As we know, in October last year, after the sudden death of the old CEO of InterBus, Alexander Ducasse was appointed to take his place. He immediately established himself as a very enterprising and courageous leader.
“A rising star in the organization, Ducasse has a reputation for innovative thinking.”
Alexander Ducasse : “InterBus is an institution, a pillar of New Eden. Yet, New Eden is changing, and we must change with it.””
In just 2 days, InterBus was incorporated into the new EverMore organization, and a week later, the new Paragon project was launched.
And here interesting questions arise. To begin with, I would like to draw attention to some details of those events:
- Opinion of some InterBus employees
“A number of longer-serving InterBus executives resigned over the deal, stating that “far from safeguarding InterBus’s future, the empires have sacrificed it in order to fill their war coffers.””
InterBus shares were owned by 4 empires of New Eden. Before EverMore bought them out, tension between the empires was rising - the Stellar Transmuter in Turnur had already been launched, Caldari defeated the Federation in the fight for Athounon. The empires urgently needed money, and when EverMore offered it (and much more than expected), the empires did not care about WHAT and to WHOM they were selling.
Some people at InterBus were very concerned about this.
- EverMore Acquisitions
Immediately after the purchase of InterBus, EverMore bought 7 more companies! Many of them had thing in common - not the best reputation or serious financial problems, or both. And no one could understand why EverMore needed them, and in this lineup. If the acquisition of cloning or implant companies can be explained by the launch of Paragon in the future, the purchase of small media and food companies is still a mystery.
- EverMore internal activities
The in-game description of the corporation also includes the following: “ Critics of EverMore claim that its practice of directing its child companies to outsource key services to each other is a deliberate device to obfuscate their inner workings”.
The internal logistics and operation of EverMore remains a mystery. It almost does not use external outsourcing, a significant part of the corporation’s activities are hidden from prying eyes, and EverMore makes sure that this remains so in the future.
- Project Paragon
Just a week after the creation of EverMore, she launched a project to exchange elite services for capsuleers in exchange for ITEMS. Here the questions arise - WHAT? WHY? What is the ancient method of bartering, why not exchange for currency, loyalty points or capsuleer services (quests)?
The somewhat strange decision of the implementation of Paragon’s services can have many explanations. I’ll give you one thing: perhaps bartering with capsuleers is EverMore’s way of fighting corporate espionage. If EverMore needs something that it can’t get through internal outsourcing, it will have to be bought. Buying large quantities of something in New Eden is difficult to hide, and even if you work through a chain of shell companies, it is possible to find the source of the transaction (especially for regulatory authorities). Receiving items from Capsuleers creates an almost UNLIMITED and UNCONTROLLED purchasing method that no one can track - there are many Capsuleers, they report to no one. It is almost impossible to track the exact number of transactions and their composition.
Also, don’t forget that Paragon’s director is IRIS, the first AI director. Perhaps Ducasse just loves innovation. The AI as a boss has a number of advantages, including - it is executive, strictly obeys the given program, does not ask unnecessary questions and has large computing power. But if EverMore suddenly needs to hide certain purchases using statistical analysis among millions of regular orders, without attracting unnecessary people and without causing questions from subordinates - AI is the perfect candidate.
Perhaps all this is just a series of coincidences, EverMore is a great company that loves innovation and does not want to reveal its plans to competitors. But if we combine these facts, we get this:
Ducasse (and the group of people he represents) took over as director, took advantage of the political crisis in New Eden, and used InterBus resources to get out of the control of the empires and gain free rein (through buyouts of InterBus shares). He then acquired a number of small companies of low value in a variety of areas, in order to ensure maximum independence from external companies. Some InterBus members quit when they saw what was happening. The work that takes place inside EverMore is unknown to us: what they do, what specialists they attract and in what areas they work - EverMore does everything to keep incognito. They buy ship hulls in large quantities through Paragon - no one is able to find out the exact composition of purchases and their volumes.
EverMore has unparalleled freedom from controls, vast resources and NO ONE knows what they are really up to. And EverMore does everything to hide it.
I hope I’m just being paranoid : )
Sources:
In-game description of corporations