Metropolis, otherwise known as Metropolis City or Sector 10, is a primary location in SELF/LESS and RELENTLESS. Metropolis is radically monitored by a strict government who condemn all lawbreakers to Sanitisation.
Location[]
The City Council building, as seen in VOLUME II.
Metropolis is the largest and only remaining city left on Earth, the rest of the world having been torn into disarray by a nuclear fallout of the Outside World. The City is surrounded by a tough, skyscraper-tall outer wall to keep the people safe. This is constantly patrolled by the City Guards. It houses millions of 'Chosen People', and all who are over seventeen have been marked with their Partnership Seal. The City Council contains files on every individual, and flushes out files on those who have been 'infected' and later Sanitised.
Metropolis is ruled by the City Council and the Mayor. Radical laws condemn all forms of self-expression and creativity, banishing human nature.
Thousands of suburbs are dotted in patterns around Metropolis, all with identical buildings colourised via job placement and wealth. Houses for the privelaged are painted blue, the colour of the Mayor and supreme authority. Shops may only sell things such as food, like Maree's coffee shop, legal clothes and manuals for being a good citizen of Our Great City. Office buildings are as tall as skyscrapers, all with the signature Eye emblazoned on their front.
Beliefs[]
Self-Expression[]
Metropolis citizens believe that fundamental human nature is insideous, that they need the help of Sanitisation to control the 'taint' of creativity. They do their utter hardest to quench the thirst for self-expression. Citizens are encourage to report anomalous activity to the Council Eye and City Guards, where Sanitisation will take place without a trial or even second thought. They have been taught that they do not know what it best for them; the City Council does. They do not know if they are 'infected'; the City Council does. Anyone could be infected - undesirables are crawling if you only squint, sometimes found in your own backyard.
Nuclear Fallout[]
The citizens have been informed through their School Code of a horrific nuclear fallout. This tremendous expolosion supposedly decimated the outside world - it reeks of infertility and evil. Metropolis citizens believe they are lucky and 'chosen' to have the oppurtunity toprivelaged life. However, unknown to citizens, there is absolutely a world outside.
A thick, high wall of concrete rings the city, barring entry or exit. A train is the only entry and exit point from Metropolis - or Sector 10 - into other sectors outide the wall. Metropolis citizens do not believe there is any life behind the wall, but there are sprawling cities and sectors exploding beyond with Metropolis acting as the capital.
Daily Life[]
👁 We watch because We care.
All residents in Metropolis are rigidly controlled by the City Council and the Mayor, with the laws condemning self-expression. Those who live in Metropolis have their lives carefully constructed, and their numbers counted when they are seventeen years old. At this age, the Partnership Seal is tattooed onto the citizens' necks, marking them as an official member of Our Great City.
Citizens live a privelaged but limited life inside their homes. Each ciziten is allocated an area code - effectively a street - and are often shifted, whether it be that they have graduated from their School Code or they have been reported behaving anomalously. Everything from the calories in the food to the temperature of the shower is Council-approved.
Children attend a School Code until they have graduated at seventeen. The progression from a child into an adult is confirmed by three Occasions - Job Placement, Partnership, and Sealing.
Job Placement[]
The Job Placement determines what job you will work as for the rest of your life, until you are allowed to retire. Those higher in social class recieve better, higher-paying jobs, and those in middle and lower classes recieve things like plumbing and electrical engineering. Jobs are often colour-coded -journalists in yellow, authoritorians in blue, etc.
Partnership Ceremony[]
The Partnership Ceremony determines your Partner - permanently, unless they pass away or are Sanitised. This is like a controlled wedding, with scientific calculations balancing your intelligence, traits and desires perfectly to ensure you have the perfect partner. You do not choose whom to love. Falling in love with someone in another Partnership resultsin Sanitisation, most probably of both parties.
The Sealing[]
The Sealing is when the Partnership Seal and your city ID code are printed onto your neck, tattooed permanently. This marks your place as a fully functional adult citizen of Metropolis.
Platinum Jubilee[]
The Platinum Jubilee celebrates the sevenieth anniversary of Metropolis. The celebration is regulated and strictly bans any form of musical celebration, artwork and radical festival. It is merely an acknowledgement of how far Our Great City has become.
The Jubilee may also be a convenient excuse to tighten security, as cameras and robots as well as intense alarms have been added. These were originally blown off as specifically for the Jubilee, but they remain months after the Jubilee is over.
Trivia[]
- Escaped Metropolis citizens that reside in the Underground cover their Seals with tattoos or other art, trying to disband themselves from their otherwise permanent place in the city.
- Teddy Veodrum's family is the poster family of Metropolis, with her father being the most trusted Senior Counsellor and her mother being the editor of Metropolis's magazine.
- The primary location of AViVA's cover art takes place in Metropolis.
