THE WORLD OF FATHOM

Though beautiful on the outside and in places, the streets of Xeo-Arcadia are a monument to technological innovation and more closely resemble NOIRCOs subterranean station settlements. The streets are large and lined with steel buildings with tall chimneys that belch an enigmatic chemical cocktail that resembles smoke, polluting and poisoning the already limited public air supply. Though like so much in Xeo-Arcadia, whether this cruelty is by design or merely a product of a lack of compassion for those unfortunates that cannot afford breathing devices is not clear. 

The buildings are packed tightly together and much of their architecture more closely resembles the inner workings of a computer or a submarine. Above the cloud of smog that hangs overhead, visible only to those with enough Social Credit to be allowed access to the elevators and towers of the Highborn is the beauteous glass dome, framed by steel walkways and wondrous views out into the ocean and the miraculous sea life that dance about just beyond the glass--some of which are intentionally engineered to be beautiful and bioluminescent or unusual purely for the pleasure of their highborn observers.

The arcology itself is a series of highly regulated domes that are ever-expanding with round the clock construction efforts. There is no night or day beneath the ocean, so such a thing is an alien concept to the average Arcadian, the vast majority of whom have never seen the sun or the light of day (and have no real desire too). The nature of each dome differs wildly, and access is heavily regulated by uncompromising security teams who will not hesitate to throw overly ambitious trespassers with low social credit scores down one of the numerous chutes into the subsector that are more traditionally used for disposing of general waste.

The subsector of Xeo-Arcadia is a hive of scum and villainy occupied by the dregs of society, little is different from here to the subsectors of the other megacities on the surface, except that these technocratic slums are patrolled by mindless slimes that dissolve and digest filth, keeping the area clean and preventing the spread of disease. These slimes are not actively aggressive but will consume the inhabitants without hesitation as they are assigned to digest any biomatter they encounter. There are numerous pipes and tubes in the maze-like labyrinth of the Xeo-Arcadian subsector, and they come in all shapes and sizes, some are boiling hot to the touch, some contain mutagens or other strange chemical cocktails, and some are empty or abandoned, serving as hovels or homes for the destitute and forgotten. The cramped and dangerous life in the subsectors is far from pleasant and when pockets of air can be found or illegally tapped, they are rarely of good quality. Those wishing to escape life in the subsectors must raise their social credit scores by toiling at processing plants specifically constructed there for the purpose of cheap labor and providing a path of upward mobility. The only other way is to gain the favor or assistance of other Arcadians with a higher social credit score, such as through sacrificing healthy organs, prostitution, or other unsavory compromises.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have the garden-like pleasure domes of the highborn, sprawling utopian fields of enchanting alien plant life. These domes are often a testament to the gene-warping achievements of NTT, contain impossibly beautiful birds like alien peacocks, beasts of fantastic shape and size, or creatures warped to serve a specific function as if a living tool. As well as, of course, the luxurious and lavish homes for influential members of NTT and (as is often the case) their children. These domes only contain the cleanest air, as their occupants refuse to breath the same low-grade oxygen as the plebeian masses. For this reason, even though they are open air, most servants and lifeforms encountered other than the highborn and their favored servants will all be equipped with personalized breathing devices.

Though the vast majority of the domes are standard city and residential zones, areas assigned for the middle class. Men and women, for whom each day is almost indistinguishable from the last. With all the normal problems you would expect from domes dominated by rampant unchecked crime to peaceful and welcoming places where it would be ideal to raise a family.

While the standard living conditions and prosperity of the average Arcadian puts to shame the toil and poverty of the Avararians, in many ways their lives are the same – both live to work. In the case of the Avatarians because their communistic masters will murder them if they fail in their tasks, and for the residence of Xeo-Arcadia because instead of using traditional currency, they work for stipends and allowances of air. Without work or a source of income, they will quite literally suffocate and die. And while this might seem horrifying to outsiders, the Arcadians (through a mix of propaganda and brainwashing) will vouch for this system over the Credits and Currency System used in other places – arguing against traditional Credit-Based capitalism with an often-frustrating level of proficiency.

In the commercial zones blocks of TV Sets in windows are commonplace, but rather than blasting the average propaganda of DVS like we encounter on the surface, NTT produces its own (inferior) news and propaganda which exalts the inhabitants of the arcologies while mocking, belittling, or undermining world events elsewhere. This has cultivated within the populace a sense of moral superiority that, in many ways mirrors the attitudes of the most patriotic New Yorker.

The average Arcadian is almost indistinguishable from other Ohmen, but Zenner marks and psychers and mutants or gene-engineered slave races are far more commonplace. The average Arcadian is more accepting of psychers and mutants, but still generally sees genetic deviations as inferior lifeforms rather than people. This underlying sense of superiority and blatant racism flows throughout many aspects of Xeo-Arcadian society, with separate bathrooms and living quarters for mutants or those suffering from genetic impurities. The only way to escape this stigma is through tremendous effort, luck, or proving one’s worth in the Military, though even within the military significant stigma may impede or prevent upward mobility.

New domes are created from fabricated materials or (as is becoming the case in more recent times) salvage from sunken ships that is repurposed. Vehicles are less common in the arcology than in the megacities of the surface, but that is not to say they do not exist. However, the vast majority of transportation is done by strategically placed elevator systems and transit tubes that are built throughout the structure. To this end it is not uncommon to see tubes packed with civilians going to or from the daily grind, not dissimilar to a packed subway train.

While almost entirely self sufficient, containing dedicated industrial domes and production plants and fabrication factories throughout the subsectors, the growth of the sprawling arcology has somewhat slowed in recent years. And while the arcology works 24/7, it is highly productive like a colony of ants but that is not to say it is without its limits.

Beyond finding or fabricating suitable building materials, which are slowly becoming more difficult to acquire after the loss of several sub-nautical mining zones and the current tensions in trade with the surface world, construction is predominantly limited by access to Acheron’s third great invention, the Oxygen Burner—an elaborate machine the size of a small state that boils sea water to produce the oxygen that keeps the whole terrarium system viable.

However, in recent months the Oxygen Burner has come under regular sabotage and attack by primitive marine savages from the trenches. Repairing the system is expensive, time consuming, and with the system currently working at capacity action has to be taken before expansion can get back on to a regular schedule.

These recent attacks on the grid only further fuel the fierce and combative spirit of nationalism and distrust of outsiders felt by the average Arcandian, who sees these impediments as a threat to their very survival and the future of their unborn children.

And while Xeo-Arcadia is still fully capable of producing machines, munitions, and the myriad medicines that allow them a near pharmaceutical monopoly on the surface population, their most important product of all, is people; with the domes collectively containing approximately 17 million people. So their birthrate, which is assisted artificially by NTT gene-technology and their manpower is incredibly significant in enshrining them alongside Clownworld as one of only two Megacorperations to have ever successfully become a solely operated sovereign state.

Which may be in part why the government behind Xeo-Arcadia sees its populace less as unique individuals and more of an expendable force which it can used to pressure or overwhelm any obstacle. This cruelty may be mourned by the surface dwellers or earthlings, but to the average Arcadian, who has never likely seen beyond the walls of the arcology this is simply an inescapable aspect of everyday life.

Most live otherwise meaningless existences of menial labor with their lives defined by the quest for cleaner air or out of a sense of deep-seated national pride. While the more ambitious climb the social ladder like an addictive game.

Either way, the result is the same—a strong-willed, efficient, and driven populace that refuses to look inward at its own flaws or shortcomings too carefully. And when those limits are met, it is easier to utilize technology or warp a new form of life into something that can address it than changing, bending, or self-reflection. Arguably, this is both the greatest strength and weakness of Fisher’s creation.