M-Corp World

"Let us introduce you to our world..."
"...Most people who come stay... forever..."
- Aniter

The M-Corp World is an unknown location which was the source of the seemingly infinite goods and products of the ruthless company M-Corp. It was also where customers of M-Corp can be teleported to for "trial weekends". It was ruled over by Aniter, a digital avatar of M-Corp, who described it as a "pay-per-life, virtual-integrated environment".

Encounter with the Dwarfers[]

Three million years into the future, long-forgotten software updates were eventually installed aboard Red Dwarf. However, unknown to the Dwarfers, their parent company the Jupiter Mining Corporation had been bought out by M-Corp in the 26th century, when M-Corp had also bought out the Space Corps and the planet Earth itself.

Aniter, the digital customer service representative of the corporation, began to teleport M-Corp products and goods into Red Dwarf from the M-Corp World. She also then initiated Perception Filter Software, which meant that Dave Lister - as the only actual only remaining employee of the JMC - could not see anything other than M-Corp products and employees - including his crewmates, the hologram Arnold Rimmer, the mechanoid Kryten and the Cat.

As Lister got increasingly desperate, Aniter offered Lister a "trial weekend" in the M-Corp World, and Lister agreed and stepped onto the teleporter. Materialising in a brightly-lit, sterile-looking series of white rooms, Lister noted that his custom-made leathers had turned into clothes making him look like a yoga instructor.

Aniter also then materialised, seemingly in person, explaining to Lister that he would be put on the "basic life package" and would have to "earn credits to buy early release". She explained to Lister that he could only speak a certain amount of words a day, and would be charged for speaking extra words. Also, if he wanted companionship, he was not allowed his crewmates back, but would have to purchase an authorised "friend" from M-Corp's databases. Aniter materialised "Steve" as an example for 300 DollarPounds, but Lister was not interested.

Aniter began to toy with Lister; for example she caused him severe chest pain with a simple downwards wink, and then charged Lister many hundreds of DollarPounds from his "account" for a glass of water and some painkillers. When Lister tried taking a stand against Aniter, she forced him to relent when she deliberately caused a fire, then "sold" Lister an M-Corp fire extinguisher and insurance for it. Soon, Lister's account was empty, yet Aniter continued to convince Lister to but various products and trinkets - and charged Lister with time itself, rapidly ageing Lister.

Back on Red Dwarf, Lister's crewmates were able to rid the ship of the influence of M-Corp by restoring the ship back to its factory settings. They were then able to locate Lister by tracking Chippy, an electronic medical implant which was still inside Lister. After receiving the tele-coordinates, the Dwarfers used the teleporter to beam into the M-Corp World. Rimmer, Kryten and Cat were greeted by dozens of "M-Corp friends", and so Lister had obviously ceded and purchased them. They then found Lister, aged several decades, snoozing in a chair with a new guitar, surrounded by new belongings, and going back into the grip of a careless shopping frenzy as soon as they woke him. His new belongings included various statues, a new guitar, a new alarm clock, and a case of M-Corp own-brand lager.

Aniter appeared and attempted to sell the other Dwarfers goods, but they were not interested. Kryten came up with a fairly simple method of defeating Aniter - he simply offered to purchase a malicious computer virus which would eliminate her and her influence in the M-Corp World, to which she replied in the positive. Thanking Kryten for his patronage, Aniter then rapidly dissolved as the virus took effect, and Lister returned to his previous age and appearance.

The gang returned to Red Dwarf using the teleporter, leaving the M-Corp World to an uncertain fate. Although Lister's brain had been hacked by the Perception Filter Software, Kryten was able to remove all traces of it by wiping Lister's mind and restoring it to an older backup of his mind from when he was 23. Kryten explained that it would take about a month to restore Lister's full profile using the Red Dwarf security camera footage. ("M-Corp", Series XII)

Gallery[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Trivia[]

The exact nature of the M-Corp World is unclear. In the way Aniter describes it, and in certain ways it appears, there seems to be a artificial reality aspect to it. This is backed up by the fact that Aniter describes it as a "virtually integrated environment", and the way that she can she can alter the laws of time and reality to her will. However, it also definitely a physical place, since the Dwarfers were able to locate Lister's spacial coordinates through the medical chip - Chippy - which was still inside Lister, and use the coordinates to teleport there. It was also the source of M-Corps physical goods and products. It is possible that it was located on a base or space station somewhere, or possibly even Earth, since M-Corp had bought out the planet.

References[]

↑ "The 28 Years Later Affair", Series XII DVD making-of documentary
↑ Website of Matthew Clark, chief graphic designer for Series XII

[1] "The 28 Years Later Affair", Series XII DVD making-of documentary

[2] Website of Matthew Clark, chief graphic designer for Series XII

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