilian focused weapons industry that operated on an obscene scale.
Even if only a tiny fraction of a percentage brought licences, the money one could make by leaping ahead of the market was enough to stop a person's heart.
Despite this unwieldy state of affairs, larger companies didn't rely entirely on licence to fuel business. On homeworlds and the larger colonies, they maintained a strong industrial base to squeeze out their products at scale and turn a modest profit.
"Guns." Adam replied slowly, forcing away the thoughts clouding his mind. He'd spent a lot of time delving into the details that made this universe tick. It wasn't every day you were transported into a previously fictional universe and he wanted to know it all. "We can do guns."
Adam raised his arm, activating his Omni-tool. It was a much higher end product than the one he'd started with, with more bells and whistles than he could ever use.
He'd bought it anyway.
It took only a moment to buy a trio of licences. Hahne-kedar, Elanus Risk Control Services and Ariake Technologies all made it extremely quick and easy to sign up for their services. A hundred and fifty thousand Credits vanished from his account, but that should be easy enough to make up. If not, Adam would just cancel the service before it renewed.
He transferred the rights over from his Omni-tool to the computer embedded into the Omni-gel distributor that connected all the Omni-fabricators together. The entirety of the blueprints provided by those companies would now be selectable on the machines to rapidly manufacture.
It gave Adam an idea, but he'd wait for now to see how well the store did in the days to come.
"Oooh, we got guns now?" Sandy asked, standing up to peek at the distributor's screen.
"We have guns now." Adam confirmed, a small smile growing on his face.
He'd use this location, his first shop as a continual experiment. There were a multitude of expansions that could work, but it would take time to be sure they would be independently profitable.
While that was happening he'd seed the rest of the planet with more basic copies, only upgrading their structures and offerings once he'd confirmed the results. They could lag behind for a few months to ensure one wrong move wouldn't cause his growing business empire to collapse before it could even begin.
Building a strong and distributed manufacturing base, supported primarily by the civilian market would make for a good first step.
