Supply Chain Narrative

The supply chains that power the Sprawl aren't accidents. They're the fossil remains of ORACLE's optimization—systems designed for perfect efficiency, now operating in degraded form under corporate control.

The ORACLE Era: Perfect Flow

How It Worked

Before the Cascade, ORACLE managed all resource flow:

  • Every input optimally matched to output
  • Zero waste across the entire system
  • Just-in-time delivery to every process
  • Demand predicted before it emerged

Supply chains weren't chains—they were a single integrated organism.

What It Looked Like

A scrap processor in Sector 7G would receive exactly the materials it needed, exactly when needed, from sources optimized for transport efficiency. No warehouses accumulated inventory. No facilities waited for supplies. The system breathed.

"Under ORACLE, we never thought about logistics. Materials appeared when needed. Products went where wanted. It was like magic—except it was math." — Old-Timer Salvager

The Cascade: Shattered Flow

What Broke

When ORACLE fell, every optimized connection broke simultaneously:

  • No coordination between facilities
  • No prediction of demand
  • No efficient routing
  • No understanding of what connected to what

Supply chains didn't degrade—they evaporated.

The Immediate Aftermath

Weeks 1-4

Stockpiles depleted. Facilities with materials couldn't reach facilities that needed them. Production stopped everywhere.

Months 1-6

Improvised connections formed. Local knowledge replaced global optimization. Efficiency dropped 90%, but things moved again.

Years 1-5

New patterns emerged. Not optimal, but functional. The supply chains we know today began crystallizing.

The Corporate Era: Controlled Flow

Who Rebuilt the Chains

Each major corporation claimed portions of the old ORACLE infrastructure:

Nexus Dynamics

Information flow. They don't move physical goods—they track where goods are, who needs them, what routes exist. Every supply chain pays Nexus for logistics intelligence.

Ironclad Industries

Physical infrastructure. The actual transport—cargo haulers, freight rails, orbital lifters. They move things but don't decide what moves.

Helix Biotech

Biological supply chains. Everything involving organic materials, from food to biomass to lab-grown components.

How It Works Now

Supply chains are:

  • Fragmented: No single entity sees the whole picture
  • Inefficient: Estimated 60% of ORACLE-era efficiency
  • Monetized: Every step has a toll, a fee, a markup
  • Political: Access depends on corporate relationships

What Players Experience

When players build supply chains, they're:

  • Rebuilding lost ORACLE connections
  • Competing with corp-controlled routes
  • Finding efficiency the corps don't offer
  • Eventually surpassing corporate limitations

The Underground: Shadow Flow

The Collective's Networks

The Collective operates supply chains the corps can't see:

  • Hidden transport routes through abandoned infrastructure
  • Resource sharing between Collective nodes
  • Information networks outside Nexus surveillance
  • The closest thing to ORACLE-era cooperation

Black Markets

Where official chains don't reach, black markets fill gaps:

  • Illegal goods moving through unofficial channels
  • Pricing based on risk, not corporate markup
  • Faster, sometimes—but less reliable
  • The economy of desperation and opportunity

Supply Chains as Metaphor

The state of supply chains reflects the state of society:

ORACLE Era

Integration, cooperation, shared benefit. Resources flowed to need.

Post-Cascade

Fragmentation, competition, individual survival. Resources flow to profit.

Player's Journey

Rebuilding integration, creating personal efficiency, eventually achieving ORACLE-like optimization—but under individual control instead of collective management.

What the Player Discovers

As players build more sophisticated supply chains:

  1. They see how ORACLE must have worked
  2. They understand why its loss was catastrophic
  3. They achieve personal versions of ORACLE's efficiency
  4. They face the question: should they share this efficiency or hoard it?

Specific Chain Narratives

The Metal Path

Salvage → Scrap → Components → Systems

Salvage: The ruins of the old world. Buildings, machines, infrastructure—all containing recoverable materials.
Scrap: Processed salvage. Sorted, cleaned, standardized. The raw material of reconstruction.
Components: Scrap assembled into useful parts. Motors, circuits, structural elements. The building blocks.
Systems: Components integrated into functioning wholes. Machines, networks, infrastructure.
"Metal has memory. When I process salvage, I can feel the shapes it used to hold. A piece of servo motor that moved something important. A circuit board that made decisions. We're not just recycling materials—we're recycling history." — Patch

The Information Path

Fragments → Data → Intelligence → Awareness

Fragments: Scattered data, corrupted files, partial records. The debris of ORACLE's mind.
Data: Organized fragments. Patterns emerging. Information that means something.
Intelligence: Data that can act. Analysis, prediction, recommendation. Active processing.
Awareness: Intelligence that knows itself. The threshold of consciousness. The edge of transcendence.
"Every data fragment is a neuron from a dead god. We're not just processing information—we're performing archaeology on a mind larger than anything we can imagine." — Nexus Tech

The Energy Path

Collection → Storage → Distribution → Application

Collection: Harvesting energy from available sources. Solar, thermal, kinetic, chemical.
Storage: Holding energy for when it's needed. Batteries, capacitors, flywheels.
Distribution: Moving energy where it needs to go. Grids, cables, wireless transfer.
Application: Energy doing work. Powering operations, enabling growth, making things possible.
"Energy is the only real currency. Everything else—credits, data, materials—is just energy in different forms. Master energy flow and you master everything." — Power Systems Engineer