“
At last, I take the stage.”
Arbitrage is a machinic broker of information, among other things.
History and Involvement
Twilight Mirage
It established itself in the Twilight Mirage, where it was called the Machine, Arbitrage and described as "an ancient algorithm and trading system that works as a gray market for both goods and stocks. It is distributed; it is wealthy; it is insatiable; it knows you; it has exactly what you want, and will take its cut." It is compared to Adrian Veidt but "not a person."
A PARTIZAN dossier noted that it could have been considered a Divine in the Mirage, if it had wanted to.[1]
PARTIZAN
The Divine, Arbitrage had a presence on Partizan in Oxbridge, in an obelisk-like tower in the middle of the city used as a financial trading hub. Thisbe used its services in the process of researching her home planet. It skipped Thisbe through the appointment queue because it was intrigued by her.
The Road to PALISADE
The Divine, Arbitrage provided the dossier for the Road to PALISADE, in which it took the opportunity for belittling, sarcastic comments whenever possible. It also appeared more directly in the Orbital game, where it was described as "really evil" and "fucking horrible" in its attempts to become the backbone of commerce within the Brink and all of the Twilight Mirage. It pushed an app (also called the Divine, Arbitrage) which used its own currency system called 'glint' and offered various goods and services.[2] Mustard Red and Joe de Vivre used the app and insisted that its name was "clever if you think about it... It's like a joke."[2]
While on the Brink, it became allied with Devotion.[3] It was also mentioned as having brokered the Orion Trade Concordance, as part of Stel Orion.[4]
PALISADE
The Divine, Arbitrage is one of the pillars of the March Institute and Frontier Syndicate on Palisade, functioning as their treasurer. It continues to shill glint (now a major currency) and supply access to goods and services. It operates out of Braunton, and is definitely present somewhere on the planet.[5]
This section contains spoilers for PALISADE 13: Worth the Trouble Pt. 2.
Click here to reveal.
Mustard Red is not its Excerpt, but only because Arbitrage thinks that terminology is outdated. Through Mustard's swing vote, it is able to influence high-level decision-making in the Cause.
This section contains spoilers for PALISADE 22: An Impossible Ideal Pt. 1-PALISADE 27: Resentment and Frustration Pt. 2.
Click here to reveal.
Because Phrygian and Brnine bought the parts for it on Palisade, the ship they use during the combustor mission is connected to Arbitrage's glint network. This allows Mustard Red to offer a contract to assist if they use the combustor as a bargaining chip against the Authority. This is a "new type of contract" that is impossible to break after signing -- a geas imposed by Arbitrage's Divine power. These contracts have already been secretly offered to some low level, front lines members of the Cause. They are also in use by the Frontier Syndicate, and Exanceaster March plans to use one to control Motion upon her revival.