Letters from the Last City on Earth (An Interest Check.)

The City

Welcome to MK-2, billed as the last city on earth, or perhaps the only city that ever existed. That story depends on who you ask.

It stands as a colossal dome of concrete and steel, enormous chimneys issuing out steam from the reactors that power the structure. The walls are metres thick, and require continual repair in order to keep them standing.

Why?

Because the outside is deadly to living things. At some point centuries before, pollution, war and disease triggered a poisoning of the earth. The soil itself is corrosive to the touch, able to eat away the skin. The rain is not much better, coming down acidic and poisoning most rivers and lakes at its touch.

MK-2 stands as a bastion of humanity in the wasteland, a triumph of engineering over the hazardous environment.Food is produced by synthetic means, and could last for centuries. Water is recycled, and though not top quality, is considerably less dangerous than any of the poisoned puddles outside. Everyone has clothes, jobs, and places to sleep. No poverty exists and there is minimal crime..but the safety of the dome comes at a cost, and the cost is MK-2 society.

The City adheres to a rigid social structure. There is no culture, and individuality is seen as a dangerous characteristic. Society is separated into four distinct classes, chosen before the individual was ever born.

The Classes

Citizens

Citizens are the ordinary, workaday folk of MK-2. They have all the positives and negatives of an ordinary person...though they were raised in the grim, repressed world of the domed city. All Citizens wear pale grey uniforms, of a top and loose-fitting pants and rubber-soled shoes. Citizens are not named. It is believed that names promote entitlement. Each citizen has a 6-digit ID number that they are officially known as. Many adopt nicknames, or a moniker based on their number (101067 may call themselves 'Tenten.') though it is considered against the rules, it's often allowed to slide.

Citizens are given a basic education, though are not taught to fight. They are very much kept in line by the upper classes, and regarded with cruel contempt by most Guardians. This has made some Citizens highly resentful. They are by far the most emotional and compassionate class of MK-2.

Guardians

Guardians form the 'police' and security section of MK-2. They are distinguished by their dark grey uniforms and body armor, along with the fact that they are armed, generally with batons, tazers, or other non-lethal weapons...well...non-lethal assuming one is using them correctly. Guardians are 'named' through a letter and a two-digit number(T-71, D-45 etc) though often adopt nicknames among themselves.

Guardians were altered before birth to be considerably stronger than an ordinary human, and often appear outwardly more tall and athletic than a Citizen. They were also educated and conditioned not to sympathize with Citizens and to see them as lower forms of life. As a result, they are often extremely brutal in their methods of apprehension and punishment. It's not unheard of for citizens to be unintentionally killed by Guardians.

Guardians rather resent the authority the Protectors have over them, and have a simmering hatred from them that overrides their contempt for the Citizens.

Protectors

The 'secret police' of MK-2, The Protectorate are some of the most feared inhabitants of MK-2. They take their orders directly from Citizen Leader, and also serve as her bodyguards. Much of the more 'cloak and dagger' matters, things that the establishment want kept under wraps, tend to be handled by the Protectors.

There are twenty-four in all, distinguished by their black coats, each marked with their symbol. They were each named after a letter of the Greek alphabet, from Alpha to Omega, and it was never shortened or altered.

Each Protector had slightly different jobs, and tended to operate individually rather than as a unit, but the Protectors always had a disturbing habit of being able to arrive at scenes of trouble.

They were altered pre-birth to have impressive athletic ability, high IQs and astonishing reflexes, taking on a Protector would be a citizen's nightmare. Such abilities would be a danger to most...including Citizen Leader, so the Protectorate have another major alteration. They are physically incapable of violence against Citizen Leader. They freeze up if they so much as contemplate it...not that most would. Protectors are heavily conditioned to be obedient and unsympathetic, and engineered to be emotionally stunted individuals.

Citizen Leader

The top dog, the head of the city, someone who remains rather enigmatic to the residents. She wears white clothing, adorned with medals...awarded by herself. She does not appear to age at all, having been an ever-present face for as long as any inhabitant can remember. She is extremely intelligent and tactical....but utterly ruthless. She thinks nothing of having any threats to her authority removed.

Citizen Leader seeks 'educate' the inhabitants of MK-2 in her version of world history, and quickly wipe out any evidence to the contrary. She claims to have great compassion for all those who serve below her...though that compassion appear to be mostly a facade that very quickly cracks in the face of any sort of dissent. She becomes extremely angry if disobeyed or questioned by anyone, particularly Citizens.

She claims that before MK-2, people lived like savages on the poisoned earth, and that the city is as good as things will get for humanity.

The Prospero Incident

About three years previous, there was a rebellion in MK-2. A Citizen named #667845 had been on cleaning detail, throwing mounds of old trash through a vent that took them outside the walls. It was within the refused that he found a book, 'The Complete Illustrated Works of Shakespeare' and an' Ordinance Survey Map of Great Britain'. He realized their value and smuggled them out with him at the end of the work day.

He read through the book, and it changed him. The vivid descriptions of nature, of the outdoors, and of love and friendship drove him to think beyond the walls of the city...and it came with a letter that offered him hope. It claimed that a land existed to the west, a land where the earth was still green. A route was marked onto the old map that claimed to lead others there.

#667845 took on the name 'Prospero' and began spreading word among the Citizens of the stories of the land to the west, and sharing with them the beautiful language of the book. He gathered many followers with his claims, many disaffected Citizens tired of the world within the walls...but Citizen Leader and The Protectorate soon found out.

Many of Prospero's followers disappeared or were sent for 're-education'. Prospero himself was hunted down by Protector Delta, Citizen Leader's right hand...and personal executioner. He was never heard of again.

A few followers of Prospero remain at large, and spread their message through graffiti and hastily written notes, but feel they are fighting a losing battle. Many are willing to risk it all in a final big protest. Meanwhile, the book sits in Citizen Leader's Office, in a glass case, as she ponders what to do with it...

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This is the rough set-up of 'Alas Poor World', a play that I co-wrote several years ago for a Shakespeare Festival and a short theatre run too. I thought it'd be fun to turn it into an RP. I don't want to ramble too much more, but that more or less outlines the world it's set in to start out with.

Anyone interested in this as an RP?

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