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ABOUT THE CITY//
ABOUT THE CITY

The City is a futuristic RPG set in the year 209 Hokage Era (H.E.), two hundred nine years after the end of the world. (This corresponds with the year 2009 irl, so in 2010 it would be 210 H.E.) There is only one city remaining, and that is The City itself. The ruler of the city is known as Hokage, and the citizens are separated into distinct castes according to hair color. There is nothing outside of The City, so there is no escaping. Anyone who reaches the fringes of The City is faced with miles of barren desert as far as the eye can see, and nothing else. Everyone has always lived in The City, and always will live there.

All knowledge about History, Science, Literature, and everything else is severely limited in The City, contained by the Hokage himself. No one knows much of anything about the Hokage, only that the world ended due to the greedy and power-hungry dirt-hairs, and that the Hokage was the savior who built the city upon the rubble of the Old World and saved the people. No one has ever seen Hokage, who communicates via written or intercom statements only, and even his closest spokespeople (known as "the favored") have never met him in person. Hokage is the ultimate ruler, and only he is capable of passing or abolishing the laws of The City.

The Districts

The City is separated into three districts. The first, or upper-class district where the light-hairs live; the second, or middle-class district where the brunettes and redheads (or strange hair colors like Sakura) live, and the third, or lower-class district where the dirt-hairs (aka dark-hairs) live.

First District

The first district belongs to the most powerful caste, the blondes. The buildings there are tall, pristine, and silver. The first district almost glows despite the hazy sky above it. Everything is kept up with there on a daily basis. If a streetlight doesn't work, it's taken care of immediately. If your living room window gets busted, someone will be there to fix it without you even asking. Blondes have the highest level of technology and medicine, are awarded every societal right, and can do most things without permits (like owning weaponry). Blondes also have the best and highest paying jobs. All of them are required to work for Hokage, but if they are/become disabled and cannot work for a legitimate reason, they are always taken care of. Also, the only greenspace left in The City is limited to the first district, which holds the only parks and manmade lakes in the entirety of The City. No one is allowed in these parks without a special pass except light-hairs. The first district is gated off from its neighboring district, the second district.

I. Pets - The pets of the light-hairs are human. They are a special class of dirt-hair, trained and bred for being the perfect pets. They have their lineages tracked, are attractive, obedient, and healthy. In addition to being companions, they are also servants. All pets are taken care of before they have masters, as they are a valuable living product. They are expensive, but most blondes can easily afford them. Pets come with collars only their masters can remove, which can deliver an electric shock via remote for disciplinary purposes. All pets are tagged with microchips beneath the skin on the back of their neck and must be on leashes at all times outside of their residences. Unwanted pets go to pounds where they may be killed, though some bleeding hearts own no-kill shelters. Blondes can pick up a stray pet (a dirt-hair who lives in the slums), but it is highly discouraged because it's dangerous. Sexual relationships with pets are forbidden by law, and if it does happen and gets a lot of press, the blonde will be jailed. If the authorities find out but it doesn't generate attention, the pet will be taken away and the owner giving a slap on the wrist. And most of all, remember to get your pets neutered/spayed.

Light-hairs can also have regular, animal pets (like brunettes), but it's unfashionable and they will receive dirty looks.

II. Education and Jobs - For light-hairs, there is mandatory general education in elementary schools (ages 5-12). Afterward, people choose their target occupation and go to an intensive academy that specializes in their occupational training(13-18), with internships following (19-21). They receive the best education, and there is no room for slackers. Despite this, even the light-hairs' knowledge of subjects like science is limited. Only the jinchuuriki and top-elite, well-trusted light-hair scholars are allowed to study things like astronomy, biology, chemistry, and the like. History before Hokage Era is not taught, because it is "not known." Obviously, only light-hairs are allowed to go to medical school and law school, and medicine is probably the most intensively-studied science since it is crucial to health. Study of genetics is completely disallowed. One last thing to note is that corporeal punishment is encouraged for those who step out of line or don't work/do work efficiently.

III. Technology - Every light-hair residence is controlled by a central computer system, down to the smallest detail. Want a bath? Wherever a person is in their house, they can tell the computer to draw them a bath and even specify the warmth of the water to the number. The phone can be that way, too - totally hands-free, used through speakers and microphones installed in every room. Private conversations are also possible with a headset small enough to fit into the ear canal. When blonds feel like kicking back and watching their favorite movie, virtual reality is where it's at. Lightweight headgear sits on the ears and wraps around the eyes like goggles. Video chat can use virtual reality, as well as games. Computers are completely wireless and there is open internet access all over The City. Most computers are able to fold and fit in a businessman's pocket while not in use. To complete the night, Eat-In is readily available. Eat-In is a machine installed in every home. The menus of every restaurant in the first district are programmed into it, and updated daily. Place the order, pay, wait a few minutes, and Eat-In delivers - right into the kitchen. Remove steaming hot food and eat up. Be creative with the technology! If you can think it up, it's probably available to blondes. Blondes also have automatic vehicles, only needed to punch in their destination into a GPS system and the car is programmed to drive itself. As one might imagine, these vehicles go very fast.

IV. Relationships - Light-hairs are severely discouraged from emotional conduct. That is left for the angry dirt-hairs and the bitter brunettes. A completely emotionless countenance protects the blonds by never letting the lower castes know what they're thinking, and is more conductive to better business deals. Thinking with the heart made the world end; Hokage's cool and logical thinking created The City, and blondes should emulate that. All relationships should be business-like, and reproduction is for offspring.

Important: People are only allowed to marry and produce children within their own caste. It usually doesn't happen, but there are occasions where offspring will have a different hair color than their parents. Such children will be taken away immediately and delivered to the correct district. Even blondes who have darker-haired children will have to part with them. Dirt-haired babies born into a higher caste will become a pet if born to blondes, and be sent to the third district if born to brunettes. All brunette babies go into second district orphanages, and all blonde babies go into first district orphanages.

V. The Favored - The favored are the most powerful light-haired elites in The City. They are the most widely-recognized public figures, and they are notably the ones always in front of the cameras during press releases or other city statements. They are the closest to Hokage, acting like his right-hand men (or women). To be a favored, you are a top dog, and you must be perfect. They are physically considered the most beautiful, and the smartest individuals in The City. Beyond this, they worked hard to get where they are, and of course, had connections. There might be other criteria, too, but no one really knows what cinches how they get picked. There are very few of them, so if you want to be one you need to ask a mod.

Second District

The second district is home to the middle caste, the brunettes. The buildings are mostly made out of brick and are in varying states of repair. The newer ones are nice, but the older ones can be very shabby. There are areas that need repair here, and not all of them are taken care of in a timely manner, but anything life-threatening is fixed within the week. The second district has some grass poking through their cracked sidewalks, and possibly a stray tree here and there, but not much else in respect to nature unless it's in a window-box The level of technology is lower than what the blondes have access to, but still good, and the medicine is on par with the first district, but supplies may not always arrive in a timely manner. Need permits for many things (such as weaponry), and need visas and work-permits to go into/work in the first district. They hold low-paying jobs, working for blondes and supervising dirt-hairs. Brunettes are required to work, but if they are/become disabled and cannot work, they get monthly allowances that may not always cover all expenses.

I. Pets - For brunettes, pets are non-human. They don't have fancy breeds or training schools. Like with human pets, all non-human pets must be kept on leashes in public, are tracked with microchips, and go to the pound when they are unwanted. However, there is no such thing has a non-kill shelter for non-human pets. Their best bet would be to get lost in the third district where the animal cops don't bother patrolling.

II. Education and Jobs - All brunettes receive mandatory general education in elementary schools (5-9). Afterward, people choose their target occupation and go to intensive trade school (10-13). Internships follow (14-15). Many jobs held by brunettes are service jobs (for light-hairs), with a few reaching professional-level jobs like management (of offices in their district only, of course). Because the second district provides the third district with all of its food and supplies as well as its own, things like grocery stores are also common.

III. Technology - Brunettes' homes are also controlled by a central computer system, but the brunettes have to actually punch in the commands at a control panel. They also don't have access to virtual reality and have old hologram technology. Their computers are bigger than the blondes' but are still easily transportable. The Brunette version of Eat-In has fewer choices and is limited to second district restaurants, which do not have the same quality food as first district ones. They also can only place orders on their Eat-In machines and have to wait for it to be delivered by person. Brunettes have cars (like the blondes do), but while the blondes' cars drive themselves after a destination is programmed into it, the brunettes must actually drive their cars.

IV. Relationships - Brunettes are allowed to express what they feel. Their lives aren't very important so it doesn't matter what kinds of business deals they make. However, brunettes who are smart will try to emulate the higher caste and be more like Hokage wants. Relationships can be for friendship or love over what would be best.

Third District

The third district is a prison to the lowest case, the dirt-hairs. Everything dark and in ill-repair can be found in this district, and dirty, derelict buildings line the cracked pavement of the streets. Nothing is ever fixed up unless the dirt-hairs do it themselves, and good luck getting the resources. The lowest, most basic technology makes it down there, limited medicine, and minimal societal rights. Dirt-hairs cannot legally own weapons, nor can they legally enter the first district. They may work in the second district, or linger there during the day, but at sunset are no longer legally allowed anywhere except in the third district. Hokage forces the dirt-hairs to work, labeling them with an ID number and an occupation of his choosing that they must perform for life. They have the right to be paid for their work, but there is no minimum wage set for them. If dirt-hairs are/become disabled, Hokage doesn't supplement them. Because of this, many dirt-hairs choose to defect and resort to criminal activities to survive, and as one might imagine, the Third District is the most dangerous and criminal district in The City. No one who doesn't have to be there goes there, unless they are desperate for certain things that are illegal to get in the other districts, of course.

Because of the lack of medical services for dirt-hairs, they are also the most sick and feeble of the three classes. They are prone to diseases that, for the light-hairs (and many of the brunettes) are practically unheard of or easily treated (ex. STDs are virtually eliminated in the First District, and can be easily cured by a shot).

I. Pets - Dirt-hairs are technically not allowed to have pets, but there are plenty of strays wandering around, and can be taken in if one has a kind heart. However, the dirt-hairs can hardly support themselves, and many of the strays are diseased, rabid or afraid of humans anyway.

II. Education and Jobs - Dirt-hairs receive mandatory general education in elementary schools (5-6). Afterward, they receive training in an occupation of Hokage's choosing (7). ALL occupations of dirt-hairs are low-level, factory/trade jobs, such as line workers, animal slaughterers, garbage men, plumbers, etc. They have no set wages, and no workers' rights, so they can be treated and paid however their superiors see fit. Because there are no grocery stores or other stores for goods in the Third District, they must go to the Second District during set (daytime) hours to buy supplies for themselves. They are limited to certain stores that allow them, and certain goods that are labeled for their use. For a dirt-hair to even manage to get fresh produce is a miracle in itself, and most often non-perishable, canned goods are what dirt-hairs live off of.

III. Technology - The dirt-hairs find themselves lucky if they have a decent shelter and running water, much less any kind of advanced technology. There is wireless internet broadcast all over The City, so they do have that, and blackberry-like devices are widely available to them so they can communicate and access the internet. Vespa-like bikes are available to dirt-hairs if they want to bother spending money on them.

IV. Relationships - Dirt-hairs are the only class that are not expected and controlled to hide their emotions and be business-like. They are considered inferior by nature, so it is impossible to train them to be logistic and intelligent like the other classes. Dirt-hairs can't help but express whatever is going on in their minds. They don't know any better and have no self-control. That's what the higher castes believe about dirt-hairs, but that possibly gives dirt-hairs the most freedom of all. Thus, dirt-hairs often fall in love and have long-lasting relationships, and, of course, children. But with so little known about health and science, and very little protective laws at that, rape, pedophilia, incest and other taboos are common in the Third District, and not policed by the Hokage, who doesn't care what people in the Third District do to themselves, as long as it doesn't effect the other classes. It is a very much archaic and lawless system, which has led to some self-policing.

V. Gangs of the Third District -

1. 魔戦士 (Masenshi) - Masenshi is one of the most notorious and powerful gangs in the Third District. No one knows their members or the leader of their organization, but the group itself is widely known. Think the mafia, except with so little police enforcement in the Third District, they practically are the law. They are the prime players in illegal trafficking of things like drugs, weapons, sex, hair dye, and more unexpected things like protection of lovers and families of mixed-castes. On the products they traffick, there is always a single, small symbol of a red and white fan. The underground language (Japanese for our purposes) was said to be created by them, has spread like wildfire throughout the Third District, and is widely known by many of its people and completely confusing for the other two districts. Masenshi is hated by the police, and constantly searched for, so they remain very quiet and under the radar so as not to be caught.

One of the most irritating problems Masenshi has caused for The City, is the marketing and distribution of a new drug called Suba (short for "subarashii"), which is novel in its ability to react to the users' expectations and produce the trip the user wants. If the user expects an upper, the drug reacts like our modern-day speed, or if the user expects a downer, the experience will be something akin to xanax or valium. This goes for all other classes of drugs; hallucinogens, etc. The chemicals respond to the brain's emotional output in order to do this, but the side-effects of the drug are still just as dangerous as if one had taken speed or xanax. Take too much, have any other interactions, or take a contaminated dose, and it's fatal just like any other drug. The other potential problem is that because the drug is very sensitive to the emotional state of the user, it is easy to have a bad trip if the user is anxious or scared, or expects an adverse reaction (so those with anxiety problems, stay away). Despite this, the drug has become extremely popular in the past couple of years, and a huge issue is that it seems to be very, very addictive.

If you character needs to contact the Masenshi at any time, you can head over to masenshi.

Keep in mind that not everyone is equal even inside a level of the caste system. Some blondes have more money and power than other blondes. Some brunettes have more money and power than other brunettes (and likewise with the dirt-hairs). However, no brunette will ever be better off than a blonde, and no dirt-hair will be better off than a brunette. If Hokage notices such a thing happening, it will be dealt with.

Law Enforcement

The police are the peacekeepers of The City. There is no military because The City is the only place left, so the police take on jobs like border control (around The City and between districts), public concerns, crime, and the like. Police have very high status, and only blondes can be part of the force. They are very present in the first district, a bit less present in the second district, and hardly patrol the third district unless something big is going on down there.

Blondes can call on the officers for just about anything they can think of, such as filing a report or getting escorted into a lower district. Brunettes may call for help and be assisted, but police aren't at their beck and call as far as safety concerns unless it's their immediate safety. Dirt-hairs, don't even bother trying to appeal to the police unless the police want something from you.

Crimes

Blondes are usually let off the hook for many crimes they commit. It's generally not okay to kill anyone in the first district except in self-defense. Killing dirt-hairs is not encouraged, but there is no repercussion for it if done outside the first district (for both blondes and brunettes).

Brunettes are more susceptible to getting jail time, but they get fair trials.

Dirt-hairs are publically executed in the first district for most things. It's mostly at the whim of whoever arrests them, and executions are a fun pastime for blondes.

As a side-note, pets can also be executed (or "put to sleep") for trying to escape or, really forbidden, hurting their master. If a dirt-hair is kidnapped off of the street and forced to become a pet for a light-hair, they are now a pet, and must resign themselves to their fate or forever be on the run if they possibly manage to escape.

Hair dye is illegal in every form. It is a class A illegal substance, meaning that it is one of the most illegal items to have in one's possession. Anyone caught dying their hair will be getting thrown in jail for a long while. Unless you're a dirt-hair, which means you'll be getting the axe. Literally.

The Jinchuuriki

The Jinchuuriki are special. They are an experiment requested by Hokage to place a microchip into the brains of selected babies. The dirt-haired jinchuuriki have the earliest models, the brunette jinchuuriki had refined models, and the blonde jinchuuriki have the latest, breakththrough model. They do not know this. Only Hokage and the people who inserted the chip know.

The latest chips are connected to Hokage's database, so they have the potential to get all information about The City and its history, however it is highly unlikely and not the chip's purpose. The chip greatly enhances the minds of whoever has them, creating geniuses. All of the chips have flaws and could malfunction (mod discussion would have to happen for a chip to malfunction).

If people playing jinchuuriki do not want this as a plot point with their character, they don't have to use it.