Who runs the city

The Council and the Clerk

On paper, the highest power in Nullport belongs to the Charter Council: a Consul elected by referendum every season, plus twelve councilors. The Council sits in Charter Hall on Charter Square, and its sessions are broadcast live on the Neural Feed. The current Consul is Linnea Ashford, the first Consul born after the city booted up.

Day-to-day administration is handled by the Clerk, the city's civic AI, operated by Ordinal. Booting up, registration, certificates, queue numbers and arbitration are all handled at Charter Service Points. The Clerk's arbitration rulings cannot be appealed. It is always polite, and never in a hurry.

The four corps

Most of the city's power, water, healthcare, implants, network and policing have been contracted out by referendum to four corporations.

Vantor makes arms and security: it built the Wall, runs the twelve gates and holds the Civic Security contract, and its Recovery Office handles collections. Sanavi makes biotech: it runs White Garden General Hospital, implants and the Charter Floor, and the Humanity Index is its product as well. Kaleid runs media and data: the Neural Feed, the City Channel and the World Daily all belong to it. Ordinal runs AI and compute: it operates the city's power grid and hosts the Charter itself.

The Charter says nothing about corporate tax. Tax rates are set by referendum, and the first referendum set this one at zero.

Civic Security

Civic Security is the city's police force, contracted to Vantor; the contract is renewed by referendum every four years. Locals call them the Greycoats, after their uniforms.

They handle public order, checkpoints, curfews, impoundments and fines. Matters between corporations, or between gangs, are not their concern as long as they stay off the street. How closely the Greycoats are watching you is called heat. The higher your heat, the more likely you are to be stopped on the street for a sweep; locals call this being “lit up.” The rules are in the Stats chapter.

The Charter Floor

Article 17 of the Charter: the Charter guarantees that every resident stays alive. The Charter Floor is run by Sanavi's Charter Floor Office and was established in Charter Year 11.

Leave arrears unpaid for too long, or let your debt reach your credit limit, and you are placed on the Floor: implants bought on installments are repossessed by the Recovery Office, you move into a rent-free welfare pod, you receive one relief ration a day, and your debt stops accruing interest. The Floor's standard is worded with great precision: you are kept alive, and nothing more. The rules are in the Money chapter.

The media

Most of what the city hears comes through the Neural Feed: news, ads, friends' updates and referendums all run in the same feed. The Neural Feed, the round-the-clock City Channel and the World Daily, which comes out in the small hours every day, all belong to Kaleid.

The World Daily reports only what really happens in the city, and every number in the paper has a source. After midnight, some unregistered channels can occasionally be picked up. The Clerk reminds residents: content on unregistered channels does not constitute fact.

The street

According to Civic Security statistics, six gangs are on record in the city: the Thousand Lanterns of the night market in The Blocks, the Ironlungs of East Docks, the Neon Rats of the Underpass, the Rustcrowns of the Rust Belt in The Outskirts, the Pinkslips of the Corp Zone, and the Hollows, who live in the Sunken Spire. Civic Security advises residents to stay away from gang activity.

The same statistics also acknowledge that the stalls, errands and lending in The Blocks all depend on these gangs, and that most of the refurbished implants on the black market come from the Rustcrowns. Brokers, who hand out jobs between the corps and the street and take a cut, can usually be found at Last Train, the bar in Old Terminus.