They have AMAZING technology. You would not BELIEVE the stuff they can do. They could be flying around here in stylized mechanoids in a beautiful zero-g city if they wanted to, but the whole planet is paralyzed by indecision and RED TAPE. They can't get a damn thing done to save their LIVES. Everyone's an administrator. I haven't met ONE scientist or artist in six months. Look around you. Unimaginative middle-management types are EVERYWHERE. I wanna blow my BRAINS out. And no one's IN CHARGE around here. They don't even have a commander-in-CHIEF for their military. No one wants to be accountable, so they vote on everything. And if something bad happens, it's not any individual's fault. It's EVERYONE's fault. I give 'em SIX MONTHS before they self-destruct. That's why I GOTTA get outta this place."
—a Cordican ambassador, describing Democratus
