Actually this reminds me of my headcanon* re: the origin of the conflict between COI and Eden
It goes as follows: Eden was built to be almost entirely self-sufficient** ( in so far such things can be planned), but it's a closed ecosystem that can only be stretched so far.As such, when the rapture happens they basically locked everybody else out to avoid suddenly doubling the station's population and straining the system too much.They've been living in a (perceived) state of siege ever since, because they believe everyone else is after their resources, and are highly aggressive in their defense. They grow isolated, and they get weird. Protecting the gardens and whatever other surviving plant and animal life there is on Eden***becomes not just a practical and scientific mission but a religious one as well.
On the other side, the people who were left desperately trying to survive on the other stations and ships are obviously not going to take kindly to someone hoarding what might be the last stable source of food in the universe. So they form an alliance and so the COI is born. Eden might be self-sufficient food wise, but the other ships had scientists, miners, technicians, salvage crews etc, and so they control the other resources, such as metal, fuel or technical supplies.
Add to this a difference in opinion re: the Quiet Rapture.The COI, much like Simon, largely believes they're the ones that got raptured (to some parallel universe or pocket dimension or whatever) and the universe with the stars and planets and the Solar system is still out there somewhere.They just need to band together and hold out a just a little bit longer and they'll find a way back to safety eventually. All effort and resources must be directed to scientific research and looking for solutions, as well as keeping more people alive in the short term. Calculated risks. But while the noble ideals are there it's all rather cold and abstract to the point of cruelty, and often not as well calculated as they like to believe as they desperately try to explore every avenue. (for example not training the pilots properly & treating them and the subs as disposable seems rather inefficient).
Eden fully believes the stars and planets are gone forever. Maybe they even literally see themselves as the new garden of Eden, last (and first) humans chosen to rebuild and repopulate this universe once the appointed time comes.Either way they can't afford to keep everyone alive, and since they're the ones on the station, they're clearly the ones that are the ones that get to survive.Resources and human lives must be devoted into long-term survival of the human species through Eden, and not wasted on outsiders and frivolous things like pointless expeditions that cannot possibly yield a solution to the rapture because in their mind there is none; all they can do is pray and make sure Eden is around to play it's role in the future. The general assumption being that they won't live to see it themselves. In the meantime they get to live and die and get buried for Eden, and get their reward in the afterlife.And the dying part is very much seen as a positive and necessary thing too, as it sustains the gardens that sustain the community. (The best thing, even, for those that they see as unable to pull their weight. With all the grim implications of that).
The conflict grows over the following decades/generations****, and both sides start suffer due to being unable to access each other's resources.Eden has trouble making repairs to their stations and ships.COI has trouble feeding their people.Problems accumulate. The Tree starts to die, which leads to paranoia and religious panic on Eden. Technology deteriorates. Both sides raid each other, causing even more destruction in the process. They don't have the manpower or the resources for a full-on war, but they're bitter enemies by the time Iron Lung happens, each side convinced the other is hopelessly deluded and a threat to humanity's survival.
(Both sides are deeply fucked up so we're clear here, but neither is completely right or wrong.)
(* I have not played the game I do not know the lore I'm new.Please forgive me if it's off or has been said before.
**and yes that includes dismembering their dead and turning them into compost.And sometimes their dead enemies too.Waste not want not. It's pretty gruesome and sparks rumours of cannibalism amongst their enemies. Also possibly where Simon got his "Butcher" nickname from.
***possibly in the form of biorepositories like seed vaults and gene banks
**** not sure if the timeline but I like to think Iron Lung is set a couple of generations since the Quiet Rapture).
