Futuristic Project Ex Lore

[Juju]

The 7 Pillars of The City

• I
• II
• III
• IV
• V
• VI
• VII

• Trophe

  Trophe (I)"For when the belly growls."
  
  The source of nourishment for the citizens of The City, Trophe has a monopoly on agriculture, aquaculture and water treatment plants. While not as flashy as the other pillars, Trophe has by far the most influence of all. Afterall, a human can only exist for 3 days without water. A mere delay on the goods supplied by Trophe can leave thousands without food.
  
  A recent example of this was 2 years ago during a false food shortage manufactured in retaliation towards transport taxes imposed by Metafora. It took less than a week for angry and hungry protestors to force Metafora to submit to Trophe's demands. Because of its cut-throat reputation, Trophe's slogan is often regarded as an ominous warning.
  
  It is rare to see images of the factory farms used to produce meat and animal products, which has made some people question the treatment of such animals. However, it usually gets no farther than that since those who question a little too much tend to disappear in the night. It's better just to enjoy your burger.
  
• Latros

  Latros (II)"To cure all ails."
  
  An amalgamation of the world's top medical providers, Latros holds a monopoly on medicine and pharmaceuticals. Every hospital, pharmacy and other medical facility in The City is run by Latros.
  
  Treatments and medicine from Latros are borderline miraculous. Limbs can be replaced and the tonics they supply can be used to stabilize someone on death's door. The secrets of Latros are carefully guarded, and as a result nobody is exactly certain of what medical procedures or ingredients are involved in their treatments. Many who try to reverse engineer it are met with horrifically undesirable results.
  
  Unfortunately Latros' services are not free and many faced with such steep charges are left with a choice between life-saving treatment and homelessness. Such is life in The City. Those who cannot afford Latros treatment turn to back-ally doctors and drugs. Some people believe these back-ally drugs are distributed by Latros for cheap human testing.
  
• Phulax

  Phulax (III)"Protect. Police. Punish."
  
  The remnants of several discontinued militaries, Phulax provides the security, police and prison facilities of the city. They have a monopoly on guns, ammunitions and other advanced form of weaponry, which are illegal for any civilian to own. Because of this law, most criminals in the city use primitive weapons such as knives, bats or even swords and maces. Surprisingly, these are legal for citizens to own, but a license is required to carry large weapons in public spaces.
  
  While each pillar has their own private security, they buy their weapons and (typically) personnel from Phulax. Their workshops are the only sources of ammunition, which they charge at exceptionally high rates. While it is possible for a citizen to get their hands on ammo, the price of just one ammo clip it almost the same as the gun itself. This is just one of the reasons why only Pillars have access to these weapons.
  
  Instead of having multiple smaller prisons in the city, there is only one facility, a giant tower known as The Panopticon. When someone enters, they never leave, so little is known about what happens inside, but the rumors are vicious with talks of forced labor, unethical experiments for Latros, and all torture methods one could imagine...
  
  To reduce the waste in resources, Phulax has a mercenary initiative that hires civilians willing to hunt bounties, collect debts or provide security for low-grade clients (public requests). These mercenaries, called Freelancers, can loan a gun and ammo from Phulax, but smarter mercs know that this is a trick to turn someone into a debt-slave. Most use their own weapons.
  
• Ikodomo

  Ikodomo (IV)"Building our future together."
  
  Once separated into two pillars, Ikodomo arose 50 year ago from a joining of two construction and manufacturing monopolies, resulting in a corporation with absolute control over both. They are responsible for the construction and repair of architecture in the city, as well as the manufacturing of goods not under the domain of the other pillars. Clothing, furniture and even appliances all fall in this category.
  
  Other pillars license Ikodomo factories and construction personnel to create the goods and infrastructure they need, giving Ikodomo a unique symbiotic connection to all the other pillars. Even the populace has a generally positive opinion of Ikodomo for their 'reasonable prices', though there was controversy surrounding a factory explosion that happened 10 years ago.
  
  While real estate can be privately owned, Ikodomo has been steadily buying out most properties. They have been known to buy cheap rentals, renovate them, and then charge higher rent. Many tenants are evicted without warning. Because this is often done to the poorer areas of the city, there hasn't been much news coverage.
  
• Dunamis

  Dunamis (V)"The beating heart of our city."
  
  While simplistic in nature, Dunamis provides a vital role in keeping the city alive; electricity and waste management. Various methods are used to generate power, but the most prominent is nuclear and the burning of biofuel and waste. Their unique reverse solar panels provide artificial sunlight for the city's biosphere and the farms used by Trophe.
  
  Waste from other pillars and The City are brought to Dunamis for incineration at their waste plants typically located in the slums of the districts. This has caused absolutely no long or short term health issues to the residents of these parts of the city, according to the yearly report published by Dunamis. As any literature sponsored by a Pillar, this is definitely 100% true.
  
  Once waste has been burned or processed, the remnants can be sold to Ikodomo to be repurposed in manufacturing and construction. Biofuel created, either as a crop or byproduct, by Trophe is sent to Dunamis plants each day and energy and fertilizer is sent back. Due to their close relationship, other Pillars are suspicious of the private deals between Dunamis and Trophe.
  
• Metafora

  Metafora (VI)"We'll get there."
  
  The corporation with a monopoly on transportation and delivery. Both the Pillars and the public use Metafora transportation systems to get things and people where they need to be. Their shuttle-tubes connect every part of the city in a highly efficient web of public transport.
  
  These days only the wealthy own private vehicles, with the rest of the population relying on Metafora's transport. Even still, high class citizens use private shuttles since they can get from one end of The City to the next in less than a minute. Driving private vehicles is reserved only for the elite, and is considered a signal of great wealth and influence. It's less efficient, but it sends a message.
  
  Delivery drones provide most of the deliveries in The City, providing goods within the same day or even hour they were ordered. Due to theft, each drone is equipped with a gun and facial recognition AI. <<Disclaimer: Drone attacks on the recipient have a very low probability of occurring. Please see appendix 3.c, 12-15 & 54.a of the user agreement>>. Despite the risk of injury and death, the addition of a gun to delivery drones has had the inadvertent effect of encouraging criminals to target drones so they can dismantle them and salvage their weapons. The packages themselves are never worth as much as the gun. Bounties for missing drones, packages and illegal gun traders make up a fair portion of Freelancer bounties.
  
• Theatron

  Theatron(VII)"All the world in your hands."
  
  Sometimes considered a luxury rather than a necessity, Theatron's monopoly resides over entertainment, news, media, personal electronics and AI. The services they provide bring much needed respite from the woes of everyday life, with news feeds tailored to each individual's needs. With the amount of data Theatron holds, obtaining or obscuring information is as simple as 1-2-3. They could probably make you disappear if they wanted to. In fact, nobody even knows who the CEO is.
  
  Out of the 7 pillars, Theatron is the most unpredictable, which has given them an unreliable reputation among their peers. While the other Pillars are focused on growth and development, Theatron is known for pulling stunts for public attention. Just last year Theatron offered each citizen a free AIphone so long as they recorded a video of themselves dancing and posted it to their social media website. This year, around the same time, Theatron created a city-wide chocolate egg hunt and offered 1 billion credits to whoever found the golden egg. It hasn't been found yet.
  
  Theatron is the youngest Pillar, and was created 10 years ago through the overnight fusion of the news/media pillar Vox and the AI/Electronic pillar Nous.
  

 

[Juju]

Miscellaneous Laws of the city

• Guns are illegal for citizen ownership. Any other weapon longer than one’s forearm requires a license to carry.
• No AI or machinery shall look human or imitate human behaviour. All AI and machinery must be clearly marked as such.
• Cannibalism is legal in Trophe District so long as the meat is sourced and processed by a Trophe. Any restaurant serving human meat must obtain a license, and can only be located in Trophe district.
• Body modifications up to 85% of the body is legal. Anything more means immediate termination.
• Phulax has the right to investigate, intrude, arrest, and dispense justice without a warrant.
• Organized gatherings of over 10 people require a permit from the district’s pillar. Unauthorized gatherings will be dispersed by any means deemed necessary by Phulax.
• The Pillars protect and support humanity. Those who conspire against The Pillars and The City conspire against humanity.