The Middle

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The Wings (날개, Nalgae), also known as the Wings of the World, are a group of the 26 largest, most powerful conglomerates in the City. They act as the governing bodies of the respective Nests of the City's Districts. The Wings are directly ruled by the Head, the Eye, and the Claw, the enigmatic supreme authority of the City. Each Wing possesses and utilizes a Singularity, a form of technology that can blatantly violate the laws of physics. Overview There are a total of 26 Wings, each of which has authority over a Nest in a District. The Wings directly oversee all facets of life in their Nests and generally leave their District's Backstreets to fend for themselves. However, the Wings still remain the highest authorities of their District, and will not hesitate to punish offenders who break the rules established in that District. The laws of a Wing, called Taboos, are enforced by specialized Fixers called Taboo Hunters, who capture and/or kill any violators of the Taboos, whether in the Backstreets or the Nest. Every District has some Taboos, though each Wing handles Taboo offenders in their own way.

Each Wing has its own cultural style and social structure which are reflected in how it governs its Nest, and the policies the Wing sets also determines the way of life in the District's Backstreet. Wings have differing degrees of presence, influence, and benevolence with regards to their Backstreets, although their relationship is ultimately exploitative, even for more cooperative Wings. Security of borders between Nests and Backstreets also 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.

The only entities in the City which rival the Wings' power are the Five Fingers, a particularly infamous group of Syndicates which not even they can readily interfere with. This is presumably also one of the reasons why the Wings generally neglect the Backstreets beyond

Overview The City is a massive urban complex the size of a small country,[1] and has a population of around 7 billion.[2] The City is bordered to the south by the Great Lake, and to the other directions by the Outskirts. Underneath it lie the Ruins.[3]

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.[4][5] 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,[6] is not visible from the map.

Overview "Syndicate" is a purposefully vague and broad term that can be used to describe essentially any group of people who work together in an organized, but unregulated, group.[1] Syndicates can do all sorts of activities, and be involved in various types of business, leading to groups with very little in common both being able to be referred to as a Syndicate.[2] Some Syndicates focus on extorting money from people for protection, while others abduct people, kill for fun and pleasure, or do anything in between. 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. As many Syndicates operate as a business, they have the same rights and obligations as the other businesses of the City such as being able to hold patents on technology and needing to pay taxes.[3][4]

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.[5] This can result in Syndicates with a strict focus on respect for those who are higher ranked or in Syndicates who care deeply for each other and protect one another at any cost.

Overview 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.[2] 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.[2]

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

Overview District 21 occupies part of the Great Lake, with most of its activity taking place in the Five Great Ports of U Corp., one of which is called Marlin Port. A large amount of District 21's Backstreets are located on colossal mobile "Portships" that move across the Lake's surface. U Corp. is known for its trade in packagings that remain completely sealed and undisturbed until their opening, and producing Resonance Tuning Forks, devices that can merge two separate objects. Singularity U Corp. possesses two known Singularities: the Stasis Preservation Packaging, and the Resonance Tuning Fork.

U Corp.'s stasis preservation Singularity allows for the contents of a package to remain unchanged in any way until the parcel is opened, and it is widely used as a food preservation technology, in the form of boxes[1] and canned food.[2]

The second Singularity in U Corp.'s possession is the ability to merge the essences of objects. This is primarily done through use of a Resonance Tuning Fork, a device that will fuse two affected items into one. This is demonstrated being used by ships in order to dock, with Mephistopheles' aft being caught in between two ships attaching to each other, and receiving a cut so clean that it felt as if it were never there. The Molar Boatworks Workshop also uses resonance tuning forks frequently, allowing them to use scrap in specialized tasks: this way, they collect the scrap off of Trash Crabs and are able to implement it wherever needed, as seen in their weaponry and their modifications of Mephistopheles. Molar Boatworks Fixer Sinclair describes the altered scrap to be "as if it had always been made for that purpose".

The basis of the Singularity is said to be derived from Whale oil, a substance secreted by Whales with properties of assimilation, which is seemingly used to allow the Singularity to have multiple objects assimilate into one.[3] According to Ishmael, Whale oil from a living Whale turns people who touch it into Mermaids in

The entirety of District 8 is contained within a single gargantuan building called Hongyuan (Mandarin: 鸿园, lit. The Vast Garden). District 8's Nest lies at the center of the structure, while the Backstreets form the periphery of the building. Different areas of Hongyuan have different Taboos imposed upon the residents within.[1]

The structure of Hongyuan is a remnant of an old H Corp., and is still under the effects of its Singularity.[2] Within it, the wealth of the residents is measured by the amount of space they own, in a scale referred to as "rooms". Rooms are redistributed by the Singularity during a period called "Restructuring Day": the process of restructuring redistributes space based on the residents' net worth, and involves the buildings within the complex shifting and moving at great speed and force.[3] Those who do not have any residence or find themselves without enough room will be thrown around by the movement of buildings, typically to their deaths.

District 8 does not make use of cars; instead, a common method of transportation is the "Palanquin". In District 8, a Palanquin refers to a car chassis manually carried by people stationed beside each wheel.

Historically, the company has been controlled by the Family Hierarch of Daguanyuan, a building complex located at the very top of the Nest, where the members of the most prestigious families of the District reside. Among them, the Jia family has always been the most influential, surpassing the previously prestigious Shi family. By the time of the events of Canto VIII, the Family Hierarch of the Jia family and the Wing's Executive Director was Jia Mu.

There exists no strict dress code among the Middle beyond blending in with other members.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] 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.[

The Middle (중지, jungji) is one of the Five Fingers of the Backstreets, operating with a focus on supporting one another and punishing anyone who disrespects them.

Like the other Fingers, the Middle is one of the most powerful Syndicates in the City, possessing enough influence to rival even the Wings Overview 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

Gender Female Occupation The Middle Apprentice Affiliations The Middle Relations Matthias (Father, mentor) Appearance Kira is a short woman with a disarming smile. She has bright purple eyes and voluminous white hair that frame her face, and she wears a ribbon over the middle of her bangs. Kira wears purple sweatpants, stark white sneakers, and a white winter jacket, with the hood pulled over her head, and with her Book of Vengeance hanging from one of her pockets. Kira carries a curved sword in a white scabbard, strapped by her back with large golden chains, along with a shorter curved sword and a cleaver, and her forearms are covered by large sections of the same chains wrapped around them. Under her chains, she wears the Middle-styled augmentation tattoos. Personality Kira has an upbeat and outgoing personality. As is typical of members of the Middle, she enjoys combat and carnage and carries herself without much seriousness. Kira holds a lot of admiration for those she considers "badass", such as her father Matthias, lending to a love of Fixers and television. Having grown up getting whatever she wanted from her father in the confines of the House of Spiders, Kira appears highly naive and somewhat lonely.

Gender Male Occupation Little Brother of the Middle Affiliations The Middle Relations Ricardo Werner is a Little Brother of the Middle who is assisting Ricardo in tracking down the Sinners as they travel throughout the City Appearance Werner's hair is a dyed white with visibly dark roots, worn in a slicked back manner. His body is covered in typical Middle tattoos, most notably a few shapes around his left eye, on both his brow and cheek. He shares a typical appearance of members of the Middle, with a long purple coat with a large fur collar, as well as hefty chains adorning his arms and torso. He wears his Book of Vengeance across his chest. Personality Werner appears to be deeply loyal to Ricardo, apologizing deeply for having gotten their group involved in the scuffle between the Sweepers, Shi Yihua's group and the Sinners. Common of members of the Middle, he views the others as close family.

Gender Male Occupation Big Brother of The Middle Affiliations The Middle Relations Werner (Little Brother) Matthias (Friend) Ricardo is a Big Brother of The Middle, a gaudy Syndicate that rules a large portion of the Backstreets. He is intent on keeping a strict barrier between the separate worlds of persons; those that live bristly and those that live lusciously. Appearance Ricardo is a tall man with a muscular build, with red eyes usually hidden behind his black tinted sunglasses. His hair is hot pink and combed back, with multiple intricate tattoos on his torso and face, which glow purple when using his power as a Big Brother. He wears a superfluous amount of shiny golden chains around his neck, arms, and shins. He wears a large purple fur lined coat around his shoulders with a leopard pattern, along with white dress pants with purple leopard-patterned dress shoes. His belt is adorned with gold along with the logo of the Middle in the center, with a golden chain holding a bulky copy of the Book of Vengeance. Personality Ricardo is an extremely confident and imperious man, especially in combat, who is self-assured in his abilities with his imposing title to the Sinners as a Big Brother of the Middle. He refers to the world as binary, a part where one is luscious and one is bristly, similar to the texture of hair. Ironically, Ricardo is incredibly protective and almost obsessive about the quality and shape of his hair, with the Book of Vengeance even stating that the 'sin' of stealing hair salon coupons results in complete extermination of said 'sinner' and their other affiliates.

Ricardo is also quick to point out any 'sins' an individual has committed, as shown when Ricardo appoints Heathcliff's sin in the Book of Vengeance for lack of respect for varying tastes when Heathcliff addresses the colorful kitty stickers on his personal safe. Ricardo seems to speak in a rather archaic and foreboding tone when addressing a 'sin' within the Book of Vengeance.

Gender Male Occupation The Middle Nursefather Great Brother of The Middle Affiliations The Middle The House of Spiders Relations Kira (Daughter, apprentice) Ricardo (Friend) Matthias is a Great Brother of the Middle and the master of Kira Matthias is a bulky man, with dark skin and pure-white hair worn short with blunt bangs. He is typically seen wearing a pair of thick sunglasses, with a gold bridge between the lenses. He wears a white suit overtop a black dress shirt — unbuttoned and revealing a large scar on his chest — with a massive coat with the colors and pattern customary of members of the Middle worn over his shoulders. He keeps his Book of Vengeance on his left hip, with his opposite leg wrapped in golden chains. Notably, his right leg appears to shift through the use of his enhancement tattoos into a large claw, one he uses in combat. He is missing his right arm, though is shown to have worn white gloves on both hands in the past. His body is covered in enhancement tattoos, similar in design to other members of the Middle. On his back rests an oversized metallic sword and scabbard.

The sword, Lævateinn, is bound by at least three layers of seals, taking the form of thick chains keeping each layer tightly bound. When revealed, the sword appears with a thin-tipped appearance and a red burning hue across the entire length of the blade. Personality Typical of those in his primary faction, Matthias is deeply devout to those on his side and brutal to those not. He is shown to feature an intense excitement at the possibility of reuniting with younger, who he called "buddy". He features a toy-loving attitude, which contributes to a short attention span likened to hits destruction of new toys, as well as a tendency to buy and collect things he has no intention to actually use. Despite this somewhat immature personality, he remains highly capable in combat, able to fend off a variety of opponents at a time, with a litany of specific tools that assist.