A Perfect Balance

The Centopoly

The Centopoly is structured to support harmonious and productive relations among a group of 100 planets. The Centopoly is:

• Managed by 100 Governors, each with responsibility for managing their planet. Planets in the Centopoly have the freedom to implement various forms of governance, from monarchies to representative democracies. However, ultimate authority rests with each Governor. In turn, Governors are responsible to their peers, who sit on the Senjukan Council, which is led by the High Senjukan, a Governor-elected position. In general, Governors are selected from individuals with the highest planetary Metric scores. The Senjukan Council debates and passes laws dealing with economics, security, commerce, trade and other areas, but always focusing on the Centoply as a whole.

• Advised by The Covenant, a group of 24 Executive Artificial Intelligences, which helps the Senjukan Council manage the Centopoly’s affairs

• Shaped by the Metric, a unique machine intelligence created by a coalition of Senjukan and EAIs. The Metric is an autonomous high-level synthetic sentient whose sole purpose is to evaluate and rate the actions and behaviors of all sentient beings — both humans and machine intelligences. The purpose of the Metric is to foster the development of a pure meritocracy where all Centopoly citizens who choose to can be eligible to receive access to various commercial, technological, financial, and political benefits based on their Metric score. As an independent machine intelligence, with vast scope, the Metric cannot be understood, undermined, or “gamed.” 
   
   The Metric provides ratings on every aspect of Centopoly civilization, from individuals to planetary governments, all with the goal of facilitating a productive, peaceful and prosperous society. While the methodology the Metric uses to rate entities within the Centopoly is unknown, a sect, known as Metric Savants, has emerged in recent centuries. Importantly, the group does not claim to understand how the Metric works. However, it has developed various resources, including the Three Mantras, to teach Centopoly citizens how to potentially be viewed favorably “in the eyes of the Metric”. Studies conducted by the Centopoly indicate that the Metric Savants’ predictions about individual and entity scores are largely inaccurate. However, Metric Savants tend to receive higher Metric scores themselves, indicating that the Metric may find their efforts useful at some level. 
   
   A basic requirement of Centopoly citizenship is that all pledge to be judged and evaluated by the Metric. Certain positions, responsibilities and privileges are only available to entities, organizations, and governments meeting certain Metric score thresholds.
   
   In fact, planetary membership in the Centopoly itself is determined by a planet’s aggregate Metric score. Every 100 years, during each Conclave, all Centopoly worlds receive a planetary Metric score. Planets scoring below a certain threshold, determined by the Metric, are removed from the Centopoly. One or more planets from Candidate Worlds (with high Metric scores) are selected to take their place. This process ensures the Centopoly does not stagnate and is in a constant state of renewal, efficiency, and growth. Former Centopoly planets automatically receive Candidate World status
   
   The Metric has helped the Centopoly maintain the peace and grow in strength, technological prowess, and economic power for 2,400-plus years.
   

• Candidate Worlds: Entry into the Centopoly is not gated. New planets have the potential to be admitted during Conclaves. To facilitate this process, the Senjukan Council and Covenant created a classification of extra-Centopoly planets known as the Candidate Worlds. To be considered a Candidate World, planets must agree to be monitored and evaluated by the Metric and meet a range of other economic, social, technological, and political criteria. Additional benefits of Candidate World status include:

• Consideration for admittance into the Centopoly during each Conclave

• Status as a preferred Centopoly trading partner

• Access to Centopoly security guarantees, including protection for trading vessels, inter-planetary travel routes and (upon request) planets

• Advisory services provided by Centopoly economic, political, military, and technological experts. A condition of Candidate World status is that these experts must be embedded within government and non-governmental organizations on each planet and receive access to all relevant data and intelligence required to perform their duties optimally. 

Affiliation with the Centopoly has greatly benefited Candidate Worlds. In general, these planets are more economically prosperous (relative to planets in the Outback) and citizens enjoy numerous quality of life benefits. Currently there are 521 Candidate Worlds. About 250 Outback planets have applied to join their ranks.

• The Outback: The Outback is a dangerous part of the Cosmos where ties to Centopoly and Candidate worlds are loose. The Centopoly maintains a bare bones presence in the Outback (outside of sanctioned trading activities performed by the Mercantile Alliance), intelligence and security operations (led by the TriParte Order). Individuals living in the Outback have limited access to many widespread technologies (except for ansible communications), and some planets have yet to fully recover from the ravages of the Great Sundering.
   
   The most safe planets are those applying for Candidate World status. Centopoly and Candidate World citizens should exercise extreme caution while in the Outback due to the presence of unsavory and dangerous criminal and terrorist factions and organizations.