Life After Emancipation: The Road Home

Bittanshal – In the months following Empress Jamyl’s emancipation announcement, millions of released slaves have made their way to the welcoming arms of the Minmatar Republic. Millions more still remain within the Amarr Empire, however, hindered by the fear of leaving behind everything that they have ever known.

Onyeka Djekatro was a twelfth-generation slave maintaining production line equipment for the Inherent Implants factory in Bittanshal. When the emancipation order was issued , the corporation released Onyeka’s entire family, forcing them to fend for themselves. ”It was before the Sisters [of EVE] started their work. We couldn’t afford to leave,” Inevne Djekatro, her mother, explains. ”We were told to leave the workers’ housing, but where are we going to go if there’s nowhere else?” With nowhere to go, the family was forced to take menial service jobs on the station in order to pay for lodging and food.

”We thought life would get better at first,” says Onyeka, ‘But it only got worse. We saved what we could, but it was months before we had enough for a place on a shuttle.” At the expense of reduced power to the family of eight’s single room apartment, they saved enough to send Onyeka to the Republic to begin a new life.

For the nineteen-year-old woman, the prospect was both exciting and terrifying. Her family served Inherent Implants since the installation’s inception. Onyeka was born on the station, and though some family members were sold to other Holders, she has neverleft the station’s vicinity. ”I sometimes didn’t want to go,” she admits. "But [my family] decided I would have the best chance. I have good skills and some training. Maybe it won’t be so bad.”