The City

The City is comprised of 26 Districts, only 25 of which being observable. A Corp through X Corp.

The City is ruled by the Head. A corporate conglomerate of A Corp., B Corp., and C Corp. They are a mysterious government, and what they say goes.

Each District is controlled by a mega-corporation that specializes with a certain kind of technology called Singularities. These singularities are immensely powerful and unique tech that can’t be replicated.

Districts are divided into Nests and Backstreets. The Mega-corporations only protect the Nests, often ignoring the slum-like Backstreets.

“Fixers” are hired mercenaries and helping hands around the City. They are incredibly abundant, and have a lot of different names, titles, and jobs. Fixers are Graded from Grade 9 to Grade 1. Grade 9 being the lowest, and Grade 1 being the highest. However, if a Grade 1 is exceptional beyond belief, they are given a Color Title, and are called Color Fixers. Examples of these would be Kali, The Red Mist; Angelica, The Black Silence; Argalia, The Blue Reverberation; The Vermillion Cross; The Indigo Elder; and Iori, The Purple Tear.

Fixers use “Workshop Weaponry” commonly. These Workshops can come with high grade stuff or low grade stuff. The City is incredibly sci-fi, and a lot of things are not as they seem. Fabric can be as tough as metal and light as a feather, or tattoos could glow and enhance strength or durability.

Fixers can either make a Fixer Office (either alone or with a group of people), or join an Association. These Associations are labelled one through twelve, with a bunch of varied purposes. They are all named after their number, in different languages. The Hana Association, being one in Korean, oversees Fixers. The Zwei is a Police Force of sorts, and is German for two. The Tres Association oversees Workshop Weaponry and their patents, The Shi Association, meaning four in Japanese, are assassins that deal with assassinations and stealth. The Cinq, which is French for five, duel with rapiers, and do duels when contracted—commonly used by people who cannot fight for themselves. The Liu Association, Chinese for six, specializes in all-out warfare, they use emotions and fire in their warfare. Their garbs are infused with M Corp.’s “moonstones,” which help inhibit and temper their emotions in combat. The Seven Association, being Seven in English, is a forensics group of fixers that deal with information gathering and information. The Devyat Association, which is nine in Russian, specializes in delivery of products. They use AI-powered Courier Trunks which have spatially impossible interiors that store impossible amounts and dimensions. This technology is made by P Corp. The Dieci Association, which is ten in Italian, specializes in knowledge and wisdom. They often have keys as weapons that can expand and contract in size. Knowledge is literally translated into power for them. They often use their fists to fight as well. The Oufi, which is eleven in a German-Swiss dialect, specializes in contracts, enforcing them, and making sure they stay correct.

The Associations are divided into four cardinal directions—North, East, South, and West. Each of them have sections one through six. A South Section 6 would be the lowest of the South Section, while a South Section 1 would be its strongest. Each Section and Direction has its own Director. Each of these directions may hold different cultures for the fixers. Such as the West Section of the Zwei often wearing knight outfits, wearing conventional metal armor, and using greatswords.

Wings may employ Fixers directly. These Fixers are known as Feathers. Feathers don’t particularly use the same grading system as conventional Fixers and Associations. Such as WARP cleanup agents being graded as L2, L3, etc. An L3 is a higher rank than an L2, despite a Grade 3 being a lower rank than a Grade 2.

Syndicates are a more criminal, less organized version of Fixers. Like Offices, they have titles. There may be Streetlight Office as a Fixer Office, or there may be The Stray Dogs as a Syndicate.

The five biggest Syndicates in the City are known as the Fingers. The Thumb, being a mafia, with a high value on respect, do not even allow some lower ranked members to speak up to a higher ranked one, lest their tongue be cut out, which they often do voluntarily. They use rifles, guns, and bayonets as their primary weapons. Their ranking system is Soldato, Capo, Sottocapo, and the Capo De Capi himself. The Index are a group of folk who follow “Prescripts.” These Prescripts are secretly created underneath the City, using a pendulum to randomly make them, using the City itself as its heartbeat. These Prescripts are often morbid, threatening, or dangerous. They may be simple or deadly. Their ranks are Proselytes—who have to wear blindfolds to prove their faith to Prescripts, Proxies, and Messengers, who deliver prescripts. They use assortments of weapons. The Middle are a brotherhood, who take vengeance incredibly seriously. Any non-middle member who wrongs the Middle, even in the slightest, gets put in the “Book of Vengeance,” which has an amount of entries so large, it’d be impossible to count them all. From stealing hair salon coupons to evading their retribution. The punishments can range from torture to murder of all involved. The Middle are ranked, depending on gender, Little Brother/Sister, Young Brother/Sister, Big Brother/Sister, Great Brother/Sister, Elder Brother/Sister. These have nothing to do with their actual age, just ranking. The Middle uses golden chains on their legs and arms to punch and kick, commonly using fully unarmed combat. They use electric dance music, and are often crude. They are immensely loyal to their brethren. They use tattoos that can glow purple to enhance their bodies. More and more of these tattoos are added after each vengeance enacted. The Ring are painters and artists who use human parts, blood, and limbs to create their twisted version of ‘art.’ Their art galleries use spatially manipulated halls to house rooms that shouldn’t be possible, most definitely using a Singularity for such. They use spears which double as paint brushes. Their ranks are Student, Docent, and Maestro. They all have rings, funny enough. Each one has a coil for each rank. A student has one, a docent has two, and a maestro has three. The Fingers each control parts of each Backstreets, and are commonly having turf wars over land of the Backstreets, as it’s technically unclaimed by the Nest’s Wing. They provide “protection” for services or money. Such as the Index forcing the people who they protect to follow Prescripts. Some of the Fingers have subsidiaries, such as the Thumb having the Kurokumo Clan as a subsidiary, a group of folks who use their katanas to bleed enemies, as well as having cloud tattoos that can harden and move across the body to even deflect blades.

Specifically in the Backstreets, every night, between the times of 3:13 AM and 4:34 AM, “Sweepers” come out in waves every 15-20 minutes, cleaning up everything that isn’t supposed to be there. They speak unintelligibly to most, although some can translate them. They use tanks with red liquid on them to both keep them alive, and melt things with their hand sickles. They are essentially human slushies in armor. They are a pseudo hivemind, and are even approved by the Head. They may come out during the day to clean up specific areas if the Head so desires. Any poor, unfortunate soul who is caught outside during this “Night In The Backstreets” is most definitely killed and swept away by the Sweepers. They are safe inside, as Sweepers are not allowed inside of buildings approved by the Head.

Taboos are laws set in place, either by the Head, or specific wings. Sweepers not being allowed in buildings, not being allowed to record audio or visual during Night in the Backstreets, not being allowed to revive someone fully, forcing any cloned individual to dispose of one of them within 7 days, and non-human entities not being allowed in the City are some examples of taboos. One large taboo is the ‘AI Ethics Amendment’, which strictly prohibits the existence of sentient AI. The Devyat Courier Trunks are not affected by this, because they are low-level assistant AI that don’t possess very high thought or function, despite still having some semblance of personality/difference. Those who break taboos are either hunted by “Taboo Hunters,” special Fixers who specialize in such an act, or The Head themselves.

The Head, being a conglomerate of A Corp., B Corp., and C Corp., all have their own special operatives. A Corp. has Arbiters, which are black-and-gold dressed people who use F Corp. and J Corp.’s singularities, Fairy and Lock respectively. Individually, they are arguably the strongest beings in the City, and are not to be trifled with under any circumstances, unless they have a death wish, or are an INCREDIBLY tough Color Fixer. Beholders from B Corp. are anonymous people who see everything in the City. They have eyes everywhere, and almost nothing is safe from them and their sight. Not much is known about them. Claws are from C Corp., and may hold the title of Executioner. They use claws on their right arm, as well as masks and a suit (or trench coat). Alongside this, they use Serums of Singularities. Such as Serum W, using W Corp.’s singularity to teleport, Serum K, using K Corp.’s singularity to heal, and Serum R, using R Corp’s singularity to increase strength. Presumably, this uses R Corp.’s old singularity, as each new instance of a Wing often brings about a new Singularity.

F Corp.’s Singularity is Fairies, which can unlock anything, conceptually or physically. They range in strength, and, at their strongest, can unlock anything from molecular bonds in someone’s body, to a bank vault, to repressed memories.

G Corp.’s Singularity involves Gravity, using Gravity spheres. G Corp.’s old singularity involved genetically modifying people and their limbs to be like insects, which was used often in the Smoke War.

The Smoke War, a war between Wings about 10 years ago, involved old L Corp., which was an energy producer, who was producing too little energy, and contaminating the area with Smoke. This smoke, however, was incredibly valuable. The War, being a War of the Wings, involved Old L Corp.’s side of E Corp., F Corp., and Old G Corp. They went up against I Corp., K Corp., R. Corp., and The Udjat, a Grade 1 Fixer Office. The latter side won, leading to the fall of Old L Corp., and bringing in the new L Corp., known as Lobotomy Corporation.

H Corp.’s singularity involves boluses, that allow for augmentation of the body. These augmentations are animal-based, and are based on the twelve Chinese Zodiac animals from the Earthly Branch. H Corp.’s “Heishou Pack” use these, such as their Mao branch, based off of hares, and their Si branch, based off of snakes.

J Corp.’s Singularity are Locks. Similar to Fairies, they can Lock anything, be it conceptually or literally.

K Corp.’s singularity is Helapoiesis. It reverts the body to a time before it was harmed. They use “K Corp HP Ampules” for this, or sell tablets that heal injuries overnight.

L Corp. is a special case. Old L Corp. used a large, grotesque, horrifying monster that produced smoke to produce energy. After the Smoke War, it fell. The New L Corp., named Lobotomy Corporation, used a singularity named “Cogito,” which allowed for the extraction of conceptual things into existence. Lobotomy Corporation contained “Abnormalities,” which were immortal anomalies that reverted to ovate eggs upon “death,” and recovered later. They used their singularity to extract Enkephalin from the Abnormalities and form “E.G.O.,” short for “Extermination of Geometrical Organ,” the name of which not truly meaning anything significant to its process. EGO gear took the form of weapons and armor. Extracting EGO with Cogito would often kill a person, but using it on Abnormalities, being that are immortal, are no issue in that sense. Those who do not have enough Fortitude, Temperance, Justice, or Prudence would “Corrode” from this EGO, and often need these virtues to use the EGO effectively, lest the Abnormality corrupt them. This was all a coverup, however, in an attempt by Carmen and Ayin, the heads of this project, to create the “Seed of Light,” so that everyone may be happy. However, as this project was very illegal, folks began to die in the facility. Kali, The Red Mist, known as the strongest Color Fixer, and a hero, was recruited to Lobotomy Corporation by Carmen. During the time, she was given a prototype EGO weapon, that urged her to kill. As she did, her emotions began to overwhelm her, but pushing through them, she manifested strange misty armor. This is the first case of a manifested EGO of a person. As people continued dying, the Head began to learn of Lobotomy Corporation. A child even died in Lobotomy Corporation, causing Carmen to be ridden with such grief, she committed suicide in a bathtub. Her nervous system being preserved with her brain, Ayin created an AI assistance, Angela, with the same exact brain mapping as Carmen did. As the Seed of Light project continued, tens of thousands of years passed for those inside, due to T Corp.’s singularity, but outside, only ten years. During a Head raid, Kali, the Red Mist, was killed by an Arbiter, but took her down with her. Both were turned into ‘Sephirah’, helpers of Lobotomy Corporation who managed departments within Lobotomy Corporation. Near the end of the project, Angela sabotaged the Seed of Light project for her own personal gain, desiring to become human. Thanks to this, the “White Nights and Dark Days” incidents occurred. During this time, eternal light shone across the City, even during night, for 3 days straight. Good feelings were high, and the Seed of Light spread across the entire City. However, the next four days were perpetual darkness, causing horrible emotions and gloom. After this, people could Manifest their own EGO in the City. However, Carmen, trapped within the Light, may reach out to those in extreme mental distress. Her voice, a femme fatale, encouraging those to lose their humanity, and Distort. Distortions are hellbent on getting revenge on humanity or getting back at something that wronged them. They may speak most times, but are often enraged and blinded by emotion for the time being. Those who resist her voice and do not Distort may manifest their own EGO. Those who manifest EGO are immune to distortion. However, this does not include those who have only partially manifested an EGO. Those who fail to even Distort become “Peccatula,” a common, basic monster with none of their humanity left, barely even an individual. They become a monster equivalent to the sin they represented in life. These being Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Gloom, Pride, and Envy.

M Corp. manufactures Moonstones, which can help inhibit emotions, temper them, and control them.

N Corp. has Inquisitors of Hammer Und Nagel. These Inquisitors dislike those who have robotic prosthetics. They carry greathammers, large nails, and wear big, bulky armor.

P Corp. manufactures a form of spatial technology for containers that do not deteriorate, age, or have incredibly large spaces on the inside, compared to smaller outside spaces, being physically impossible.

Q Corp. uses talismans that can have inscriptions on them.

R Corp. uses a replication technology. They have “Packs,” such as their Fourth Pack. They are a Private Military Company that have operatives based on animals, all of which starting with R. Such as the Tough Rhinos, the Reindeer with emotion staffs and antlers that channel them into “mind whips,” which cause major headaches, Rabbits that graze the grass and use guns and knives, etc. They use “Hatcheries” to replicate their Fixers so they may fight each other. The winner of such battle royale being able to get out and stay alive in the world.

T Corp. uses “TimeTrack,” being able to slow, speed up, or stop time with their Singularity. This is how Lobotomy Corporation managed to pass 10,000 years inside, but 10 years outside. They work with W Corp. to harvest time in the WARP trains. They also siphon all color with their singularity in their district, unless the wealthy pay for it. Those with more “time” perceive time much slower. Their “days” can be 72 hours, while a poor person may have 6 hour days. Time is also used as a currency in T Corp.

U Corp uses “Resonance Tuning Forks,” which can fuse any object as if it were always one object, and Stasis Preservation Boxes, which can preserve food or other items.

W Corp. uses checkpoints, although often confused with teleportation. W Corp. uses WARP Trains for transportation across the City. Those who enter WARP Trains come out on the other side within 10 seconds. However, on the inside, T Corp boxes cause many years to pass inside, harvesting the time. After the ride, WARP Cleanup Agents clean up any messes made inside the train, often gory as the passengers turn on eachother and kill one another, albeit unable to be ACTUALLY physically killed due to the rules of the Train, they separate the genomes, reconstruct the bodies, and erase their memories of the train ride. Those who pay extra get to use a cryostasis pod to skip the painful ride.

X Corp. uses special, incredibly strong alloys. They have Excavators as operatives.

The “Rats” of the Backstreets aren’t actual Rats. They’re just bottom of the barrel scumbags in the Backstreets who commonly ambush people, harvest organs, and sell them.

The Outskirts are a horrific wasteland outside of the City. Outside of the Head’s jurisdiction fully, nearly nobody dares to go out here. It holds several things and areas, such as the Great Lake, off the coast of U Corp. and the Districts near it. “Whales,” large, monstrous whales, are creatures here. Alongside “Mermaids,” which are turned humans that are forced to work for the Whale. Trash Crabs, Crabs that use Trash for their shell and spew trash at enemies, are mutants that sometimes appear in the City.

Underground in the City, and sometimes in the Outskirts, lies the Ruins. The Ruins have several magical lakes with different effects. Most of them have detrimental, horrible effects. Some have upsides and downsides, and some have straight up downsides. One of the rivers erases one’s memories. The Ruins are where the Dieci Association get their “Artifacts” from, which are the Keys, weapons, and other knowledge sources they use.

Fixers can be contracted by almost anyone, as long as they have the money/rewards. Even Associations or Wings can employ Fixers or Offices.

The Hana Association classifies hazards of the City for Fixers, gives out Fixer Licenses, and Grades Fixers and Offices. The hazard ratings are Canard, Urban Myth, Urban Legend, Urban Plague, Urban Nightmare, and Star of the City. There is one ranking only the Head themselves can put on a hazard, Impuritas Civitatis—or, Impurity of the City (or simply Impurity), which are often things that defy the City’s rules and taboos, and must be exterminated or cast into the Outskirts.

The Abnormalities’ risk levels are from weakest to strongest: ZAYIN, TETH, HE, WAW, ALEPH