Editing Paradise City:Urban Geography (section)

=THE CORPORATE SANCTUARIES=

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The sanctuaries are a scattered ring of gated communities that roughly encircle the city and burbs, though there are no sanctuaries in the northern part of the city.  These communities are intended for the poor semi-educated workers employed by major corporations.  The corporations ultimately own and run everything within the walls.  City police rarely venture inside – it is up to the corporate police to keep order here.  In theory, the walls serve to protect the communities from the violent world outside.  This works up to a point – corporate security has become very adept at preventing weapons from being smuggled in and there is no question that people are safer inside the walls than outside.  On the other hand, these citizens are not particularly valuable corporate assets and the corporate police don’t expend a lot of effort to protect them from local predators.  At their best, these communities are “lockdowns”, corporate police states.  At their worst, these communities are “jungles”, crumbling anarchic ghettoes populated by the least valued of human assets.  While each sanctuary is unique, sanctuaries of the Eastside, Southside and Westside tend to have certain features in common, as detailed below.


==The Lockdowns==

===Eastside Lockdowns:  “The Habitats”===

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The corporations go to great trouble to keep order here and there is very little personal freedom.  Citizens spend a great deal of their time physically locked inside their dwellings in order to keep the streets safe and searches for weapons and drugs are commonplace.  Passes are required to enter or leave these communities, although it is significantly easier for an outsider to obtain a pass that will allow them to visit than it is for a resident to obtain a pass that will allow them easy access to the outside world – usually, an outsider can gain at least a temporary pass for about $10 a visit.  Despite these measures to enforce control, the frustrated citizens of the habitats are famously violent.  Because of all the security measures, there is a lot of profit to be made from drug trafficking here and gang warfare for drug-selling territory is a common event.

Transport:  The Habitats are served by the subway system that runs through most of Paradise City.  The subway system is not extensive, but there will be at least one station in each walled community.  The corporations generally fund efficient bus systems to make sure that their employees can get to work on time.  In some neighborhoods, buses may require that identification be shown demonstrating that the passenger is a corporate employee.  There are also corporation-run and/or corporation-sanctioned taxi services, all heavily policed.

Police:  The corporate police have great authority here and are a class apart from the ordinary citizens.  Anyone who wants to do regular illegal business here has better be cutting the local cops in, or they are looking for trouble.  Police generally carry stun batons and sub-machine guns.

Gangs:  The gangs are powerful here and, as long as the police get their cut, effectively rule the streets.  Tattoos and fashionware are common ways in which gang-members identify themselves.  Even gang-members will rarely carry weapons unless they are going to war or expecting trouble.  Weapons that are used tend to be improvised from tools.

Organized Crime:  Despite the widespread poverty, The Habitats are valuable territory.  Corporate prohibitions drive up the price of contraband and there is a lot of money to be made supplying people with things that they cannot obtain through legal channels.  The gangsters here have a reputation for pragmatism, with little concern for the ideals of honor and face that gangsters elsewhere at least pay lip service to.  Old friendships are less important than profits and there is a bewildering network of constantly shifting alliances as the groups compete.

Entertainment:  The corporations have failed to control the people’s access to the internet and the locals enjoy whatever they want – mostly mindless music, pornography, game-shows, sports and saccharine dramas.

Sports:  American football and soccer are religions and are the cause of many a brawl between opposing fans.  Combat sports are also popular, particularly events taking place in The Habitats itself.  Different corporations impose different rules, but will generally allow anything that doesn’t involve the use of weapons or the destruction of corporate property.  The most popular full-contact sports are boxing, karate, kick-boxing and muay-thai.  There is great interest in more extreme combat sports from elsewhere and footage from almost any sporting event in the world is easily available on the internet, despite periodic attempts by the corporations to ban it.  Illegal “medieval” events involving melee weapons are often held in the Habitats and are popular.

Points of Interest:

The Crystal Cathedral is a huge and impressive steel and glass church.  It belongs to Pastor Bill Ireland and it is from here that he broadcasts his television program “The Word of Hope”.  Pastor Ireland has an international following and has accumulated many millions of dollars. His local cult is extremely loyal and he effectively controls the blocks around his church as his personal fife.  Pastor Ireland teaches that forgiveness is available to anyone who repents, but he is also heavy on the punishment of unrepentant sinners.

The towering apartment complex Cherry Hill is host to a community that devotes itself to physical and particularly sexual pleasure. Apartments are only sold to those who swear abstinence from drugs, alcohol and religion.  The community is disliked by local gangs and police alike and there have been incidents of violence from all sides.  Some radical elements of the community want to see alcohol banned throughout their entire Habitat, which has lead to conflicts with other communities.

Weapons:  Citizens are strictly forbidden to possess weapons of any sort here.  Even tools are forbidden in residential areas, unless special permission has been granted.  Knives, bats, chains, even loose lengths of pipe require a special license that is almost never granted.  Violent inhabitants find it almost impossible to obtain weapons from the outside, but often turn to making their own from hidden materials.  Homemade clubs, knives, and hand axes are all common among criminals, but bulky weapons like swords, battle-axes and considered to be too hard to hide.  Periodically, a resident manages to machine simple one-shot handguns – famously, these guns show up easily on police scanners and sometimes explode in the owner’s hand.

Cyberwear:  Cybernetic weapons and cybernetic body cavities (such as flesh holsters), are strictly forbidden, as is any cyberware that makes the user harder to detect.

Smuggling:  All citizens wishing to enter the territory must pass through checkpoints where they are scanned for illegal items and cyberwear.  The system is effective in detecting drugs and while there are plentiful drugs available in the area, they are locally produced and famous for their negative side-effects.

===Southside Lockdowns:  “The Crypts”===

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These lockdowns are probably called “the crypts” due to the extensive subways that honeycomb them.  Such public transport is necessary as private ownership of vehicles is usually banned for residents.  The locals tend to be highly insular, possibly because of sheer lack of mobility.  They don’t use the term “the crypts”, don’t consider themselves to have anything in common with their neighbors and generally do not see themselves as part of any territory that extends beyond their own neighborhood.

Police:  The corporate police care little for protecting the local citizens and extended families form into clans for mutual protection.  While traditional street gangs are known here, after the police, it is these clans who hold most power on the streets.

Gangs:  Much of the ecological role of gangs has been taken over by the clans here, but youths with no family (or no inclination to follow their family’s rules) do form more traditional gangs.  The can rarely contest with the clans for turf, but will engage in hit and run operations to get what they want, or take control of territory that the clans don’t particularly want.  Gangs will generally carry melee weapons, ranging from flick-knives to katanas, depending on how well the neighborhood is policed.

Organized Crime:  As in any lockdown, territory is valuable here, since heavy corporate prohibitions make illegal supply very profitable.  Organizations tend to be run along family lines and the distinction between a clan and a criminal gang is often impossible to draw.  Notions of honor and loyalty to friends and family are central to the culture of most of these groups, although there is more hypocrisy and lip-service to these ideals than genuine commitment.  It is usual for organizations to present themselves as benefactors of the community, protecting them from abuse by criminals from outside.  Territory is divided geographically, rarely with divisions being made by racket except in business districts.

Entertainment:  The residents enjoy all the entertainments of the outside world through their internet connection.

Sports:  Sports in general are popular here, although American football is particularly adored, often leading to brawls between fans.  Combat sports are an integral part of sports culture and events are frequently held.  The rules depend on the disposition of the ruling clan.  Generally, the clans insist that nothing must happen that would offend corporate security, such as the use of weapons.  Dirty street-fighting tactics are generally allowed.  Some clans hold illegal events involving unblunted melee weapons.

Points of Interest:  

“Cloud City” is the name the locals give to a stretch of the Crypts that is so polluted by smog from local Durocorp factories that the air is often not breathable without a gas mask and visibility is often reduced to a few feet.  The many workers who live in the area take great care to make sure that their windows are properly sealed.  As disgusting at the climate is, it provides some protection from surveillance and is a favorite haunt of people who need to hide, people looking to make a secret deal, or people looking for a victim.

Taylor Field lies at the heart of Paradise City’s obsession with American football.  The most financially successful football field in Paradise City, it hosts city, state and sometimes even national championships.  The merchandising empire that has been set up around Taylor Field is enormous and fan obsession there is sometimes hysterical.  People rarely take families to Taylor Field anymore since mob violence between supporters of different teams has become so endemic.  The owners certainly don’t seem to do much to discourage the violence, leading to speculation that they like it because it makes good television.

Weapons:  It is illegal to bring weapons into these neighborhoods and generally very difficult to do, although a low-tech melee weapon can usually be bribed in for $10 or so.  Citizens are forbidden to carry weapons in the street.  Residents are, however, permitted to keep low-tech melee weapons in their homes for home defense.  In practice, this means that most adults hide a small melee weapon, such as a knife, on their persons when they go out in public, and keep larger melee weapons, such as clubs, axes and machetes, in their home.  When a community is going to a battle, they are liable to take their large weapons with them in defiance of the law.  The police tolerate such attacks up to a point, as long as damage to public property is kept to a minimum.

Cyberwear:  Armor that does not look natural is forbidden, as is any weapon that cannot be retracted, and any ranged weapon.  Such cyberwear is rarely found in the territory.

Smuggling:  All citizens wishing to enter the territory must pass through checkpoints where they are scanned for illegal items and cyberwear.  The system is not effective in detecting drugs.

===Westside Lockdowns:  “West Hollywood”===

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These lockdowns are famous for the great proliferation of police and corporate security cameras – the streets and public places are carefully monitored, as are many work places and common areas.  Police manpower is not particularly great and the cops generally have little interest in preventing violence that is not causing public disruption or destroying property.  Still, the system does keep some kind of a lid on the destructive tendencies of the locals.  West Hollywood is the most economically successful of the lockdowns - pay is low and goods are scarce, but the relative order is good for business.

Transport:  The subway system serves these communities.  It is not extensive here, but there is almost always at least one station in each gated community.  The corporations generally provide bus services to make sure that their employees arrive at work on time.  There are also corporation-owned taxi services.  It is standard for both buses and taxis to require that identification be shown, with all information being automatically forwarded to corporate security.  There are illegal pirate taxi services that do not require identity to be shown, but they are expensive.

Police:  The police accept that worthless citizens will feel the occasional need to rob, assault or kill one another.  They are not likely to interfere if they can pass an interaction off as a “private matter”, although they will take action if illegal activity begins to look like it will cause general destruction or disorder.  Ironically, police corruption is relatively low on the street level in West Hollywood, since the officers themselves are frequently effectively under surveillance.

Gangs:  The gangs of West Hollywood usually don’t wear identifying insignia, or choose means of identifying themselves that are not blatantly obvious to a security camera.  Even gangsters aren’t usually carrying weapons and weapons that are used are liable to be improvised.  Gangers usually are quite stealthy and favor quick hit and run tactics.

Organized Crime:  There is little centralization of organized crime, which is mostly a patchwork of tiny dictatorships.  The turf is profitable due to heavy corporate prohibition, but not many people are actually getting rich, since the eternal warfare between mistrustful, ambitious and uncooperative neighbors gets in the way or well-organized business.  Gangster culture revolves around cults of personality directed at local leaders, usually based more on fear and flattery than genuine feelings of admiration.

Entertainment: The locals effectively have unlimited access to the internet, despite constant attempts by the corporations to stamp it out.  They choose a steady diet of sports, pornography and reality television.

Sports:  The locals enjoy all of the major national sports, particularly American football, leading to frequent brawls between fans.  Combat sports of all kinds are a popular television choice.  Different corporations have different rules about what kinds of combat sports events they will permit to actually take place on their property.  Many have a simple ban on all combat sports, some will allow boxing and nothing else, while others permit any vicious brawl as long as no weapons are involved.  Illegal underground events involving knives, chains and other improvised weapons are often held.  The locals have a peculiar love of altering the rules of older sports such as football, baseball and soccer, to allow for more violence.

Points of Interest:  

The McDonald-Douglas-Nguyan Park is the name given to a walled community belonging to the McDonald-Douglas-Nguyan corporation.  The factories here produce vehicles that are exported all over the world.  They are particularly famous for their military aircraft, but also produce a wide variety of civilian vehicles.  The corporation holds regular tests in the wastelands to see how their products hold up under combat conditions.

“Shit Street” is a complex network of old sewers that humans have taken over to use as homes and small businesses.  There are many disadvantages to joining the community that lives in Shit Street, but it does give you somewhere to get away from the constant surveillance.  The heart of Shit Street is well supplied with electricity, fresh water and internet connections – conditions in peripheral pipes may be more primitive.  More than one gang has attempted to claim the Shit Street colony as territory, but the inhabitants prove to be extremely tenacious when defending their home.

Weapons: Citizens here are forbidden to carry weapons.  Weapons that are available are almost all improvised – knives, tools, pipes, chains, and so forth.  Weapons are never worn openly in the street, and are only carried if they are intended for immediate use.  Bats are forbidden and generally unavailable, as is any other item of sporting equipment that could be used as an improvised weapon.  There are many places where a citizen may not even carry a tool that might be used as a weapon, such as a screwdriver.

Cyberwear:  Cybernetic weapons are forbidden as is armor that is not natural in appearance.

Smuggling:  All citizens wishing to enter the territory must pass through checkpoints where they are scanned for illegal items and cyberwear. The system is effective in keeping drugs from entering the neighborhoods.  Locally made drugs are available for the streetwise, but are famous for their negative-side effects are often lead to arrest.

==The Jungles==

===Eastside Jungles:  “The Asylum”===

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When most citizens of Paradise think of the Asylum, they think of drug-crazed lunatics hacking at each other with medieval weapons.  That doesn’t truly represent the average citizen of this area, but it isn’t a bad caricature of the gangs who the police allow to rule the streets.  The police manage to keep most weapons of LR 3 and below out of the community, but have failed to prevent an ongoing explosion in drug use, despite desperate attempts to contain it, and the Asylum sees far more use and addiction than is found elsewhere in the Corpzone.  Many of the citizens seem to have only a tenuous connection to reality, and the locals are known for being strange and unpredictable.

Transport:  The subway system serves these communities.  The system is more extensive than in most lockdowns, but the gangs have taken over a lot of the less important stations, often rendering them effectively unusable.  There will almost always be at least one useable station in each gated community, however.  The corporations pay for a minimal bus system so that the residents can get to work and to shopping.  Buses are often late and in poor repair.  Corporate taxi services are usually restricted to corporate employees.  Private taxi services are usually allowed and service ranges from excellent to horrific, largely depending on price.

Police:  The police here are not hired by the city, but the corporations who house unskilled workers in the area.  The local inhabitants are not considered particularly valuable by the corporations they work for, and the corporate police do not go to great trouble to protect them, nor their environment.  Still, they work hard to keep the community clear of drugs, firearms, and anything else that they think will be trouble.  They fail miserably to keep the drug trade under control and drugs are extremely easy to find here.  They have had more luck keeping the area free of unacceptable weapons.  The corporate police themselves are typically issued a gyroc pistol and an auto-pistol.

Gangs:  The gangs do a good trade in drugs and are relatively prosperous.  They wear their colors in the open and often dress flamboyantly.  In the street, they will always be armed with melee weapons of some kind, and some gangs all use similar or identical weapons.  Combat against other gangs for territory or prestige is common and spectacular, but the gangers don’t dare take on the corporate police.

Organized Crime:  Organized Crime organizations effectively do what they like here, provided that they don’t tread too heavily on the toes of the corporations.  Groups are often large and their control is often so complete that they form the closest thing to a government that the locals have.  Structure is usually feudal, with the most powerful bosses ruling over numerous semi-autonomous local barons.  Obedience within the organizations is given under the open expectation of being rewarded – a boss who does not reward sufficiently may be accused of being “unfair” and betrayed on those grounds.

Entertainment:  The locals have effective access to the entire internet, so watch mindless television to their hearts’ content.

Sports:  Sports are extremely popular in the Asylum, particularly baseball, American Football and Soccer.  Combat sports events are frequently held.  Corporate police will usually tolerate anything that doesn’t involve illegal items like firearms and turn a blind eye to deaths.  The most popular events are matches between gladiators armed with melee weapons.

Points of Interest:  

“Paris” is a neighborhood on the boundary of the Habitats.  The Yosho-Noshi corporation has invested in real estate in the area and is working to transform the neighborhood from an anarchic jungle to profitable lockdown.  Housing prices have correspondingly risen and unskilled workers are being displaced by semi-skilled workers.  The “Parisites”, as they call themselves, resent the invasion of what they think of as their land and the constant introduction of new laws and regulations.  While there have been some attacks on new residents, most of the rage has been directed at the Yosho-Noshi corporation itself.  The violence and destruction is escalating.
          
“The Larp” is the name given to a ring of apartment blocks in the south-east corner of the Asylum.  People gather here to role-play and/or kill each other, much to the residents’ horror.  Originally, the Larp involved innocent medieval and fantasy role-playing, with occasional slightly-dangerous mock-combat.  Inevitably, new players were attracted to the game and transformed it into something much deadlier.  People come here to fight now.  Combat is in earnest, and is frequently lethal.  Most do choose a character of some kind, but others don’t bother, and some come just to mock and kill the role-players.

Weapons:  In theory, all weapons are illegal.  In practice, the police aren’t going to get upset about melee weapons of LR 4 or above and such weapons are openly worn in the street.  Most citizens will at least carry a knife on their hip.  Carrying a larger weapon may lead to challenges from local toughs if they don’t think the character knows how to use the weapon properly.  Just like everywhere else, a weapon carried in the hand is a sign of violent intentions.

Smuggling:  All citizens wishing to enter the territory must pass through checkpoints where they are scanned for illegal items and cyberwear.  In practice, low-tech melee weapons, even cybernetic versions, may be bribed through at around $5 a weapon.  Inside the territory, the police frequently scan citizens for weapons of LR 3 or less.  Discovery will lead to immediate arrest (and if the weapon is LR 2 or less, prison time).  On the other hand, melee weapons (excluding high-tech toys like vibro-blades and mono-whips) are tolerated to the point that even large and exotic weapons are worn openly in the street.

===Southside Jungles:  “The Southside Jungles”===

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Like all jungles, the Southside Jungles are economically depressed and the corporations who own these residential areas care little for the welfare of the average inhabitant, who individually is of almost no value to them.  Because of the loose enforcement of traffic laws, the Southside Jungles are known as a particularly dangerous area to go driving.  The streets attract go-gangers and everyone else who doesn’t feel like obeying traffic rules.

Transport:  The roads are filled with cars and motorcycles driving too fast.  For whatever reason, the gangs here seem to hate public transport and have a particular love of targeting subway stations and buses.  It is possible to get in and out of the Southside Jungles on the subway, but the subway system has been damaged to the point where it isn’t much use for getting around internally.  There are few buses left and those that the corporations can be bothered to provide are armored and come with security personnel.  Private taxi companies flourish, since many people, particularly outsiders, are simply too afraid to take to the roads.

Police:  The police here are not hired by the city, but the corporations who house unskilled workers in the area.  The local inhabitants are not considered particularly valuable by the corporations they work for, and the corporate police do not go to great trouble to protect them, nor their environment.  Taking a page from the South CityPol cops in the neighboring government projects, they do not even bother to enforce traffic laws unless property is actually damaged.  The officers are usually issued a submachine gun, an auto-pistol and a stun baton.

Gangs:  The lack of traffic rules has lead to a proliferation of go-gangs in these neighborhoods, much as it has elsewhere on the Southside.  Firearms are generally unavailable in the enclave and the gangers use melee weapons instead – especially weapons that can be cheaply improvised or can be used while riding a motorcycle.  Bats, chains, pipes and even swords are commonly used.

Organized Crime:  Organized Crime organizations effectively do what they like here, provided that they don’t tread too heavily on the toes of the corporations.  Groups are often large and their control is often so complete that they form the closest thing to a government that the locals have.  Structure is usually feudal, with the most powerful bosses ruling over numerous semi-autonomous local barons.  In theory, strict obedience is always owed from inferior to superior.  Duty is owed upwards to the boss, never downwards to the subordinate.  In theory, the entire Southside Jungle is ruled over by the Chou family, but the Chou are figureheads and have not had real political power in generations.

Entertainment:  The locals have access to the entire internet and generally spend their time passively sucking in mindless entertainment and commercials.

Sports:  The locals enjoy all major sports, but have a particular love of racing and unarmed combat.  The Southside Jungles houses the most prestigious race tracks in the city and hosts national and international competitions.  The locals avidly watch boxing and kick-boxing events from all over the world.  When they hold unarmed combat events of their own, they rarely restrict what fighting style may be used.  Each event will have its own rules regarding what constitutes “dirty fighting” – some forbid nothing at all.

Points of Interest:  

The Children of Michael are a large Christian religious cult who have sworn not to use technology invented after the year 2000 AD.  Their cars and apartments must be specially made and are purchased by them from the cult.  Over the years, the cult has eased its attitude regarding some technology - modern computers are now allowed as is the use of modern medicine, recreational drugs and weapons.  The Children believe that only cult members will be saved on the day of judgment and are not shy about saying so, which has earned them many enemies.  While no major denomination has told its adherents to attack the Children, numerous individuals have done so, leading in some cases to escalating reprisals against rival churches.

Weapons:  The police care enough about public order to arrest anyone found in possession of a ranged weapon, or any weapon of LR 3 or less.  Melee weapons, while technically illegal, are semi-tolerated - they are quite likely to be confiscated, but it is not likely that charges will be pressed simply for possession.  Most citizens carry no weapons at all and weapons that are carried tend to be easily concealed weapons of LR 4 or above.

Smuggling:  All citizens wishing to enter the territory must pass through checkpoints where they are scanned for illegal items and cyberwear.  It is very difficult to sneak a weapon of LR 3, (such as auto-pistols) or above into the territory.  Cybernetic weapons that are neither ranged nor of LR 3 or less may generally be bribed in for $40 per weapon.  The system is not effective in detecting drugs.  Within the territory, if corporate police find you with a weapon of LR 3 or above, you are likely to end up in prison, whereas something less lethal will simply be confiscated.

===Westside Jungles:  ”The Firepits”.===

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The Firepits, as the name suggests, have been repeatedly gutted by fires set by destructive residents.  The area, mostly built of a cheap flammable plastic, is riddled with burned-out areas, sometimes stretching for blocks.  There are still plenty of unskilled corporate workers living here, and there has been some effort to rebuild areas that have been destroyed.  However, too many of the locals seem set on destroying anything that they can get their hands on and most of the corporations who own land here find that it isn’t worth their while to try to rebuild.

Transport:  Transport facilities vary widely depending on the area.  In zones where the corporations manage to keep some kind of order, there are workable bus systems and subway stations.  There was once an extensive subway network here, but so many stations have been destroyed that the subways are of little use apart from getting into and out of the Firepits.  In areas where the corporations have failed to keep order, residents have no services at all.

Police:  The police here are not hired by the city, but the corporations who house unskilled workers in the area.  The local inhabitants are not considered particularly valuable by the corporations they work for, and the corporate police do not go to great trouble to protect them, nor their environment.  They do their best to keep the vandalism and destruction in check, but they are badly under-funded and under-staffed.  The corporations do maintain the outer wall very carefully, to ensure that residents may be passed through check points and scanned for weapons (and especially explosives).  There are plenty of streets where police just do not go, if only because the buildings are so trashed that they are not worth trying to protect.  Officers here are typically issued with a submachine gun, an auto-pistol and a stun baton.

Gangs:  There is not much money to be made here, although the gangs do a reasonable trade in drugs.  Still, for many of the residents of the Firepits, there isn’t a lot else to do than fight – most of the legitimate entertainments were driven out of town by arson and vandalism.

Organized Crime:  This is not very valuable territory and local crime-lords often resemble bandit kings more than businesspeople.  Trouble with gangers is frequent and sometimes devolves into open warfare.  Structure is usually feudal, with the most powerful bosses ruling over numerous semi-autonomous local barons.  An over-boss is known as an “archbishop” here and a boss as a “bishop”.  One bishop may owe allegiance and service to a more powerful bishop, but there can only ever be one “archbishop” in an organization.

Entertainment:  The locals have unrestricted access to the internet, so drink in all the mindless entertainment that television has to offer.

Sports:  The lawless streets of the Firepits play host to almost every strange sport that the locals can think of.  It has been established that causing explosions or crashing large numbers of cars tends to bring police helicopters, but other than that, almost anything can be done.  The area is famous for televising a sport called “Killer” involving contestants stalking each other with firearms.

Points of Interest:  

Near to the highway stands the vast hulking gray form of the Paradise City Rehabilitative Penitentiary, known on the street as “Purgatory”.  Conditions inside are famously brutal and death is common.  Executions are held at the prison and often televised by the highest bidder.  The prison is a prime recruiting ground for criminal organizations and major gangs and war between different groups is an ongoing problem.  Recently, some inmates have been offered early parole in return for joining the military and serving in foreign wars.  The prison is run by the city government.  Prisoners captured by corporate security in the lockdowns or jungles are more likely to be sent to a privately-run corporate prison.
          
“The Mars Project” is the name locals have given to a fenced-off area of four ruined blocks purchased and owned anonymously.  Inside the fence, clearing up the area, are what appear to be robots.  Guards with sub-machine guns and bad attitudes refuse to engage in discussion, or even to allow residents anywhere near the area.  Three different local gangs have now tried to assault the compound, presumably just to show that it could be done.  None of them got very far.

Weapons:  Weapons other than melee weapons are forbidden.  In practice, there are large desolate areas of the Firepits that someone could probably walk through carrying an assault rifle without being noticed.  Police will not tolerate non-melee weapons being openly worn, but with a little Streetwise, it is possible to obtain small arms such as handguns and sawn-off shotguns, generally weapons of LR 3 or above.

Smuggling:    All citizens wishing to enter the territory must pass through checkpoints where they are scanned for illegal items and cyberwear.  The system is not effective in detecting drugs and is only semi-effective in detecting weapons – a sizeable trade in small arms (generally LR 3 or above) takes place over the border.