"I go out to the street, my hands in my pockets."

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"...And the reason I am living is only because I am looking for what I have lost."
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[!!!] May potentially have violence and torture, drug use, references to alcohol and tobacco, injury and dismemberment, homicide, animal cruelty , kidnapping, psychosis, domestic violence, reference to clowns, themes of occultism and spiritualism, use of guns as instruments of violence, use of sharp pointed objects, war and mass conflict, religious torture and violence, discriminatory violence, enforced ideology and/or actions, strong language and demeaning words, flashing lights, body modification and/or deformation, gaslighting, hospital and medical references, and many many more.
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Money and power are one and the same in the City.
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Money is the only way to gain power... To wield the physical force that can take a life.
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But... all the hard work in the world may never be enough to obtain that power.
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The channels through which gold flows have already been set, you see. Even the rules that decide who gets to take that gold have been tightly bound.
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Then how are people supposed to live when they find no meaning in work, in wealth, or in following the rules?

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And what of those who tried to work, strove to become rich, tried to play by the rules... and failed all the same? How are they supposed to keep on living?
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In this City, we need the power to live as ourselves:
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The power to resist when the Head, the Wings, the Syndicates, and the City itself come to take our lives. The power that we can gain without having to purchase it.
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THE CITY, 12 / 3 / 983
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Months have passed since the Head's expulsion of the Library, and with it the golden beam that brightened the sky for seven days. The Hana Association had officially declared the Library and the Reverberation Ensemble, both Stars of the City, have fallen.
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District 12, specifically what's left of it, is now a lawless slum filled to the brim with scavengers, syndicates, and Wings seeking to recover whatever technology can be salvaged. With the fall of Lobotomy Corporation and the disappearance of the Library, a seat among the Wings remains vacant.
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("The Pianist" incident in District 9 shortly after the "White Nights and Dark Days")
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The light reportedly invigorated the desires and emotions of others to become their "true selves", rampaging the city. Reminiscent of the White Nights and Dark Days incident, these included forms who people perceive themselves to be, forms of the sins they have embodied their entire lives, the "truest' form of what they represent.
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(An Executioner of the Claw, Beholder of the Eye, and an Arbiter of the Head)
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However, even ordeals such as this prove to be trivial in the grander scheme of the City. The ecosystem cultivated by the Head cannot simply be shaken by people fueled with their own beliefs. While they continue to terrorize the City, they simply do not intervene as they seemingly don't violate any sort of taboo. The City may be cruel, though there are far worse things beyond its walls. Perhaps it's for their own good to be under the Head's protection.
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(District 25 Backstreets)
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The Backstreets will not bow down to your whims. Unlike the City's nests, a Wing does not cover the protection of its Backstreets. They are the less desirable half of a District and is very much not included in its pamphlets. To survive you must earn money to pay off debts whether it be from your rent, your local source of protection, or the Head. You must have a place of dwelling lest you be swept away by the Night of the Backstreets.
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(Hook Office, now disbanded)
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There will be many like you, from scurrying rats to up-and-coming Fixers climbing up the ranks. Everyone must make a living, whether it be in an Office, an Association, or a Wing. You may choose to pursue a non-violent profession, though a peaceful life is an unreachable luxury even for the wealthy. The rise from a Grade 9 to a Grade 1 is perilous, and many fall before they even become a Fixer at all.
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A Fixer starts from rock bottom saving cats out of tall trees, before being thrust into escorts, debt collection, assassinations, solving cases, and many other jobs. There's a fixer for almost any job you need done in a City. Want your lawn mowed? A grade 9 could probably manage that. Need your package delivered? The Devyat Association has your back. A fixer runs off of their usefulness, and being reliable on certain fields is the key. Though nothing will prepare you for what could possibly happen in your next job.
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(Kurokomo Clan against the Blade Lineage)
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Unless... you find that life is too hard for you? The reputation of many can be tarnished beyond repair, most Offices would deny you in an instant. Perhaps you would find yourself more fortunate in a syndicate. Sure, low level grunts get exploited and treated like fodder, but what place in the City wouldn't?
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Syndicates aren't necessarily "bad", the term is very broad. In the most basic sense, it is an organization doing Fixer work without being registered as a Fixer organization. It's more of a label put by the Hana Association to groups that won't play by the Associations and their rules.
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(The Thumb, The Ring, The Index, and the Middle - The █████ ██ ███████)
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But being in a low level gang of thugs won't be the ceiling. Most syndicates are subsidiaries of the Five Fingers, syndicates who are as powerful as the Wings themselves. The Thumb, the Index, the Middle, the Ring, and the Pinky are forces to be reckoned with.
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Each one has their "unique" aspects and function more like organizations hell-bent on their code, even more than the City's Wings. The Thumb with its adherence to authority, the Index with its complete surrender to the Will of the City, the Middle with its grudgeful nature, the Ring with its forms of art, and the Pinky with its mysterious nature.
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(K Corp Laboratory)
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But... don't try showing off those scars. It just means you're too poor to afford any sort of healthcare. In fact, the City has eradicated every single known disease for the right price. The City's life insurance finds your brain and puts it into a new one if you maintain your membership, and your wounds will instantly mend themselves with the help of a Wing advertised product. The most highly advanced technology are only reserved for people who matter. So don't expect being able to just purchase these products upfront. Connections and competency are what get you to high tier workshops and clients.
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(K Corp, R Corp, H Corp, The Thumb, X Corp, N Corp, and other miscellaneous Fixers)
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The Corporations, also known as the 26 Wings are the big wigs of the City just below the Head. Each of them have their own Singularity that fund their entire business, all singularities seemingly violate the laws of physics. A Wing is assigned to a District and manage the inner workings of their Nest, leaving the Backstreets to fend for themselves.
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Even when you finally earn yourself a spot in a Wing as a Tier 1 Staff, you are still disposable. There is no greedier organization in the city than a Wing. Often times Corporations may be at odds, thus marking the beginning of a "Patent War". When a Wing falls, its singularity is up for sale open to be used by anyone in the City.
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(Warp Train station inside P Corp's nest)
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Being a resident of a Wing, a feather, is a direct upgrade to your life in the Backstreets. It allows you to pursue a higher level of education, to join a Wing, to join the 12 Associations, and so on and so forth. Though, it is notoriously hard to earn yourself a Nest Migration Permit. And while the City is lawless, the Head heavily enforces its Taboos, and so do Nests. From tax evasion to absurd gun laws, attempting to even violate one will result in your immediate extirpation.
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While your safety may be "ensured", remember that you still reside in the City. It's best not to pry into any laboratory and find yourself overcome with curiosity...
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And what of life in the Outskirts? Will it be finally a place of respite once you leave the godforsaken City? Perhaps we will never know.

Maybe... this life will be different.
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+ ̊♪𝄞࿐+ ̊⊹
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˖ ݁♬⋆. ̊𝄞. Now it's time for another vendetta

Going through the shelves, picking out my prewritten persona

Children of the city see only the neon stars

Reflected upon the murky gutter sky

Don't ask me why I desperately wish to be included in the city's night ˖ ݁♬⋆. ̊𝄞.
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‧+ ̊♪𝄞࿐+ ̊⊹
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‧+ ̊♪𝄞࿐+ ̊⊹♪‧+ ̊˖ ݁♬⋆. ̊𝄞༄࿐༘⋆‧+ ̊♪𝄞࿐+ ̊⊹♪‧+ ̊˖ ݁♬⋆. ̊𝄞༄࿐༘⋆‧+ ̊♪𝄞࿐+ ̊⊹♪‧+ ̊˖ ݁♬⋆. ̊𝄞༄࿐༘⋆‧+ ̊♪𝄞࿐+ ̊⊹♪‧+ ̊˖ ݁♬⋆. ̊𝄞༄࿐༘⋆‧+ ̊♪𝄞࿐+ ̊⊹♪‧+ ̊˖ ݁♬⋆

‧+ ̊♪𝄞࿐+ ̊⊹♪‧+ ̊˖ ݁♬⋆. ̊𝄞༄࿐༘⋆‧+ ̊♪𝄞࿐+ ̊⊹♪‧+ ̊˖ ݁♬⋆. ̊𝄞༄࿐༘⋆‧+ ̊♪𝄞࿐+ ̊⊹♪‧+ ̊˖ ݁♬⋆. ̊𝄞༄࿐༘⋆‧+ ̊♪𝄞࿐+ ̊⊹♪‧+ ̊˖ ݁♬⋆. ̊𝄞༄࿐༘⋆‧+ ̊♪𝄞࿐+ ̊⊹♪‧+ ̊˖ ݁♬⋆