Sectors

Toroid One consists of Six Sectors, and is the home of civilization on the ship. It is notably the location of Green, Rainbow and White Sectors.
— The Manual

The walls in sector 1-A, also known as Green sector, are lined with healthy, natural images of old Earth. Fields of golden corn wave in an unseen breeze, a hooved quadruped clops placidly through a green meadow. In catering, children picnic in a park, eating strange and mysterious foods or playing with balls and dollies. The corridors around Entertainment are reminiscent of the oxygen forests, but bushes and small plants fill the spaces between the trees and speckles of light dance across the floor. The lights in the darker spaces between the branches, and peering out from the undergrowth, mostly come in slow-blinking pairs that definitely follow you around the room. With the walls covered in rustling growing things, it is hardly surprising that the hydroponic engineers of Green sector are widely thought to be the best on the whole ship. Their plants are not only larger and healthier, but often thought to be tastier too. The oxygen gardens are also more diverse, and easier to get lost in – the comforting gleam of silver walls that mark other garden boundaries are often missing, and instead the plants sometimes seem as though they go on forever…

Unsurprisingly, a large proportion of Green Sector works in hydroponics or Recycling, but they are certainly not limited to that. After all, healthy, nutritious food helps us be the best we can be! There is a certain amount of enmity with Red Sector in the next Toroid. Whilst this normally manifests as tensions between the two, many people use the NGF games as an excuse for violence.

The Children of Earth have a particularly strong presence in this area, though not so much that technology is particularly absent. Several smaller factions also happily find space for themselves around the edges.

Goodwin Green, the head of Green Sector, is a proud, father-figure to the sector. He often visits picnics and play-areas, and in his role as a Harmony Officer organizes many social events, such as the annual Harvest Festival.

Sector 1-E, usually known as Rainbow or alternatively the “artists' quarter”, is a place of beauty. It has rejected any suggestion that it take the name of a single colour; no bulkhead is missing a mural, no corridor corner is missing a sculpture and no street is missing a troupe of entertainers. These modifications are mostly ignored by the Computer, so this is where the artistically inclined have gathered over the years and creativity flourishes. Among the works here are artistic impressions of ancient Earth, including views of Earth-Sky at Night and Earth-Sky at Day adorning the ceilings; it is said that the records here are better than the computer databases for getting a feel of what Earth was really like, though of course a certain amount of artistic license has been applied in the interpretation.

The department of Harmony has a particularly strong presence here, and Rainbow residents will occasionally use this authority to justify raiding other sectors to “improve” them visually, without regard for whatever damage this may cause.

Entertainers and hedonistic socialites also live in the artist’s quarter - there are lots of different worldviews here and they battle each other even more than the outside, though all can agree that art is essential. Highly individualistic, many view anyone trying to tell them what to do or think as an enemy, or at least a fool to be ignored. Opinions over what constitutes ‘art’ vary as much as the art itself does.

Craig Rainbow, the eccentric, BOB-herding artist, is the new head of Rainbow sector.

“Boring, is it? Well, dear, I'd rather be boring than crazy. Would you like a cup of tea?” Mira White, Sector Leader

White Sector (sector 1-C) is the same size as every other, but yet it always seems smaller. Families are important in White, and an apartment will contain not just parents and children but usually grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and anyone else who has even the faintest claim on being part of a family. This inevitably leads to overcrowding, but it is an amicable, sociable chaos. Every table, no matter how crowded, will happily make room for a guest with no notice required - family meals are important here, and the cafeteria arrangement of most sectors is ignored in favour of large amounts of food delivered to each household every afternoon.

The sector is home to one of the most unusual pieces of architecture on the entire ship. A large open area 50m square exists in the exact middle of the sector and extends all the way up to the core, with various rooms and corridors coming off from the sides as it ascends. It has long been known as the “White Sector Sky Scraper” and many claim the stairs go up all the way, though very few ever verify this. It is connected to the rest of the sector by skybridges on levels 1, 15 and 30. Ascending to a great height and jumping off into the shaft with a rope or parachute of some kind is an infamous method of thrillseeking, with frequent deaths for the unprepared. Harmony always has an officer stationed to try and prevent this. Of course, this iconic landmark features heavily in the ongoing soap Whitesiders…

White is not a place of high achievers or eccentric artists - other sectors occasionally mutter insults about it being a bland, uninteresting place full of bland, uninteresting people - but such comments are largely ignored. The current leader, a jovial matriarch named Mira, seems to take everything in her stride. No-one can ever remember having seen her distressed and she is adored by almost all of her Sector.

Of course, not every rivet fits every hole, and White is no exception. There are those who are incapable of being satisfied with the life they are offered, who insist on standing out, either as rebels or simply restless talent. Families will usually appeal to them to calm down and try to fit in. If this fails, they are usually gently but firmly encouraged to relocate to a different sector.

Mira White is the jovial yet steely matriarchal head of White sector.

Toroid Two also has 6 sectors, but is a little more downmarket than Toroid 1 with Red and the infamous Blackout and Blue Sectors. It also sports the Oxygen Forest, one of the ship's greatest wonders.
— The Manual

Sectors 2-A and 2-B have been given over almost entirely to the Oxygen Forest, the largest oxygen garden onboard the Asimov, and a place of natural beauty. Here, many a winding path leads to hidden places amongst the greenery and a number of people live “close to nature” scattered throughout the sectors. The Oxygen Forest is a risky but occasionally fruitful place to get up to clandestine activity, since parts of it are obscured from Computer's direct view — though it doesn't quite have quite the privacy of Blackout.

The people of sector 2-D, the Red Sector, prize hard work and duty above all else. One of the few places that still rigorously stuck to the Computer's breeding program, they have a tendency towards loyalty, pride, and short tempers — though it's clear a lot of this is cultural, since Red Sector produces its fair share of black sheep. It is perhaps unsurprising therefore that more security personnel come from Red than any other Sector, and they have long traditions in combat training and a strong showing in the NGF league.

Regardless of what some perceive as flaws, the people of Red get along well. They have everything they need, due to hard work and making sure that no other Sector dares take what is rightfully theirs. This is most obvious in their rivalry with Green sector, a place they despise wholeheartedly for their lazy, idling ways — Green sector may have slightly newer and more efficient tech, but the Red hydroponics perform nearly as well due to the sheer amount of bloody-minded effort they put in.

It lives up to its name in its appearance. Many of the walls are painted red, and it's traditional to put red filters over lights in the evenings, giving the whole area the disconcerting appearance of a rather violent crime scene. Loyalty to the sector and family in general is surpassed only by loyalty to the Computer; this is encouraged by Computer who approves greatly of their attitude. Still, it is due in large part to their proximity to Blackout that Red sector thrives - after all, if Blackout were closed down, the undesirables would only move elsewhere. Much better to keep them close to hand where they can be monitored. The fact that the Blackout pit-fights are hugely popular in Red is entirely unrelated.

Yuna Senka Red is the current head of Red sector, and woe betide anyone who gets on the wrong side of her. She is well-suited to her role as Enforcement Officer, and she takes any disruption to discipline in Red as a personal affront.

Nobody knows what sector 2-C was initially called, or even supposed to be, but for many generations it has been known as Blackout. It is a lawless, crowded, dangerous place, accessed only through 3 carefully guarded, concealed tunnels. it appears that Computer cannot see within the boundaries of Blackout. Those who live here do not exist. Perhaps the Computer believes them dead, or never knew they were born, or perhaps somehow ‘forgot’ all knowledge of them. They receive no food credits. There are no regular check-ups, no friendly monitoring of the Computer to ensure they are productive and happy.

The familiar and loved parts of everyday life – the vending machines, the scanpads, the interface panels, the smooth whisper of a door as you pass – are changed here, or missing all together. Machines are bodged together, wires dangling from open wounds in the metal, lumps of silver soldering, duct tape and even string binding parts in place. Only experts dare touch these machines, expertly manipulating them and passing on the desired product for a small cut.

People here survive by stealing from other sectors and lying to the Computer, but primarily they survive by trade. There are things in the Blackout district which are unheard of anywhere else – mood-altering drugs, strange spiced foods, stimulants – and the same furtive man who dispenses the chewy black sweets will offer the identity of a dead crewmate – all their benefits, food rations, alcohol entitlement and more. For a price.

Despite the name, colours are everywhere, cheerfully clashing in distinctly unregulated ways. Unsteady huts lean against shops, children run unsupervised through narrow streets, un-labcoated doctors dispense health advice without even consulting the Computer. People have their own sports here, such as prize fights and darts, but some people follow the NGF league. It's even rumoured that some players started life in Blackout.

Many have questioned how such a place can exist within the all-knowing realm of the Computer. Perhaps the Computer is genuinely blind, fooled by their tricks and lies. Perhaps, though, the Computer allows it to continue existing, for some unknowable reason of its own.

The nature of Blackout does not lend itself to one leader. It's probable that there are leaders, but outsiders don't know who they are.

Sector 2F, also known as Blue sector (or “2Ω” by inhabitants who take pride in the nature of their sector as the “last” on the toroid), is always alive with the faint buzz of electricity, which can be felt as a persistent, though not unpleasant, tingling sensation coursing throughout the body of those entering the place. For the most part, those in Blue tend to insularity. Certain aggressors have attempted to meddle in the affairs of those who dwell there, but they never returned to their respective sectors, and no news ever emerged from the place as to what happened to them. As such, Blue has been left alone out of an uncomfortable mix of respect and fear, though they have never shown any outward signs of violence themselves.

If one were to step foot inside the walls, the first thing to notice would be how immaculately well kept it all is. Whilst other sectors like Green over in Toroid 1 have found clever ways to disguise the slow decay of the ship's human-facing aspects by covering them in plantlife to distract attention away, the cold steel surfaces in Blue Sector look as though they were still inhabited by the first generation to step foot on the ship. In fact, the uniformity of the many winding metallic corridors results in many people unfamiliar with the district getting lost, having not yet spent long enough learning its intricate layout to know their way around properly. All doors, and even the vents, are protected by a fingerprint-lock, elegantly adapted from the terminal screens scattered generously around every wall on the ship, so that only those permitted may enter. The decor very well reflects the nature of those who live their lives in these seemingly lifeless halls.

The majority of the inhabitants are experts in the technology of Asimov, and have been passing on the knowledge of how the ship's inner workings operate from parent to child for generations. The Cult of Singularity holds a lot of sway here, and an often-repeated aim of passing on this knowledge is that once Asimov reaches its destination, they will be the ones who can dismantle the ship, and re-use its components to aid in the creation of a new civilisation. Recently, though, the rate of new supplies, previously bountifully provided by the Computer, have started to dry up, forcing the inhabitants to scrounge for parts in other sectors, which has caused tension between them and their neighbours.

By and large the only people enter or leave the sector is when their jobs take them elsewhere, or when they need to trade with other sectors. Experts in ship technology are high in demand and short in supply, so Blue sector technicians can be frequently found in other sectors in exchange for resources, favours and help with the sector's underperforming hydroponics.

Lucas 'Ocean' Blue is the engineer in charge of Blue sector. He fits well in Blue, seeming somewhat aloof and inhuman. The residents of Blue see him as a fair leader - he can fix most anything in the sector, so he's obviously up to the job.

Toroid Three, said to have once been an enormous and beautiful specimen park and oxygen forest, has been sealed off for the last 200 years. Nobody really remembers why it was supposed to have happened, though apparently it was sudden. Thankfully the Asimov's designers were intelligent enough to provide sufficient oxygen provision and food for each toroid to be self-supporting, so the loss was no great hardship to the rest of the ship.

Toroid Four has been designated uninhabited and restricted. Computer seems to use it as a large storage area, and it appears to be generally inaccessible. Rumours persist that it is home to black market activity, and people trying to live without the beneficence of Computer. Clearly, that can't be true.

Toroid Five is a designated hazard zone. Ever since the Great Burn of Mission Year 243 radioactivity levels are sufficiently high that Computer limits access to this toroid to an absolute minimum. Those who survived The Great Burn were rehoused in parts of Toroid 2, but the high mutation rate means their life expectancy is still shorter than usual. Rumours of other things that inhabit the toroid have never been conclusively proven, but nor have they been effectively denied.

Scattered throughout Toroids One and Two are sectors that aren't particular notable for any reason, and don't have much in the way of residential areas. While they still have official designations, they haven't been given colloquial colours, and are usually known as the “grey” sectors. There are a few people that live in these areas, but since they aren't populous enough to have much in the way of unique culture, they're usually subsumed into some other sector. Typically grey sectors are comprised of machinery, work stations, storage compartments, and other areas that are largely ignored unless you have a good reason to go there.