Synopsis "Slow Comes the Dark Volume 1 Creeping Darkness"
Slow Comes the Dark is set in the galaxy some five hundred years after the Planet of the Orange-red Sun. Galactic evolution has continued. Half the galaxy has split off, becoming the Galactic Federation. Giant corporations have taken over control, enforcing their will on all major worlds. These corporate CEOs have god-like powers over populations, following a rigid hierarchy. The top CEOs on Corporate Prime run the galaxy, issuing orders to the mid-arm, mid-level CEOs of their corporations, who in turn issue orders to local world corporation CEOs. After five hundred years of corporation rule, these CEOs have become unethical, immoral, selfish, and follow greedy policies. Anything goes if it promotes corporate profit. When dealing with another corporation, plan for the worst and you'll be successful. On one of the outer rim worlds of the Abelard Sector, namely Scorpi-C, a resistance movement has formed to combat the unethical corporations. Called La Resistencia del Diablo, this group is secretly led by the local CEO, Alfonso Vega, of Galactic Dynamics Corporation, one of the three largest corporations in the galaxy. His organization has been gathering top-secret data for years. The remote rim world of Rho-C, Abelard Sector, originally settled by the powerful Galactic Electronics Corporation, is their bioengineering research station. Here, top corporation scientists develop very special bio agents. While they have developed some highly toxic chemicals, whose vapors killed within minutes of inhalation, that isn't their main line of research. Rather their focus is on biological and genetic engineering: the genetic mutation of existing species and the creation of completely new species, and yes, one of these species is homo sapiens. This research began because nearly two hundred years ago, GE Corporation men had uncovered a stash of the ancient genetic engineering samples and research notes. However, unknown to all, another man, called the Master, who possesses immense mental abilities to dominate others, is also at work. The Master's goal is the destruction of all corporations. He doesn't care how many people he harms, mutilates, or murders, as long as it forwards his goal. He has long ago taken over total control of Rho-C, a top-secret corporation research planet. As the story opens, the corporations have sent the entire 519th Infantry Division to Rho-C in an attempt to retake their secret base; the space war has begun. Concurrently, the Master executes a brazen attack on a giant space station in this rim sector from which the division launched their attack. Alfonso now has to fight not only the corporations and societal evolution but also the Master. Slowly, the overall situation spins out of control. Worse, the bio genetic agents are being used on humans once more. Even Alfonso becomes a victim, but he and his group are determined to fight back against overwhelming odds, aided by one ancient humaniform robot.
