Simushir

Located at 02°7'32" S, 0°57'23 W on the island of Ina, Simushir (pop. 26,000; Japanese 新知市 Shimushiru-shi) is the Nippon Industrial State's planetside headquarters, one of the major settlements of the New Hawaii cluster, and such an infamously terrible place to live that people with bad luck or poor financial judgment are described as "on the way to Simushir."

The NIS petitioned the GEO for a planetside charter in 2189, but their request was only approved in 2192, making them one of the last major Incorporate powers to establish themselves on the planet. Simushir's construction was rushed to catch up, with fateful consequences that remain visible today; the settlement achieved its current form only two years ago, and is only just at the cusp of starting to pay for itself.

Physical layout

Simushir's infrastructure is famously squalid. Much of it lacks the fast fungus resistance expected of first-rate construction on Poseidon, and the constant activity of Simushir means that very few of its buildings have ever been properly shut down and renovated. Environmental safety is no prize either; any Warden worth their salt could make bank reporting on Simushir if the NIS allowed Wardens anywhere near the place.

Fifteen stories tall, the Arcology is home to all 6,000 of Simushir's full NIS employee-citizens, who interact with the indentured population so little that being assigned to do so is used as a punishment. If the height isn't enough to identify the Arcology, check the exterior: it's the only building in Simushir without a single spot of rust or fast fungus damage.

"The Boardwalk" is Simushir's name for the forward facilities, an array of platforms stretching across the bay. The Boardwalk contains, amongst other things:

• A massive xenosilicate refinery complex, the most heavily-secured part of Simushir.
• Simushir's airport, submarine pens, and loading docks.
• A maglev connecting the forward facilities to Ina.

The industrial core contains Simushir's bioplastic farms and an electronics plant on track to dominate planetside manufacturing by 2204. Most of Simushir's indentured laborers work here, in conditions so bad that the air quality at ground level is actually dangerous.

Last, and least, are Residential Zones 1-4, home to Simushir's 20,000 indentured workers. Each RZ contains the following:

• A number of habitation stacks, windowless four-story buildings with dozens of 2m×1m×1m "coffins" assigned in pairs to reach residential worker (one to live in, one to store their personal effects.)
• An administrative post containing the RZ's infirmary, bureaucratic offices, social services, and a garrison of security officers.
• A Rec Center, each of which features a large athletic center, movie theaters, and a number of ways for workers to spend consumption points, including a company store and shopping mall, restaurants and bars, and a dance club.

Residential Zone 1 also includes the foundation for one of Simushir's most infamous disasters: the dome. The NIS initially planned to enclose Residential Zones in cyclonic storm-proof domes similar to those on Luna and Mars, but the bioplastics used were extremely susceptible to local fast fungus strains, and the dome crushed more than a hundred people when it collapsed two weeks after completion.

Government

Simushir's executive branch is the Executive Body (Japanese 執行機関 Shikkō Kikan), ten senior administrators responsible for running planetside operations. As of 2199, the Executive Body's chairman is Tagana Kobumatsu, a diehard conservative promoted to Simushir after his successes in Burma and Micronesia. Answering to the Executive Body is a tangled bureaucracy that, in traditional NIS fashion, handles complaints by promptly addressing them (for NIS personnel) or losing in red tape, administrative stalling, and language barriers (for indentured workers.) Ideally dissatisfied indentured workers give up or get replaced before the NIS has to actually address any quality-of-life issues; years of success help make Simushir the rotting, fungus-infested cesspool it is today.

Simushir quarters almost a thousand NIS Security personnel, responsible for law enforcement and the protection of Incorporate assets both on Ina and across Poseidon. In light of worsening morale in the indentured population, their mission has shifted from protecting Simushir from external threats to managing internal ones, and anyone working in Simushir can expect surprise inspections (and interrogations) sooner or later.

Economy

As with all things in Simushir, its economy comes in two forms: one for the NIS and one for indentured workers.

In theory, Simushir's indentured labor force lives in an entirely cashless society. All of them are microchipped, and all economic transfers are handled digitally in the form of consumption points, which are converted to cash value and deducted from final payout in NIS scrip at the end of the work contract. In the event that an indentured worker ends their work contract in debt to the Nippon Industrial State, their contract is automatically renewed for another five-year term. (Before you ask: yes, this has happened.)