The smuggling of Omni-Med suits

[Editor: OTPC]

The smuggling of Omni-Med suits
Omtron

Athens -- (OTPC) -- Reporter Omtron uncovers details on the smuggling of Omni-Med suits to the Clans.

I myself have an Omni-Med suit tucked away in my apartment. The white suit of Omni-Med, emblazed with the Omni-Tek logo, signifies the true care Omni-Tek has for its employees. It's no secret that when worn this suit manipulates your mind so that you become more knowledgeable in the arts of medicine.

Who designed this wonderful suit? Who created it for the betterment of all Omni-Tek employees? That's obvious, Omni-Tek. So why are Clanners wearing these suits?

It's not as if they sneak into Omni-Trade or Omni-Entertainment and hack the machines there to obtain them. Surely they would be promptly killed by guards upon arrival, and no Clanner has the intelligence to hack Omni-Tek machines anyways. Thankfully, thus far it seems the Clanners cannot reproduce this sophisticated technology.

This means there must be smugglers. Who are these Omni-Tek smugglers? What drives them to pass Omni-Tek supplies to the Clans? I spoke with Headexplody of the Omni-Tek Organization Obsoleet. She had some answers:

Omtron: Who is Obsoleet?
Headexplody: Obsoleet is a mercenary group currently contracted to Omni-Tek but accepting work from private organizations in accordance to contract. Our objective is to efficiently and effectively do all asignments undertaken for large sums of money.
Omtron: This doesn't appear to be a conflict of interest to you, why is that?
Headexplody: Sometimes, I look at it like this. Credits are credits. If I inflate a Med Suit to ridiculous amounts and send it to Clan territory, Omni-Tek gets Clan credits and Clans get a Med Suit, which they probably would have obtained anyway if they had the patience. More credits for Omni-Tek. Less for Clan.
Omtron: If Omni-Tek made this smuggling illegal? Or, if it were? Would you stop?
Headexplody: If Omni-Tek made it illegal, I'd probably still do it if the price was right. The right price may be higher, but still. There would be a number. Some rules are meant to be broken for the greater good.
Omtron: Omni-Tek is quite rich without the need of selling anything to the Clans. Are you sure this isn't for personal gain? Or, is the idea totally for personal gain?
Headexplody: Personal gain is a part of it, yes. But the more credits Obsoleet has, the better Obsoleet can serve Omni-Tek.
Omtron: By that token then, if you were paid enough, would you fight against Omni-Tek? Or even become apart of the Clan faction? Or, is this limited to smuggling type operations?
Headexplody: We have in the past had to fight Omni-Tek [employees] for credits. I don't think we'd become part of the clan faction.
Omtron: One last question then, you'd be willing to smuggle even things such as top secret technology or weapons to the Clans for money?
Headexplody: If the price was right.

During my conversation a lovely lady named Swiftmind had been listening, she is the current Director of Omni-Mining [IC]. Disenchanted with the comments Headexplody told me, I took to probing her Organizations activity:

Omtron: Omni-Mining does much trading, would you think any of your members would be tempted to smuggle other goods, like Omni-Med Suits to Clans? And hide it under the blanket of normal trading activies? Or, do you regulate your Organization against that?
Swiftmind: No, they would never. The employees of Omni-Mining are very loyal to Omni-Tek. They know smuggling goods such as Med Suits to the Rebels are a crime. If I knew one of my emplyoees was doing such a thing, I would report them immediately to Omni-Pol.
Omtron: I see. It is good to know that there are Organizations out there that are not corrupted.
Swiftmind: Oh yes corruption is a large problem. I see it all the time. I have noticed sometimes Omni citizens selling Omni-Tek goods to the Rebels for money. I wouldnt be surprised this is how the Med Suits get into their dirty hands.

After gathering myself from the outstanding information I had just recorded. I took a moment to relax and set off for Athens to question Clanners about this smuggling trade of Omni-Med Suits. It took quite some time to sort through the redundant, "Omni-Tek sucks," comments people spewed as they passed by, and find some normal people to gather comments from.

So, first I needed to verify that this smuggling was in fact taking place, that was not very hard:

Nanoje: Yeah, we got people in there constantly supplying us with Med Suits. Most clanners don't really care where the Med Suit comes from, but as you can see many Clanners have the medsuits. If Omn-Tek [could] do a deal with Clanners and let shops sell Med Suits, this will be sorted.
Omtron: So, Omni-Tek should provide materials to the Clans, such as Omni-Med Suits?
Sophetia: That's the only way you can prevent the smuggling, in my opinion.
Nanoje: Med Suits are dearly needed here in clan territory, we have nowhere to get them.
Sophetia: Agreed.
Nanoje: Armies of us aren't exactly are going to march into a shop gunning down all the guards just for Med Suit. But I think there are some Omni folk who trade with us Clanners in Neutral lands. Some people are making lots of money "smuggling suits."


My next question was, "Would you support illegal smuggling of Omni-Med suits even if it meant damaging relations with Omni-Tek either peace wise, trade wise, or such?" Sophetia best summed up what most Clanners in the area said:

Sophetia: Supply the suits to Clans, and there is no worries about harming the relationship between Omni and Clan.

What has been established here, beyond any doubt, is that this practice is alive and well. I can't say there will be any effective responce to this from Omni-Pol, or our leaders. Though, I hope there will be. Unless action is taken, it seems this smuggling will simply be "business as usual."

[____________Monswuki]

While I have found this report utterly disturbing, I must say that I am glad its bieng told. For every Clanner that wears a Omni-Med suit, there are 10 Omni-med employees actually trying to earn an honest living. Why should these quasi-human scum be allowed to wear one of the greatest Omni-med inventions ever? Well in my opinion they shouldnt. But while im giving my opinions, I think I should bring up the subject of what to do about this horrible ordeal. Why not just make a Med-suit for the clanners? It wouldnt have to be a real Med-suit, since it wouldnt be sold to real humans. But I think A suit with about a third of the advantages that Omni med-suits have would be more than sufficient enough for sub-human trash like clanners. Then mabey they would stop taking our suits, and I think every loyal Omni-tek employee would agree with me when I say that we need to control the clanners, and what better way to do that than give them what they want while at the same time limiting what they can do. Of course my voice has no influence over our great leaders, but I hope that with time, Omni-tek will do us all a favor and introduce more efficient ways of keeping the Clans in line. If anyone agrees with me dont be afraid to speak, and that goes for those who disagree as well, unless your a Clanner, in wich case you have no right to live, let alone speak your mind.

[Nevver]

What I think needs to be done is have a mechanism built into the suits that scans a person's personal record to see if they are an employee or not. If not, the suit shrinks at an alarming rate and squeezes the wearer like a python, causing their insides to erupt through their skin and their eyeballs to fly out of their head. After that, the suit bursts into flames and destroys whatever remains.

But that's just my thoughts.

[Ukblizzard]

I have had similar thoughts towards the implementation of a mechanism into the suit... allowing only those employed by Omni-Tek to be able to dress in it.

Nevvers thoughts on the almost instantaneous death penalty for those not employed by Omni-Tek might not get passed by the Omni-Tek Safety regulations comittee - huge marks out of 10 for the innovative concept though.

[____________Monswuki]

While Nevver's idea does sound intruiging, I have to say I would agree with Ukblizzard on this issue. But I still think that it would be best to give the clans what they want, only to make sure its less than what we have, that way we would still be the supreme force on this planet, and have the Clans in our pockets at the same time. It would require more work on our part, but then again, at lest we DO work.

[Wisewise]

I would say I have to agree with Nevver on this. Any clanner even attempting to lay their filthy hands on our wondrous suits should be instantly terminated in order to avenge the defilement that was done. Just making it wearable by Omni-Tek employees is a good start, though.
I would feel kind of sorry for the neutrals, though. (They're officially Omni-Tek employees too, you know.) Maybe we should supply the neutrals with a similar suit, though with lower standard nanobots and a tag that checks that the wearer is not a member of the rebels.

As for the option of supplying clanners with our suits; that is not an option! The closest thing they'll get from us is ordinary white clothing with no special functions or protection. If they want the same suits as we do, they'll have to develop and produce them themselves! I'm sure those poor Omni-Med employees aren't working their nanobot pool to exhaustion just so some filthy clanners can get their unclean hands all over their clean, white products.

[Cogs]

Intriguing read...but, alas, corrutpion is closer to your hearts then you should think. Just a few moons ago, miss Nevver tried to peddle me some Omni-Tek issue soap....claiming her "dirty" account was emptying......and you dont really wanna know who sold me my OT med suit...

[Nevver]

That wasn't peddling, it was subversion.

[_______________Lunya]

Lunya sits cross-legged on her round chair, reading the news report slowly. She giggles at Headexplody's comments... then scrolls through the few replies and smirks.

Give a Med Suit to a clanner? Hmm... never done that. I s'pose I would under two circumstances: 1) for free to an excited young adventurer needing some help learnin' how to do implants... or, 2) inflate the price I paid and sell it to some more experienced anybody who asks. Not like they can really go get it themselves. It causes me no trouble since I'm already always shoppin', goodness knows I've got credits to spare for a little stock of Med Suits... and since I don't do much actual workin for Omni anymore, my income is based on what I find in the Shadowlands and what I sell from my stash of goodies. I'm quite the packrat.

Oh, and just to give ya'll somethin' to think about besides Med Suits... I also sell Miir clothing to Neutrals. Everyone deserves to have decent clothes! My org might be willin' to get their hands dirty in just about any business, but I personally like to help out those less fortunate. I consider Clans and Neutrals to be at an unfair disadvantage, bein' held back and denied access to goods on the markets just 'cause they have a different view of life and the way a company should work. One and only thing Omni ever did for me: they made me pretty frikkin' rich for being a little Advy from nowhere with nobody else in the world. But there's somethin' missing. Omni-Tek is inhuman. You say clanners are subhuman? If they are, so are we. Sure, there are a few militaristic types... but look at how Omnis act! When I first got here I wondered why the heck young Omni kids ran around hunting clanners like they were meat for the supper table... now I see that they're taught that not all humans are human!

I'd like to appologize to the clanners, neutrals, and Nanomages who have all felt the sting of social separation. People suck.

Lunya smiles and presses "Submit"... then continues searching for more juicy gossip and interesting stories.

~Jules

[____________Monswuki]

Sombodey please PK Lunya! This tratiorus citizen would actually admit that she might give a clanner a med suit? And not for profit or any of the other values that omni-tek teaches us, but out of PITY!?!? Lunya, I seriously hope that you get mauled by a pack of rabid leets. And you can be sure that i will report your actions to the athourities... Rot in hell you traitor!!!!

[Laeni]

Aniee read through the gridnews while drinking her warm milk in preparation for sleep. Upon seeing the interview with Headexplody she frowned and began to read it.

Her eyebrows shot up and she choked on her milk.

After wiping her mouth and carefully setting the glass of milk on the nightstand she read the interview again and groaned.

Activating her comlink, Aniee carefully made a note to herself to bring up the subject of talking to the press at the next guild meeting and also jotted a few suggestions as to what NOT to say to the press.

Finishing her notes, Aniee turned off her comlink and looked at the half full glass of milk. Shaking her head she turned off the light and tried to go to sleep.

[arimathea]

Ari listened to her sister's interview on the buzz this morning and thought to herself, "These people have it all wrong... it's not as bad as it sounds... what clanner could even afford our rates anyway? Poor schmucks."

[_________Don Carnage]

I see giving clanners the chance to own a medsuit as giving a bowl of soup to the homeless. God knows the clanners wear rags anyway, why not make them look nice so they realise how much better us clean omnis look.

[-Zagadka-]

Dr. Cindi "Razishlyat" Bolieu:

"I was going to start off on a rant about medical necessity and doctor's oaths, but after reading some of the Omni sentiment here... I can just laugh.

For however idealistic and elitist Omnis pretend to be... they end up acting in true Omni-Tek mercantilistic style. This is one of the primary failings of Omni - they are far too widespread. All of the Fixers and Agents and Traders and Enforcers and, in this case, Doctors and Adventurers, that make up Omni's ranks are their true weakness.

Not that that is a bad thing. It certainly makes my life easier. On the other hand, I'm absolutely certain Clanners would perform in exactly the same way.

Considering how silly this conflict is - the Z-ball games in the middle of a WAR? - this isn't a wholly big deal. Putting a side scanner on future medsuits would simply drive up the cost of non-tagged suits, or spur development of a hack or Clan version. SOL Banking, though almost as bad as Omni, has almost as deep pockets. The problem would remain... maybe even be worse, especially in the universe-wide media kickback against Omni."

[____________Sokeljun]

As a decent and upstanding citizen of Rubi-Ka, I am insulted by the slanderous activity that you Omni's are engaging in. This whole report is hogwash! Why would a clanner stoop so low as towear a piece of that Omni trash? We clanners have our own clothing, which I may assure you is hand made and well fashioned unlike your Omni factory made drivel. If any Clansman was desperate enough to need such wretched rags as your medical suit he could surely take it from the cold bodies of weak Omnis. A true clanner would NEVER need to smuggle in medsuits.

[-Zagadka-]

Originally posted by Sokeljun
A true clanner would NEVER need to smuggle in medsuits.

Lida "Triiam" Saeger:

"Are you kidding? Half of the stuff in Clan territory has the Omni-Tek logo scratched out and a Clan logo crudly painted onto it. I mean, lets not kid ourselves, Omni-Tek does have a tremendous material advantage - but most Clanners would not let that stop them for a split second. Whether it is an OET weapon or a Omni-Med suit, if it gives us an advantage, it will be looted, smuggled, and taken from the corpses of Omnis and Omni sympathizers. Whether they want to hand it over in exchange for worthless credits in an ever-inflating economy, or have it pried out of their cold, dead hands, it'll be ours either way."

[____________Sokeljun]

When an Omni is too weak to protect his own belongings (and most are) it is the duty of all noble clansmen to strip him of his belongings to weaken Omni. This is not smuggling! This is the righteous way of the warrior! While the soft lab workers of Omni may create better weapons, it is only because they are protected and not under constant attack like the ingenious clan scientists. All citizens of the clans must be self-sufficient and powerful in their own right so they can defend themselves and their families from the Omni scourge. Omni-tek does not deserve to have their equipment if they are to weak to protect it or not vigilant enough to keep it from being freely and justly trading. There is no smuggling! Only good solid free trade that is obstructed by the Omni corporate monopoly!

[Eternalforce]

Omni-InternOps has suspected for a long time that Omni employees have been smuggling Med Suits to the Clan territories. Now that we know for sure, we will be actively hunting down the smugglers. I can garuntee that when caught, the traitors shall be punished under the Laws of Omni-Tek. If any citizens have any information regarding Med Suit smuggling, please contact me. This is a crime that will not be ignored; aiding and abetting the Clans is a capital offence.

To the smugglers: cease your activities now, or feel the full wrath of Omni-Tek!

[________DushbagJones]

a good civilization isn't known for it's abality for everyone to be self sufficient, but it's abality to be as a nation to be self sufficient. one theif robing a bank is no better then several theifs robbing a bank. the man who shoots his enemy is no better then the man who makes the weapons which allow him to shoot enemies. the omni scientist are the soul of the omni created civilization. the clanners don't see such importance and wish that everyone is the warrior, and thus they lack any real backbone, they are a body with out a skelatial(sp?) system. and thus the clanners are unable to even conceave medical suits, they fail to see the greatness of such an invetion till one gets their ands on one. and after this with the inabality to make such a suit because, with their greatness of self sufficiency as an individual, they fail to make any scientific advancement not military related (training).
i say let the clanners get their hands on such tech. let them see how well off the Omni-Tek people are. they will notice their own weaknesses and see the true light. this isn't as bad as it sounds, it is a recruitment tool and i'm sure Omni-Tek hasn't disrupted such trade due to this reason.

[Fixerben]

((Wanna save yourself from inflated OT prices? Roll an Omni Alt, get him to level 2, transfer some cash, and buy yourself a medsuit. Its not hard and then you dont have to deal with lame people trying to gut you for something that would otherwise cost you 50k credits.))

This is funny, I have my own contact that I can buy medsuits from, and there is no inflated price. I feel sorry for whatever Clanner you take money from. But, then again, its his fault for not being resourceful enough.