The Nagumo Family Secret

For centuries before colonists left Terra for the Perseus Arm region, a food derived from a particular species of ocean-dwelling fish was the center of beliefs and myths. The food was called "fugu". It consisted of paper-thin slices of meat from the species called Takifugu Rubripes, more commonly called the Japanese Pufferfiish. The dish was predominantly served and eaten raw, or occasionally dipped in a hot broth just before eating. The fascination and mystery of fugu stemmed from the fact that the fish it came from also produced deadly neurotoxins which were present in the creature's skin, liver, and ovaries. If the fish was not carefully handled and the meat not skillfully sliced away these toxins would contaminate the meat, rendering it a potentially fatal meal. Consuming fugu became associated with courage. Those who regularly ate fugu and survived were often considered blessed with good fortune. And, since the fish itself was rare, and the number of chefs skilled enough to prepare it even rarer, the high cost of fugu caused it to be associated with wealth and power as well.

Fugu in the Perseus Arm

Most of the history and myth associated with fugu came from cultures of the colonists who settled Firstfall. And though the pufferfish source of fugu was not among the live or embryo-frozen breeding stock taken with the colonists, the memories of fugu persisted after the journey. Almost as soon as basic sustenance farming was firmly established, some adventurous types began searching the waterways and oceans of their new home in the hope of finding a native aquatic species that would substitute.

After over a millenia of searching not just Firstfall, but many of the water-bearing worlds around it within the Collective, no suitable substitute has been found. Quite a number of poisonous creatures were discovered, but in all cases thus far, either the poison was integrated into the meat itself, or the meat was foul-tasting. Nevertheless, the search continues, and the tales and myths regarding those who had the courage and wherewithal to consume are stlill passed down.

The Nagumo Family Secret

One such myth concerns a particular family line that traces back to the original colonists of Firstfall. The Nagumo family - some refer to it as the Nagumo Dynasty - have retained control of what has grown to be the largest food-related megacorporation in the entire Perseus Arm. Today, Nagumo Consumables has agricultural holdings and processing plants scattered not just throughout the Firstfall Collective, but in the Borderspace beyond. They are also beginning to establish holdings in the fringes of the Persean Republic.

The myth is that the family's success is due to the fact that the original colonist Nagumo family had, among their private possessions, some cryonically preserved pufferfish embryos, which they were able to successfully revive and breed up in saltwater tanks built to exactly mimic the composition of Terra's oceans. The elder Nagumo was a Terran chef trained and licensed to prepare fugu; he passed his skill and knowledge down to his grandchildren. And for the past millenium, the Nagumos have secretly bred and consumed fugu in order to bring them the luck and business success they enjoy.

The Truth and the Conspiracy Theories

Records do indicate that one of the original colonists, Atagi Nagumo, was indeed a licensed fugu chef. But as far as records go, that's where the truth ends in this myth. The Nagumo family have certainly been successful since the early days of colonization, but this has been due to shrewd business acumen, not the consumption of some secret, magical food. Furthermore, no evidence exists that they ever bred pufferfish on Firstfall.

Some believers of the myth have pointed to three mysterious deaths of Nagumo family leaders over the past several hundred years - deaths the believers insist were due to tainted fugu, though official causes never indicated any type of food-induced poisoning. Some point to the fact that the Nagumo Consumable's standing offer of 100,000 credits to anyone who can discover an aquatic species suitable for fugu preparation is simply a cover to dispel the myths that persist.

Fugu remains a mythical part of Humanity's Terran past, but the search to bring it back to reality continues to this day.