Midas

Midas (ミダス, Midasu) is the urban satellite city of Amoi’s central metropolis, Tanagura and is the home of most of the human population of the planet. Known as the city that never sleeps, it is also the main tourist hub, drawing in people from various galaxies to its Pleasure Quarters, to indulge and partake in activities that are considered taboo elsewhere or are outright illegal.

Midas was divided into 9 Areas, where each has its own characteristics and serves its own purpose. Its core, however, is made up of the two concentric rings – Area 1 Lhassa and Area 2 Flare, which represent the face of Midas and cater to the tourist industry.

Within the boundaries of Midas, morals and taboos did not exist. It served up every imaginable mode of amusement, answering to the wants and needs of mortal flesh. There one could find casinos, bars, brothels, and all facets of the entertainment industry. However, outside of the Double Ring, the landscape changes from the flashy neon of the Pleasure Quarters to a more mundane life of the citizens of Midas bound by a strict class system.

Society[]

Citizens of Midas worked tirelessly to meet the needs of tourists who spent money and time on this remote planet. Shackled by inheritance to the class system known as Zein, everything in their lives, from occupation to marriage was decided by the class they were born into.

There was no natural birth in Midas. Everyone was born in artificial wombs fertilised through artificial insemination. They were chipped at birth with a PAM device which served as their ID and despite how invasive it was, it was viewed as the greatest privilege one could have.

Imprinting[]

Even their education was tailored to the function they were assigned at birth, resulting in great disparity among the citizenry, with a number even being left illiterate.

The education in Midas was also known as imprinting, and it served an important role in keeping the citizens pacified. So indoctrinated were they with an awareness of their own class, that they lived happily with whatever degree of knowledge was on a par with their own lot in life. Tanagura aimed to domesticate the people into desiring only pleasure and comfort. Imprinted with a sense of duty and servitude, they didn’t even recognize that they are livestock kept in a huge cage called Midas.

Another manipulative tactic of such education was to make the citizens believe that through their possession of an ID, they were indeed lucky and privileged, especially compared to those who lived in Ceres. They firmly believed that being in possession of their Midas residency cards elevated their worth as human beings far above that of the mongrels of the slums. And even if they happened to be unsatisfied with the hand life had dealt them, the existence of beings below them on the totem pole tickled the subconscious with a warped kind of pleasure. Such was the ugly reality of Midas's control of the populace.

Their hatred of mongrels was so deeply ingrained, that rather than causing trouble or bucking the establishment and losing their ID cards, they all knew that the far better course was to follow the rules and keep their mouths shut. The despised trash of Ceres were right there in from of them, scraping by in the slums. To the citizens of Midas, their greatest humiliation was not the invasive restrictions on their speech and conduct, nor was their indignation directed towards any flagrant abuse of their human rights. It’s the thought of being stripped bare and dumped in Ceres. The ever-present sense of disdain and superiority were the fruits of a Midas education had seeped into the marrow of their bones.

To live in Ceres was to no longer be a human being.

The fact was imprinted on the basal ganglia of their brains and permeated every cell of their bodies.

History[]

After Jupiter’s uprising and banishment of humans from Tanagura, Midas was formed to house the displaced people. Slowly, as the class system and other forms of oppression took hold, dissatisfaction rose among the people. As a result, a revolt had once broken out. The revolutionaries seeking to bring about a new order based on the pursuit of liberty and human dignity occupied Area 9 Ceres with the goal of achieving independence.

From the outset Midas parliamentary officials downplayed the severity of the crises, but with the Commonwealth backing the revolutionaries, eventually the uprising could no longer be ignored. Tanagura’s answer was to graciously grant them what they asked for – complete independence. An independence so total, that they were completely cut off from Midas. This resulted in Ceres slowly decaying into the slums it is today – a crude warning to the rest of Midas of what could happen if they made the same mistake again.

With this in mind, the Commonwealth, that has always vocally criticised Midas began to make careful note of their true feelings on the subject.

The pointed, public criticisms and the voices calling for abolishment of the detestable Pet Auctions and other human rights violations began to diminish. In fact, throwing morals to the wind, many began to recognise Midas as a place where they could indulge their repressed and shameful desires without consequence. Foolish fads ran rampant until it became the new barometer of political and financial power. People from across the galaxy swarmed to the Pet Auctions with money to burn and partook in whatever Pleasure Quarters had to offer.

That in time good and evil should become accommodated to each other is perhaps only human nature.

Take things far enough and evil becomes good.

Against the backdrop of such a reality, human character was no doubt likely to come up short as the wheels of reason spun off their bearings.

Tourism in Midas[]

Tourism was Midas’s main economy and, one might even argue, main purpose. Despite being on the fringes of the Garan system, every sort of subspecies of humanity imaginable walked in Midas. Language, religion, values. None of it mattered. As long as the rules of Midas were kept, anything was possible.

Once the person went through the grueling process of acquiring a visa to Midas and passed the security check at the Main Gate, they could go anywhere they pleased depending on the level of the pass they were issued. Those who do not have a pass or who try to enter outside the designated area would be immediately detained.

For their convenience, tourists could rent a tiny mobile navigation device that can speak any language for free. At their disposal were also twenty-four-hour tourist shuttle buses that ran through each sector.

The main tourist hubs of Midas were the Pleasure Quarters of Lhassa and the high-end boutiques, restaurants and hotels of Flare, but there was more to Midas than garish neon entertainment districts. Areas meant for relaxation were offered too, like the arboretum in Ainis. Despite this, it was a widely known fact that the vast majority of the tourist trade consisted of those seeking to sate the most perverse of predilections. Even things such as child abuse were a state regulated enterprise. For those who toe the line and follow the rules, Midas was a taboo-free paradise. But running afoul of those rules would show that the velvet glove covered a mailed fist.

Law[]

Midas Division of Public Safety was the main law enforcement body in the city. Their job was to ensure the safety and well-being of the citizens and tourists, as well as to weed out any mongrels from Ceres or Sinkers.

Each Area had its own entry rules, and where one was allowed to go depended on the level of their pass or ID access level.

Gun control was especially strict across all of Midas, including Ceres. Even the MDPS rarely carried firearms.

Areas of Midas[]

Lhassa (Area 1)[]

Lhassa (ラッサ, Rassa), also known as the Pleasure Quarters and Play Zone, was the main entertainment hub of Midas. Inundated in flashy neon lights, Lhassa was what gave Midas the reputation of the city that never sleeps.

Flare (Area 2)[]

Flare (フレア, Furea) is the district housing high-class boutiques and restaurants, as well as many hotels that treat visitors catering to the tourist industry.

The 24h Pharmacy under which Katze has his main office is located in this district, as is his other office in the Red Baron hotel.

Mistral Park (Area 3)[]

Mistral Park (ミストラル・パーク、 Misutoraru Pāku) is a large convention center complex lined with exhibition pavilions of various shapes and sizes. This was where most public events, such as the annual Pet Auctions were held.

Since Tanagura was a highly restricted city where only the most privileged humans were invited to attend, even the Tanagura elites organised events, soirees and meetings in Mistral Park most of the time.

Ainis (Area 4)[]

Ainis (アイニス, Ainisu) houses a large, domed arboretum. Meant to serve as a calm retreat in contrast to other parts of Midas, it showed off what Tanagura's state-of-the-art biotechnology industry could accomplish given free reign.

Every section of this forest park sported a variety of tree species and brightly colored flowers. A rich variety of butterflies, bugs and birds fluttered about carelessly. Soft breezes wafting from the negative ion generators bathed the skin and taking a single breath of the refreshing air soaked deep into the flesh. It was a garden of paradise, a nature retreat of highest quality.

The nightless city of Midas had more to offer the visitor than the uninterrupted glow of garish neon that emanated from the Pleasure Quarters. Key among its many enterprises was this refuge where the exhausted party animal could pause and raise their spent spirits while walking its many flowered paths winding through the park.

Diedo (Area 5)[]

Diedo (ディード, Dīdo) used to border with Ceres until Neal Darts settled between the two areas. It is said that once Neal Darts was established, it slowly took over Diedo’s fearful reputation and profits.

Janus (Area 6)[]

Janus (ヤヌス, Yanusu) is an area located on the eastern edge of Midas. It is tucked in south of Sasan and Ainis, and to its west, it is separated from Flare by Orange Road which doubles as their boundary.

Herbay (Area 7)[]

Herbay (ハーベイ, Hābei) was a special district reserved for convalescence and assisted living for the citizens of Midas. Stocked with fully equipped medical facilities, it was a residential area where citizens could spend their remaining years.

Because the citizens of Midas were bound by an absolute class system that stifled their basic human rights, Herbay was created to offset any dissatisfaction the citizens may feel during their life time. A carrot on the stick, it was a promise of a paradise and an apt reward for their years of hard work.

The citizens of Midas all believed that this is where they will be allowed to live out the twilight years of their lives, so long as they don’t run afoul of the law in the meanwhile. However, every year, only a few dozen people were granted that "honor."

All the residents were agreeable, adverse to conflict and spent the rest of their lives enjoying themselves. However, close inspection would reveal that all the gentle and satisfied smiles are a bit too uniform. And that a number of old faces disappeared, replaced by just as many new ones. It is likely that euthanasia was used to make room for the new residents.

But the truth of Herbay’s nature didn’t sink in either with the pacified residents or the citizens of Midas who spent their lives longing for this pseudo-paradise where people gathered to gradually die.

Herbay was the westernmost area of Midas, and the closest one to Dana-Burn. The only thing separating the two was a 10 meter high steel wall. As a result, after the destruction of Dana-Burn, due to its proximity, Herbay was devastated. That the area was off-limits to tourists was the only thing that kept casualties low.

Sasan (Area 8)[]

Sasan (ササン, Sasan) was the easternmost area of Midas and the main entry point into the city. It is directly connected to the Amoi Spaceport, and the Main Gate connecting them functions as the main security bottleneck for anyone landing on the planet.

Sasan also housed the Black Market headquarters and served as its main hub on Amoi.

Ceres (Area 9)[]

Ceres (ケレス, Keresu) is a Special Autonomous Area, a status it gained after a revolution against Tanagura. As a result, it was purged from the maps of Midas and left to its own devices. It is also known as the Slums and is scorned by the rest of the city.

Other Areas[]

Orange Road[]

Orange Road (オレンジ・ロード, Orenji Rōdo) is one of the biggest streets in all of Midas, and is one of the six main streets radiating from Lhassa’s Casino. From there, it goes south through Flare where it also serves as a boundary between Flare and Janus.

Not all sections of the Orange Road are equally populated and busy. Certain areas see little traffic and barely any tourists. One such area is in Flare where the Pharmacy hiding Katze’s main office is. The pharmacy is adjacent to the Orange Road.

Spaceport[]

The Amoian Spaceport occupies the coastal area north and northeast of Tanagura. It is a fully operational spaceport built to the specifications of the tourist industry. It also serves as a trade hub and is used extensively by the Black Market. So much so that its Headquarters and main warehouses are all located in Sasan for convenience.

The Spaceport is connected to Area 8 – Sasan by the Main Gate which is Midas’s main security check-point and the only entrance to Midas from the port.

Chalaza[]

Chalaza (カラザ, Karaza), also translated as Karaza, is an underground network of emergency evacuation tunnels. It tied Midas’s subterranean shelters together, and was also the only remaining connection between the hostile territories of Midas and Ceres, two otherwise completely separated entities. These passageways also traversed the length and breadth of Tanagura and served as escape routes.

This was a secret network, known only to the select few and not open to public nor marked on the tourist maps. It offered a private and discreet way for the elites to go about Midas without drawing attention. It also served as a way for those who needed to enter Ceres in secret. Katze, being the Tanagura representative in Guardian, often used the network. One of the tunnels lead directly to the underground gate of Guardian. The very fact that he even knew about it, was a testament to his level of power as the Black Market Broker.

The tunnels themselves were dark, lit only by colour-coded light beacons placed at 50 meter intervals. Possibly indicating the route, the tunnels close to Guardian were lit orange, while the ones leading from Tanagura to Herbay were lit yellow, then changed to blue, and finally gave way to red at the end of the route. Once the transporting car arrives at its destination, the doors of the tunnel close behind it, limiting unauthorised access.

Unspecified Locations[]

Certain locations were mentioned without many details:

Purple District (パープル街, Pāpuru-gai), the area where Riki parked his air bike when going to visit Katze's Office. Presumably a district in Flare.
Tilma District (ティルマ街, Tiruma-gai), the area where Riki's GPS last located him before his abduction by Guy, and where his wrist phone was found, discarded. Presumably a district in Flare.
Sector K (K地区, K Chiku), the area closest to the Midas Police Center where the tourist capsules operate. It's exact location, as well as MPC's location are unknown.

Other Facts[]

Midas had its own currency called Kario (カリオ, Kario) that was different from the one used in Ceres. 10 000 Kario was considered a king's sum which only someone unimaginably wealthy could spend.
The time zone used was Midas Standard Time. It also covered Ceres and Tanagura.
All the services, including sexual ones, in Midas were offered by humans, or other organic humanoids. Androids such as sexaroids were not used in the tourist industry.