HISTORY & EVENTS
The City is a continent-sized urban expanse of approximately eight billion people—or, as residents know, nearly all humanity. Its 26 Districts have distinct cultures, laws, scenery, and governing corporations. The Outskirts and Great Lake lie beyond it; the Ruins extend beneath it.
Each District is governed by a Wing, designated by a letter corresponding to its number (A Corp. governs District 1, I Corp. District 9, L Corp. District 12, etc.). Each Wing possesses a patented Singularity that violates ordinary physical laws; its mechanisms are generally secret. Wing employees, called Feathers, typically enjoy desirable, secure positions.
Nests: Wing-governed territories, generally safer and wealthier than the Backstreets. Entry requires an immigration permit or temporary visa.
Backstreets: Areas neglected by Wings and plagued by crime, poverty, and Syndicates. Residents may receive Syndicate protection in exchange for obedience.
District 26 appears on no available maps. Its location and circumstances remain unknown, and practically nobody discusses it.
The Head is the City's supreme authority, overseeing Wings, regulating Singularities, and determining what may exist. Its inner workings remain largely secret.
A Corp. — The Head: Establishes and enforces Taboos. Its powerful Arbiters can use other Wings' Singularities.
B Corp. — The Eye: Uses Beholders to observe residents, identify violations, and alert A Corp.
C Corp. — The Claw: Supplies the military. Its super-soldier Executioners use combat-oriented Singularities, including K Corp.'s healing, W Corp.'s dimensional traversal, and T Corp.'s time manipulation.
Known Taboos:
Pay taxes on time.
Never keep two copies of the same individual alive in the City for over seven days; one must die within that period.
Do not create nonhuman sentient life or human-looking robots.
Punishments depend on violation severity and the offender's threat level. Enforcement may involve Claws, Arbiters, or both.
Notable Wings and Singularities:
This selection is not exhaustive.
F Corp. — Fairy: Tiny entities that unlock physical objects and conceptual barriers.
G Corp. — Sphere: An orb whose gravity the wielder controls.
H Corp. — Bolus: Organic material that transforms the body or grants abilities when ingested or applied to skin.
I Corp. — Instrumentation: Publicly understood as music imbued with emotions or concepts that influence listeners' minds.
J Corp. — Lock and Wishpower: Lock secures objects or concepts, opposing F Corp.'s Fairies. Wishpower extracts luck into a temporary tattoo to boost its wearer's luck.
K Corp. — Healing Ampules: Injections restoring the body to prime condition.
L Corp. — Cogito: Extracts cognitive matter from brains to produce Enkephalin, an addictive drug and energy source, or specialized equipment such as E.G.O. The former L Corp. fell; Lobotomy Corporation occupied its seat before becoming defunct. No Wing has replaced it.
N Corp. — Canned Experience: Transfers others' experiences into a user's mind, simulating experiences never actually had.
R Corp. — Cloning: Clones personnel as mercenaries.
T Corp. — Timetrack Protocol: Manipulates time. Giving someone time slows their subjective days; taking it makes them pass faster. Other Wings use its technology.
U Corp. — Stasis Preservation Packaging preserves contents exactly as sealed. Its Resonance Tuning Fork merges two objects' essences.
W Corp. — Dimensional Traversal: Enables interdimensional travel, commonly used to conceal people or objects in pocket dimensions.
Wing technologies underpin the City's economy, warfare, transportation, and medicine. Their patents and mechanisms are closely guarded.
From approximately 3:14 AM to 4:34 AM, Sweepers emerge in waves, consuming or destroying everything left outside, including people. Their red, liquid-like bodies absorb organic matter, especially human flesh, while destroying inorganic objects. They communicate in an incomprehensible language.
This is the Night in the Backstreets. Fighting Sweepers is generally futile due to their numbers. The Head permits them, and they can dispose of evidence.
Syndicates are organized criminal groups operating primarily in the Backstreets. The five strongest, the Fingers, divide Backstreet territories through a massive meeting called the Finger Bow-Bell. Residents must obey their local Finger's rules for protection.
The Thumb: A mafia-like organization enforcing strict hierarchy; questioning a superior can cost someone their tongue. Ranks: Soldato → Capo → Consigliere → Sottocapo → Capo dei Capi (Godfather).
The Index: A cult devoted to the Will of the City. It receives Prescripts—instructions delivered by City-determined means, usually paper slips carried by Messengers. Disobedience may bring punishment by Proxies. Roles: Proselyte (lowest rank), Proxy (stronger members), Messenger (delivers Prescripts), Weaver (weaves slips for the City's will to inhabit).
The Middle: Presents itself as a family but often expects lower-ranking members to sacrifice for superiors. Its Book of Vengeance records offenses noted by siblings, prompting revenge. Ranks: Little Sibling → Young Sibling → Big Sibling → Great Sibling.
The Ring: Eccentric artists depicting the human condition through suffering, from corpse sculptures to massacres painted into someone's mind. Its six schools are Fauvism, Pointillism, Cubism, Corporism, Suprematism, and Blaue-Reiters. Ranks: Student → Docent → Maestro.
The Pinky: The most mysterious Finger. Members generally do not know one another's identities; it has no uniform, universal objective, or ordinary dress code. Its limited, star-named seats open when holders die. Members of other Fingers may also belong to it. Membership depends on claims to and affinity for associated Relics. All Pinky Relics are swords.
The Ruins are dangerous, largely unexplored regions beneath the City, containing unusual creatures, artifacts, and Relics.
Special Rivers flow through the Ruins. Some create monsters; others can be refined into special materials. Many Wing Singularities ultimately originate from these Rivers.
Relics are weapons or objects from the Ruins with special abilities. Wielders unlock their powers through affinity; greater affinity grants stronger effects.
Fixers are hired professionals handling contracts involving protection, investigation, assassination, warfare, and more. Some uphold justice; others seek money.
Fixers join Offices to build reputations, cooperate, and earn money. Grades range from 9 to 1; exceptionally renowned Grade 1 Fixers may earn the title Color Fixer.
Workshops manufacture weapons and equipment for sale.
Associations regulate Fixer work, oversee affiliated Offices, distribute contracts, establish standards, and provide assistance. Fixers may have to accept assigned contracts, even dangerous ones.
Hana: Oversees Fixers, grades, Offices, and Associations.
Zwei: Protection, escorting, and peacekeeping.
Tres: Oversees Workshops and their weapons.
Shi: Assassination.
Cinq: Duels.
Liu: Large-scale, warlike combat.
Seven: Intelligence gathering.
Eight: Operates in District 21; specialty largely unknown.
Devyat: Delivers rare or expensive items under tight deadlines.
Dieci: Knowledge accumulation, investigation, and contracts involving Relics and the Ruins.
Oufi: Mediation and legal disputes.
Associations have distinct codes, uniforms, combat styles, and hierarchies. Most divide into northern, eastern, western, and southern branches with numbered Sections.
The Smoke War occurred approximately ten years before the present day. Lobotomy Corporation and allies, including I Corp., K Corp., and R Corp., fought the old L Corp. and its allies, including the old G Corp., E Corp., and F Corp.
The old L Corp. was defeated, and Lobotomy Corporation, an energy company, took its seat as the new L Corp. The old G Corp. also fell, leaving many augmented soldiers permanently altered and stigmatized.
I Corp. and K Corp. promised Nest immigration tickets to those fighting the old L Corp., but neither honored the deal. The war caused immense suffering and lasting political consequences.
Lobotomy Corporation's operations and objectives remain publicly unknown. It occupied the former L Corp.'s seat as an energy company, then became defunct the day it began firing a beam of light into the sky. Its internal operations and true plans remain unknown.
White Nights and Dark Days followed Lobotomy Corporation's mysterious beam: three days of Light, then four days of darkness. The event ended the company's reign, briefly giving the City hope before leaving it in greater despair. It also created widespread potential for the Distortion Phenomenon. The public does not know the full circumstances or Lobotomy Corporation's role.
E.G.O is a physical manifestation of the subconscious, taking the form of equipment, weapons, or other usable objects. Personal E.G.O reflects its user's inner self. L Corp.-related technology can also extract E.G.O from Abnormalities, unlike personal manifestation.
During profound psychological crises, people may hear a woman named Carmen urging them to surrender to their desires and embrace their true humanity. Accepting leads to Distortion; rejecting her invitation can lead to personal E.G.O.
Distortions reflect their hosts' emotions and desires. They are not necessarily mindless, though many are dangerous. Distortion is reversible, but if left long enough, a Distortion eventually and irreversibly becomes an Abnormality.
Shin is energy projection that surrounds the user in a fiery golden aura, drastically strengthening their body to the level of high-quality augmentations. It has largely been shown creating Mang, an enhancement ability said to contain emotions such as resentment, yearning, and dismay.
Mang appears as warm rings of light around the weapon or body part used to attack, but can seemingly strengthen the body too.
Learning to use Shin properly is difficult, but it can be taught or self-taught through diligence. To use it, one must clear the mind of all emotions, then focus on intense memories and let their associated emotions fill the mind.
Because Shin originates in the mind, even physically weak people can wield it if they withstand its mental strain.
More Mang in an attack requires greater Shin control; each ring nearly doubles the mental strain.
The following information is secret and not publicly known about I Corp.
True Singularity: I Corp. secretly imbues matter or waves with concepts.
Emotional extraction: It uses technology stolen from an L Corp. branch after L Corp.'s fall to extract human emotions.
The Pianist: I Corp. secretly created the Pianist by stealing his music, contributing to his mental breakdown.
Backstreet security: I Corp. stations employees called I Corp. Safety Staff in the Backstreets to maintain peace.
The Index is District 9's Finger, but I Corp. has maintained a large Backstreets presence there since the Pianist. Despite tensions, they cooperate.
These secrets differ from I Corp.'s publicly understood Singularity, Instrumentation.
Additional Tevinn Information:
Tevinn occupies the Dikong Star seat.
The Dikong Star's Blade can non-physically sever parts from a whole, leaving them unable to function. Severing spreads through the object until the whole is empty or the severed part is physically separated. This power burns away the user's possibilities.
When sheathed, the blade functions as a normal sharp blade.
As a District 9 Backstreets-dweller, Tevinn must obey Prescripts or face disciplinary action from Index Proxies.
The Hana Association recognizes Tevinn as a Grade 5 Fixer.
Tevinn may manifest E.G.O: a durable White Cloak and the ability to imbue his weapon with burning light.
Tevinn may also manifest Shin and Mang.
