3.2 - Shelby
Alpha State
This game system, and the setting in which it takes place, are both in active development. Everything on this site is subject to change. Please hard refresh pages when you visit to ensure you're viewing the latest versions.One of the oldest exterior districts on SB65, one of the most legendary free zones in the cyberstar wastes, Shelby is a place of contrasts. Here is one of the places where you're free to be yourself, but you might be more vulnerable to power because of it. Technically anyone here can earn their way to a better life, but most die in the process. It's glittering darkness; one of the last places you can find some kind of freedom, and it'll probably eat you alive.
Armitage Canyon
Near the outer edge of Shelby, there's an empty space of three missing habhexes. Fifteen years ago the space was just another part of Shelby, just as densely packed and teeming with life, until a systems analyst named Trevor Armitage saw an anomoly on his morning datasheet. He recognized a power fluctuation caused by locals tapping into the grid. So Trevor, per his job description, purged the malfunctioning habhex so it could be replaced. When he saw the malfunction was affecting two adjacent habhexes, he purged them too.
Inside all three habhexes, airlocks slammed shut and anchors unlatched. The entire structure groaned. Shelby being Shelby, the interconnected latticework of civilian construction up top held for a little while as people ran screaming for safety, but it only held for so long. Within minutes, centrifugal force of SB65's rotation ripped the flimsy construction apart as the habhexes were pulled down and out. They slid free of their moorings and out into space, still mostly full of people, including the civilian construction still on top of them.
That was the start of the Armitage Riots. At first people wondered if something had gone wrong, but when they found out it was just some low-level exec's morning data check before he'd even had his coffee, they snapped. Most of the district was on fire by the end of the day, and the riots spread into surrounding corporate districts without restraint. SBPI at first tried to contain the rage, but then gave up and let it burn itself out for a while, until they came rolling back in full force to put the crowds down. In the meantime, some enterprising cyberpunks had found Trevor Armitage, brought him to the site, and tossed him down into the canyon after his victims.
The riots lasted weeks, even once they were contained to Shelby. Cyberpunks and gangsters fought cops openly in the streets, Shelby shrank in some areas and expanded in others. When it was all said and done, almost thirty-two percent of Shelby's residents had died. Think about that next time you look at its population numbers. Since then Shelby has steadfastly refused to allow any corp to replace those three habhexes. The canyon is a scar that reminds people of their place in the galaxy, and what corpofucks really think of their 'citizens' and 'consumers' when it comes down to brass tacks.
There are a few bridges across the canyon, built by locals. Mostly they exist because it's a pain in the ass to walk all the way around, but many of the bridges also include some type of memorial to the people lost that day and in the riots afterward. Along the edges of the canyon, personal construction is starting to lean out over the edges of that endless drop, but otherwise the canyon remains a giant empty space where people once lived.