[01] The World Of NEO: The City of Zion

The year is 2099.
The ozone layer has depleted into dangerous levels, terraforming the once lush green planet into a punishing life of dead shrubs and constant drought. People adapted to the inevitable change and constructed bastion cities with artificial barriers.
These gigantic cities house millions of people, self-sustainable, and an autonomous society overrun by corporations, government bodies, and organized crime.
Founded by Mayor A. Eyron (deceased), the City of Zion stands as one of the few megalopolis erected with a dome to survive in the barren lands of NEO.

With the rise of technology, the megacorp Observance protects the people of Zion with its advanced AI and military automatons called “Pawns”. Thus, their rise to power follows, separating themselves from the unaffiliated citizens and creating their own social faction, The Cloud Society.

From outside the comforts of this dome is the Wasteland for exiled men. The harsh environment turned these outcasts into ruthless mutants of varying degrees, both bio and mech. They lack the sense of normalcy that citizens of Zion have long gone accepted.

But who are truly free: those who survive outside the city law, or those trapped in limbo by a corporate autocracy?

The least populated in Zion.
The Cloud Society (or The Clouds) represents the high-class citizens and the elite, protected by military-grade weaponry from both Wasteland dwellers and fellow Zionians from the lower status.

They are most at home in boardrooms and upstage pitching a billion-crypto idea to be the next revolutionary product.

They are heavily modified from skin to bone. They prefer the aesthetic beauty of glamour mods denoting their godhood for the typical citizen of Zion.
However, a minority exists where they value themselves in the complete opposite. The Unalloyed People (some would call them “TUPs” in a negative connotation) are like-minded people who reject the idea of body modification.

They are the well-off citizens who can afford without the need for these enhancements, or people who simply choose not to get one.

Like gods among men, The Cloud Society is structured at the highest point within the dome of Zion.
Where the rest of the city is a dirty smudge of neon blue and hot pink, the Cloud Society glows in prismatic white, lush greens, and beautiful tints of gold.
Their only transportation to the rest of the city is through Heaven’s Ascend, a heavily guarded mega-elevator connected to The Strata District.

Let it be known that The Clouds is a breeding ground for power-hungry individuals ready to stab their enemies’ backs.
And when these narcissistic psychopaths band together to get the same agenda, they will feel no guilt in turning the entire city into guinea pigs for their cruel experiments.

The Strata District represents the middle-class citizens. They are the veins of Zion, keeping the bastion city alive with white-collar errands and 9 to 5 desk jobs.
Citizens from this faction rely heavily on their employment by The Cloud Society, as most military units reside here just beneath Heaven's Ascend.
A large population of police force is nested in this area to keep the city in order with the growing population of Bedrock residences emerging like rats from the sewers.

They are less modified than citizens from The Cloud Society and The Bedrock.
They work hand-in-hand with the pawns but do not allow themselves to be deprived from employment. Due to this mindset, they made it mandatory that all employees must be enhanced with body modifications.

It became their culture to riot against their standing government and remind them that humans must be valued more than mechanical structures, not the other way around.

The Strata District resembles the repetitive life of the typical working-class citizen.
Both buildings and suburbs, this urban sector of the city creates an illusion of normalcy and standard living despite the climate disaster happening outside the dome.

The rapid development of AI is alarming. Although Observance claims it to be the miracles of technology, citizens in the Strata District notice the most human-like emotions present in their pawns.
Over the course of decades since their release, numerous sightings of these automatons committing crimes have been reported.

The most populated in Zion.
The Bedrock represents the lower-class citizens and is undeniably overrun by poverty and crime. The homeless occupy abandoned buildings, and gangs proclaim the streets as their turf.

With the lack of intervention from the NEO Police Department (NPD), vigilantes take it upon themselves to protect the local community against criminals, gang wars, and government corruption.

Unlike the Strata District, citizens of Bedrock upgrade themselves to be fully equipped for the harsh life in the city, most notably for combat.
In the same vein, they struggle to find quality body mods up to standards, so they heavily rely on Yama-Ichi, the infamous black market.
What you see is what you get but be careful not to mistake a hand grenade for a heart transplant.

The Bedrock is the white-picket fence for every homeless and gangsters alike.
Unfinished buildings, abandoned train cars, vehicles left to rot in a mountain of junk. Want free rent? Have a look around.

Beneath the slums of Zion lies the notorious underground fighting ring called the Catacombs where warbots partake in gruesome death matches, mercilessly tearing each other apart for entertainment.
Though no humans are harmed, the practice of neurolinking a pilot to a pawn is highly illegal.

The outskirts of Zion.
The Wasteland is a vast arid region that encompasses the entire country of NEO. Due to the intense climate change, the land eroded into a sandy desert and rusted away the establishments that didn’t make it into the bastion cities.

The communities that live outside the bastion cities are small clans with a tribal mindset. With the lack of food resources, cannibalism became a norm, and usually they start with the weakest.
But there are those who walk these lands as a lone survivor. Mutants, often seen as monstrous in figure, developed superhuman abilities that not even the strongest power mod in The Cloud Society could recreate.
They are to be shot on sight, so make sure you do the first strike.

To survive the heat, wasteland dwellers try to build settlements as deep as they can go underground.
With no proper tools, however, they resort to living in the basements of these abandoned buildings, sleeping throughout the day and working throughout the night.

The Wasteland is abundant with precious metals needed to sustain the bastion cities.Because of this, some clans would work with government officials in an underground trade through Yama-Ichi.
Who’s to say their exchange isn't being tampered with?

Bastion City — A city built to properly sustain human life, usually through the form of a large dome.
Catacombs — A fighting ring for warbots located underneath the Bedrock.
Glamour Mods — A type of cyberware upgrade dedicated to improve one’s appearance for the sake of attraction and charisma.
Heaven's Ascend — The main mode of transportation between The Strata District and to The Clouds.
Mayor A. Eyron—The first mayor during the earlier years of Zion City. Deceased.
Mods / Modifications—A cyberware upgrade classified as either health mods, power mods, glamour mods, or relics.
NEO —The country where the story takes place.
NPD — NEO Police Department
Observance —The megatech corporation in NEO.
Pawn — Official term for robots with advanced AI integration.
Pilot — A person who controls a warbot via neurolink.
Power Mod—A type of cyberware upgrade dedicated for combat.
The Bedrock—The slums of Zion.
The Cloud Society—Home of the elites in Zion.
The Strata District — The middle-class of Zion.
The Unalloyed People / TUPs—A minority who rejects body modification.
Warbot —A highly modified pawn used to fight in competitive matches for entertainment.
Yama-Ichi—The largest black-market trade happening within the Bedrock.
Zion — One of the few remaining bastion cities that protects inhabitants from the Wasteland’s harsh environment.