Historically, colonizers strip colonies of natural resources against the will of the native population, and this is mirrored in Nyxia. In the novel, Babel Communications is a multinational corporation focused on mining more nyxia, a substance found on the planet Eden. Since the native population of Eden is opposed to this, Babel has been engaged in a conflict with them. In the past, similar scenarios have played out in the real world, like British colonizers draining India’s agricultural resources or Belgian colonizers engaging in rampant elephant hunting in the Congo basin to obtain ivory. This continued into the 20th and 21st centuries, and Babel’s mining operation mirrors the United States’ mining of uranium on Navajo lands in the 1980s. A Barcelona-based study found that “mining causes 24.7% of environmental conflict involving indigenous people” (Donaldson, Alan. “Mining Causes 24.7% of Environmental Conflict Involving Indigenous People.” Mining Technology, 19 June 2023).

Nyxia also indicts corporate greed, suggesting that large corporations will further their interests at any cost, even exploiting children to do so. Babel Communications organizes the competition that Emmett and the other teenagers take part in to create operatives who can mine more nyxia on their behalf.