UNDER “PAX ANAHEIM ELECTRONICA”
text by Hiroshi Odagiri (AJ Editorial)

Anaheim Electronics has been at the forefront of the Earth Sphere’s economic landscape in the aftermath of the One Year War, playing a pivotal role in its development. As we mark the 20th anniversary of the war’s end, our publication sought to secure an exclusive interview with the man who has been the driving force behind Anaheim’s meteoric rise over these tumultuous two decades – the esteemed Melanie Hue Carbine, the company’s current Chairman Emeritus and arguably its greatest contributor.

Initially, Mr. Carbine, known for his aversion to the media, expressed reservations about the project. However, in a surprising turn of events, he personally selected renowned journalist Kai Shiden as his interviewer of choice. Mr. Shiden, a recipient of numerous prestigious accolades including the Universal Pulitzer Prize and the Colony Network Press Club Award, graciously accepted the assignment. Mr. Carbine’s sole condition was that the piece takes on a more conversational tone, akin to a dialogue rather than a traditional interview.

The engaging tête-à-tête between these two luminaries took place at Mr. Carbine’s private residence in Von Braun, spanning a leisurely two hours. The relaxed atmosphere fostered a candid discussion that delved into previously undisclosed aspects of Mr. Carbine’s life, both professional and personal.

It should be noted that immediately following the interview, Mr. Shiden departed the moon for an assignment covering the Jupiter Fleet. As such, the transcription of the interview was handled by our editorial team.

* Pax Anaheim Electronica means “The peace of Anaheim Electronics”

MELANIE HUE CARBINE
Interviewed by Kai Shiden

――It’s good to see you, Chairman. I must admit, your request for this interview caught me off guard. Since publishing my book (“Despots on Luna” published by ABC Publishing), I’ve been repeatedly turned away by your public relations office whenever I tried to interview you.

Ah, but it’s ‘former’ Chairman now, Shiden, old boy. Surely you know what public relations is like for large corporations, yes? They’re basically advertisers. Corporate image takes precedence over everything else; you have to understand that. I’m semi-retired now, so I’m not one to fuss over such matters.

――I must confess, I harbored a gnawing fear that my scathing critique of AE within those pages might have stirred your ire, Mr. Chairman. I apologize, Mr. Carbine.

You are surprisingly focused on trivial matters. While we both work in different capacities, we are professionals in our respective fields. I hold your work in high regard, and I would hope the sentiment is reciprocated. Truth be told, at one point, we collaborated on something, didn’t we?

――It’s quite embarrassing, really. Looking back, I was still a novice at the time, and all I did was make rude remarks. I apologize for that. (Shiden’s debut tour de force, the sprawling exposé “Twilight of the Titans: The Gryps War,” published by Pegasus Press, bears the mark of AE’s collaboration, with Carbine himself gracing its pages).

Hmph, well, that’s quite admirable of you to say. Never before or since have I endured an interview of such unrelenting intensity. You’ve left me to nurse the bitter dregs of defeat on more occasions than I care to recall… Hmm, perhaps it is you, my dear Shiden, who has nurtured the seeds of my disdain for the Fourth Estate (chuckles). Well, how about you go easy on me today?

――Haha, you got me there. Well, I’ll try to meet your expectations as best I can. So, as you know, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the end of the One Year War, the Earth Sphere seems poised to embrace an era of political stability. As I wrote in my previous book, I posited that AE’s political and economic influence has been the driving force behind our current state of equilibrium. I have long maintained that we have entered an age that should rightly be christened the “Pax Anaheim Electronica,” or the peace of Anaheim Electronics. And you, Chairman Emeritus Carbine, stand as one of the chief architects of this brave new world. Shall we begin by delving into your thoughts on this matter?

(laughs) You certainly have a way with words. That passage in “Despots on Luna,” where you waxed poetic about the “Pax Anaheim Electronica,” dripped with such thinly veiled sarcasm that even the most oblivious reader could not fail to grasp your true intent. (Editor’s note: “From the annals of history, from the eras of Roman and American hegemony, one cannot help but ponder: is peace in human society forever fated to be forged in the crucible of power? We are not entering a new empire of rulers, but modern despots living on Luna. In the tradition of the imperial dominions of Rome and America, I would call these times “Pax Anaheim Electronica.” – “Despots on Luna,” p. 67)

Once that book hit the stands, even Governan, who’s the current CEO, stormed into my office with steam practically coming out of his head. It was a sight to behold, watching that paragon of gentlemanly decorum reduced to dismissively muttering, ‘That impudent whelp has the audacity to strike again.’ Ah, but I digress. While it is true that your standing within the hallowed halls of AE is, shall we say, less than stellar, save for our long-suffering PR department, I implore you to dispense with the barbed witticisms. You’ve come all the way, so please be more open with me.

――Once again, I find myself chastened by your words. But I assure you, my intentions are pure. I truly believe that AE’s influence in the post-war era warrants the highest praise…

…but, you cannot help but warn of the dangers that lurk beneath the surface, am I correct?

――Your intuition is as sharp as ever. For the war-ravaged economies of Earth and her colonies, still reeling from the devastation wrought by the One Year War and the conflicts that followed, the aid extended by the lunar capitals, AE chief among them, was nothing short of a lifeline cast into a churning sea. But therein lies the crux of the matter: the swift growth of lunar capital resulted in an unprecedented increase in Luna’s political power.

I get where you’re coming from. But never forget, at our core, we are men of commerce, captains of industry. We do not fancy ourselves politicians, nor crusaders for social reform. We are not cut from the same cloth as you, the intrepid journalist. In that vein, we do not seek peace for its own sake. That is a luxury we cannot afford. Ours is a different calling. And yet, in the same breath, I must acknowledge that the pursuit of political stability has been the guiding star of our endeavors in the Earth Sphere. For without the bedrock of political equilibrium, the gears of economic progress grind to a halt. Surely you can see the absence of contradiction in this duality.

――Forgive me, did AE not play a pivotal role in fanning the flames of conflict in the aftermath of the war?

Hm, I see where you’re trying to go with this. You’re implying the Delaz Uprising and the Gryps War?

――And we can’t discount the possibility of AE’s involvement in the twin Neo Zeon uprisings.

I will not insult your intelligence by denying our involvement. But as I said before, the task of forging stability in the realms of politics and warfare falls outside the purview of our responsibilities. I have weathered my fair share of accusations over the years, not least of which from your poisoned pen, branding me a ‘merchant of death’ and other such colorful epithets.

Oh, I freely admit that it constitutes a not-insignificant portion of our holdings, but when weighed against the titans of colony construction, terraforming, and the painstaking work of rebuilding war-torn lands, it is a mere footnote in the grand scheme of our enterprise.

Stripped of all pretense, the unvarnished truth is this: we have seized upon the opportunities presented by the churning maelstrom of political upheaval, and yes, at times, we have dared to dip our toes into the treacherous waters of political meddling. But our motives were not born of some Machiavellian thirst for power, but rather the simple, unrelenting pursuit of profit.

I, for one, harbor no grandiose delusions of political grandeur, but I can’t speak for the younger generation in our company. For me, I believe that AE is a corporate entity that should always remain passive towards political situations. Even when we have intervened or exerted influence in the past, I believe it was to respond to the fluid situation at the time, and we have always sought for our actions to lead to political stability. Repetitive as this may sound, it facilitates our business operations.

Furthermore, isn’t the media just as culpable for inciting war for their benefit? I would say you all are far more culpable for inciting the conflict between Spacenoids and those living on Earth.

――You raise a valid point, but not everyone sees the big picture as you do. Particularly in the case of a sprawling behemoth like AE, is there not a very real danger that the reckless actions of a few wayward souls at the bottom could unleash untold chaos and devastation?

Are you referring to the “Gundam with a nuke?”

――Given the timing of this piece, I would be remiss in my duties as a humble ‘journalist pandering to the masses’ if I failed to broach this most topical of subjects, would I not?

That scandal was a disaster. Rumors of anonymous military documents being leaked were even circulating at one point. The public was aware of it, so it’s not really a timely topic. Still, it was an utterly stupid thing to do. I would have lost my job if I had been involved.

At the time, I was part of a non-mainstream group within the company, and I just so happened to be against that project. So, while I wasn’t caught up in the incident myself, I never thought of it as someone else’s problem.

Some even speculated that I was the one who ordered it covered up, which is absurd. In reality, both as a company and as an individual, we were desperate to survive afterward. We didn’t have the luxury to cover it up. No, the orders for the cover-up came from on high, from the loftiest echelons of the government and military. In the wake of that calamity, I emerged victorious from the internecine struggles within the company, my position strengthened, my power consolidated. But for AE as a whole, the aftermath brought only the tightening of the government’s iron grip, and there were no benefits for the company.

――It is precisely the specter of such calamities that gives me pause, that forces me to question the wisdom of allowing a behemoth like AE to wield such outsized political influence.

I hear your concerns, but let’s not forget one crucial detail – the project in question was never our brainchild, to begin with. At its core, it was a military endeavor. Oh, I will not deny that there were those within our ranks who leapt at the chance to partake in that particular brand of madness, but we are just a private company. We were certainly involved in the project to some extent, but the military devised the plan, and the Federation government signed off on it.

I do not seek to absolve us of all blame, but surely you must see that our culpability is of a different stripe than that of the powers that be, government or military. If there’s one more point I’d like to drive home, it’s that this was, at its heart, a ‘post-war’ incident. The Federation government, the military, even we at AE, we were all swept up in the tide of triumphalism, failing to recognize that the real challenge lay in the rebuilding that lay ahead. It was only when we finally sorted out the immediate political uncertainties that we could say, ‘it’s no longer post-war.’ That, in itself, is a significant accomplishment. Perhaps that’s why the scandal is only being made public now.

——But many lives were lost in that incident. Isn’t it justified to face criticism for that?

Of course. We should be criticized, and we’ll humbly accept that criticism. But that’s assuming there are open social channels for receiving criticism. Did we shut down those channels? No, it was the federal government that implemented such policies. Citizens, we all live in a democratic society, not a feudal one. Shouldn’t we first look to change the nature of the government? That’s the real meat of the issue.

——Understood. Let’s change the topic. Where were you born, Mr. Carbine?

Earth, of course. Though not under circumstances you might expect. I was born in the Middle East. You might have heard about it, right? While the whole world was in a frenzy about Mars, Jupiter, and the colonies, yet another regional conflict broke out without warning. I was one of the poor refugee kids who got kicked out of the country back then.

——And your parents?

They died early. Probably around the time we had to flee the country. I can’t really remember much from that time. I must not have been the person I am now back then. I was someone else.

——So, what was your family like?

I can’t answer that. I don’t want to, and I can’t because I don’t remember. Besides, I was just a kid, barely 10 years old, driven out of my country. Of course, I wouldn’t want to talk about it, even if I could. You wouldn’t want to talk about being burned out of Side 7 either, would you?

——I understand your feelings.

As you should. I’m sure you do. But the fact is, I was driven out of my country as a child. That’s all there is to it.

——What happened after that?

It just so happened that China had a refugee acceptance policy at the time. I was sent to Hong Kong. That in itself was a coincidence, but I guess I was lucky. I learned the ropes of business there. At first, I was put in a refugee internment camp and then sent to a welfare facility. But I quickly escaped from there and joined a street gang. I was small and weak, so I got bullied. Then, I cleaned up my act and started working in a variety store under Andrew Luio’s corporate group, which was a central figure among the overseas Chinese capitalists.

There, I was recognized by Lu Hao, a friend of Luio’s and one of the triad bosses of New Hong Kong City, and ended up working directly under Luio. I was just a low-level errand boy, but for some reason, Lu Hao took a liking to me and looked after me in various ways, probably because a Jewish kid hustling in a Chinese company was a novelty. He helped with my education and took care of me. So, I am grateful to the people of Hong Kong City. They provided me with food, shelter, and education and taught me how to live.

I could have died any moment back then.

——There are whispers of unsavory dealings within the overseas Chinese network. What are your thoughts?

Do you believe those stories about collusion with the AE and Kē Qí, Ban, and such (Editor’s note: All purported to be names of Chinese mafia organizations)? Do you really know what Kē Qí and those are? Understand what they truly represent—they evolved from ethnic mutual aid groups, not mere playgrounds for gang antics like those of Italians or Blacks. Sure, through the Chinese network, I forged ties with various Elders, including some from the darker echelons of society. Yet, I have never been anyone’s puppet.

——Nevertheless, it’s an established fact that the Chinese mafia perpetrates criminal enterprises like narcotics and arms trafficking. Complicity in such deeds poses a tangible menace to civil society. Ethnic enclaves may overlook it, but it transgresses the moral strictures of democratic society.

I myself have never been an active party to such transgressions. But my past experiences have ingrained in me that ‘crime’ and ‘evil’ exist. Within ethnic aid networks like the Chinese network, a distinct moral code operates, independent of the legal dichotomies of right and wrong. As a businessman, I can say I’ve learned to think that way through my dealings with them.

——So, you don’t deny some indirect connections with these underworld elements?

Haha, the PR folks making faces over there probably want me to deny it. To engage with an entity is to engage with its totality. Limiting involvement to a mere fragment renders one impotent to sway society at large. At the very least, one should perpetually exercise imagination in acknowledging the existence of an underbelly, don’t you think?

——I’m of no mind to say. But if someone was falling victim to such acts right in front of my eyes, I probably wouldn’t be able to turn a blind eye to it.

Well, that’s a different issue. I’m not here to debate personal morals. In maneuvering through society’s realities, one must be acutely aware of all influencing factors. I am no deity; I cannot predict every outcome, but I can prepare and remain vigilant. Personally, I abhor criminal activity. However, as a businessman, it would be remiss of me not to consider the economic and social impacts of such activities when making decisions.

——But can one truly separate personal ethics from behavioral norms with such surgical precision? Shouldn’t an individual’s moral compass, bestowed by society, guide their actions? Your logic seems to justify any means in the pursuit of “reality.” Countless idealistic youths, my former self included, would find your brand of pragmatism hard to stomach.

Ah, I’ve crossed paths with my fair share of wide-eyed dreamers (chuckles). But I harbor no illusions about swaying them. You’re mistaken if you think my behavioral norms are dictated by society’s prescribed ethical standards.

——Then are you suggesting that your actions are driven by something religious, stemming from your ethnic origins? I pegged you for an atheist…

No, given my ‘Oriental’ upbringing, I don’t quite see eye to eye with my own ethnic community. I leverage those networks, sure. But my philosophy is more Eastern, forged by experience.

——Come to think of it, you’re also known for delving into the esoteric depths of Eastern mysticism, like cryptic Buddhist practices.

Ah, certainly, I’ve gleaned numerous insights through studying Buddhism, Hinduism, and the like. But I’m not a mystic per se. What I’m driving at is far simpler. The God of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam is an absolute being endowed with will. I’m too grounded to buy into that ‘will.’ rowing up in Hong Kong, I gravitated to the Chinese concept of tiān yì.

For them, ‘tiān yì’ simply is. You accept what unfolds as its immutable will. No need for moral judgment. What happens is, by definition, the ‘will of Heaven,’ ‘providence.’ A rabbi once told me that the Jewish God is much the same. Theologically, who knows? Frankly, I’m uncertain.

——Well, I can’t help but feel that your radical pragmatism seems rooted more in your harrowing childhood as a refugee than lofty religious views.

Well, I won’t deny a connection. But it’s of no consequence to me personally. I don’t believe I refuse to see my upbringing as oppression. On the contrary, I rather despise that line of thinking. That mindset is as abstract as belief in ‘God.’ What matters is what you do, not how you were born.

Prior to the One Year War, you media types incessantly harped on the disparity between space immigrants and Earth residents. But that’s hollow political propaganda.

——It’s true that the conflict between Spacenoids and Earthnoids does have an ideological bent, and the media, including myself, has perhaps fueled this division. But isn’t it reductive to deny the very real disparities and emotional strife they breed?

I’m not saying ‘disparity doesn’t exist.’ I’m saying, ‘It’s only natural for the disparity to exist.’ If you ask me, Zeon and its foolish son, with their ‘history repeated as farce’ (Editor’s note: a quote from the ancient economist Marx), are nothing more than deluded dreamers. They utterly failed to grasp the realities of the Earth Sphere, especially its economic and social realities. They callously ignored Earth’s impoverished masses. Oppressed space immigrants? Hah! Contrary to Gihren Zabi’s wild fantasies, they are the elite in a stark twist of reality. Living in space inevitably equates to being a technocrat. Meanwhile, Earth houses multitudes who, uneducated and poor, can’t even dream of living in colonies. They’re dismissed as ‘souls weighed down by gravity.’ You’ve documented this yourself in your second exposé, ‘Hell in Heaven,’ didn’t you (published by Phantom Graphics)? That laid bare those ugly truths.

——Yes, I must admit that being from the colonies, I harbored prejudices against Earthnoids. I naively equated “having a house on Earth” with being elite. That book began as a topic sparked by my One Year War experiences. But what I uncovered shook me to my core. The reality shattered my preconceived notions of “Earth.”

In fact, I singled you out today because I had read that book. You’re a rare breed of journalist today who possesses a keen sense of actual conditions within the Earth Sphere. The majority of the pundits and journalists who populate today’s mass media lack that visceral sense of reality, remaining blind to the forces that truly shape society.

‘Newtypes’? ‘Human innovation’? Utter nonsense. We’re not magically freed from religious strife or ethnic conflict by living in space. The notion that colony life makes us enlightened cosmopolitans is a self-serving delusion. Or do you buy into such fanciful abstractions, oh former ‘Newtype Corps’ member?

——No, well, I don’t know. I had fleeting experiences back then, in the heat of battle, that hinted at the presence of “Newtypes.” But whether that translates to quantifiable “human innovation,” I can’t say. I’ve met enigmatic figures I hoped would provide answers. But they all left me grasping at shadows, their wisdom forever out of reach. So I keep seeking, precisely because I don’t have the answers.

Sometime after the One Year War, when I put down roots on Earth, I reunited with a former comrade. He confided, feeling trapped, suffocated by “gravity’s merciless cage.” However, as I listened to him, I felt more liberated than when I was in space. The deeper I descended into Earth’s gravity well, the more I discovered worlds unknown to me. 

Covering the downtrodden, I found not whispers of “Newtypes” but the inescapable reality of our shared humanity in all its flawed beauty. Among the disenfranchised, I discovered myself not as an exalted “Newtype” but as a human, grounded in the struggle of existence. So perhaps my own inclination lies in attempting to bridge those two divided concepts.

That is what I call the will of tiān yì, the inescapable ‘reality’ we must relentlessly pursue. But business isn’t the only worthy ‘reality.’ I believe we each have our own path to walk, our own heavenly mandate. I understand your criticism of Anaheim Electronics, the empire I’ve built. Perhaps we’ve grown too large, too unwieldy. But it’s undeniable that this relentless, profit-seeking behemoth also provides employment, a lifeline, to the impoverished masses you champion.

Protecting and nurturing that has been my ‘reality.’ I want you to understand that. I don’t fancy myself a crusading hero, nor do I claim to singlehandedly better humankind. But I believe to my core that enterprise in service of a higher calling has been my heavenly mandate, and I believe I have lived my life in a manner that does not dishonor this divine calling.

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As I reflect on this interview, I find myself grappling with the same overwhelming sense of awe that consumed me during our previous encounter. Melanie Hue Carbine, the man who has been the unwavering face of Anaheim Electronics since the tumultuous aftermath of the One Year War, defies the whispered caricatures that paint him as a cartoonish “tycoon” or a shadowy “mastermind” pulling strings from behind the scenes. Yet, to simply label him a successful businessman feels woefully inadequate, for both his personality and his sphere of influence are far too complex and enigmatic to be encapsulated by such a mundane title.

It is my sincere hope that this humble interview, in its own small way, has managed to peel back the layers and offer a tantalizing glimpse into the very essence of this multifaceted man. Though, if I’m being entirely honest with myself, I can’t help but question whether my own skills as an interviewer had any meaningful impact on the outcome. Throughout our conversation, I couldn’t shake the nagging sensation that I was merely a pawn, a plaything in his masterful hands, dancing to a tune of his own composition.

Let me be crystal clear: my critical stance towards Anaheim Electronics as a corporate entity, and towards Melanie Hue Carbine as an individual, remains unwavering and resolute. However, it would be disingenuous of me to deny the immense role they have played in shaping the current landscape of military and political stability that we now find ourselves in. Of course, it would be equally foolish to turn a blind eye to the chaos and turmoil they have sown along the way, for their hands are not entirely clean in this regard.

And yet, it is precisely for their contributions to this newfound stability that I find myself compelled to hold them in a certain esteem, albeit begrudgingly. For in the end, is it not the ability to live and thrive as “humans” that stands as the essential condition for our very existence?

Kai Shiden

Born in U.C. 0061, Kai Shiden, a Puerto Rican Spacenoid, found his life irrevocably altered by the Principality of Zeon’s invasion of Side 7. Seeking refuge, he escaped to a newly commissioned Federation warship that happened to be docked nearby. Due to the shortage of personnel caused by the attack, Shiden was quickly conscripted and became a military attache.

Throughout the One Year War, Shiden served as a mobile suit pilot aboard the White Base, fighting on various fronts. He distinguished himself as one of the ace pilots of this unit, which was dubbed the Newtype Corps. After the war, with the help of a social reintegration program, Shiden studied journalism at the University of Belfast. Following a stint working for a news agency, he became a freelance journalist.

Shiden is also a prolific author, with notable works including “Twilight of Titans: The Gryps War” and “Hell in Heaven.” His latest work, “Despots on Luna,” is currently making waves as a scathing critique of Anaheim Electronics and lunar capitalism. For his next project, Shiden plans to write “The Jupiter Route,” based on his embedded reporting with the Jupiter Fleet.