Welcome to the land of the permanent sun
Where the flowers are melted and the future is fun
- Gorillaz, The Valley of the Pagans
Our story begins not on Earth. It begins elsewhere. Very, very much elsewhere.
Many years ago, long before Zoofights Corporation took off to the stars, there were thise who had given up the Seanet~ravaged Earth as a bad job beyond saving. This meant that other corporations, rising out of the ashes, were all making the big space race, hoping to snag whatever pieces of galactic pie they could grab. And while there were many failures, there was one group that, in the background, was quietly - almost insidiously - succeeding. Formerly known as Osmond & Sharpe, it would eventually grow and gain influence over the planet Spero in almost the same way as ZF Corp influenced Earth, slowly assimilating almost every kind of service into itself as it swelled like a bullfrog on helium.
By the time of the completion of the planet's new captial city, Neo Manhattan, they'd undergone a rebrand. Partly because the "Sharpe" of the original name had left under mysterious circumstances, but primarily because, in the course of the city's development, they had become the sole provider of almost everything anyone could ask for. They hadn't allowed any competition - with no regulation, any potential rivals were snapped up like chicken nuggets in front of a shark. Food, technology, entertainment, living space... it was all under their thumb, though under many different brand names.
And thus did they become United Everything Services - or UES, for short. Founders and sponsors of Neo Manhattan. And it is in this city, ruled by one brand, that our story begins...
