The City Project Moon

The City The City is a massive urban complex the size of a small country, and has a population of around 7 billion. The City is bordered to the south by the Great Lake, and to the other directions by the Outskirts. Underneath it lies the Ruins.

The Head is the leader of the Wings and the central governing body of the City. It is in direct control of A Corp., B Corp., and C Corp., the three Districts at the very center of the City. The Head's identity is completely unknown, although it appears the term refers to a group of people rather than a singular entity; any detail regarding it is a closely guarded secret.

The Head, through A Corp., retains control of the entire City. It is responsible for authorizing Wings, managing patents, and the minting of Ahn, the currency used in the City.

Despite this, it does not typically interfere directly with the affairs of the various Wings in their own Districts; Rather, the Head's greatest involvement in the life of the City consists in establishing and enforcing the rules that relate to the overall ethics of the City.

The Head's will shapes the image of the City, as it wields the ability to decide when a part of it no longer fits in the vision, and to chase it outside its confines. Some speculate the Head's decisions in these matters aren't aimed at maintaining order, but rather that the Head wishes to preserve its ideal image of the City, and that for this reason they allow the various Stars of the City to keep existing. This is corroborated by the agents of the Head themselves referring to their work as cultivating the ecology of the City.

To preserve this vision, the Head retains the unique power to assign the highest risk level in the scale of hazards of the City, that of Impuritas Civitatis, or Impurity of the City. The risk level of Impurity signifies a hazard that violates the ethics of the City, and that must be either destroyed or physically expelled from the confines of the City expeditiously.

At a certain point in history, sapient beings that weren't humans were driven out of the City and into the Outskirts, and their existence within the confines of the City was deemed a Taboo. This marked the beginning of the City's "age of humanity". As part of this action, the Head introduced the Artificial Intelligence Ethics Amendment, which established a series of City-wide Taboos against the creation of machines that resembled humans, outlawing the creation of both mechanical copies of a human body and machines with an intelligence comparable to that of humans. Furthermore, a Taboo was established by the Head against the resurrection of a human being. Ultimately, all of these are considered to be unethical pursuits.

The Head has also set a number of restrictions on the creation and distribution of firearms and on human cloning, which allow two copies of the same person to exist in the City for no longer than seven days. The Head is also responsible for various other Taboos of the City, such as not paying one's taxes, and violating a residential area during the Night in the Backstreets.

The punishment for breaking any of these Taboos usually involves physical extermination, and for a Wing, the stripping of its qualifications and immediate shutdown. The punishment for violating the Taboos established by the Head is noted to be different from breaking a Taboo of a Nest, which usually involves being chased by a small number of Taboo hunters; breaking a Taboo of the City is believed to be equivalent to a death sentence.

The Head is backed up in its functions by the Eye and the Claw, the two authorities responsible for B Corp. and C Corp. respectively. In enforcing the laws of the City, the three Wings make use of three types of agents: the Arbiters, the Beholders, and the Claws. When handling an Impurity-level threat, these agents are qualified to expel an entity from the City itself and move it into the Outskirts.

Color Fixers are the Fixers that the Hana Association has deemed to be above and beyond their typical grading scale. These Fixers are expected to perform at a level that makes them the ideal choice for dealing with Star of the City level threats. Color Fixers are not only the most successful, but are meant to be looked up to and admired by Fixers of lower ranks. The Hana Association chooses Color Fixers based not just on their abilities, but to inspire other Fixers to improve their abilities and climb the ranks to as high as they can go. The title of a Color Fixer is given by force to any who the Hana Association deems qualifies as worthy of it, meaning that it is impossible to turn down the role.

To the average Fixer, the life of a Color Fixer is one of absolute freedom, and the only thing that properly delivers on the promise of independence and self-sufficiency that many young Fixers are sold on. Color Fixers are not only strong enough to protect themselves from nearly any threat, but also wealthy from the work they do and are able to pick and choose the contracts they take freely. Some Color Fixers have been seen pursuing their own, personal goals that are completely unrelated to their Fixer work, such as the Purple Tear's pursuit for her missing son. Despite this general perception of Color Fixers, some question if they can be considered truly free, as the title is forced on them with no say, and can be taken away by the Hana Association if they deem their behavior or performance unfit of such a prestigious title.

Everyday life in the City is defined by a constant struggle to stay afloat. While the people of the Outskirts dream of living in the City, which they see as a safe place from the monsters that plague it, the people of the Backstreets strive to gain the wealth and power to gain access to a Nest, partially due to the influence of the Wings publicizing Nest dwellers' lives as the height of prosperity and comfort, and the people of the Nest struggle daily to keep their place inside it, while being constantly exploited by the Wings.

Regardless of their station, the people of the City are never free, and in order to survive, they typically tie themselves to various forms of organizations, seeking security and belonging in something larger than them. In doing so, they're willing to exploit others beneath them and make use of all the City can offer them, without caring about anyone else's well-being, and often taking pleasure in their suffering.

The people of the Backstreets must typically tie themselves to one of the Five Fingers or their subsidiaries to receive the necessary protection to carry on with their lives, while the people of the Nests depend on the Wings to shelter them. Because of this, Nest dwellers are colloquially known as "feathers". While the high level of security the Nest provides makes it the most ideal place to reside, its daily routine, which is often accompanied by overtime work and the constant fear of losing one's job and place in the Nest, can be stifling and oppressive to many of its citizens, with some recalling becoming listless as if they "lost focus, spacing out and staring into empty places".

The necessity for a connection to a group also means that the people of the City try not to form strong connections between individuals, as personal bonds can become a hindrance in one's abilities in the case of a loved one's death, which proves to be especially dangerous for those involved in Fixer work.

The Cityfolk are still generally accustomed to such events, and it is not considered uncommon for them to swiftly move on by searching for a substitute.

In general, death, including mass casualties, is a common occurrence in the City. People all over the City are greatly accustomed to this, to the point even cases of 80,000 casualties are considered, while distressing, not particularly shocking, and not important enough to require special attention unless they happen to be within a Nest. Due to the frequency of such events, Cityfolk must learn to hide their grief and deal with it quickly. Furthermore, the availability of technologies such as prosthetic substitution, the ability to quickly reconstruct flesh, and Life Insurance in many ways trivialize pain and death itself for those who can afford it, leaving their users insensitive to such dangers.

These factors have led to the people of the City becoming apathetic and uncaring of other people's suffering, living without allowing themselves to truly feel their emotions and wishes, and lacking the curiosity to learn about the world they inhabit and the technologies they make use of every day, instead preferring to shut out reality altogether whenever possible. The L Corp. researcher Carmen would come to describe these traits as a "disease of the mind", that plagued the people of the City, and that if left alone, it would bring them all to destruction. Lobotomy Corporation's work began as an attempt to cure this disease, and the Distortion phenomenon would be born in its aftermath.

The Cityfolk's feelings manifest in different ways as well. Their desires are mentioned to beget concepts comparable to "gods", such as the Prescripts of the Index, which are generated from the people's wish for a direction in life.

EGO (Extermination of Geometrical Organ) is a type of personalized equipment manifested from an individual's mind. They usually take the form of massively powerful weapons and/or armor.

There are two main types of EGO: EGO extracted and borrowed from an Abnormality, and EGO manifested by oneself.

Function Effloresced EGO is distinct and personal from person to person. While Abnormality-extracted EGO will reflect the ego of the relevant Abnormality, EGO manifested by oneself will match their own ego. As a result, they vary widely in both appearance and function. Generally, manifested EGO takes the form of some kind of armor, weapon, or both. It compliments the individual rather than overtaking them.

Like the other form of EGO, Efloresced EGO is extremely powerful. However, it represents familiarity and dominance over one's own ego, rather than the borrowing of someone else's. It can still be wielded in ways which farm more power from it, like Lobotomy EGO. Additionally, once having manifested EGO, it can be manifested again at any point at will. Kali describes having to "get used" to her Effloresced EGO over time, learning how to use it for longer periods and draw out its full strength.

There are a few notable outliers to the usual weapon/armor. For example, it is possible to instead manifest entire buildings: Angela's EGO being The Library and YuRia's her workshop. It may also be that the Lobotomy Corporation headquarters itself was Ayin's personal EGO.

Once someone has managed to manifest EGO, they gain an immunity to the Distortion Phenomenon. However, only managing to manifest an incomplete or Volatile EGO (as in Philip's case) will still leave the user susceptible to distorting.

If the user undergoes severe mental degradation with their EGO manifested, the Effloresced EGO may dissipate with their shaken heart.

In the City, a common path in life for those without better options is that of the Fixer. A Fixer is a sort of handyman, who can be hired for everything from menial tasks to active combat. Fixers are subject to a grading system based on the missions they complete. A Fixer starts at Grade 9 and can be promoted to a higher grade, all the way up to 1; In the case of a Fixer being caught breaking work regulations, they can lose their status and be demoted to a lower grade.

A majority of Fixers congregate in Fixer Offices, small to mid-sized businesses led by and composed of Fixers. Offices process requests dedicated to whomever in their ranks may be best suited. Offices can work independently, or they can be associated with particular Associations of Fixers, which are larger professional organizations with City-wide influence, with particular interests aimed at the Fixers working beneath them.

There are thirteen Associations in the City, each of which manages certain types of requests common to Fixer work, such as the Zwei Association focusing on protection missions, or the Devyat' Association focusing on delivery across the City. Associations control and distribute Fixer tasks, and can take jobs from anywhere within the City, as they have individual branches set up in various Districts. Branches are divided into four groups corresponding to the cardinal directions of the City, and employees are further divided by grade into sections ranging from 1 to 6, with lower number sections corresponding to higher Fixer grades.

Every Association has its own rules, specialties, uniform, and agreements with other factions. The Associations are governed by the Hana Association, which oversees everything related to the Fixer system, including Fixer grades.

In the case of a Grade 1 Fixer demonstrating great renown in any particular field of work, they may be considered beyond the grading system, and receive the title of Color from Hana Association as a way to signify their exceptional skill. Color Fixers can keep working in their Offices, or be contracted by a company. They are admired throughout the City, and it is a common belief that the life of a Color is one of true freedom. Despite this, Color Fixers are still bound to the regulations of Hana Associations and of the Head, and due to their ability they're often made to handle the most dangerous hazards of the City.

Denizens of the City have developed a wide variety of fantastical technologies that they use on a daily basis.

People from all quarters of the City make ample use of body modification procedures, which allow individuals to augment their strength or replace lost body parts. Prosthetic substitution involves the replacement of organic parts with mechanical or bionic ones, making it possible for a person to replace their entire body, with the exception of the brain. Due to the Head's Taboo against copies of human bodies, this makes the sight of an individual with mechanical limbs or a display in place of their head incredibly common in the City.

Furthermore, City denizens can make use of various types of life insurance policy, such as the one provided by H Corp., that allow resuscitation after death. Thanks to these policies, individuals who can afford the cost can be brought back to life in a new body without violating the Head's Ethics Amendment, as long as their brain remained intact.

Augmentation procedures are also used by a large demographic of people, from Syndicate members to wealthy Nest citizens. Augmentation is particularly common among those involved in Fixer business, to the point it's considered virtually impossible to do Fixer work without investing in augmentation procedures. Through these procedures, an individual might obtain superhuman speed or strength, or strengthen their body parts to become impervious to various types of attacks.

Districts The City is divided into twenty-six Districts, quite diverse in culture and aesthetics, each of which is governed by a Wing, a corporation that has ascended to claim complete control of said area. All Wings respond to the Head, the supreme governing power of the City. The arrangement of the Districts seems to be static, as there has been no mentioned case of a District expanding into a fallen Wing's territory.

Each District is split into a Nest, a territory directly governed and protected by its Wing, and the Backstreets, expansive spaces of wilderness or slums, largely neglected by the Wings, where the Syndicates of the City run free.

Districts tend to have similarities to their neighbors, and are typically grouped into four sections: the northern, eastern, southern, and western quarters. These quarters may be distinguished by commonalities including culture and temperature, such as the same Fixer Associations differing in garb and fighting style across different quarters, or the northern quarter having colder weather.

District 26, while confirmed to exist in current times, is not visible from the map.

Together, the Five Fingers control the Backstreets and prevent the Wings and Associations from interfering with those parts of the Districts, and even the Head cannot easily oppose their control over the Backstreets. In order to keep this level of control, the Fingers periodically meet together in a conference known as the “Finger Bow-Bell” to discuss how best to maintain their hold over the Backstreets.

Most of the time, however, the Five Fingers are rivals to each other, and fight over territory and other disputes. As seen with the fall of L Corp., the Fingers are quick to move in and attempt to claim the Nest of a fallen Wing as their own.

Each Finger has a distinct culture, with a harsh set of rules they expect to be followed by any who work with them. Like smaller Syndicates, the Fingers offer protection to residents of the Backstreets at a cost, with the tasks expected of the person seeking protection varying from Finger to Finger. Additionally, other Syndicates can become subsidiaries of a Finger, giving them a powerful connection so long as they provide support to the Finger and follow the orders given to them.

The Pinky is a Finger shrouded in mystery, and many elements of how the Finger operates are still unknown. Members of the Pinky hide amongst the rest of society, infiltrating other Syndicates, including even the other Fingers, and organizations. Members keep their relationship with the Pinky a secret, and because they only tend to encounter each other under specific circumstances, are almost always unaware of another's status as a Pinky member, even when directly interacting with each other. Members typically operate independently unless they have been given orders to do otherwise, and may even spend their 'free time' in conflict with other members of the Pinky.

Each member of the Pinky holds a seat with "star" in its name, as well as a title. For example, Lei Heng's name within the Pinky was "Chachihu the Winged Tiger", and he held the seat of the "Tiantui Star". Seats become vacated when a member dies.

Like the other four Fingers, the Ring is a large Syndicate with a unique culture and creed that all members follow fervently. Its focus is on art. Members of the Ring are eccentric artisans enamored with art reflecting the human condition, which they pursue by causing and exhibiting human suffering. Their artwork takes a wide variety of forms, from sculptures made of corpses to massacres painted out of someone's mind. The Syndicate manages art galleries featuring their works, and will at times auction them off.

The Ring offers protection to residents of the Backstreets under its occupation, so long as the citizens are willing to create art to be evaluated by the Ring. These civilians periodically submit artwork to be graded at an exam site, where Ring members refer personal judgments on a letter scale. One failing grade results in a warning, two results in the loss of the Ring's protection, and three results in an on-site execution. Similarly, lower-ranking members of the Ring regularly complete 'assignments' issued by higher-ups within designated time periods to maintain membership.The Ring has also been known to use the Corridor technology, which allows them to create an exit from anywhere. The created door will then lead into the Corridor, which takes the form of a physical hall connected to the Ring's bases, and can grow to contain hundreds of doors leading to hundreds of locations. While the Corridor technology is not exclusive to them, and even used with Mephistopheles' own backdoor,[9] the Ring allows random citizens the chance to access their Corridor as a prize for winning an auction for a Maestro's art piece. The District 22 section of the Ring made use of their Corridor in order to access an N Corp. laboratory and conduct research on Identity technology.

Members of the Ring dress primarily in white, seeing the way it stains as a sign of the artistic process. They wear at least one ring, starting on their left hand,

Hierarchy The Ring's hierarchy system features at least three major ranks, which do not appear to contain sub-ranks. The ranks are as follows:

Student: The common artist who both submits assignments to the Maestros for grading and grades the work of Ring-affiliated civilians.[6] Docent: A mid-rank. Appears to be the rank in charge of hosting art galleries. Maestro: A high-ranking artist. Gives out assignments to the lower ranks and hosts Ring auctions. Overall, very little is known about the Ring's hierarchy and how it affects interaction between members. Sub-sections In addition to member ranks, the Ring also contains at least three sub-sections known as "schools". The schools are as follows:

Fauvists: Those who tend to make use of primary colors and complex lines. Known to wear animal masks. Pointillists: Those who tend to make use of small strokes and dots to depict the flow of light. Known to wield paintbrush-like weapons. Cubists: Those who seek to incorporate abstract three-dimensionality and depth. Corporists: Those who utilize the interaction between human bones and muscles, and the contraction and elongation thereof. Each school represents a unique approach to creating art. Members of different schools are not physically divided from one another, and assignments often require them to work together, leading to frequent squabbles over which method is best.

Like the other four Fingers, the Middle is a large Syndicate with a unique culture and creed that all members follow fervently. Members operate on an extremely tight-knit 'familial' structure, enjoying close fraternal ties with one another. Reflective of their bonds, everyone in the Middle refers to each other as their "Brothers", "Sisters", or "siblings".

While the Middle cherishes its own members, it takes the polar opposite approach towards outsiders. Any "sin" committed against a member of the Middle, their loved ones, or property is recorded in the "Book of Vengeance" so that the perpetrator might be punished for the deed. The Middle is well-known for never letting go of unfulfilled grudges, and members may spend years chasing down its enemies to enact justice. Besides listing the names of everyone who has slighted the Middle, the Book of Vengeance also provides guidelines for the punishment to every conceivable crime, which range from killing a sibling to the simple act of stepping on a member's shoe. Depending on the crime, the Middle will not hesitate to annihilate everyone in the perpetrator's faction, town, or social circle. As with the case at Rodya's hometown, the Middle may not even care who actually committed the sin, and will just opt ​​to enact mass vengeance against whoever's in the vicinity in order to teach everyone nearby a lesson. On the other hand, slights between members of the Middle are generally ignored and forgiven. However, joining the Middle isn't a perfect solution either, as members are forbidden from leaving. Anyone who attempts to move on from the Syndicate will be hunted down by their former siblings until they die or erase absolutely every indicator of the Middle from themselves.

There exists no strict dress code among the Middle beyond blending in with other members. They tend to wear light-colored dress pants and garish shirts or coats in purple and pink tones, as well as carry around personal copies of the Book of Vengeance with them. Other common attributes include golden chains wrapped around the forearm, shins, and neck (larger amounts of chains are present on higher-ranking members), which the Middle utilize in combat, and are meant to symbolize solidarity and connection between siblings. Members of the Middle are also recognizable by their enhancement tattoos; as they are allowed to get a single tattoo with each vengeance completed, the number of tattoos present on one's body tends to denote their ranking in the Syndicate. In combat, they make use of punches and kicks.

Hierarchy The Middle's hierarchy system features at least four major ranks, which do not appear to contain sub-ranks. The ranks are as follows:

Little Brother/Sister Young Brother/Sister Big Brother/Sister Great Brother/Sister While there are multiple ranks within the Syndicate, they do not seem to call for any difference in how members treat each other, as in-group relationships are built on mutual respect, care, and trust that succeeds any power structure. Instead, there exists a natural tendency for lower-ranking members to want to impress their superiors, and higher-ranking members to dote on their subordinates.

Like the other four Fingers, the Index is a large Syndicate with a unique culture and creed that all members follow fervently. Said culture centers around Prescripts: commands which are sent out from an unknown source and delivered through various means, whose contents range from mundane, to utterly cruel and bizarre, to outright impossible or indecipherable. Members of the Index, as well as Backstreets citizens looking for the Index's protection, are required to follow the Prescripts they receive. Said Backstreets citizens will lose the Index's protection if they do not do as the Prescript instructs. Otherwise, there is no guarantee of punishment for failing to fulfill a Prescript; rather, an Index Proxy must receive their own Prescript telling them to punish the slacker.

Most Index members grow numb to the workings of the Prescripts, and will carry them out without question. Those who do try to rebel against the system have little chance of maintaining their spirit in the face of the Prescripts' seemingly all-knowing nature. Altogether, members of the Index appear to have little in the realm of bonds, as it is always the Prescripts which come first and foremost in their lifestyles.

Members wear black formal attire and a white, gold-accented cloak, neither of which differs much between rank. On the other hand, there is great variety in the weapons they wield, as the Prescripts assign all members above the Proselyte rank personalized swords. Proselytes wear blindfolds meant to teach them to follow the Prescripts regardless of what is happening before them, which is removed upon their promotion.

Hierarchy The Index's hierarchy system features at least four major ranks, which are comprised of a less traditional echelon. The ranks are as follows:

Proselyte: An initiate of the Syndicate who joined after receiving a Prescript asking them to become a Proselyte. They may reject this offering if they wish. Proselytes learn the ways of the Index by shadowing a Proxy in groups of five to six (a "familia"), and will be promoted to either Proxy or Messenger after showing a certain level of competence.[6] Proselytes may be rewarded with fabric to extend the length of their own cloak; a longer cloak indicates their own progress as a Proselyte. Proxy: A higher rank equivalent to a Messenger. They receive and carry out Prescripts with their familia. Their Prescripts can ask for anything, but the order to punish others who have failed to carry out their Prescripts is the most consistent one. Messenger: A higher rank equivalent to a Proxy. The duty of receiving and delivering Prescripts to their recipients is held by them. It is unclear whether they receive frequent Prescripts like Proxies do. Weaver: A special member whose position in the totem pole is unknown. They tend to the machines and looms that create the Prescripts. Their existence is a secret to most, and the Weavers themselves aren't aware of how many are in their ranks.

Like the other four Fingers, the Thumb is a large Syndicate with a unique culture and creed that all members follow fervently. In particular, members of the Thumb value politeness and respect to one's superiors above all else. In practice, this means that the Syndicate demands absolute compliance to hierarchy, as when dealing with the Thumb, any action that demonstrates a lack of respect for higher authority will be met with immediate punishment. Depending on the mistake, the consequence may extend past the rule breaker, to even their blameless comrades.[6] Ultimately, the Thumb will punish anyone it deems an offender, regardless of how innocent the mistake or clueless the individual is. Members of the Thumb also understand their own need to respect outsiders, and may spend time studying the hierarchy of other City factions in order to ensure they never disrespect someone of a higher rank. Thumb punishments tend to revolve around the removal of body parts, such as body dismemberment or the forceful removal of one's tongue.

While the shape of the Syndicate differs slightly depending on the quadrant of the City, members tend to dress in black, red, and gold attire. Each member's status can be gleamed from their uniform, as the Thumb signifies its ranks by the number of arrows on its badges, and sub-rank by the number of pins on its collars. The Thumb's weapons of choice are guns, which they make varied use of—such as through fighting with the bayonet or buttstock—in order to cut down on bullet costs.

Hierarchy The Thumb's hierarchy system features four major ranks, which are then divided into multiple sub-ranks. The ranks are as follows:

Soldato (Soldier): The common foot soldier of the Thumb, and the lowest rank possible. "Common Fixers" are equivalent in rank to them. The Soldato rank is divided into four sub-ranks: Primo, Secondo, Terzo, and Quarto. Capo (Captain): Those who command groups of Soldatos, relaying orders from their higher-ups. They are able to act with more liberties. A Grade 1 Fixer is considered equivalent in rank to a Capo. The Capo rank is divided into four unknown sub-ranks. Sottocapo (Underboss): The direct underlings of the Capo dei capi, who have permission to manage entire operations of the Syndicate within designated areas. They also manage the Thumb's 'families' of subsidiary Syndicates, each Sottocapo being assigned a different one. Top-ranking members of a Wing are of equivalent rank to a Sottocapo. Capo dei capi (Godfather, Padrino): The highest echelon. It is unclear whether the rank belongs to more than one individual at a time. Thumb standards of respect are extreme, to the point that individuals are not allowed to look directly at those of a higher rank than them. However, Thumb members of similar rank (or outside parties of an equivalent rank) are free to speak to each other however they please, such that some members may prefer to speak to their equals in order to alleviate any pressure in the discussion.

Occasionally, a higher-up may temporarily grant their own rank to someone of lower rank, should they see said person as a better fit for an operation or require someone else to attend to matters in their stead. However, this is far from a common practice.

The Wings of the World are a group of the twenty-six largest, most powerful conglomerates in the City. Each Wing acts as the governing body of a Nest of the City's District, and is commonly referred to with a letter from A to Z, corresponding to the number of the District in their control. Wings generally oversee all facets of living in the Nest of their District, while leaving the residents of the Backstreets to fend for themselves.

A Nest is the urban center of a District, which is under the direct management of its Wing. The citizens and employees of a Wing are commonly referred to as "feathers"; the status of a feather is widely considered one of the best and most secure paths in life, which the people of the Backstreets are often willing to go to great lengths to obtain. To gain access to a Nest, a corresponding Nest migration permit is required, while to be granted temporary passage one must be in possession of a visa unique to the specific Nest. Visas are implied to be relatively common, with corporate employees being provided with work visas that allow them as easy passage; Nest migration permits, on the other hand, are highly sought after, and implied to be expensive enough that even Grade 1 Fixers would struggle to obtain them. During the Smoke War, migration permits were offered as to Fixers participating for K Corp. and I Corp., although by the end of the war the veterans were rewards refused entry to the Nests.

Each Wing has its own cultural style and social structure which are reflected in how it governs its Nest, and the policies that regulate the way of life in the District's Backstreets. The laws of a Wing are called Taboos, and are enforced by specialized Fixers called Taboo hunters that police both the Nest and the Backstreets. While all Wings have Taboos, the enforcement and punishment for breaking them varies.

The Wings are directly ruled over by the Head, which bestows the status on a corporation that possesses and is able to successfully utilize a Singularity, a unique form of technology that is able to break the laws of physics.

As such, the Wings closely guard any information about their Singularity, employing military forces from their own ranks or from those of their business partners to avoid losing its secrets to rival Wings, industry competitors, or other forces. If a Wing's technology is stolen, fails commercially, or is viewed unfavorably by the Head, a Wing can collapse, resulting in the Nest losing its protection and being encroached by various factions that vie for its control, such as the Syndicates of the Backstreets. After a Wing collapses, a different corporation can attempt to ascend to the status of a Wing for that District.

The Backstreets are the areas of a District that lay outside the Wing's domain. The Backstreets are typically slums crowded with buildings, characterized by twisted and irregular roads, although there can be great differences between Districts.

Wings have differing degrees of presence, influence, and benevolence with regards to their Backstreets, although their relationship is ultimately exploitative. Citizens of the Backstreets are motivated to move up the ladder and into the Nests, while citizens of the Nests are motivated to maintain their statuses and preserve a more comfortable life under their Wing's protection. While not as secure as the Nest, residential areas are the safest parts of the Backstreets.

Given how strongly Backstreets denizens wish for a life in the Nest, Wings tend to uphold strict divisions between the sectors, including security checkpoints and physical divisions. Security of borders between Nests and Backstreets vary from plasma walls to mere chain fences, but the Wings' power is such that no one in the Backstreets dares to cross over into a Nest without express permission.

As the Backstreets are not under the control and protection of the Wings, and even the Head's power struggles to reach within them, various factions operate freely in their place. The Backstreets are home to the headquarters of both Fixers, a type of mercenary for hire, who typically operate their Offices in the Backstreets, and organizations and gangs called Syndicates. Among the Syndicates, the most important are the Five Fingers, the five largest Syndicates of the City which most other Syndicates answer to, and whose power is said to rival that of the Wings.

The Night in the Backstreets is another defining component of Backstreets life, as an 80 minute phenomena taking place from 3:14 to 4:34 AM. During this time period, nearly everything is allowed, as no one is held responsible for their deeds done during this time period. It is considered a brazenly savage, brutal, and vulgar period, even for the City. Beings known as Sweepers routinely become active during the Night in the Backstreets, and sweep through the streets in waves in order to consume any objects and structures located outside of permitted residential buildings, erasing all evidence of crime.

The Night in the Backstreets are regulated by only two Taboos: that residential areas mustn't be destroyed or violated in any way, including forcing the doors open, and that nothing which occurs during the Night in the Backstreets is recorded. The only form of testimony allowed during the Night in the Backstreets are direct eyewitnesses; even then, it is a Taboo mandated by the Head that no activity during this period are to be reported on. While the rules of the Night in the Backstreet don't apply to the Nest, it's viable to drag a Nest citizen into the Backstreets and dispose of them in this manner.

The Sweepers are a consistent stress in the life of any citizen of the Backstreets. Sweepers invade the streets in massive waves during the Night in the Backstreets, sweeping up anything or anyone left outside. Following the Sweepers' nightly descent, absolutely nothing that lies within their reach will remain. Despite their danger, given their predictable schedule and reliability, they may be taken advantage of by certain City citizens as tools for murder and cleaning of crime. Sweepers are creatures that take the form of a patented liquid stuffed inside humanoid metal tanks. The liquid is their true "body", as humans which have been melted down into a red substance and must now convert other humans into fuel in order to sustain their existence. While they may be avoided through the simple act of staying indoors, falling victim to the Sweepers' line of incursion is a surefire way of losing one's life.

In the City, hazards receive official grades measuring not their risk, but how much people are willing to pay to have the threat eliminated. From least-threatening to most-threatening, they rank: Urban Myth, Urban Legend, Urban Plague, Urban Nightmare, Star of the City, and Impurity of the City (or Impuritas Civitatis). The Hana Association assigns the threat level for Urban Myths through Stars of the City, but only the Head has the power to assign and manage Impurities. Most Associations and Fixers deal only with Stars of the City or lower-grade hazards, with the Head managing Impurities directly, most often opting to banish them to the Outskirts.

Hazards can be anything that poses a threat to The City: individuals, unexplainable phenomenon, monsters, Abnormalities, or just anything that requires the work of Fixers.

A Singularity is a unique, fantastical technology that a Wing possesses and exploits for power and profit. The details of a Wing's Singularity are a closely guarded secret, but its products (such as L Corp.'s Enkephalin or H Corp.'s Boluses) and side effects (such as T Corp.'s color desaturation) tend to be widespread throughout the District and play a major role in defining its culture.

While Singularities' true abilities are usually incredibly powerful, a Wing must convert them into a marketable product in order to make a profit. Singularities are the primary source of income for the Wings to sustain themselves in the harsh environment of the City, meaning creating new products from the same Singularity is incredibly important. For example, T Corp. makes use of its Singularity for various products, such as the TT2 Protocol (which allows for the control of time in a determined area), and the TT4 Protocol (which instead allows for the synchronization of different individuals' time).

In addition, Wings must be careful during the development process of new Singularities, to prevent information leaks and intellectual theft before a patent is received.[64] It is also common for Wings to make use of multiple Singularities, both by purchasing them from fallen Wings, or through partnering with other existing Wings.

If a Wing collapses, the patents on its Singularity expire and any individual or group who discovers how to utilize the technology may do so. In addition, the technology's status as a Singularity is lost. A number of technologies of the City were previously considered Singularities in the past, such as augmentation tattoos. Singularities, while technological marvels, are not all they're made out to be. In one way or another, every Singularity fundamentally requires human suffering in order to function, and no Wing can claim to have their hands clean of the blood of its citizens.

The Smoke War has been the only mentioned Wing War of the City, having begun before the events of Lobotomy Corporation and ended around the year 974. It was started by the then-prospective Lobotomy Corporation in collaboration with the leader of the Udjat, with the goal of toppling and replacing the L Corp. of the time. Given that the Old L Corp. had already garnered itself a poor reputation through its steep energy prices and Singularity-produced pollution, several other Wings were willing to join the effort to take it down. Different Wings supplied different fighters for their cause, with some sending out their own soldiers, and others hiring various Associations and Fixers. A vast amount of smoke covered the skies during this war, and many lives were ultimately lost or permanently altered.

In the end, Lobotomy Corporation and its allies triumphed, allowing it to take over as the new L Corp. Lobotomy Corporation went on to be considerably more popular than its predecessor, given its cleaner, cheaper energy, ultimately considered to have "freed" City citizens from the suffocating smoke.

The technological innovation of the City also reflects on its healthcare. Through the research of the Wings and the power of their Singularities, such of K Corp.'s and H Corp.'s, nearly every health problem has become curable on a theoretical level.[61] In practice, only those who can afford it are able to pay to make use of these technologies.

This goes for most of the innovation of the City. In most cases, these technologies are available at various levels of quality, with the most expensive and safe being used by Nest citizens, while the people of the Backstreets can make use of cheaper versions that can cause unwanted side effects, as is the case for memory wipe procedures.

Despite the level of innovation of the City generally being incredibly high, its access isn't uniform across the various Districts. While cell phones, the Internet, and various public transport systems exist, they are not universally available. For example, advanced communication systems aren't available in T Corp.'s District, with its citizens making use of letters instead.

Syndicates are a type of organization in the City, and can be seen as the unregulated counterpart to Fixer Offices, being comparable to gangs with various goals and methods of operating. In general, the term Syndicate is used to refer to organized groups that aren't tied to the responsibilities and restrictions that come with being a Fixer.

Some Syndicates focus on extorting money from people for protection, while others abduct people, kill for fun and pleasure, or do anything in between. Syndicates mostly operate in the Backstreets, but are not restricted to them. They can be small groups that only exist in one corner of the Backstreets, or large enough to exist in every District in the City.

Syndicates can be hired to do contract jobs, although there is higher risk compared to contracting an Office or Association, as they are not bound to the same regulations Fixers are. Sometimes, Wings will hire Syndicate members for criminal projects that cannot be handled officially.

Syndicates tend to have a culture unique to their group, and a way of living that distinguishes them from other Syndicates. Many Syndicates have a culture focused around replicating family dynamics and consider each other family, with some even referring to each other with familial terms. This can result in Syndicates with a strict focus on respect for those who are higher ranked, or in Syndicates whose members care deeply for each other and protect one another at any cost.

Syndicates tend to have a culture unique to their group, and a way of living that distinguishes them from other Syndicates. Many Syndicates have a culture focused around replicating family dynamics and consider each other family, with some even referring to each other with familial terms. This can result in Syndicates with a strict focus on respect for those who are higher ranked, or in Syndicates whose members care deeply for each other and protect one another at any cost.

Syndicates are graded through the City's hazard system, measuring their danger level and notability. Syndicates can grow under these aspects and gain power in many ways, with one of them being the practice of raiding and wiping out Fixers' Offices. The larger and more experienced an Office is, the greater the notoriety that is achieved by defeating it.

Above all Syndicates are the Five Fingers, or "the hand of the Backstreets", five Star of the City-level Syndicates, whose power rivals that of the Wings. Each of the Five Fingers has a distinct culture, and demands different things from people seeking protection under them. Other Syndicates can become subsidiaries of the Five Fingers, granting them powerful connections as long as they abide by the Finger's orders.