The Intergalactic Crisis of Contingency is a massive, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its state-planned economy, restrictive gun laws, and stringent health and safety legislation. The cynical population of 2.409 billion Machines are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The medium-sized, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 39.3%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but stagnant Machine economy, worth 24.7 trillion Bytes a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, quite specialized black market in Trout Farming, Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Automobile Manufacturing. 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 10,251 Bytes, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Contingency has designated Contingency City as its capital city. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Contingency's national animal is the Prethoryn Scourge, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Contingency is ranked 297,785^th in the world and 3^rd in The Hollow Earth for Rudest Citizens, with 11.23 insults per minute.