Chapter 9
Money
Where ₡ comes from, the weekly settlement, homes and address grades, debt and the Charter Floor.
₡
The city runs on one kind of money: ₡. You can only earn it from jobs, tasks and Fate Cards, and no top-up can buy it.
Weekly settlement
Every Monday at 00:00 City Standard Time comes the weekly settlement: rent, installments, implant firmware, and a little income tax. Whatever your balance can't cover becomes arrears. Stay behind on rent for too long and you'll be forced to move somewhere worse.
Homes and address grades
Homes come in four tiers: capsule pod, shared room, apartment and penthouse suite. The better you live, the faster your energy and Humanity recover, and the higher the rent. Within each district there are also several address grades. Moving up to a better grade costs a one-time move-in fee and the rent rises with each grade, but your energy recovers faster and crisis cards come up less often.
Debt and the Charter Floor
Let your arrears go overdue or your total debt climb too high, and you slide into collections, then onto the Charter Floor: implants bought on installments are repossessed, you move into a welfare pod and draw a small allowance each day, and you keep your identity and your relationships. The Charter won't let anyone starve, but life on the Floor is far from easy.