Board Thread:Game Discussion/@comment-10347038-20131208192435/@comment-24269851-20131211184058

The 1 cog is given just to make that spacebridge visible, to put it under your nose, so you are tempted to spend on it. Just as when the episode begins, the ruby spacebridge is not visible because you haven't earned any rubies yet. So they seed you with 1 just to get you going.