The Quadrant Archive
IMPORTANT QUADRANT LOCATIONS: The following terms outline and describe
the important locations of The Quadrant. Choose any link to take you to
a description, or simply scroll down the page.
LINKS: Krania, Krania
Tower, The Quarter, The
Lake, The Kolony, Conzec
Board,
Recon 1, Recon 2,
Recon 3, Recon
4, Recon 5, Downshaft.
Krania (or the "City"): The first "Board," or chief seat of political
power and nerve center or"brain" of The Quadrant. This 100 square
kilometer circle at the center of The Quadrant supports a population of
200,000 and is divided into four areas -- Krania Tower, The Inztitut, The
Quarter and Praetor Park (see below). Krania is the locus of all Quadrant
infrastructure administration, boasts The Quadrant's only university (the
"Inztitut"), and provides for the organization of all communications
and security services necessary to support and run the entire Quadrant.
To TOP of Page
Krania Tower (also see the "Mezzanine,"
and "KorpOps," below): The name of the huge monolithic
200 story building towering above all else and rising from the exact center
of The Quadrant on its first "Board" where the top managers of
The Quadrant, including The Director and Praetors (see below) work. All
organized transmissions, including Auto-Upgrades, Quadrant wide surveillance
monitoring, Quad Information and Virtual Entertainment transmissions, and
all official announcements, originate from the master -- and only -- network
communications broadcasting system (called "SysProg") located
here.
The Director's offices comprise the top five floors of the Tower, containing
various Assistant Directors' (and their deputies) offices, high level meeting
and conference rooms and lounges, and the Director's penthouse (a full wing
of the top floor). L'Quignon elite restaurant and hotel take up the next
ten floors down, followed by the Praetor's offices, who with their assistants
and deputies, take up 35 floors of offices below the hotel.
Krania Tower essentially houses the Quadrocracy, including the dreaded "KorpOps"
(Krania Secret Police), a special division of the Quadrant wide security
bureaucracy. As defenders of the Korpus (the 'law" of The Quadrant),
this elite unit specializes in anti-terrorist investigations of the Underground,
operating out of its own investigation and interrogation center called the
"Mezzanine" (150th to 145th floors of the "east wing"
of the tower). Interestingly, KorpOps has its own Information Bureau charged
with making propoganda vidz and organizing guided tours of "certain"
parts of the Mezzanine, to show the population of The Quadrant what an efficient
job their security division does in the fight against terrorism perpetrated
by the Underground (see below). To TOP of Page
The Quarter: A living area
near the Inztitut on Krania, populated by students and professors from the
Inztitut, various free-thinkers, ex-students, and a number of "hangers-on,"
and fringe types. Known throughout the Quadrant as one of the unusual and
exciting places to visit, The Quarter offers a variety of attractions, including
several entertainment mini-domes, first rate holo-showz, chem bars, plezhurr
domes, and other unique diversions. These and other "amenities"
appeal to a variety of tastes and persuasions, drawing even the wealthy
and powerful into the Quarter's eccentric orbit.
It is also known as a place where dangerous persons, including hunted criminals,
"offpattern reconnect" artists, and terrorists and agents of the
Underground, live and congregate with the local population. The mix is often
inflamatory, leading to scandals, high profile arrests, and other dramatic
events. To TOP of Page
The Lake: The large body
of fresh water surrounding Krania and located between Krania and Conzec
Board. Approximately 3 Kilometers across and 80 meters deep, The Lake serves
as The Quadrant's main water reservoir, and is "treated and aireated"
on a regular basis. No swimming is allowed (except for special areas "cordoned
off" near Praetor Park's lakeside homes and The Kolony shores area).
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The Kolony: An elite living
area and pleasure destination on the innermost circle of Conzec Board (see
below). Looking out over The Lake, with breathtaking views of Krania and
Krania Tower in the distance, The Kolony boasts the biggest and most luxurious
homes and mansions in The Quadrant. The Kolony village features a Mall filled
with expensive clothing and other specialty products, and the services and
food are renowned as the finest anywhere. Primarily populated by the wealthy
and powerful of the Quadrant Establishment, The Kolony provides various
special clubs and entertainments, and is famous for its sumptuous (and often
risque) private parties and gatherings. To TOP
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Conzec Board: The Elite
Board. With its inner edge following the circular "Lake" surrounding
Krania, Conzec Board offers the most stunning and majestic views of the
city and Krania Tower in The Quadrant. Populated by only 50,000 Conzecs
(and a few wealthy Privates of indeterminate status), Conzec Board is the
"forested playground" of the elite and the most sparsely populated
of all Boardz.
The wealthy Privates of the Conzec population live in 2 lakefront enclaves
situated on opposing sides of The Lake, or on forested estates in the interior
of the Board. The Kolony, by far the largest and most exclusive, is home
to The Quadrant establishment. The Reezort, about half the size, and somewhat
more rustic, serves those elites whose reputations (or origins) are either
dubious, unacceptable to the Quadrant establishment, or simply nefarious.
The rest of the population live in comfortable domplexes on the outer edge
of Conzec Board looking out over the greenbelt toward Recon 1 in the distance.
Hunting for wild Q-Hog (warthog) or pheasant in the lush private "game
forests" of Conzec Board, is one of the favorite pastimes of the elite
(and the only source of animal meat in the Quadrant). To TOP
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Recon 1: First of the Inner
Boardz, adjacent -- across a wide greenbelt -- to Conzec Board. Home to
about 600,000 people, Recon 1 provides the living area for much of the mid
and lower level Quadrant Operations Management personnel, including many
Enforcement managers and their families, and many lower level bureaucrats
in The Quadrant establishment. The Quad Services Units on Recon 1 are strained,
but clean and well run, with well stocked Consumer Complexes and even a
notable entertainment dome or two. The Educenter in QSU 6, noted for its
exceptional quality, has produced several Inztitut graduates. To TOP of Page
Recon 2: Second of the
Inner Boardz and populated by approximately 700,000 enfranchised inhabitants,
Recon 2 houses the rank and file Enforcers of The Quadrant, other low level
functionaries, all of those who have made just two mistakes, and
various other Outer Board "interlopers" who desperately try to
hang on to the outer fringes of civility. To TOP
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Recon 3: First of the Outer
Boardz, with a population of about 800,000. Living conditions are somewhat
crowded, and there are few amenities. Often, basic services are interrupted
by poor maintenance and lack of timely funding from QuadOps (the central
Quadrant Operations bureaucracy). Populated primarily by "Functionals"
(see below) who work long hours servicing the speedtube system and climate
control equipment of The Quadrant, Recon 3 is significantly rougher and
more violent than the Inner Boardz, as the proliferation of small inexpensive
chem bars and Plezhurr Domes testifies. To TOP
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Recon 4: Second
of the Outer Boardz, Recon 4 has little to recommend it save Knockthorn
Field, home of the Stranglerz flezz team, and the largest and most popular
flezz stadium in The Quadrant. 1.1 million people (mostly low-level functionals,
poor retirees, unemployed inhabitants and small-time criminals) live in
crowded conditions, attempting to eke out some kind of life, despite growing
gang warz and the bad air. To TOP of Page
Recon 5: Last of the Outer
Boardz situated at the outer edges of The Quadrant enviro-dome, and the
most crowded of all living areas in The Quadrant. Approximately 1.3 million
Recon 5's (the "scum" of The Quadrant -- scammers, street vendorz,
criminals) live on this squalorous Board, many in constant daily fear of
disconnection. The Quad Services Units on Recon 5 are understaffed, poorly
organized, and only minimally maintained, with food sometimes in short supply.
Regular waste disposal back-ups foul the air, and the climate control equipment
often breaks down, subjecting those who live (in the "Grey Giants")
on the outer reaches of The Quadrant at the edge of the dome to darkened,
almost freezing conditions.
Ugly, shapeless rectangles ("stops"), each housing hundreds of
"zeros,"-- people who have no quadits in their autoaccounts --
poke up out of the hazy, dirty air everywhere, seeming to scar the landscape
in every direction as far as the eye can see. The narrow streets are filled
with filth, clogging the pedways, so that few on this Board operate. Gangs
(the Stunz and the Blaadz) continually prowl the streets, clashing regularly
at night in violent outbursts. Life on Recon 5 is dangerous, and the people
are generally irritable, aggressive, and short tempered. To TOP
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Downshaft ("off the Boardz): Downshaft
is located 5 kilometers below the Boardz. It is reached by means of huge
elevators (hydrolifts) enclosed in an enormous single shaft which ties into
a security area one floor below the subway hub, called "Krania Station"
directly under Krania Tower. It is the only designated area in, and under
control of The Quadrant, where Nowtime, as it is experienced on the Boardz,
does not exist for most of the "disenfranchised inhabitants" (Disconz
and Anteeks). The exceptions are Enforcerz and Quadops Power Systems Managers,
who remain connected to The System while they serve in Downshaft and are
rotated back up to the Boardz on a regular basis. All Disconz and Anteeks
have their screens removed and interfaces re-fitted so that only the most
minimal neurotransmitter stimulus is allowed (enough to control them through
threats and/or rewards).
The area of Downshaft is approximately half the size of the living area
on the Boardz, with only about 5% of The Quadrant's total population (approximately
250,000 people). The physical environment is poorly lit, humid, and characterized
by a sprawling conglomeration of run-down living units and jerry-rigged
service centers, interspersed with gigantic power-generation machinery and
mini-domed envirofarms (for raising The Quadrant's food).
Guarded by a special Enforcement Unit charged with keeping order and overseeing
the delivery of basic services, Disconz work long hours every day with little
time to themselves. The only sanctioned entertainments (besides the "dregbars,"
where an alcohol drink called Dreg can be imbibed to oblivion, and plezhurr
domes where cheap sex is availble) are the "DethRing" contests
held once per week. A 20 meter (in diameter) ring is drawn in the dirt and
2 men enter, each armed with a Brodstik -- a long pole with an electrical
charge at one end. They fight to the death, and one man leaves a temporary
hero, at least until the following week where he must fight a new challenger.
No Discon may either take children to, or propogate children in, Downshaft,
by penalty of termination. Children left behind (on the Boardz) by Discon
parents can occasionally visit their parents but only after getting the
proper authorizations from Quad Security, and only if they are accompanied
by an Enforcer. Though the ratio of men to women in Downshaft is about 5
to 1, and the sexes are generally separated by the kinds of work performed,
illegal births sometimes occur. Even some illegal and/or "feral"
children do exist -- unconnected to The System -- in Downshaft. Seen sometimes
in roving bands, they quickly vanish when detected, scurrying like wild
animals into the shadows of the "Bogz" (old long disused hydroponik
farm areas) to avoid capture. It is an open question whether these beings
have been "illegally propogated" by Disconz and Anteeks in Downshaft,
or whether some small indiginous group of people existing wholly outside
The System (in the Bogz or in the wastes beyond the Pitz) is responsible
for them.
Downshaft is tolerated by the rest of The Quadrant because it is where the
power generators are located and maintained, where food is grown, and where
waste is recycled (in the pitz -- vast strip-mining like areas where Disconz
run the machinery to process the waste of the Quadrant). Also, it is the
only place where new screen upgrades and spare parts are manufactured. These
(and farm goods) are regularly shipped "upshaft" and the quadits
earned go into a fund to pay for basic services needed by those who cannot,
or who are too infirm, to work. Disconz, of course, provide the perfect
labor force for the repetitive menial work required for manufacturing, farming,
and waste removal processes, and their use saves large sums that otherwise
would have to be dirverted to automation equipment. To TOP
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