The Nationalist Nation of Mercian Legions is a huge, efficient nation, notable for its keen interest in outer space, public floggings, and compulsory military service. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 614 million Mercians are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The large, corrupt, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Liberty. The average income tax rate is 73.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Mercian economy, worth 76.2 trillion Imperial Currencies a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is fairly diversified, is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Arms Manufacturing, and Trout Farming. Average income is an impressive 124,088 Imperial Currencies, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Top-shelf magazines feature risqué centrefold spreads of ladies' wrists, deceased politicians spam the public with thousands of AI-generated voicemails, hordes of unemployed lumberjacks have resorted to cutting down utility poles to satisfy their cravings, and invasive drug testing is now performed at elementary school sports days. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Mercian Legions's national animal is the Sand Manticore, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Mercian Legions is ranked 16,383^rd in the world and 398^th in the South Pacific for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 313.01 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.