The Ark

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**The Ark** *(アークĀku)* is a large artificial island metropolis - called a megafloat - created by humanity as a refuge from the Earth's destruction. It serves as the main location where the events of *ASTRAL CHAIN* take place.

## History

The Ark was created by humanity in order to escape from the Red Matter pollution that rendered most of the Earth inhospitable after the meteorite strike in 2043. For ten years, the survivors of the disaster were able to live in peace, until finally, the wormholes known as gates began appearing in the Ark as well. Chimeras emerged from the gates, polluting the Ark with Red Matter and dragging the land and civilians into the Astral Plane. To combat the threat, the Neuron task force was established, to protect the Ark and the remainders of humanity.

## Geography

The Ark is described as being a massive, prosperous, multicultural city, bearing resemblance to real life metropolises such as Tokyo and New York, with tall buildings and skyscrapers filling the area and a large amount of holographic signs and advertisements giving the city a colorful, cyberpunk aesthetic. The city is comprised of six districts joined together, and the districts are made up of smaller areas called zones - with each district having its own unique atmosphere and characteristics that set its zones apart from the others. As more zones were constructed, the Ark has grown larger and changed shape over time. At the time of *ASTRAL CHAIN*, the Ark is about 250 to 300 square kilometers (96 to 116 square miles) in size.

Within the Ark, each zone is designated by a two-digit number, where the first digit refers to the district it's a part to, and the second digit is the zone's number within that district (e.g. Zone 36 is the sixth zone established in District 3). There are five regular districts in the Ark: District 0, District 1, District 2, District 3, and District 4. Above that, there is one more special district (referred to as "xx" on the map to the right), of which nothing is currently known.

### Other Locations

Places that are located in a currently unknown district, or outside of the marked districts:

* **Ark Sewer Management Facility**.
* **Maison Forest**
* **Restricted District**
* **Zone 10** - Known as the “government zone”; It is home to UNION offices and other government facilities. Located within Zone 10 is the Ark National Police Headquarters and the Special Ops Bureau HQ.
* **Zone 30** - One of the Ark’s more populous residental districts.

## Lifestyle

The Ark is a city that is very technologically advanced, which can be seen in the holographic signs and automated conveniences throughout the streets. However, the scarcity of organic resources has driven companies to offer products unique to the situation - with signs throughout the Ark advertising shops such as "imitation clothing", "neuroboutique", "generic seafood", and "top-class synthetic meat", among others. Advertisements for insurance plans that cover for redshift, corruption of humans exposed to too much Red Matter, act as a constant reminder of humanity's crisis, despite the thriving cyberpunk aesthetic of the Ark.

The Ark offers many conveniences to its residents, including automated toilets and vending machines. The vending machines - advanced Vendor-3 units, are equipped with an AI that allows them to make small talk with the customers, and some of the machines have modified personalities to make them unique.

## Gallery

The male protagonist standing by a street in the Ark.A busy street in the Ark.An aerial view of the Ark at nighttime, showing the wall surrounding a lower part of the city.An aerial view of tall buildings in the Ark, showing walkways connecting the buildings.A view of a bridge collapse on Grand Avenue in Zone 36, using the IRIS system.A helicopter flying over the Ark.An aerial view of a large amount of wreckage on a road in the Ark.
## Trivia

* The name of the city, "The Ark", is likely a reference to Noah's Ark, the vessel through which God spared Noah, his family, and a remnant of all the world's animals from a world-engulfing flood in the Book of Genesis from the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.platinumgames.com/games/astral-chain
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://www.platinumgames.com/official-blog/article/10207
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 https://www.nintendo.co.jp/switch/ab48a/background/index.html
4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX5V9uOVD4k