John Powers

John Powers was the CEO of the Mabach Consortium, and is regarded as one of the chief instigators of the Corporate Wars. The only high-ranking executive brought to justice, he became the face of corporate oppression. For his role in the war he was tried and executed.

Early Life

In A.Y. 4657, John Powers was born into the sort of luxury it is difficult to even comprehend. According to the biography, written after his death by his long-time butler(while in prison), Powers was "Delivered in a state-of-the-art birthing suite, constructed within the family home for this express purpose, and used only once. The delivery was overseen by two-dozen of the most experienced obstetricians in the company, and a four talented surgeons were on standby along with all intendant facilities". He goes on to explain that the birth was perfect, and Powers came into the world withou blemish or fault. It is speculated that his butler was at the very least in love with him, based on the prosaic language of the biography.

The Powers family wealth was so extreme that their estate was a private moon which they had entirely to themselves. About twenty-thousand people did live on the moon, all of them working in some role in service to the family, which have about a hundred members. Everything about his childhood would have been carefully controlled and orchestrated based on the finest care available, though most biographers simply comment that he was "spoiled rotten". Among the estate's many amenities were a private amusement park, zoo, aquarium, and series of palatial mansions connected by high-speed trains. John probably did not leave the moon until his early teens.

Education

Despite assumptions about his upbringing, John was known as a surprisingly down-to-earth and pragmatic guy. His first real friends outside his servants or cousins came when he entered into the corporate training program at fourteen. It was known even then he was next in line to be Mabach CEO, and msot assumed he was a carbon-copy of his father.

Tim Perjon, who would become Powers's closest friend and confident, met him during training. Tim was not in the executive program, but instead in an indoctrination program for corporate assistants that shared parts of the same campus. The two met during leisure activities, and most of what is knwon about Powers' early life and personality comes from Tim's account:

"He was this sociable guy. He didn't need to have everything handed to him, he could--and did--work for things when he wanted them."

Tim initially met John while hanging out after class, and knew him for several days while assuming he was another assistant in training. He was shocked to learn John was actually a future executive, but not surprised.

"He was going up in the world, you could see that if you took one look at him. The fact that he'd started out on top, well..."

Tim described John as being outwardly charismatic and likable, but still calculating.

"He was a generous guy, but not in the ways you think. Obviously he had more money than anyone could spend in a thousand lifetimes, but he wasn't like 'hey, hang around me and you get a free ride!'. A lot of other guys had his kind of money, and they bought whatever they wanted. Johnny wasn't like that. When you hung out with him, you paid your own way, but you could tell he respected that. If I was ever a little short, he had no problem kicking some cash my way. He'd joke about me paying him back. And sometimes I did; wasn't that he didn't care. He just wanted responsible people close to him. I remember one weekend we were out in the city, stopped off for lunch at one of those cheap fast-food places; you know, the kind that have combo meals and alacarte? So I realize I forgot my wallet(or I was just broke) and Johnny says 'ok', and hands me not really enough money to buy a full combo-meal. He looked at me and said 'I wanna see what you do'. Well I still ate plenty well, but he was testing me in a way. He was subtle like that."

Tim explained that Powers seldom bought anything for his associates, but liked to give things away. "He was tight with his money but would give you his jacket if you were cold". For the duration of the program, John was known for his generosity and practicality. While others preferred to throw lavish parties, he looked for what people needed. He had a keen eye for spotting weakness, but at the same time didn't seek to exploit it. Tim described it thussly:

"Johnny knew you couldn't buy loyalty, that's why he never tried. He knew you had to breed loyalty. By the time the program finished, he had mine. He had others. We all knew he was going to take care of us, we just had to take care of him."

Officially, Tim Perjon was John Power's executive assistant, unofficially he was a paid friend. Powers had actually staffers to do work, but kept people like Tim at hand to remain grounded. He had a tight-knit circle of similar advisers. He was very concerned with having people he could trust. Tim was a man of humble beginnings, the son of a scientist and a home-maker. He was tried after the war and given life imprisonment, a sentence he quietly carried out.

Lorretta Love

One of the most controversial figures within John Powers's inner circle was Loretta Love. Tim described her as "This smokin' hot piece of ass we picked up one weekend cruisin' around town". Most historians dismiss her as little more than a live-in call-girl, but she was clearly quite a bit more.

The story of their meeting was recounted by one of Powers's other confidants. Several of the young men, then 17, from the training programs had gone out for a drive in an expensive new car John had received as a gift from his father. They were driving around one of the trendy hangouts frequented by young people, when John apparently stopped the car and waved a young woman over. She was fifteen at the time, and while dressed provocatively, appeared to be just out enjoying a night on the town.

Powers asked her blatantly if she was a prostitute. She became very offended by the question and told him so to his face. He then got out of the vehicle and held up the keys, asking her what she would do if he gave her his car. Still offended, Love replied that her body was 'not for sale at any price'. John explained not in trade, just asked her, very casually, if he were to give her the car, right now, no questions asked, and walk away, what would she do with it? Love looked the very expensive car over, and replied that she'd sell it, and use the money to put herself through school, adding how she didn't need a flashy car like that. Powers then closed his fist around the keys and informed Love that he wanted to keep the car but was going to put her through school.

As Tim later recounted:

"I took her out on a couple of dates. Johnny asked me if she 'had a brain' and I told him yeah, Lori was hot and pretty smart. I actually really liked her, she was quick-witted and fierce. But Johnny told me he didn't want me to date her anymore. I figured he wanted her for himself, but it was... a lot more complicated than that."

The exact nature of their relationship is unclear, but Love became part of Powers' inner circle. He did follow through on his offer and paid for a fine education for her, and kept her on retainer. Tim admits that she did sleep with him but that it wasn't a regular thing, and even claims to have bedded her himself a few times. However, Powers's motivations were not sex(as Tim and others attested, he could get as much of that as he wanted), but rather as with everything else, trust. He kept Love close at hand as a confidant. Later on she more or less took on the role of running his house, she organized parties for him and accompanied him to social events. "He needed a hot girl on his arm, that's a status symbol in our circles, but he wanted his erudite. He wanted an extra set of eyes, a partner; not just eye-candy."

Love never married, neither did Powers, but the two remained close. Tim did eventually take a wife(which he admitted to regretting), but spent most of his time with Powers. He and Love were John Powers' closest associates, and the three of them shared a genuine connection.

Career

Throughout his twenties, John Powers worked various jobs all through the Mabach hierarchy. There was definite nepotism involved, but his associates all agree he was a diligent and hard worker. The Mabach corporate structure had a number of "pogo positions", known internally as postings for people like Powers. Everyone who got a "pogo position" was the son or grandson of some important executive, and ostensibly had the job to "learn the business". In practice, being the asssitant to one of these positions meant doing all the work while some self-aggrandizing kid took the credit.

But Powers was different. He did indeed mean to learn the job, and was capable at all of his postings. While he certainly didn't 'earn' anything, he did well enough to gain some respect, and drew little challenge when he took over as CEO at the age of 35.

Family

As Tim put it:

"Powers quite literally and blatantly hired a wife, except he didn't marry her."

Sue Ellen McNarma was hired by Powers to conceive an heir with. He was interested in continuing the Powers dynasty, but did not want the social obligations of a wife. Instead, he held interviews for a woman to bare and raise children for him. It was purely a financial arrangement, with his heir officially created through invitro fertilization(though Tim was quick to point out he "definitely had sex" with her, "probably a bunch of times"). Still, Sue Ellen was paid quite handsomley for her effort, as well as given free run of multiple Powers's estates. She was even allegedly close friends with Love. Sue Ellen is described as having never been close to Powers, she was not a part of his inner circle, but she did respect him. As she was no longer directly involved with Powers by the war, she was not tried for her association with him.

Role in the Corporate Wars

It is an important fact to note that the Mabach Consortium were not the major aggressors in the war. While their actions were in no way wholly defensive, they did not instigate conflict.

Of course, even the company's own propaganda didn't put it that way.

Corporate war had been a long time in coming. Major skirmishes happened every ten or twenty years, but with more partnerships and more cooperation, it was obvious an all out battle was on the way. Powers was painted as a 'visionary', but in reality he'd have to have been an idiot to do anything differently. He dramatically increased the size of the security forces and maintained programs to upgrade and improve their weapons. Mabach had, during Powers's father's tenure, entered into a partnership with six other mega-corps. Mabach had the best shipyards, so all seven corporations bought warships from Mabach. The partnership provided for the common defense and simplified logistics; all seven armies used the same ships, the same weapons, the same ammunition; the only major difference was the uniforms. Powers thought this would be enough, as with his seven corps in cooperation, no one consortium could oppose them.

Conspiracy Theories

Deal Theory

According to public statements by high-ranking officials within the Gudersnipe Foundation, this never happened. However, if it did, then Powers's execution was staged, and he was removed to a remote prison in one of the Foundation's own total-control zones. He was given a new identity, and died in prison. He was kept mostly in isolation, but allowed some socialization with other prisoners after a time, and was given access to news and other media regarding the aftermath of the Corporate Wars. He is described as having been apologetic and repentant. If it ever happened(which the Foundation would like to remind everyone: it didn't), then it was as the result of a plea agreement reached in secret, that Powers would come out of hiding, allow himself to be published publicly, in exchange for life imprisonment.

In another version of the story(which, again, the Foundation is adamant is untrue) he spent the rest of his life working with the prison's animal programs; either rehabilitating cats or training guide dogs, depending on whom you ask.

Lamb Theory

Another more common but less adamantly-denied theory states that Powers was "thrown to the wolves" by his fellow executives. Since tens of thousands of them escaped justice, the theory holds he was offered up as a sacrificial lamb. By allowing one of the biggest criminals of the war to face justice, it might take pressure on the others still in hiding.

This theory is less supported, especially in light of later comments by members of the Assassin's Guild, who all but admitted to making quite a sport out of hunting down escaped executives. While no numbers are known, it is thought most of them were eventually killed.