SPECIAL

When it was established in 2014 after first contact with the Peddler aliens and the provision of EXOFRAMES began, the Advisory and Investigation Committee of Alien Technology under the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP) was founded to comprehensively research and actively engage with the aliens and their alien technology. However, it would be disbanded the same year due to the rise in demands, mainly from the business community, for import regulations on EXOFRAMES due to the serious impact they had on world's industry and economy. Afterwards, the Extraterrestrial Trade Regulations Bureau was established within the jurisdiction of Department of Homeland Security, to regulate, observe, and administer trade of EXOFRAMES. It would also play a big role in the establishment of the Sankt Gallen Arrangement. Continuing his work from the Investigation Committee of Alien Technology, George M. Campbell made a substantial base as bureau director. As someone completely opposed to alien technology and with a long history as an elite in the organization, he is a man at the mercy of both EXOFRAMES and the times. Though Campbell resigned due to health concerns in 2015, our THUGS NEWS crew were able to speak with him about his time there.
*First Appearance: THUGS NEWS (2022)
*Source: THUGS NEWS, EXOFRAME Archives

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2014. When the aliens we would later call "Peddlers" made contact, many of us believed without a doubt that this was the beginning of a new era for mankind. We had hoped that if we could interact with aliens who had made interstellar travel possible and obtain even a fraction of that extraordinary technology, that many of our problems would magically be solved and eventually we earthlings could also advance into space...
We were certain it wasn't unfounded optimism. Because they had actually called out to us for "trade" in our own human language!
There have been countless depictions of aliens in human fiction. From evil monsters scheming to conquer the planet and enslave mankind, to beings so fundamentally different we cannot even communicate. Compared to that... "first contact" with the Peddlers was everything we could have hoped for. After all, they understand our language, share our concept of commerce... economics... and are trying to engage in it with us.
When we actually got a taste of what they gave us in exchange for limestone... the EXOFRAME... our hopes grew bigger and bigger. It was clear that if we could take even one of the various technologies at use-- like the consciousness-control technology -- it could become an extraordinary innovation. We didn't understand why the Peddlers wanted limestone. But if that's what's necessary, it doesn't matter. If it would teach us the know-how and scientific principles behind that technology, we would pay a thousand, even ten thousand times the price of 1,000kg of limestone without a second thought. And not just us, every country and corporation were probably thinking the same thing. And we believed we could do it. At any rate, they were the ones to propose trade. There is room for negotiation. We believed it without question.

--But in actuality, after the one-sided proposal in 2014 the Peddlers did not communicate with mankind again.

Exactly. From governments to amateur astronomers, countless organizations and individuals used every conceivable method to contact the Peddlers. But no response. There are so many cult leaders who claim to hear the voice of the Peddlers and have been chosen by the Peddlers to be the ruler of Earth... that I can't count them at all.
Nowadays, I even hear people question if the object in lunar orbit is actually an alien spaceship. That maybe it's nothing more than a giant vending machine without any aliens on board. The reality is, they haven't done anything besides exchange EXOFRAMES for 1,000kg of limestone. Even if it's true, I wouldn't be surprised.

--From the beginning it was feared that the low price and large volume of supply of the highly versatile work machinery EXOFRAME would have an impact on the economy. But the Investigation Committee of Alien Technology was optimistic that by understanding the alien technology new industry would be created and resolve this.

If I'm being honest, I must admit it was pure hubris. We simply thought that even if the Peddlers wouldn't comply in communication, we could just analyze the EXOFRAME ourselves. But... it was all wasted effort. America alone squandered more money on EXOFRAME research than the Apollo Project! I wonder how much it would be if you added in all the expenses from other countries and civilian research projects. But almost nothing was accomplished. We, who had so seriously debated over the possibility of violating the Peddler's intellectual property rights and receiving a complaint from them if we were to attempt to reverse engineer the EXOFRAME... had been so full of ourselves... How could we have thought that we, who haven't visited the moon in more than 45 years, would be capable of understanding the technology of beings who had achieved interstellar travel?

--Less than half a year after its foundation, the Investigation Committee of Alien Technology disbanded. In its place, the Extraterrestrial Trade Regulations Bureau was established to regulate EXOFRAMES, and within the same year the Sankt Gallen Arrangement was signed. The U.S. attitude towards the Peddlers and EXOFRAME turned 180 degrees within the span of 2014.

Though that didn't mean EXOFRAME research was brought to a close. Besides, we couldn't catch up with the changes in our society. About three months after contact, the existence of Peddlers in developed countries went from them being the hope of a new era for mankind... to annoying business rivals. The market value of 1,000kg of limestone --though it spiked a little right after contact with the Peddlers-- is around 100 dollars. But for that price, the EXOFRAME is a lightweight vehicle... it can replace work machinery like bulldozers or tractors, and can even be used somewhat like a large high-performance prosthetic. The manufacturing industry can't tolerate something like this being available for around a hundred dollars. The first to be impacted by this were the companies exporting used construction equipment to developing countries. Because, you can have an extremely high-performance machine by putting limestone out front of your gardens, without having to pay out big money to import obsolete, outdated models from developed countries. Finally, the effect grew to the point where automotive exports noticeably dropped. The stock market rise due to the "Alien Bubble Boom" suddenly starting to drop. It was clear that if left as it was, starting with the automotive industry, many industries would go bankrupt and hundreds of thousands... if not millions of workers would become unemployed. Though analysis of technology of alien origin could lead to cultivating new industry, it would be too late.
...If the Peddlers had opened negotiations with the governments of each country and established a more appropriate means of "trade", perhaps we would have had a different future. However... they just continued to silently trade EXOFRAMES for limestone. To the industrial world and governments, selling off high-performance machinery at an absurdly low price makes the Peddlers destroyers of our economy and industry. Furthermore, if we cannot impose tariffs on them, we can't collect taxes on them, either. Of course that includes the antitrust law. The establishment of the Extraterrestrial Trade Regulations Bureau, and later, the Sankt Gallen Arrangement bans on trade with the Peddlers were unavoidable measures.

--After the establishment of the Sankt Gallen Arrangement, many advanced nations successfully eliminated EXOFRAMES. If I were to pick one reason why, it would be the news circulated about "the dangers of the EXOFRAME" that flooded the media. "You will be mind-controlled by the aliens if you operate an EXOFRAME," or, "an EXOFRAME is made from a lizard-creature and if we continue to use it humans will also become lizards," and so on. According to the highly accurate data we have obtained, it is thought that major advertising firms and PR companies were involved in spreading information, and that the governments and mass media in every country came together to take part in the "Anti-EXOFRAME" campaign. However, the Extraterrestrial Trade Regulations Bureau remained silent in the face of this flood of blatantly incorrect information.

You'd like to ask if we were involved?

--Actually, there wasn't any objective proof to support that rumor. Since you were chairman, I bet you already knew. Was it easy to negate this overflow of irresponsible nonsense?

It was too preposterous. If we were to address it seriously, we might have instead instilled doubt that "the government is trying to hide the truth". That was all there was to it.

--As a result, the Sankt Gallen Arrangement was concluded, for the most part EXOFRAMES disappeared from developed countries, then mass media began to feature less on aliens. Except for a few online media sources, such as ours. On the other hand, developing countries that benefit from EXOFRAMES, like members of the African Union headed the Republic of Azania, opposed the Sankt Gallen Arrangement. Azania's President Reshep gathered such countries and held the Technological Independent Economic Cooperation Conference. He declared that the EXOFRAME was the key to the "Technological Independence for Young nations Movement" ("Tech-INDY Movement" for short) for erasing the north-south socio-economic disparity. Consequently, the world was split in two over the use of EXOFRAMES. The reality is that the developments in Azania and the combined steps of the African Union members in recent years are eye-opening. Recently, even member countries of the Sankt Gallen Arrangement are starting to ease EXOFRAME regulations, and the arrangement itself looks as though it is being reduced to a mere formality.

If there was guarantee the aliens would continue to supply EXOFRAMES indefinitely, even the U.S. may have chosen that way. But what would we do if they suddenly disappeared. Afterwards, all that would be left is a society dependant on EXOFRAMES that forgot how to create scientific technologies on their own. Or rather, it would be fine if it were only that. The Peddlers are tradesmen who wish to trade. What would we do if our civilization became so it couldn't hold itself together without the EXOFRAME, then suddenly the EXOFRAME stopped working and they demanded an outrageous payment to restart them? Tradesmen would do something like that without batting an eye. We know this just by reflecting on our own human history.
My view won't change even now. Until communication between mankind and the Peddlers is established and appropriate conditions are set, the EXOFRAME should be regulated and we should not trade with the Peddlers. Of course, it doesn't matter how much I shout this out.
We as humanity are like a remote city being made fun of by global foreign capital. Meaning, the pitiful earthlings are being toyed with by the cosmic economy. It's the same as the global industry not giving a damn about the preexisting local industry and employment. After that day, everything on earth has been changed because of their commerce. World order, economy, even the battlefield…

--During your time in the Investigation Committee of Alien Technology, you were very negative towards the potential for military application of the EXOFRAME.

...
Regardless of the unimaginable amount of technology it holds, it is nothing more than a 2.5m doll. I definitely couldn't consider it a threat to tanks or armored cars. As I understood it from a report, even if armed, at best it might be used as a technical (a civilian vehicle modified to be an improvised combat vehicle). It can be easily operated by anyone, can do almost anything a human can, can be used at any location... and you can get your hands on as many as you want for a low price. No one could have known the threat... or, maybe... they did... from the beginning...

--One month before resigning from the Extraterrestrial Trade Regulations Bureau, U.S. forces encountered hostility from a group armed with EXOFRAMES in the Cabinda Province of the Republic of Angola. That came as a big shock to the world. There is a report submitted under your name from the Bureau to the United States president at the time of this event. In the midst of lingering shock from the Cabinda Province incident. It said there should be research on EXOFRAMES as a military threat, and requested the formation of an experimental EXOFRAME unit in the armed forces. Though your position is that EXOFRAME utilization should be regulated, this could be interpreted as you taking back what you said... That the rejection of the report by military personal was connected to your resignation...

My position remains unchanged. Research on EXOFRAMES and aliens must be continued, even for their regulation. How can you handle an "enemy" you don't know?
And, as I said before, my resignation was for no other reason but my health. If you are going to continue to ask questions... or rather pries I was not contacted about in advance, I would like to end the interview now.

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