Researcher

Researchers work in the facilities within the Compounds. While research for the sake of knowledge is all well and good, the primary purpose of to work is to create consumer products. Research areas include: animal and plant modification/splicing (for pets, food, and physical resources), pharmaceuticals (medicines to enhance beauty, reduce aging, prevent or eliminate diseases, increase pleasure, etc). Researchers may speak about their work to their coworkers in full and their family in censored detail. Competition between researchers and facilities is fierce and risk of intellectual property theft is high. Researchers receive Compound housing (think suburbs), full health care, private schooling for their children, and a pleasant stipend for other expenses.

Corps SeCorp

The Corp SeCorp started out as a private security firm hired to supplement military and police force. Over time, it has completely replaced these. They have authority in the Compounds and in the Pleeblands. In the Compounds, they maintain research security and monitor civilian life. In the Pleeblands, they regulate sex and drug trafficking and make some attempt to remove the most violent of criminals from the streets. The Corp has complete authority over all law—there are no courts and no trials, just what the Corp decides. All Corp officers carry sprayguns (bullet-less but lethal weapons) and are authorized to stop, detain, and question any individual without explanation.

Compound Civilian

In addition to those doing research within the Compounds, there are numerous people living and working other jobs. Many civilians are family members of researchers. Others are doctors, beauticians, teachers, and more. Compounds are fully self-sufficient cities, so they need people to do all the work. Until the age of 18, children go to Compound schools, which emphasize knowledge of science and technology. Upon graduation, students are assigned to universities based on their grades and accomplishments; the best get to go to schools like the prestigious Watson & Crick Institute of Genetics, while those who aren’t quite up to par are resigned to schools like the Martha Graham Academy for the Arts. University students may choose their own majors (within the limits of their school), and can apply for any relevant job afterwards. Civilians aren’t supposed to leave the network of Compounds, but some do risk adventures into the Pleeblands (with the proper vaccines, of course).

God’s Gardener

The Gardeners believe in the God of the Abrahamic religions. They believe that the Fall of Man was not a singular event, but something ongoing. In Genesis 1:26, God gives man dominion over all the living things. The Gardeners believe this is not God’s way of telling man he is superior, but instead that he must care for the Earth that God so lovingly created. This care is the basis for their lives. The Gardener society builds no new structures, living on rooftops and in abandonded buildings, growing their own plants for food and medicinal purposes. Gardeners are strict vegetarians. The society is led by nine men and nine women, called Adams and Eves, although they are careful to be clear that no member of the Gardeners is above another. They have many holidays celebrating different aspects of nature. While Gardener children are taught to read and write, they learn using chalkboards only, as writing things permanently is viewed as dangerous and uneccessary. Gardeners will take anyone into their fold with love and kindness.

Adamite

Most Adamites are former members of God’s Gardeners. One of the Gardener leaders, Adam Five, split off to form his own group. He did not feel the Gardeners were doing enough by simply sitting by passively and peacefully. The Adamites do not live collectively as the Gardeners did, and rarely meet in groups larger than two or three. They are comprised of hackers, fighters, scientists, and more. They don't know each other's names, and use the names of extinct animals as aliases when communicating with other Adamites. Members all over the continent, even the whole world, have become a part of the movement. They suspect, maybe even know for sure, that there is something more dangerous about the science that drives the world. Their operatives risk everything to gather information on every level of research, Compound life, and the Corp SeCorps. The, like the Gardeners, believe that something is coming, something terrible is in the works for humankind. But they don’t intend to wait it out, safe among rooftop gardens. They intend to fight back, with knowledge and with force.

Pleebland Civilian

Not everyone is lucky enough to live in a Compound. While the research companies built their deluxe cities, many others were left with the wasted remains of the Earth. Pleebs do whatever they can to survive—it’s their only choice. They live in small cities, some lucky enough to still have houses while others reside in abandoned buildings. Food isn’t scarce, but it certainly isn’t good. Many Pleebs find work in the shadier industries—the sex and drug markets—run either professionally or by gangs. Others manage to hold cleaner jobs. No one can be considered wildy successful though. Corp SeCorp reign is patchy. They can come down hard on anyone they like, but there is simply too much going on for them to catch everything.