Renegade

A story that takes place in the near, yet still distant future. The year 2XXX, if you will.

Lithium City is home to a number of different technological trades, yet its crowning jewel is one of the world's largest tech manufacturers, Visatech Inc.

Visatech is known for dominating nearly any conceivable branch of technology. Medical, research, domestic, civil, forensic, you name it, they've probably produced an industry-standard piece of equipment. Naturally, such a large coporation has its share of secrets, however, those harbored by Visatech aren't the typical trade secrets. Rather, the type of information the company's founder and CEO keep hidden is much more sinister, and when it accidentally falls into a regular employee's hands, Visatech's higher ups will resort to anything to keep it from reaching the public eye.

History

Past

Lithium City was founded and named after the large deposits of the mineral in the landscape. L.C. is a coastal city that developed rapidly during the industrial revolution, and would later become one of the capitals of technology production of all kinds. 90 years after its founding, Visatech Inc. was founded, and rapidly gained massive international success. This generated huge amounts of revanue to the city, and skyrocketing it to where it is now, a consumerist paradise with a ridiculous cost of living. However, over the years Lithium City developed two unofficial subregions. The Core, which is where all the buisness happens, and The Hole, which is where those who couldn't make it in Lithium City's core went to stay. The cutthroat nature of buisiness within the Core lead to a lot of failures, those who didn't want to or couldn't afford to leave the City setting up their homes in its more skeletal parts. Lithium City's Hole eventually became a haven for runaways, fugitives, and those with nowhere else to go. The rock bottom of rock bottoms.

Present

The Core is still a hotspot for all kinds of technological trade, and is a beacon for tourists and the obscenely wealthy. To accomadate for this, the tourism industry grew rapidly alongside the technological one. High end clubs, hotels, casinos, resorts and restaurants all opened up to be greeted with massive success due to the influx of visitors wishing to see the birthplace of one of the largest technology producers in the world, or just to indulge in the luxuries of Lithium City. Those lucky enough to land a steady job within the Core are pretty much set for life, provided they don't mess up and go down the slippery slope that is failure. Everyone knows where that leads.

Future

While changing the minds of those in control of Lithium City is comparable to moving mountains with a forklift, change is being made. Petitions, protests and general outcry for L.C.'s hole to be abolished have gained traction and major media attention, nudging the hands of the politicians in the right direction. Renovation and restoration projects were launched to gradually reduce the amount of disrepair the Hole has fallen into, and efforts are being made by the kinder citizens to help those who have gotten stuck there.

Story Plot

Project Auxesia was an experiment meant to track and document brain growth and activity across a wide spectrum of ages to be used alongside AI development. It would take place over the course of 3 years, with each subject being given various stimuli while under a very non-FDA approved cocktail of sedatives. This left each subject barely concious and only capable of basic bodily functions, leading to severe muscle atrophy and loss of motor skills, senses, and in some cases, even death. Many lost their lives, and those who didn't were left completely alone with no way to contact their families. Recently, the project was renewed for a second phase involving a much larger pool of testing subjects, as well as a longer observation period that could potentially ruin many more lives, similarly to the first phase.

In the meantime, Project Auxesia had been thoroughly covered up, with the second phase in development only being spoken of in very private locations and files being heavily encrypted and locked down. This secrecy was broken when a particularly careless executive accidentally granted an access code to an unapproved employee, a regular software engineer by the name of William Cresswell. Upon inspecting the files, he came to the realization that not only was Visatech hiding some major skeletons in their closet, but one of those secrets was the reason why one of his childhood friends had gone missing, and had been presumed dead. Determined to find her again and make things right, he saved copies of all the files and set out to attempt to make contact with her.

Naturally, this would not go very well, because as soon as the mistaken access was discovered, every eye was turned towards Cresswell and his whereabouts, and the person behind Auxesia would stop at nothing to ensure that it never got out to the public. Meanwhile, Will managed to get in contact with his missing friend, a young woman known as Delphi Lan. The two of them are so close to obtaining the neccesary files, when an "accidental" car accident completely destroyed any evidence they had, and the two narrowly escaped with their lives. Now, it's up to them to try and find out another way to access these files before the second phase can begin and ruin even more lives.

Society

The Core

The Core truly is the heart of Lithium City. Tightly packed urban streets, tall skyscrapers clustered together, buisnesses constantly competing for the consumer's attention, rows and rows of fancy apartments and nice suburban houses, it really is an ideal place to settle down. Of course, provided you can afford it. Those who are lucky enough to live closest to Lithium City's core are usually high-ranking executives, CEOS, actors, doctors, or anyone with any significant amount of wealth. Anyone fortunate enough to be living remotely near Lithium City's core likely won't have to worry about money at all for a majority of their lives. As you move further from the Core, and more people begin to experience the risk of losing themselves to the ever-changing buisness practices is where you hear the rumors about the Hole. It's a place where all the murderers and serial killers get put away, it's a place where evil scientists dump their unsuspecting victims, it's a place where only criminals, drunkards and ne'er-do-wells live, it's a lawless wasteland, all of it has been whispered between curious kids or gossipy adults. Regardless of what tall tales have been spun about the place, the unanimous opinion is that it's a place of shame. Study well so you don't end up in The Hole, you'd better find a job fast or else it's off to the Hole with you, are all common things parents say to warn their children off the wrong path. However, most of these preconcieved notions and assumptions are flat out wrong.

The Hole

The Hole was originally supposed to be Lithium City's Core. However, before the infrastructure could be completed, Visatech blew up in success, and the developers decided it would be better to move the development to Visatech's location instead, leaving a barely-finished city in its wake. Over time, minor projects and community efforts would develop it into a barely-functioning area that was not a desirable place to live in due to high crime rates and a general lack of good accomodations. Despite this, many people managed to thrive in this environment, creating a closely involved community and many family buisnesses. There's an unspoken, yet mutual agreement that people will leave you alone if you leave them alone, and despite the nasty reputation and rumors that are spread over up in the Core, it's not an inherintely dangerous place if you can keep to yourself. Most people residing within Lithium City's core prefer to pretend the Hole doesn't exist, and when something from the area does demand attention, it's dealt with quietly and forgotten about soon after. Law enforcement is sparse, if not completely nonexistant, thus making it a magnet for all unscrupulous folk, however those who come looking for a fight are not welcomed very nicely. People who are forced into moving to the Hole rarely come back to the Core, and the people around them make it a point not to mention it. Ever.

Occupations

The main industries you'll find in Lithium City are hospitality, entertainment, or technology-related. Of course, the biggest name is Visatech Incorporated, although many smaller buisnesses in similar fields subsist alongside it, in some cases feeding off of its success directly. Device repair shops, accessory sales, you name it, there's a buisness tailored to catering to the massive demand for technology. The few areas that Visatech hasn't managed to monopolized are quickly taken up by other, more moderately sized companies, and while dwarfed in comparison to Visatech itself, these companies also dominate the job field in Lithium City. If you're not working in the tech industry, you're likely working at a restaurant or hotel to keep up with the massive amounts of tourism.

Technology

While technology hasn't developed into anything on a sci-fi level, it has advanced considerably. AI has made leaps and bounds into the common household, and the production of personal service robots is close on the horizon. Plasma and electronic-based weaponry have begun to replace bullets and steel, and medical technology has improved vastly as well, with sutures that heal with little to no scarring as common as bandages in drugstores and pharmacies. As technology has grown and developed, the personal privacy of its users has been slowly and quietly eaten away at by phone and computer producers, as well as social media companies. It's been a slow burn, but it's been getting a lot less easy to hide who you are online, a fact which many are willing to take advantage of.

Housing

While high-rise apartment complexes and condos are reserved for the 1-percenters of Lithium City, there are more managable ways of living if you're employed lower on the coporate ladder. Outside of the core, the clusters of neon signs and gleaming windows thins out into something more reasonable, where a majority of the population density resides. Still, the area is very nice, with well organized suburbs and school systems, it's a favorable place for young couples and new families looking to start a life together. Housing in the Hole however, is not nearly as nice. Even the best places are full of outdated construction, buildings are falling apart and crumbling even more by the day, everything about it is ancient, and nobody who can help is willing to. Buildings intended to be hotels have been converted into cramped and messy apartment buildings, and bungalows that were supposed to be temporary have become permanent living situations for many people. None of the houses exceed two stories, and most only have four or five rooms at most.

How it Works

Source

Description of where it comes from (the divine, a flower, a lake, an artifact, etc.). Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum ultricies ante dapibus risus porttitor, vitae scelerisque ex viverra. Duis et turpis lacus. Vivamus eu tellus in nibh ultricies tristique a vitae eros. Vivamus aliquam, libero non tempus tempor, nunc sem vehicula felis, nec aliquet sapien dui nec lectus. Nam tempor porttitor suscipit. Suspendisse commodo nec nisi in condimentum. Vivamus et interdum erat. Vivamus suscipit quam leo, sit amet scelerisque tellus malesuada nec. Curabitur sagittis a odio at varius. Nunc finibus ligula eget velit consequat sollicitudin. In at augue vulputate, hendrerit justo imperdiet, porta dui. Aliquam at porttitor dui.

Abundance

Description of how common/uncommon it is/what sort of beings have it. Aliquam nulla dolor, sodales a tristique eu, tristique sit amet nisi. Aenean vitae posuere ligula. Suspendisse pharetra dapibus nibh ac aliquam. Suspendisse convallis odio id nibh facilisis, a tempus nisl tristique. Phasellus feugiat scelerisque felis, vel tincidunt tellus vehicula eu. Nam posuere quis felis at ultricies. Sed quis lorem sit amet elit elementum feugiat sit amet et orci. Cras ut leo id turpis eleifend pretium at vel nisi.

Acquisition

Description of how a being can acquire magic (born, earned, etc.). Sed rutrum fermentum blandit. Vivamus vehicula eu nulla ut ultricies. Suspendisse pulvinar dignissim lorem. Pellentesque a dignissim diam. Donec tortor lacus, imperdiet in est ut, consectetur mollis massa. Aliquam convallis purus id augue iaculis blandit. Sed mattis condimentum tellus non maximus. Donec dictum, nisl et interdum tincidunt, quam nisi sagittis risus, vitae tincidunt neque nisi a tortor.

Types

Type

Description of type of magic and how beings use it (speaking, gestures, spellbooks, etc.). Etiam interdum lacus purus, non tincidunt arcu sollicitudin a. Curabitur vestibulum ornare semper. Curabitur ac volutpat neque. Phasellus nec neque vel odio finibus interdum eu sed leo. Nam eget congue orci. Cras molestie gravida eros, at aliquet lorem luctus at. Mauris faucibus quis ex non euismod. Proin lobortis id elit et ornare. Cras sit amet porta erat, et aliquet libero. Ut bibendum, mi et iaculis pellentesque, dui enim aliquet purus, non maximus quam diam vitae tortor.

Type

Description of type of magic and how beings use it (speaking, gestures, spellbooks, etc.). Praesent egestas sollicitudin dui, in feugiat lacus maximus ac. Aliquam ac tellus tortor. Vivamus mi dolor, dictum vitae massa id, tristique commodo lacus. Donec eget libero vel nibh accumsan luctus nec non nibh. Donec tincidunt varius libero. Donec ut erat aliquam, accumsan mi id, mattis neque. Aenean sit amet sollicitudin mi, sed tincidunt libero. Integer ut lobortis quam. Etiam faucibus a ligula id iaculis. Quisque porta diam nec leo euismod facilisis vitae eu est.

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