Prologue

Antimai

Literally meaning “The Final City,” Antimai is the last remaining human metropolis. Ruled over by the God Emperor XCV, it is divided into eight districts or “Rings,” each housing a different caste of citizens. 

Ring 8 - Poverty

Ring 8 constitutes the outermost layer of the city of Antimai.

While the state considers everything past the wall of Ring 7 to be Ring 8, Antimai is built inside of a very large crater that creates a natural barrier surrounding the 8th ring. Those living outside of Antimai are subject to deep poverty and horrible living conditions, with the houses of those fortunate enough to own one appearing to be constructed out of basic sheets of metal.

Those who dwell in Ring 8 wish to enter the city of Antimai, but are turned away by the guards of the heavily militarized wall of Ring 7. On their 8th cycle (see terminology below), children in Ring 8 are retrieved by the state of Antimai and put to work until their 20th cycle. After this, their parents may be able to bring them back home with the permission of a ticket presented to them during the Retrieval. If the ticket is lost, or otherwise unable to be produced, then the children are forfeit to the state of Antimai. The children may also be forfeit if they are found to be worthy of guard service.

Despite their hardships, most of the residents of Ring 8 hold a deep faith in the Indigo Child, a messianic figure who has promised to one day return and save them from their suffering. 

Ring 7 - Industry

Ring 7 is home to the Bio-Pariahs of Antimai.

This ring is used as the heavy industrial sector of the city, as well as a kind of prison to the male citizens of Antimai who refuse or are unable to reproduce and create a larger labor force for the state, either by way of homosexuality, infertility, or any other obstacle to procreation.

Within Ring 7, work is life and life is work, with the residents being forced to labor long hours for bare subsistence wages. Those who are fully integrated into the Ring 7 lifestyle are called Meka-Nik. 

Ring 6 - LoTown

Ring 6, LoTown, is the food supplier of Antimai. It seems to function as another prison tier of Antimai, this time primarily for women, and at the very least it is a punishment to be sent there.

LoTown is described as cold and icy, far from any other residents of Antimai, where little sunlight reaches at any time. Despite these conditions, LoTown is expected to produce food for the entire city of Antimai. This duty is difficult, if not impossible, to fulfill due to the ever-growing population of Antimai, and the conditions of Ring 6 being hostile to plant growth. Regardless, the leadership of Antimai demands higher and higher food quotas that cannot be met.

The citizens of Ring 6 are perhaps the most aware of the corruption of Antimai’s upper classes, but recognize that all the other citizens of Antimai are either supporting the institutions, or dependent upon it, and thus they are powerless to help despite their earnest wishes to. Due to this, they have become cynical towards the rest of Antimai.

Ring 5 - Middle Class

Ring 5 is home to the middle class of Antimai.

These people are not as bad off as the poverty-stricken Ring 8 or the prisoners of Rings 6 and 7, but their living conditions are still fairly terrible.

The responsibility of Ring 5 that the state seems to put the most emphasis on is reproduction, creating a larger work force for Antimai.

The middle class appears to have an understanding that their lives are substandard, but are too paralyzed by fear of the alternatives to do anything but support the very system that oppresses them—it is better to live in Ring 5 than be condemned to the terrible conditions in the lower rings, or even outside the city. All they can do is hope that one of their descendents will “marry up” and be able to live a better life than they do.

Ring 4 - Patrol

Ring 4 is home to the Patrolmen of Antimai.

Patrolmen appear to be drawn from the other rings and brought to Ring 4 in order to be trained. Those children retrieved from Ring 8 found worthy of the guard appear to be forced to join it, while it is implied that some are given the choice whether or not to join.

Patrolmen are hated throughout Antimai as oppressors, yet it would seem that many would take the option to join their ranks. While it is unclear whether or not the Patrolmen are able to lead better lives than others in Antimai, they gain a valuable currency of power, which is in short supply throughout the city.

Before joining the patrol they are weak, and once they join they are given authority over all the citizens of Rings 5-8. Despite this, their power is only nominal at best, as they are at the mercy of the residents of Rings 3 and 1, and disobeying orders leads to execution.

Ring 3 - Luxury

Ring 3 is home to the Guides, and possibly other upper class residents of Antimai.

The Guides are the aristocracy of Antimai, subject only to the Emperor himself. They create and enact laws for the city, with the Patrolmen as their enforcers. Guides wear oversized mechanic uniforms which totally conceal their appearance, seeing through the suit only through a robotic head. They reveal their skin only when absolutely necessary, through a small hole in the front through which they can stick their hands.

While the Guides are meant to “guide” Antimai into prosperity, they have forsaken their original purpose in favor of preserving their own positions and increasing their own wealth. They appear to benefit from the state religion of emperor worship, stating that “[they] could always use another tithe.” Rather than solve the ongoing food crisis on Antimai, the Guides have decided to let the lower rings figure it out for themselves, providing that all the citizens continue to pay their taxes and tithes to the state.

In terms of lifestyle, the residents of Ring 3 live in utter luxury, enjoying the spoils of the heavy taxation of the lower castes. While everyone else in the city starves, they receive anything they desire as soon as they want it. 

Ring 2 - Nature

Ring 2 is a currently inhospitable ring of Antimai.

In the past, it was a greenhouse meant to grow every sort of plant, and act as a food source for Antimai. Over time, it became a status symbol to own a plant, and the residents of Ring 3 began sneaking in and poaching from the greenhouses. Eventually, the ring became overgrown and nature reclaimed it, turning it into a dangerous living moat around the city’s center.

With Ring 2 being impossible to enter, food production became the responsibility of Ring 6, which is far less suited for plant life. The embodiment of nature which resides in the second ring fully expects to outlive the humans which currently abuse the land.

Ring 1 - Tower

Ring 1 contains only one building, the Tower. The primary resident of the Tower is the Emperor, XCV.

While the Tower also houses a variety of servants to XCV, life for them is far less luxurious than it is for the emperor. Indeed, it has been stated that a child retrieved from Ring 8 might hope to be placed in the tower for their 12 cycles of state service, but would immediately wish to leave upon arriving.

The emperor in the Tower is the only resident of Antimai with any degree of real power, and his power is absolute. While the Patrolmen may feel that they have power, in reality they are merely the dogs of the Guides. The Guides may live in luxury and exert power over the lower castes of Antimai, but if XCV so wished, he could ruin their lives in an instant. Only XCV exerts such total control over the city.

XCV rules viciously, seeing no purpose for diplomacy when inflicting pain and terror yields results which are just as good in his eyes. The only place that power comes from in Antimai is the Tower, and no one enters the Tower unless they come from Tower. 

Sunya

Coming soon…