neosapienooc | TEST DRIVE MEME #1

JANUARY TEST DRIVE

1: SPRAWLING WASTELAND, GLOWING IN THE DARK

No sunlight reaches the Underground, but there is rain: grey, oily droplets that slowly trickle down from the city above, seeping through layers of concrete until they drip from broken light fixtures onto the aptly named black markets below. The glow of neon signs keeps the shadows at bay, just barely. What was once a system of utility tunnels and basement bunkers is now a warren of tiny shops offering reprogrammed ID chips and back-alley cybernetic upgrades, where hitmen and slave traders operate with lawless impunity. But someone is always watching... the eyes of Yakashbah, graffitied in bioluminescent paint, stare unblinking from the walls.

People come to this place for only two reasons: they're either looking for something, or they're trying not to be found. Whatever your reason, the Underground welcomes you.

2: A MIND OF DARKNESS, A HEART OF LIGHT

Outside of manicured parks and glass-enclosed vertical farms, green space is rare in New Gate City, so the elites flaunt their wealth in private rooftop gardens. Fragrant, exotic flowers bloom amidst strings of lanterns, and real grass - an extravagant luxury - carpets the ground beneath partygoers' feet as they sip champagne and admire the dark cityscape below. Tonight, one of the Douman Zaibatsu's myriad charity organizations hosts its annual fundraising gala... but this year, the special guests attract even more attention than the celebrities and fashionistas in attendance. Representatives from the Neo Sapien Organization have been invited to speak on the topic of Human/Meta-human relations, and to raise money on behalf of job placement programs for impoverished Metas in the Last Ward. Of course, most within the Douman Zaibatsu would prefer that these "job placement programs" send Metas to the farms far outside New Gate City (or better yet, to the lunar strip mines), but at least for tonight, members of both factions hide behind false smiles and false words.

3: AS FEAR'S REPLICATING, YOUR WORDS RESONATING

Someone gasps, and everyone looks up. Arcadia's central shopping district goes silent, save for the distant sound of pop tunes played over tinny speakers, as a massive black banner unfurls down the side of a building. A crudely drawn eye fills the banner, bisected by a line of white paint... the unofficial symbol of the Meta rights movement. People start to whisper, and somewhere, there's a cheer. Police drones buzz through the air above.

Meta rights protests aren't uncommon in this part of New Gate City, even though they're soon dispersed by local security forces. This banner, too, will be quickly taken down and destroyed, but the photos and videos of the event will be harder to suppress. Already, the bystanders are murmuring to each other, some in support and some in fear. Others keep their heads down, wary of expressing their true feelings about the rising numbers of Meta-humans. And as security forces move to block off the area, others are frantically trying to disappear.

4: A NEW HOPE GLISTENS OFF THE STREETS

The blocks surrounding the Neo Sapien Organization's headquarters in the Middle Ward are like an oasis at the center of an otherwise inhospitable city. Old buildings have been renovated into bright and cheerful apartments that accommodate a variety of Meta-human physiologies, Meta schools and Meta-owned businesses are flourishing, and Meta-friendly shops and cafes line the streets.

The best coffee in the Middle Ward can be found at The Mean Bean, just across from the NSO building, where the shop's fire-breathing Meta owner personally roasts every batch. NSO employees and and other patrons of the popular cafe congregate to discuss local news and gossip: a proposed Meta registration and identification law, rumors of vigilante gangs near the border with the Last Ward, and rivalries between NSO university sports teams. Arguments occasionally grow heated (especially when it comes to sports), but overall the atmosphere is friendly and congenial.

5: WITHIN THE CHAOS, I KNOW I'M NOT ALONE

The Last Ward's electrical grid is reliably unreliable, but blackouts on this scale are rare. Half the ward has been dark for the past three days, save for a few emergency generators and dwindling battery backups. As winter winds batter old, drafty concrete apartment blocks, the residents grow restless and frustrated. Police have already put down several riots, but there's no stopping the spike in looting and other petty crimes.

In the Parish, many people have opted to barricade themselves inside their homes until the blackout ends, but others are taking advantage of the chaos. Most, though, have chosen to band together to protect each other throughout the long nights. The people of the Parish may not have much, but at least they have a sense of community.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They don't really consider them in the same category. Having a piece of green is a status symbol. I never quite understood why it has to be so restricted but what can I say when I grew up with it?

[Her hands clasp behind her back, fingers teasing over each other in hidden nervousness] I wish more people had a chance to see this. Or those fields. Something beautiful and real.

Heh. Wish they'd work the fields for a day. How's that for a taste of reality? [ Yang doesn't think it would amount to much, but just the mental image of all those rich snobs getting their fancy work clothes all dirty as they toil, and sweat, and break their finely manicured nails with manual labor...

ah, no. Yang can't let herself get carried away by that train of thought. she'd like to keep her spirits up and thinking about the people who did the actual work to maintain this scenery probably still making serious bank doing it was not going to help. Yang shook her head. ]

A-anyway, uh. You're right. There... really ought to be more parks in the city. [ she smiled. ] Just more open spaces for people to lay down with someone on the grass, have lunch, chat, read books.

Did you know they used to actually set up huge screens out in parks at night, so lots of people could just sit out on their blankets and watch, like, as a community thing? No VR glasses or headsets of any kind.

[Given her own mother owns several farms, a similar image sets in her head. She'd been scolded often enough about the green smudges and dirt under her nails to know how much her mother prefers managing versus manual labor.]

Did they really? For everyone? It must have cost a fortune. All that space. How can they even see the screen that way? Weren't they worried about the grass?

[It must have happened so long ago and she's still worried about their grass.]

[ Yang laughed quietly, and started gesturing with her hands to try and lay out the scope of the idea to go along with her explanation. ] You know some of those huge holo-billboards on the side of buildings? The ones you can see down the whole street? It was kind of like that, except projected onto a... I guess it was a canvas? Plenty big so everyone could see.

[ oops. Yang can feel herself getting enthusiastic and possibly attracting attention their way. she rubbed at the back of her neck. ] Uh. I don't think the grass was as fragile as we're used to. But it also used to be all over the place, so... [ kind of sad to think about how a few designated spaces in the city, and along sidewalks was "all over" by comparison to how things are now. ]

[Persephone steps toward the window, looking out at Central Ward, with the glittering lights and brilliant shine of metal and glass. There's a flicker of green neon and she can see vines crept up the building edges, flowers in the cracks, moss hanging in sheets like in an old book she once saw. Books, like anyone had real books made of real paper anymore. Only the elite.

It's not impossible, she feels the power itch along her palms. She could make that happen. Suddenly she turns back to Yang and smiles, bright and eager for some distraction.]

I bet we could show movies on those big holo screens now. I would have loved that as a kid. Hanging out on top of a building with snacks to watch something in person.

[ for a moment, Yang feels like she might have lost her completely with the explanation. perhaps she was a bit too enthusiastic with it? but before she can shrink back in on that thought the young lady turns back to her with that look in her eyes. she took that idea and sort of ran with it, and Yang really appreciated that imagination. ]

Yeah! You know, you're right. That would be super cool. Almost every high place here in the city is off limits, or belongs to the rich, but like, all they do with it is show off to other rich people.

[ Yang maybe not so loud. ] Closest experience I had to that was sitting on top of the barn watching the sun go down through a glass dome...

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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