Kitsch (Space Money!)

Money for Nothing and Your Disks for Free

Kitsch is the digital currency of the Galaxy. Though local currencies exist on most worlds in Luridity, Kitsch fuels the galactic economy and can be found wherever a landing bay for spaceships and a Net access port can be found.
In The Net, kitsch will get you whatever you can afford. Off-Net is the same, but only if you can connect to the servers hosting the banks. Between the stars, it is one of the only currencies that matters, and all but the most rudimentary of ships are equipped to scan kitsch accounts. Funds can be used conveniently onboard for anything from securing prime ship parking from orbit, paying bills and debt while traveling on the planetary shuttles to work or home, paying off Galactic Security or Bounty Hunters upon threat of inspection without them even needing to board your vehicle...

Storing and Spending

Kitsch can be stored off-server in a number of ways, but the totals are always synced to and from the mainframe:

This article is a WIP created during World Anvil Summer Camp 2023 and may contain incomplete sections. It probably also lacks pictures and proofreading. And it most certainly was written frantically by a caffeine-fueled, sleep-deprived author. No worries--edits are a future me problem!

Type

Electronic

VaultRings

Upper class citizens and Conglomerate bigshots like to use flashy and expensive jewelry called VaultRings, which allow an ostentatious display of wealth and provide secured and verified account access. This technology incorporates one's bioID and layers it with extra bands of security to prevent impersonation and theft. Middle class folks tend to use less impressive looking VaultRings with security more typical in that price bracket. If someone from the lower class has it, odds are the owner isn't breathing--it's far out of price range for legal acquisition.

Kitsch Coins

For ease of transfers, citizens vastly favor temporary Kitsch exchanges using brightly colored metal disks which are pressed flat and drilled with a number of holes. Circuits inside the coins communicate with Kitsch readers across the Galaxy. They are especially popular on the Space Ports and in gambling dens where they might be preloaded with specific amounts. Kitsch coins can't be locked to a specific bioID, can't be tracked to an origin, and allow for the easiest transfer of funds between two parties.
To protect from pickpockets, sometimes these disks are carried empty. When an exchange of funds is required, the buyer inserts a blank into a Kitsch Reader to move the total required from the digital banks--accounts tied to their bioID, an encoded or otherwise protected anonymous account, or a verified business account--onto the coin. The coin can then be given to...anyone. Kitsch can be verified or pulled off of the coin in the same manner, remaining safe on the disk until retrieved by the mainframe and many businesses automate this with an immediate upload to their business accounts upon receiving a coin from a customer. There is no limit to the amount of Kitsch that can be put on a coin, however the middle and lower classes using these methods tend to only either carry the blank coins or coins preloaded with low spending amounts. Overdrawn Kitsch will typically be refunded to an empty coin rather than the original, so a buyer can verify the amounts independently.

Sascha checked the synthleather bag at her waist, poking at the numerous round metal bits inside. Where is it...ah, there. She withdrew a neon blue coin riddled with holes and tossed it to the vendor even as he read off the total. He immediately scanned it in, nodding.

"You're always prepared," the elderly ratKynd said, handing over a steaming cup of caffeine with one hand and waving the blue circle with the other. "Want the empty?"

She shrugged. Her bag still had plenty of preloads left. "Keep it to make change."

Net Connection

When logged in to The Net, a user's Kitsch is immediately accessible and can be spent on whatever mesh they travel to. This is sometimes considered the most secure method, as the Kitsch accessed within The Net cannot be loaded onto a realspace object. These accounts connect solely through the Net cable one is plugged into, alleviating some of the concern of skimming and hackers. Connections made in public, however, do not come with guarantees.

BioID

The least secure method of Kitsch spending is by linking the account to one's personal bioID. A default account is provided for each and every person in the Galaxy with a bioID, but typically only the lower classes use is as they can't afford better technology. Transactions are made directly at a kitsch reader and are unable to utilize security layers to transactions without additional routing commands to encode the data, as with a coin or a VaultRing. It'd be a perfect target for a thief, forcing a citizen to scan their palm or arm for a transaction, if it weren't for the fact that lower class citizens typically have very little to their names to even consider storing in such an account.

Zone Accessibility

Centralvest: Everywhere. Relay beacons are scattered across the Zone to allow for communication and the Net to operate across vast distances, which allows kitsch to be spent from the comfort of one's own cruiser.

Centraleasque Zone: Planetside services are not typically connected to the kitsch mainframe due to lack of population or a technology level not yet reaching space. However the entrances and exits to the Spillways, space ships using the currency, and most landing docks are equipped with kitsch readers.

Luridity Express Zone: Every Station has a kitsch reader, which includes a place to swipe one's bioID, insert a coin, or place a ring.