MONSTEROPOLIS EPISODE 1:
Heroes and Villains
By Hadrian (Hardman) Howell
88.8 WDRL Radio Megaopolis
“Good evening, hopeless souls of Monsteropolis! Alia Lumine here once again with some of the tastiest news available on the Undernet just to perk up your tiring day. Steven Laharl, CEO of Overlord Inc., was arrested… AGAIN…. today after apparently attempting to use a 9-iron golf club to kill visiting business partner Rufus Shinral of the much maligned Shinra Corporation. According to Laharl’s secretary, bodyguard, and public relations girl, Etna Evans, Rufus apparently insinuated that Steve may have had more than a little to do with his father’s recent demise. As much has been said in the media, but pundits have been wise enough to keep their accusations to themselves or, at the very least, off the course.
Dan Hibiki, Monsteropolis’s most eligible billionaire bachelor, is hosting a gala of big names and popular faces at his home on Lake Eerie. Yours truly will be in attendance, along with city superhero Captain Commando. Ladies, let me be the first to say ‘Yum’ and also add to that ‘Back off, he’s MINE and I’ll scratch your eyes out I swear to god I will.’ All seven senior members of the Science and Technology Council will be there as well, as a treat for you science geeks. Apparently, according to Isaac Vincent Orson Kintobor, the second most junior of the scientists, they will be bringing both the ‘noise’ and the ‘funk’. I’ll give my tickets to the event to any caller who can tell me in ten words or less why that is so very, very painful sounding.
Hero cop John Spencer of the 117th district ended the hostage situation at the UCB today, almost single handedly. He was assisted, as always, by his partner Lara Croff and by the other officers at the scene. While Spencer himself was unavailable for comment, Detective Croff was kind enough to provide a quote that, unfortunately, is unrepeatable on the air. Not that I really give a damn about standards and practices for my show, but I’m playing it safe by not repeating her because I don’t really need to be in that carpool lane to hell if you know what I mean.
More setbacks for the tiny publication The Monsteropolis Reporter as their new office building caught fire. When asked if the fire might be either an inside job or some sort of insurance fraud, the man asking the question was punched directly in the face by Editor-in-chief Teisel Bonne. Taking that into account, I declined to ask him further questions out of respect for the difficult time he’s found himself in.
Local terrorist Hudson Manfred, recently dubbed by more popular (ha, right) media as the Bomberman, was brought to justice today by the equally mysterious new hero in town, Megaman. Speculation continues as to whether this blue-clad hero is a man with advanced equipment or some sort of advanced robot, but there is one solid fact known about him: he kicks ass.
Internationally acclaimed movie producer Joe Viewston has come to Monsteropolis, working on an undisclosed project that he’s keeping under tight wraps. He HAS been seen around town with Daisy, however. That’s right; the Mayor’s own sister in law is gallivanting around town with one of the biggest names in show business. Wish fulfillment, to be sure, but for whom?
Speaking of Mayor Mario Miyamoto and his ‘Princess’ of a wife, a scene was made at Kirby Batali’s restaurant last night by the unhappy couple. Accusations flew, and so did the dinner plates, over the possibility of the mayor’s relationship with his economic advisor Valis Suprah. Of course, both the Mayor and his brother, Domestic Advisor Luigi Miyamoto, deny this rumor in all public appearances, but the rumor’s got some steam somewhere. At the very least its real to Peach, who’s left town again to visit her mother. Divorce bells and summary execution may not be far away, so keep your radios tuned to 88.8 for the very latest news as it breaks.
That’s the gossip I have for you poor, poor souls right now. Join up with me after 10 hit songs for even more of the city that’s slowly eating your spirit. Toodles!”
The city of Megaopolis…
In 2048, a deal was struck. The city of Detroit, long ravaged by economic problems and disastrous leadership, took steps to separate itself from its old image. It made a sale of many of its outlying regions to private interests and used the money to fund a restoration effort. At least on paper, these funds were to be used for patching up streets, cleaning up crime, and updating the infrastructure.
Instead, the money went towards buying Detroit, all of it, from the state of Michigan.
The year that followed was… problematic. The United States government threatened everything short of full-scale invasion of the ten square miles that had just seceded from the Union. Simultaneously, the Canadian government loudly supported the move. Detroit’s newfound independence also drew accolades and support from most of the rest of the international scene. This was mostly done as a not-so-subtle ‘take that’ to one of the last superpowers remaining on the planet by the rest of the world, which was a much-talked about fact on American news programs for almost the next twenty years
During that time, Detroit expanded its sphere of ownership to its old suburbs, up the eastern coast of Michigan, and even across the water into Canada. In 2069, the urban collective became ‘Megaopolis,’ a self-governing city state under the control of three different offices. The first was the office of the Mayor, elected every three years with a four term limit, the Mayor’s purview lies mostly in international relations.
The second office is the Office of Internal Affairs. By and large either elected or appointed by those who are, the Office of Internal Affairs handles the day to day operations of the city. They manage and budget the police force, the admittedly meager Monsteropolis Army, and also monitor government corruption and sensitive information.
The third office, and most central to our story, is the Science and Technology Council. Legally untouchable, relatively unmonitored, the STC exists for one function: The advancement of scientific research and the progression of technology towards a life full of promise and opportunity. The seven most senior members comprise the Council proper, with an army of interns and lower scientists at their disposal. Advancement is based on merit, skill and ability, reducing much of the internal political drama down to nearly non-existent.
As the city slowly grew, it made a series of lucrative trade deals with countries both near and far, concentrating almost 15% of the world’s wealth into the growing city. By 2088, Megaopolis encompassed half of Lake Erie, and the STC had produced the first in a line of ‘Intelligent Mechanicals.’ Marketed as the ultimate butler, bodyguard, assistant, construction worker, or whatever else the buyer might need, their creation and distribution was akin to setting a bomb off in Megaopolis’s economy.
The city expanded at a phenomenal rate over the next four years. As the population grew, a strange thing happened. The first group appeared, as if from the mist, campaigning for the rights of Intelligent Mechanicals. This truly had very little bearing on the history of the city with one exception: In the election of 2092, Mario Miyamoto won the Mayoral election with the promise of doing his best to make sure Intelligent Mechanicals would some day be able to vote.
Four years later still, Mayor Miyamoto is in his second term. The STC’s current roster is one of the most distinguished in history, and the Office of Internal Affairs has only begun its investigation of the Mayor and his family.
But all is not well in the city. While unemployment is at an all time low, it is primarily because the city employs almost 65% of the population. The citizenry has health insurance and there is an almost 96% literacy rate, but that does little to counter the 10% sales tax or the relatively low minimum wage in the city that applies almost universally to every job.
Worse still, in a 24 hour work day, the average Megaopolis citizen works 11, and must commute via public transportation for at least another hour. The industrial sites around the city keep the sky a steel gray, and with a lack of Environmental Protection Agency the disease rate in the city is higher, much higher, than the international average. These factors, coupled with a quiet war in the city’s underground by no less than three mafia families and the crime rate that comes with such things, have contributed to an almost soul-devouring depression common in all of its residents.
Those that live there call it Monsteropolis. It’s an uncaring, all consuming machine where the whole is so much more important than the parts that contribute. There’s little hope, less joy, and there is no way out.
The city of Monsteropolis is where our story begins, in the offices of the Science and Technology Center, at the desk of one of its Masters. The name on this desk is famous and known by all the inhabitants of the devouring city for its attachment to almost every project relating to Intelligent Mechanicals. This Master has a plan to better the city. But only time will tell how successful Dr. Albert W. Wily shall be…
