Kings Cross
King's Cross
King's Cross is a fair-sized port city (roughly where Wilmington, DE is in our own world, though covering somewhat more area) with a population of 305,755 as of the last census.
Several mayors in the past, having agendas that were pro-business, have made the Commercial and Industrial districts strong enough to be a solid challenge and alternative to New York.
King's Cross has, as it grew, annexed several smaller towns and cities, each of which maintains something of its original nature. Thus, aside from the usual 'Uptown/Downtown' or 'Business/Residential' splits, King's Cross residents recognise many distinct neighborhoods.
There are two military bases situated around King's Cross.
Neighborhoods and Points of Interest
The first, up around Hoopes Reservoir (around Ashland, DE in our world) is Swallow Hill Army Post.
The second, Northeast along the Delaware River from King's Cross proper, is Gwinhurst Naval Base.
The various districts/Neighborhoods in King's Cross are:
Old Crosse - The original city, built at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek.
King's Harbour - The docks and wharfs that served Old Crosse, build around the mouth of the Christina River as it empties into the Delaware.
Hessian Ridge - Also called Germantown, where German immigrants congregated.
Southbridge - So named because it lays on the South end of the main bridge over the Christina River from Old Crosse.
Brandywine Village - a small town which straddles the Brandywine Creek. Annexed by Old Crosse in the 19th Century.
Stryker Town - Stryker Town was built in the mid 19th Century to house railroad workers and such. It is the Chinatown/Japan Town of King's Cross. (Both Chinese and Japanese cultural areas can be found within.)
Q - Formerly called Queen's University, for the obvious reason that Lady Grey University sits largely in the middle. A strong liberal arts university, LGU is best known recently for its political science and journalism graduates.
Tor - Long ago, this neighborhood, known for its Celtic street and place names, was called Daffyd's Tor. Now, people call it just 'Tor', and do their level best to pronounce the street names.
People and Groups
Current Groups and People
Citadel - Citadel is an arm of the Federal Penitentiary system, specific to Enhanced or Parahuman suspects and/or convicts. They run both the actual Citadel (where convicted Enhanced or Parahuman criminals serve their terms) and the Holding Cells, where Enhanced or Parahuman suspects are held pending trial. Their strongholds (i.e., local lockups) are heavily built and make use mostly of mild sedatives and muscle relaxants to keep those incarcerated from causing trouble. The Citadel - a SuperMax prison designed to hold Enhanced/Parahuman criminals - uses those plus ParaTech metals and power dampers. Its location is strictly Top Secret. Lawyers can, of course, visit their clients, but must be transported blind - no one who doesn't work at The Citadel or oversees Citadel is allowed to know where it is. The Citadel Guards - The Watchmen - wear ParaTech armour and have weapons which can threaten most Enhanced/Parahumans.
Absolute Power - This criminal organisation seems to exist solely to further someone's designs for world conquest. The crimes they commit are either for funding, to obtain ParaTech, or to obtain actionable information. The name is arrogant, but most analysts advise not to dismiss them. Their strike forces have carried ParaTech on par with that carried by Citadel Watchmen, and they are both well trained and absolutely ruthless in their use of that tech.
Myriad - Myriad presents itself as an amoral science organisation. Amoral isn't a bad term, as they're known to work with anyone who has money and doesn't care about the provenance of the science being used. Human testing (consensual or not) is likely the mildest that Myriad is rumoured to engage in.
UNIT - Originally a UN organisation focused on dealing with Aliens on Earth, this organisation has gradually arrogated more power to itself, occasionally capturing ParaTech for research purposes, or to store because it's too dangerous. Rumoured to have several sub-groups dealing with specific types of situations, such as Wild Science, Magic, and alternate dimensions.
Nichievo - The U.S. Department of Justice has Nichievo on its list of major threats. Unlike the rest, this isn't because of what Nichievo has done directly. Rumour has it that its position is due solely to the fear every other organised crime group the DOJ has dealt with clearly fear this one. According to further rumour, Nichievo is responsible for more drugs, prostitution and corruption than any four of the largest combines out there. Rumour is, however, all anyone currently has to go on.
Mayor Arianha Lind - Currently on her third term as Mayor, she is popular enough to stay in office, but has a tendency to rub people the wrong way in person. She's pro-business, but not at the expense of Unions or workers, and makes it clear that she'll side with the latter two in any negotiation, but will support reasonable business policies. She has, to date, survived two assassination attempts, one from a stalker. The provenance of the other is unknown.
Odessa Gold - Ms. Gold - sometimes called Lady Odessa, though not to her face - is one of the richest people in the state, maybe the entire seaboard. Most analysts believe that she could rival any multi-billionaire out there, except that she has the reputation of pouring most of the profits of her businesses back into those businesses, or into others. The loyalty this earns her from her workers is part of the reason for the nickname - her always exquisite manners and attitudes are the rest of the reason. No one can find any evidence that she has ever used even a euphemism in place of the swear words she doesn't utter.
