The corporate enclaves are shining bastions of civilization, and the driving force that will save this fallen world!
…
Well, that’s what their propaganda says. The reality is a little uglier. Still, on the whole, the folks living in corporate enclaves have a chance of dying of old age, which is more than most people on the outside get.
Corporate enclaves are typically built around cities that didn’t get much attention back during the big one. Nukes missed them, or failed to go off, and bioweapons were vaccinated against or never reached town in the first place. The corporations usually either put up a dome or a series of high walls to keep refugees and health hazards out, and keep their interests safe.
Most corporate enclaves are ruled by a single corporation… There were a few shared ones to begin with, but most of those saw power struggles between the corps beginning the minute the walls went up. In some cases the conflict ended with a merger, or a corporation moving out and finding another enclave that would take them in. In other cases, the halls ran red with blood.
Corporate enclaves are typically cramped, and filled with artificial materials, and recirculated air. The water’s been treated to an inch of its life, and probably has some additives in it to keep the citizens placid. Space is lacking in most enclaves… The buildings in it have grown skywards as much as they can, but living space is at a premium. Only the most wealthy can afford what we consider an average house today. The poorest don’t even have homes… They make do with coffin hotels that provide sleeping space with barely enough room to turn over.
Food is always an issue, in the enclaves. 90% of the population eats soy or algae-based food, and supplements it with synthetic vitamins. The corporations have learned many ways to dress soy up nicely, but you can always tell it by its aftertaste.
Everyone works, in an enclave. The ones that don’t are ejected. If you’re not contributing to the success of the corporation, then they don’t need you, and that’s a little more space they can rent to more-productive inhabitants. You get some grace if you’re a kid, but you’re expected to take on a part-time job as soon as you turn twelve… Your parents get some pretty nasty tax burdens if you don’t.
Growing up in an enclave also means being bombarded by propaganda, from your earliest age. Other corporations are painted as inferior, while the corporation that owns the enclave is touted as beyond reproach. Corporations that end up as rivals or enemies demonize each other to their populace, sometimes a little too well.
It’s still possible to buy goods from other corporations, thanks to a network of free trade agreements set in place to prevent a second series of corpwars, but these goods are usually taxed heavily. And those who make a habit of purchasing a rival corporation’s goods on a regular basis may find themselves shunned by their neighbors. In some of the more fascist enclaves, they can be slated for patriotic re-indoctrination, or even disappear in the middle of the night.
All that aside, living in a corporate enclave guarantees you a roof over your head, food, medical care, potable water, and some form of law enforcement on a regular basis. A lot of people are fine with that.
The technology level in the enclaves is roughly equivalent to 2050. Nanotech is a known science, and is in use in limited quantities. Fusion generators power most enclaves, and food is grown with advanced hydroponics. Most vehicles inside the enclaves are used for mass transit, and powered from the electric grid. Cloning is possible within enclaves. Most enclaves avoid human cloning due to space limitations, but a few secretly use it to get spare parts for medical purposes, or to supplement their foodstuffs. Animal cloning is fine, and undertaken on a regular basis when the appropriate facilities and materials are available.
Needless to say, travel outside of the enclave is restricted. The outside is seen as a hellish waste, with bandits, cannibals, wild animals, and toxins around every corner. The corporations don’t like too many unauthorized people moving back and forth, either. That leads to smuggling, infiltration by their enemies, and worst of all the chance that their population might become dissatisfied with the enclave life.
Since magic’s return, and the rise of metahumans, a lot of enclaves suffer from racism. In some places, metahuman fetuses are aborted before they can come to term, or confiscated by the corporation at birth, and traded outside the enclave. These disgusting practices are starting to fade in recent years, however… It’s turned out to be really bad PR, and as the population of metahumans in the Wasteland and other enclaves rises, it eats into the profits of the worst offenders.
In other places, the population shuns metahumans, or the corporation puts unreasonable taxes on them, or relegates them to the more distasteful jobs. Even the ones that prove their worth soon find a glass ceiling above them. This form of racism is probably the most troublesome at the minute… It’s hard to fight, and the propaganda and attitudes of a media-savvy corporation can fool even the oppressed metahumans into thinking that they brought it on themselves.
Fortunately, there’s hope. Some of the more progressive corporations are starting to pick up the stick on metahuman equality, and while there are still hatecrimes in their enclaves, a metahuman in one of the more tolerant cities can expect roughly equal treatment as a human. Don’t think the progressive corps are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, though… The bottom line of every corporation is its profit margin.
Magic’s another point of contention… In the aftermath of the Dragon wars, the general feeling about magic in most enclaves is fear. Magic and magicians are declared illegal in some enclaves, and strictly monitored and regulated in most others. Adepts get a little more slack due to the fact that their powers aren’t always obvious, but the ones who show off or get caught can expect to have an interesting life ahead of them.
The exception in most enclaves as far as metahumans and magic goes is in the armed forces. Since they’re out of the public’s eye 90% of the time, and have a high turnover rate, outcasts from the enclaves can make a life there, serving their corporation until the end.
Not all’s peaceful in the enclaves… Recently, a lot of them have been experiencing sabotage and unrest. The more totalitarian ones are feeling the sting, as various resistance groups object to corporate dominance, and seek a revolution. Of course, no one’s entirely in the right, here… Many resistance groups cross the line and engage in terrorist activities, and the corporations sometimes sacrifice bystanders to get rid of troublesome resistance groups. No one here is innocent…
As global warming really started hitting its stride in the 22nd century, the backwater town of Cleveland, Ohio, slowly started to submerge as Lake Erie rose to swallow it. For reasons unrecorded, the national government could lend no support to prevent the city from drowning. The largest corporation left in town, Hall-Mart, stepped in and volunteered goods and services to rebuild the city, shore it up and provide disaster relief. The State government accepted corporate help without reservation and soon after, construction held back the hungry waters of the Great Lake. It took nearly a decade, but a new city was built on the remnants of the old, with only a few of the taller pieces of original construction remaining intact.
Afterwards, the state found that they had been a little too quick to accept aid. For reasons also unrecorded, they were unable to compensate the corporation to their satisfaction, and due to defaulted contracts Hall-Mart ended up owning a majority of the city’s land. The legal battle raged for years… While it raged, Hall-Mart decided to use the city to showcase their ideal for a Hall-mARCOLOGY, a city of the future. Copying several European Empire designs already in place across the ocean, they started construction on a vast Geodesic dome, that stretched over both land and water alike. They utilized in-house resources to do the construction, slowly driving out other corps and obstinate residents as they shuttled in loyal Hall-Mart workers, and cleared areas of residences and other obstacles as they installed the dome’s infrastructure.
The dome was near completion, and the legal battles were winding down, when the big one hit. Hall-Mart sealed off the dome and pulled everyone they could inside. They were far enough from the Detroit detonation to escape damage, though fallout was a problem for a few decades thereafter. Bio-weapons had little impact, as well. The lakewater that they used was filtered and refined heavily, and the dome kept out most vectors. There were a few isolated outbreaks, but a zero-tolerance policy toward the infected stopped them cold.
After a few years, it became apparent that there was no government relief on the way, and nothing coming from corporate headquarters. And so, the interim government shifted over to its current form of share-based citizenship.
The rise of metahumanity and the return of magic hit the enclave pretty hard… Hall-Mart at first took the seemingly deformed births to be the results of a previously undetected biological attack, and quarantined parents of metahuman children, as well as the babies themselves. They concealed the existence of magic from their citizens for a few years, before the evidence became too widespread to hide. In essence, the government of the enclave conducted studies on magic and metahumanity in secret, while letting the citizens of Cleveland decide how to handle the matter themselves. It was a tactic that Hall-Mart would perfect, over years to come; The “Wait-and-see-then-take-the-side-that-prevails” approach. And as the years went on, the organization of several tolerance movements, and the support of a few key demagogues drove the acceptance of metahumanity into Hall-Mart culture.
After this was done, the quarantined families were FINALLY released, and appropriate bureaucrats and military officers were chosen to take the blame for “crimes against metahumanity.” Metahumans still face some subtle racism and discrimination in Cleveland today, but on the whole it’s not a bad place to grow up for non-humans. Unless of course, you happen to be a mutant.
The limited space in Cleveland, and the horrifying appearance and effects of most mutations, gave rise to a strong anti-mutant feeling among the populace, that’s only intensified as the decades have passed. The general feeling today is that there’s no point in spending limited resources on bad genes that won’t improve future generations, when you could be investing in healthy folks instead. Mutants, they argue, consume resources that could be spent on bettering the enclave, and take up health care needs that could be used to improve the lifespan and health of folks who are more likely to live and contribute to the future of Hall-Mart.
As far as recent history goes, the enclave weathered both the corporate wars and the dragon war fairly undisturbed. Though the dome’s been under siege many times, it’s never been seriously breached. The shanty-towns and settlements around it have suffered greatly time and again, but Hall-Mart shrugs, and points out that their policy is to take no responsibility for the safety of non-citizens.
The enclave is about 80 thousand people strong, with around five thousand troops in the field, (spaced throughout a few key franchise towns and outposts) and several franchise towns in various stages of development. Recently they’ve started a program to reclaim the Wasteland. They’ve got the most stable base of operations in the area, and enough material that they just might be able to do it… Assuming no one resists their “Reclamation”.
Hall-Mart is the prime producer and distributor of the Allin Dollar. All transactions
with Hall-Mart require use of this currency, and they’ve done their best
to spread it throughout the Wastes. (There’s a rumor going around that
the Allin used to be some kind of gambling chit, and the only reason the corporation
uses it is that they had a warehouse full of them when the big one hit. Still,
the chit works well enough… The Allin Dollar is difficult to replicate
with Wastelander-level tech, impervious to nanites, and implanted with a microchip
to verify its authenticity.)
Hall-Mart has several corporate rivals, but as of 2208 is not currently at war
with anyone. They are a law-abiding member of the corporate accords.
Someone who comes from Cleveland has been raised under a steel and plastalloy sky. They spent the majority of their life indoors, with surroundings that seem luxurious compared to the typical Wastelander settlement. They probably didn’t encounter serious violence before leaving the enclave. A Cleveland native has been bombarded with Hall-Mart propaganda since birth. All Cleveland natives are literate and some have even had limited access to the Grid, an enclave-based information network that Hall-Mart’s been trying to extend out into the Wastes.
The Cleveland enclave is organized into roughly four social classes.
CONSUMERS – Consumers are the lowest class in the enclave. They are people who have had their employee status suspended or revoked, but have nowhere else to go. Consumers work menial or dangerous jobs, and have their paychecks automatically furrowed to cover rent of the public housing provided for them. They have no say in where they live, unless they know the right people to bribe. Some consumers are outsiders who have managed to legally emigrate within the enclave, but are waiting for their citizenship review and working to gain the share of stock required to become an employee in Cleveland. Whenever hardship comes, consumers feel it first. Many consumers find that the military is their best option to escape corporate servitude.
This is the only social class that most mutants can ever achieve. Even then, those that try to stick it out will have to weather discrimination, exploitation, and straight-up violence. It is not good to be mutated and living in Cleveland.
EMPLOYEES – Employees are the middle class of the Cleveland Enclave. They handle white-collar and blue-collar jobs, and are the lowest class that can rent property, and legally choose where they live. Some employees have a shot at making it into management, if they persist. To be an employee, you must have a registered Hall-Mart tattoo, and be on file with the central bureaucracy. You are required to earn one share of Hall-Mart stock per year to maintain employee status within Cleveland.
MANAGEMENT – The third, and smallest class in Cleveland, and also the most privileged. The lower branches of management make up the bureaucracy and sensitive white collar jobs. The middle branches act as a filter between the higher management and lower, and the pyramid tops off with the CEO of Hall-mart, and the nine Executive Board members below him, who can vote him out and one of their number in at any time. Managers are the only class that can actually own land within Cleveland. Managers are required to earn ten shares of Hall-Mart stock per year to maintain employee status within Cleveland. Most earn more, to ensure that rivals can’t buy them out, and increase their value to the corp. A registered Hall-Mart tattoo is not required at this stage, but it is considered vanity, or a possible sign of corporate disloyalty if you do not have one. Management has a reputation for having a glass ceiling where metahumans are concerned, although recently an elf has managed to rise to the Executive Board.
MILITARY – In contrast to the rest of Cleveland, the Hall-mart military is a strict meritocracy. Racism, sexism, and religious discrimination are officially forbidden, though a few bad officers manage to keep their prejudices. The only type of beings not allowed in the military are mutants. Recently, the go-ahead’s been given to integrate magically-gifted folks into Hall-Mart forces. This is taking time, as the current military policy insists on treating magic as psionic ability, and tries to force magically-talented recruits into their paradigm. The military does not require stock to live within Cleveland, but must reside on military-designated property while within the enclave. Military service is one of the easiest ways to obtain shares of stock in the corporation. You MUST have a registered Hall-Mart military tattoo if you are in the Cleveland military forces… Without it, your guns might not work. Among other things, the tattoo is used as a biometric check for most of Hall-Mart’s advanced equipment. Should you leave the service, your tattoo will be erased. Should you be MIA or KIA, your tattoo will be removed from the registry. Many officers of the military retire to management positions after a few terms in the field, and many grunts of the line find good employee jobs when they return home.
While a lot of people see Hall-Mart as the good guys, this isn’t always the case. Hall-Mart’s had its share of dirty business, and can be utterly ruthless when dealing with outsiders. But within the Cleveland enclave, life’s not so bad as long as you toe the corporate line, show the socially acceptable level of scorn for mutants, don’t make waves, keep making a profit for the corp, and accept that you’ll spend most of your life under a steel sky…