Hubs

## Physical Characteristics

### Size

Standard Design: One hundred and fifty kilometre radiusSpecialised Designs: Variable

### Appearance

Standard Design: Ring System with a central hubSpecialised Designs: Variable

## Cultural Information

### Population

Variable, typically millions/billions

Hubs are huge space stations and colonies that are predominately found near Doors, and thus serve as a station point between the nexus of portals connecting the Worlds. They represent a sprawling complex of layers upon layers of construction, each housing populations that typically number in the billions.

The Viridian Corporation holds a monopoly of the construction of the Hubs, and is currently in the process of building three more.

## Origins

The first Hubs, most of which have since been deconstructed and rebuilt, were smaller constructions, intended to house the crew and machinery necessary to maintain the Doors.

Despite the massive cost associated with synthesising a Door, Glimmer, the company associated with their creation quickly realised that there was greater long-term financial gain to be had in enacting ever-increasing tolls to use the Doors. To further increase profits, they started to construct Doors away from habitable Worlds, forcing travellers to utilise not one, but two Doors to complete their journeys.

The majority of the galactic population, limited by the rising costs of transportation, have come to reside in the vast colonies constructed in the empty space found in the passageways between the Doors knowing that instead commodities will come to them as they travel from World to World. Over the centuries, they have come to surpass even the ColonyWorlds in terms of population, and four in five individuals in Hub-Space are born, live and die in the Hubs, most of which never leave their BirthHub.

## Life in the Hubs

Life in one of the Hubs is highly variable, depending on the caste of an individual. For those in the lower tiers, the squalor associated with sharing a home with billions of others is every present, from accommodation choices often consisting of little more than a single, bland room to the incommodious and hectic streets around which they work, eat and live.

By contrast, higher tiers often own large accommodations and dwellings in specially designated parts of the station, affording them both space and luxury, neither of which are available to those living elsewhere. It is not uncommon for the richer and nobler families to own residencies in multiple Hubs, as well as upon RestWorlds.

## Government

Each Hub is presided over by an ArchGoverner, chosen from the HighTier Castes. Despite this, it is inherently uncommon for those of the OmegaCaste to fulfill such a role, for the position - which is conventionally served for life - is considered labourious and beneath them in nearly all instances. Whilst a few notable exceptions do exist, it is instead more common for those of the PsiCaste to take the mantle of day-to-day administration. Upon their ascension, it is customary for an individual designation to be modified to reflect this change in status. For example, should one find themselves the newly-made ArchGovernor of Hub Six, *Iris,* their Caste Designation would be modified from simply PS to PS.aG6 to reflect this.

Serving as subordinates of the ArchGovernor are numerous Governors and Ministers that assist in functioning of the Hubs, each granted their own modified Designation with *m* in place of the ArchGovernor's own aG. Most commonly, these roles are held by representatives of the various MegaCorporations that operate throughout HubSpace, further securing company influence over the daily management of the Hubs. Several Hubs are instead ruled directly by the MegaCorporations themselves, most often when the Headquarters of the company are located within the station in question.

Each ArchGovernor generally finds themselves free to operate with general autonomy in their rule and thus election processes and government forms can vary widely. Democratic elections happen in a few Hubs with all HighTier and MidTier Caste members being allowed to vote for pre-approved candidates, whereas in other Hubs the selection process is much more restricted. Despite such autonomy, the closest existing allegory to a central rule comes in the form of Glimmer, the MegaCorporation that has claimed responsibility for maintenance of the Doors. With increasing reliance on the Doors for transfer of supplies, produce and peoples across HubSpace, they hold both the Worlds and Hubs in a perilous position, knowing that preventing routine Passings can deal extensive disruption to individuals in all areas of society.

## Current Hubs

Hubs are not the only super-structures that exist however, for a few private organisations have constructed space stations of their own, or used their influence to hire others to do so.