@Excal

I could be wrong, but I think that's what the 'Identity Trace' does/is for. It administers this special serum or whatever upon death.

At least, that's the way I read it.

@Rune_Alchemist Ah, I read it that they injected it into them upon death, the turn to black petals thing.

Edit: Upon death, this involves injecting a special serum throughout the deceased that rapidly deteriorates their corpse before the defective gene has the time to activate. Witnesses to this process says it is akin to a seeing a body 'fade into fleeting black pedals'

Citizens of the mega-city are mandated to possess a 'Identity Trace', an implant that allows the Apothos system to suppress a defective gene in humanity, known as 'Sin'

What I took from this is that the implants act as a convenient method for suppressing this gene by administering this Serum upon death as soon as vital signs cease to function.

I could be wrong, but if it doesn't then it would be quite the inefficient system as inevitably some bodies would fall through the cracks/be unobtainable as you pointed out. Hell, some people in the real world die in their homes and don't get discovered for years (Admittedly, not a super common thing) In a large city as this there's no way there would be enough manpower to physically go to every deceased and administer this serum.

I suppose if the implant alerted proper authorities to death when it happened, it could be more plausible, but with a city as large as this, it likely has a fairly high death rate.

Which would also be why tampering with it would be highly illegal.

I could be completely wrong though, just my thoughts on how it would work in a more perfect system. Probably shouldn't do that considering the genre of this RP, but eh xD

Best probably to wait for Shura to clarify entirely.

@Rune_Alchemist Exactly! It's probably like what you said though.

Also

@RyuShura Are there any anomly fields ala STALKER in the zone and/or are there any vertical effects ala Made in Abyss?

@Excal Because of the unstable nature of the ecosystem, as a result of the failing magic of this world. Yes, there are places where anomalies exist. Like in the STALKER games, they are highly volatile and dangerous, distorting physics and other oddities. They seem to appear and disappear randomly too.

And as a note, every person must have an I.T. Even the poor. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to access even basic functions of the city, such as public terminals and even crossing certain checkpoints. And most people have been instilled fear about losing their I.T. Tampering with them is like tampering with someone's heart or brain. It's seen as taboo. And by implant, I might have insinuated that it was something easily visible to the eye. It's more like a molecular sequence embedded into their body. A sort of D.N.A.

As @Rune_Alchemist pointed out, there is not nearly enough manpower to get rid of the bodies. And humans are known to be prone to 'failings'. So this method was devised as a way to ensure the suppression of the gene.

People who stray away from the reaches of the system, i.e. Divers, are risking the gene activating when they die. But not really, at the same time. The system is meant to monitor the gene and the I.T., but the I.T. will still activate upon death. And even if it does fail somehow, the city is not held accountable for whatever happens. They are seen as a mercenary force.

I hope that answers everything. I have been busy lately. But I think I will have time tonight to make the big post.

@RyuShura Hmm, so what does the system do if it detects children with no IT, aka either slum folk who didnt get injected or any births made outside the districts for whatever reason?

Sorry for all the fluff questions, its a really interesting setting XD.

@Excal No problem, it allows me to test the limits of all that I've considered and what I should consider.

As for births in general, children are often born in a Custodia run clinic/hospital, and administered an I.T. there. Those who are detected to not have an I.T. and are without accountable guardians, are taken by the Magistratum afterwards and inducted into their combat academies. They do these 'recruitment drives' pretty frequently. Those who are born from the outside, though such cases are very specific and rare, are scanned for any dangerous genetic flaws before allowed into the walls. If they are deemed too tainted by the Apothos System, they are 'disposed' of. Certain physical mutations do not play into the success or failure of this scan, as it seems. Being that there are plenty of people in the Slums with slight mutations. Black hair is seen as a common harmless mutation, and naturally darker skin complexions. As there is no actual sunlight to speak of, the 'evolutionary' need for such things has since dwindled and have shown significant decline.

But of course, I don't want to get too science-y. Kinda ruins the fun of the 'fantasy' bits. 'Rule of Cool', as I like to tout.

@RyuShura Huh, interesting! So her children may or may not play a part, I'll leave that to you.

Also, I just remembered something. If you want another source of inspiration for environmental eldritch/chaotic myatery magic shennanigens read Metro 2033 it had some of the best spooky weird place sectiona I ever read. Just flip through for the parts where they enter a tunnel.

@Excal Haha, as cool as that looks, the city isn't that crazy. Maybe around the Infinity Spire itself, but the Outer Rings are a tad bit more congested down trotten looking. But you got the scale down. The ruins the city is built out of is massive. I can't stress this enough. If I had to say, the Outer Ring would look more like this. Small, cramped, compact. And also, as another note among notes, the Magistrates and the whole city in general has strong techno/oriental vibes. The uniform and armor they wear often are adorned with segmented plates and stuff, and they are extremely disciplined. No cone hats though. If I have the time I will try to do some quick sketches of what I mean. I usually don't feature art that I don't do myself, so that's why I didn't litter the OP with stuff. The above art isn't mine, obviously.

And nah, that would be more like a normal creature found out in the Eclipse Zone. Leviathans (swimming/flying) and Behemoths (land) are so large that some speculate they house entire ecosystems. They would trample through Districts, quite literally. It's quite the big deal. (ha.)

Got a quick-ish sketch of a standard unit in the following hour I got home from work. As you can see, strong oriental themes. I'll probably add more to it later on, maybe even different variants. But I need to stop. I have to work on that post, after all. Sometimes I forget I'm a GM. XD

Wow you're a good artist, I can't draw for shit. Looking forward to your post.

@RyuShura

Jeez, nice work as always Shura

Got a quick-ish sketch of a standard unit in the following hour I got home from work. As you can see, strong oriental themes. I'll probably add more to it later on, maybe even different variants. But I need to stop. I have to work on that post, after all. Sometimes I forget I'm a GM. XD

Hider [+]

I must say it is a lovely bit of art, love the weapon

Is it an energy caster or kinetic?

@RyuShura Holy shit that's a quick sketch? Wth is your regular work then XD.

@Excal
stop distracting the man hes supposed to be working on a post lol

Thanks for the compliments, all. I appreciate it. :^D I try to do my best. I just hope my writing lives up to the hype... The post is almost done. I think? I still have to revise it.

@RumikoOhara It's an energy weapon. Catalyst powered. The rivets acting as the iron sights are supposed to allow the weapon to slide down and hook onto the charge pack. I know, it's kinda hard to tell. XD

@Excal I do drawing as a hobby, so I don't really have any finished work. Just a bunch of sketches.

@RumikoOhara Also, did you intent to join the roleplay? I said it was okay earlier, if you didn't catch it. Or do you like spectating more? I know I do sometimes.

@RumikoOhara Also, did you intent to join the roleplay? I said it was okay earlier, if you didn't catch it. Or do you like spectating more? I know I do sometimes.

Thought I might skulk for a bit as I see if two other RP I am a member of move or stall
Plus I still need to figure out my role

@RumikoOhara Ah, I respect that. Well, if you do end up joining, you already know how things work. XD