The Galactic Socialist Empire of The Dark Aether is a mammoth, efficient nation, ruled by Kortimex Exalor SD-N with an iron fist, and renowned for its feral children, complete lack of prisons, and anti-smoking policies. The hard-working, cynical, humorless population of 8.273 billion Aetherans are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, corrupt, well-organized government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Industry, Administration, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Der Eisendrache. The average income tax rate is 94.5%.

The frighteningly efficient Aetheran economy, worth a remarkable 1,158 trillion Aetheran Marks a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is an enormous, deeply entrenched, extremely specialized black market in Information Technology and Retail. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an impressive 140,036 Aetheran Marks, with the richest citizens earning 7.1 times as much as the poorest.

Orange trees find it's not easy being green, senior citizens are often found slaving away in factories, bilingual Aetherans are viewed with suspicion, and the police force is rumoured to be made up of evil shadows with no souls. Crime is all-pervasive, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. The Dark Aether's national animal is the Cosmic Fox, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Umbrism.

The Dark Aether is ranked 5,035^th in the world and 11^th in United Kingdom for Largest Black Market, with 1,752 trillion Standard Monetary Units.