MORIA STATION, MORIA SYSTEM — The Exodus Council’s Department of Economic Affairs reported today that an unprecedented wave of company liquidations has swept through the pest control sector following the revelation that an apparent system-wide rodent infestation was merely an April Fools prank perpetrated by a popular APEX interface extension.

Is it a RATion or a rat?¹

For nearly 24 hours, thousands of traders across multiple star systems reported seeing actual rat icons in place of their RAT (Basic Rations) commodities within their APEX terminals. The visual modification, secretly implemented by the developer of the “Refined PrUn” browser extension, triggered immediate panic and a surge in emergency pest control service requests.

“I invested my entire life savings, all 37,000 NCC, into ‘RatBeGone Enterprises’ after seeing the market opportunity,” said former NEO Charter Exploration technician Jorvan Meeks, who has since COLIQ’d. “We purchased specialized equipment, hired staff, and even developed proprietary ‘space-rat’ poisons. Then they announced it was just a prank. I had to COLIQ within the hour.”

Economic data shows that over 200 new extermination companies registered with the APEX system in the 18-hour period following the appearance of the rat icons. By the following day, 193 of those companies had filed for liquidation, with the remaining few pivoting to “digital pest removal services.”

The Antares Development Initiative, seeing an opportunity in the crisis, had begun development of an automated “De-RATification Drone” that would supposedly identify and eliminate the rodents without damaging valuable food supplies. The corporation has since written off an estimated 2.3 million AIC in research and development costs.

“This was economic terrorism disguised as humor,” said Antares Development Initiative spokesperson jvaler. “We’re pursuing legal action against the Refined PrUn developers for market manipulation.”

The Insitor Cooperative, meanwhile, has expressed interest in hiring many of the now-unemployed exterminators. “Their experience in rapid response to perceived threats perfectly suits our entrepreneurial approach,” noted recruitment officer Davish Kreel. “Plus, they already own the equipment.”

The developer behind the Refined PrUn extension has issued a public apology along with the latest update that reverts the icons to their original state. They’ve also offered to compensate affected businesses with a free six-month extension subscription to an already free extension—an offer that has been almost universally rejected.

When reached for comment, Castillo-Ito representatives denied any involvement but noted that bean sales (BEA) had inexplicably risen 43% during the incident.