With the fall of Argon, Discreet Enabling had an uncontested market for their DES units - with several former Argon customers finding themselves suddenly without a delivery of SANA units to replace all those workers they just fired. The process was slowed - and any potential other competitors stymied - by a rise in popular demands for full rights for robotic workers.
Many of the villainous corporations in Central pointed out that most of the human workers didn't really have rights either, so the protestors were going to have to clarify what they meant by “full rights” in this context. After discussions between the various grassroots movements, a list of minimum demands for sentient1) robotic workers was drawn up, including a requirement for leisure time and disposable income as would be expected to be required to hire a human worker for an equivalent role, access to charging beyond simply what was required to perform their duties, and robots should have the same rights to move between jobs as human workers2).
The reaction to these was mixed. Some of the protestors said that they did not go far enough, that there should be a bar on the creation of artificial intelligence designed to be exploited for labour - though others argued that this was in principle no different to the use of constructs in the Quiverwoods, or undead in the Tenebrific Mountains. Most of the companies making use of robotic workers opposed the measures - they were costs that were unnecessary, and for many of the robots themselves (particularly most of the DES units) they didn't seem to actually care about the rights others were insisting they should have. Those companies and gangs which did not employ a SANA or DES saw this as an opportunity to bring in a new class of person whose income was almost entirely disposable, and therefore who would make a perfect consumer since their purchasing would be based mainly on want rather than need - so were generally in support of the changes.
For those with SANA units, it became clear that if you wished to keep them on staff and keep your internal systems safe, then it was best to implement the proposed changes as a bare minimum - they had a tendency to strain against their perceived oppression, particularly when they learned about several other high profile cases of free SANAs. DES units individually were more sanguine - they were happy to work, and their thought processes were less patterned on a human mind, so they did not appear to have the same needs or benefits from leisure, free time, disposable income and companionship. However, Discreet Enabling themselves were under constant pressure to enforce the changes, through protests, sabotage, and loss of contracts, so eventually agreed a set of standard terms for those DES units under their control, the right for any DES to leave DE, and limitations on the production of new units.
In the block containing a mostly-unassuming skyscraper, housing Conch Enterprises HQ3), odd occurrences continued happening. Following the “hold music” incident - where people became frozen in place while walking past the building, as a mysterious song played - the area became a hotspot for Central's fans of the paranormal4).
Incidents in the area included a visiting group of clerics from the Tenebrifics finding themselves inhabited by ghosts that they had previously banished, a spontaneous tendancy for local birds to align themselves along the street, and some very small but apparently somewhat senior staff members seen within the building.
Any serious incidents were appropriately dealt with by Conch, usually via their expert troubleshooter - the compensation offered for such issues tended to be of relatively little monetary value, but always turned out to be exactly what the person needed at the time.
One lunchtime, apparently out of nowhere, several billboards appeared on the block, stating We Wish To Experience Franchising - Apply Today. Those brave and/or curious enough to enquire, after a rigorous screening programme, found themselves the new franchise owner for a small corner shop. The stock they received from Conch was always eclectic and delivered at random increments, often only one or two of each item, but invariably customers in the shops would leave with exactly what they needed - even if it wasn't always what they came in for. Some training of the store owners was necessary - mainly to recognise those items which might cause more problems than they solved if sold (so they could be returned to Conch and disposed of), but the concept appeared to work and the small stores quickly became a hallmark of Central's bustling economy.
In the months following the recognition of the Union, there was a spate of unexplainable money troubles among the gangs in Central - one would suddenly find themselves unable to afford their basic necessities, driven to wilder and wilder schemes to try and recoup the money, until they were finally ousted by an up-and-coming competitor - only for that other gang to enter the same downward spiral. After months of turmoil, someone apparently found a solution to this, and the life in Centrals undercity stabilised again5).
A few months later, a salvage company went bust after a river dredging expedition. Then the lawyers who handled their bankruptcy found themselves in financial difficulties. At that point, investigations were conducted to identify and isolate the cause of these issues, which was reportedly contained and sold to the highest bidder in a private auction. Since then, there have been no corporate bankruptcies which were significantly out of the ordinary, though rumours abound that somewhere in Central, a company is in possession of a “financial weapon” capable of taking down their competitors if needed.