Message:When Foster shut down all the Worm Holes during Pacification he shut them off COMPLETELY, including the "port holes" all the lasersats used to beam net links between systems. This, of course, crashed most of the cloud servers. So much data was lost because few entities stopped bothering with local backups (most lost data between Eras Four through Eight), which explains why Bucky's collection of "MAD" magazine is so valuable (plus it's on a USB flash drive and USB was replaced with "GPB" - Galactic Parallel Bus - in Era Two...you need two K units, one F unit and a Mini-J to make the USB/GPB adaptor cable...and a N unit if you want GPB-C, where the connector is symmetrical). Want to connect USB to a Bio-Link interface? Doesn't work. Brains aren't serial... It's a good way to end up catatonic...
Anyways, there are only two Bit-J-coins left. One is owned by Mr. Mann, who is waiting for the other to be cashed in. The other is controlled by the Journeyman Cartel, but the varied Walkers haven't yet figured out an "equitable" split. Mostly because Walkers think of "equitable" as a classic Bugs Bunny routine...namely "One for you, one for me. Two for you, one-two for me. Three for you, one-two-three for me..."
See, a bond-based economy is "magic money," while a random data-based economy is "imaginary miney." Fortunately the Tetra-League economy is based on a tangible resource - J Unit plastics. The fact J Unit is used in everything from sporks and ship hulls to desk chairs and EE-Suits has never-ever led to runaway inflation. There is no truth to rumor that the Mobile Incredulous only contains enough J unit to buy one "Big J. W. Wac" from "McWalker's."
God, the crap I think up just to try and make three people chuckle...
Yours,
IronMike
20-Jan-2021