Arcadia

View of Arcadia, Maine

> "*The official government explanation for the disaster in Arcadia was an unusually high amount of harmful bacteria in the bay.*"
> ― Anna T. Seals
>
>

**Arcadia** was a small resort town located in Knox County, Maine, United States that became a ghost town following the events of July 4, 2019, when 50% of the town's population died over the course of one day. The government, in order to prevent a mass panic, attempted to bury the incident, citing a high amount of harmful bacteria in the bay that caused the ecological disaster. However, thanks to Crescent Genesis, the real cause of the ecological disaster was made public: an outbreak of a new parasite.

## History

### Pre-2019

Arcadia was founded as a resort town in 1945, around the same time World War II ended. It originally began as a small village but was urbanized in the 1960s. From the early 1970s to mid 1980s, Arcadia entered a "golden age" of tourism, with thousands of people flocking to the town every summer. It wasn't until 2019 that the town was changed forever. On June 10th of that year, Atlas Biomedical opened up a new lab near the town of Arcadia. Ten days after the office opened, Atlas made a shocking discovery: a new species of parasitic arthropod that was dubbed "Organism J12", or "Devil Crawlers".
Seeking to weaponize the parasite and turn it into a bioweapon, several Atlas Biomedical scientists captured a small group of the parasites and transported them to the new laboratory near the town of Arcadia. The plot to turn the parasites into bioweapons was overheard by scientist and researcher Eva S. Johnston, who immediately quit the project in outrage and secretly plotted to sabotage Atlas Biomedical's research.

She turned to her fiance Charles A. Hayes, a former US Army sniper turned Crescent Genesis operative, and a team of former US Army soldiers turned bounty hunters known as the Four Horsemen, as well as an animal rights organization called Animals Anonymous. Over the next two days, Animals Anonymous, Crescent Genesis, and the Four Horsemen executed at least three recon missions intending to gather evidence of animal experimentations. Eventually, Animals Anonymous decided to break into the facility to liberate the animals that were intended to be weaponized.

### Events of July 3rd, 2019

> "*You think I didn't know you were coming? This is MY life's work! I'm NOT handing over ANYTHING!*"
> ― Donald Greenland during a standoff between Tombstone soldiers and himself
>
>

At midnight, on July 3rd, 2019, a team of black ops soldiers broke into the laboratory, tasked with apprehending Atlas Biomedical scientist Donald Greenland, who was suspected of conducting illegal biological experiments on animals. Donald attempted to resist capture, forcing the soldiers to gun him down and kill him. In the ensuing shootout, the holding pens containing the parasites were damaged, allowing the parasites to escape into the wild and, to make matters worse, infect the nearby town of Arcadia, Maine.

### Events of July 4th, 2019

July 4th started out as any normal day in Arcadia; tourists packed the town and celebrated the nation's independence with outdoor parties and playing at the beach. Unbeknownst to the locals and the tourists, the Devil Crawlers had begun their infestation of the town, contaminating the waters of Arcadia that people swam in and drank. Within a day, almost 50% of the town had perished to the parasites. In order to not cause a panic, the US government quietly evacuated the remaining survivors in the town and supposedly bribed them into staying quiet. The town itself was sealed off from the rest of the world in order to prevent the truth from coming out as well. However, some survivors were able to escape the town with their lives, but out of fear of government retaliation, they stayed silent for a year.

### The people rebel

Once the truth behind the government's reaction to the outbreak reached the public, the survivors were outraged. Over the course of three weeks, the survivors held massive anti-government demonstrations against the town. At one point, the town hall was vandalized and even set on fire.

## Economy

Being a resort town, Arcadia's economy was built on tourism. Its most popular tourist spot was Greenhorn National Forest, a nature preserve that was built around Poseidon Point, also a popular tourist spot. Prior to the events of July 4th, Arcadia thrived on tourism, racking about $4.5 million a year.

## Geography

Arcadia was located about fifteen minutes away from the nearby town of Camden, Maine. The northern part of the town is located right next to Greenhorn National Forest, an animal sanctuary/national park that housed a variety of ecosystems where a multitude of animals lived.

Main Street, another popular tourist attraction containing shops and restaurants, was located in the center of the town. To the west was "Hunter District", which housed a majority of the town's major businesses and also happened to be the area where Poseidon Point is located. To the east lay "Oak District", a residential area for the town's residents. Oak Street was home to its own landmarks, like Patrick's Tower, a lighthouse overlooking Poseidon Point. To the north was "Zenith District", also known as Arcadia's financial district.

## Notable landmarks

* Poseidon Point
* Greenhorn National Forest
* Main Street
* Sanderson's Tower
* Lucas' Wharf
* Atlas Biomedical Arcadia Lab (destroyed)
* The Prism
* The Hive

## Trivia

* The city of Arcadia and its landmarks were inspired by real-life towns and landmarks in Maine. For example, most of the town drew its inspiration from the real-life town of the town of Kennebunkport, Maine, though there are some features of Arcadia that were inspired by the town of Lubec, Maine.