38. RAYDER TOWERS (SHRAPNEL)

The Rayder Towers housing complex is the tallest and most advanced building in the Zone.  It had been newly constructed just before City Hall had made the decision to wall off the area and put forth the proposed plans for Carnival.  The owners of the building, Rayder Investments, apparently overheard city officials talking about “big plans’ for the area, and assumed this meant there was to be some sort of gentrification effort.  They bought the land cheap and constructed the tower, thinking they would be in on the ground floor of a huge opportunity.  When the plans went forth, Rayder Investments fought tooth and nail to try and have the borders for the proposed Zone altered to leave their tower on the right side, but met with no luck. When Carnival was announced, they held out hope that they could somehow salvage the situation, so they hired a crew of mercenaries, all equipped with full body prosthesis, to protect the building, as most of the tenants and employees evacuated.

The borgs did their job well, but during Carnival they discovered the building had been rigged to blow by remote.  The corporation had planned to blow the building during Carnival, to collect the insurance.  After disarming the explosives, Shrapnel sent the information to Rayders insurance company, and informed Rayder that they would be keeping the building.  The company went bankrupt in short time after that.

Now Shrapnel controls the building and surrounding area.  They charge 300 for a single and up.  The tower complex is fully equipped, with every modern luxury.  Like the Pit, and the Marsten Complex, the building has become something of an arcology in itself, food is grown on the rooftops, they even have their own scop tanks, which creates scop efficiently enough that they have surplus to sell to the rest of the Zone.  The building also contains a gymnasium, theater, restaurant, bar, nightclub, indoor pool, and a state of the art security system, regularly upgraded.

In addition to non affiliated tenants, Shrapnel has set the building up as a sanctuary for full conversions and heavily cybered individuals learning to come to terms with their augmentation, offering therapy and support to anyone who seeks it out.  This being said, they crack down hard on any tenant who commits a violent act against another tenant, or starts trouble in the Zone. 

(For more information on Shrapnel, see Gangs Of The Combat Zone.)

Written By Deric Bernier,

For questions, complaints, criticisms and suggestions, e-mail the author:wisdom000@gmail.com