The Incorporated States of Quality Nation is a very large, efficient nation, notable for its sprawling nuclear power plants, irreverence towards religion, and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 205 million Associates are ruled with an iron fist by the corrupt, dictatorship government, which oppresses anyone who isn't on the board of a Fortune 500 company. Large corporations tend to be above the law, and use their financial clout to gain ever-increasing government benefits at the expense of the poor and unemployed.

The relatively small, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Administration. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 22.4%.

The frighteningly efficient Associate-class economy, worth 21.9 trillion Quality Credits a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Uranium Mining, and Retail. Average income is an impressive 106,874 Quality Credits, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 356,380 per year while the poor average 23,860, a ratio of 14.9 to 1.

Prison walls have had to be modified to keep parkour-trained criminals from escaping, quiet professionalism has returned to the nation's armed forces, business is adjusting to new gender equality policies in the workplace, and visiting the best Associate-class restaurants requires keeping a visa on file. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Quality Nation's national animal is the honey bee, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution.

Quality Nation is ranked 85,709^th in the world and 1,384^th in The North Pacific for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 111.86 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.