Soul Brokers

"Wealth. Fame. Glory. I can get you all of that. For a price of course."

―Wolfgang Mephisto, leader of the Soul Brokers

The Soul Brokers are a consciousness upload trafficking ring that originated on the gas giant moon Frey. Operated by the Sylph named Wolfgang Mephisto, they deal in the black market trade of consciousness uploads. Their primary clientel includes humans but android customers are not entirely unheard of.

The Soul Brokers are naturally considered an illegal organization by the Federation of Stellar Systems. However, as Frey is not part of the Federation, the Soul Brokers are outside of their jurisdiction.

Overview

The business model of the Soul Brokers is quite straightforward. A prospective client is promised something like a path to wealth and riches for the remainder of their life. This can be any number of things such as being set up with the perfect romantic partner, having a wildly successful business or having guranteed educational opportunities at prestigious locations. This comes with the caveat that upon the client's death, they must give up total ownership of their likeness and personality. This agreement is signed with an ironclad contract that dictates exactly what the client must do to achieve their desires. To ensure they uphold the contract, the client is given an implant that will instantly kill them with a powerful poison (or malware in the case of an android) if they violate the terms of the contract which includes trying to remove the implant.

Homeless people, estranged family members and anyone who has felt like they "lost everything" are the most common clients. Another category of clients are elderly people, individuals with a terminal illness or are otherwise close to death. Whatever the case, the Soul Brokers sell them on the idea of living out the remainder of their lives in complete bliss and satisfaction. The Soul Brokers make it an absolute point that all clients sign up for their services willingly.

Once the client dies and is harvested, the Soul Brokers sell off the consciousness upload to another party. They can range from androids in need of genetic diversity to the creation of digital actors in the entertainment industry. However, the Soul Brokers are not the type to ask questions. More than likely, more nefarious parties end up being the buyers. Sometimes, they are used to create deepfakes or fake identities. And in other cases, they are sold to cybernephrine farmers.