Medea Station

**Medea Station** is the first and largest orbital city station in the Sol system, located in the Belt near Ceres. It is a ring station with two rotating drums, the larger of which has a diameter of over 4 kilometres and a height of 1.6 kilometres. This main ring, by far the largest part of the station and where all the main thoroughfare takes place, is divided into five residential layers aside from the main docks, with each sector divided equally into 8 sectors. The counter-rotating admin station is separate to the rest (having its own docks and power generation) and much smaller, serving as a habitat for the governance and true upper class of the station.

Medea Station is named after the sorceress of Greek myth that guided Jason to the Golden Fleece, and is one of the first major sites of human colonisation in the Belt and the most important port in the outer system. It has a population of almost 6 million permanent residents, with hundreds of thousands transiting through at any given time. Nearly a thousand ships pass through and dock at the station every day, making dock at one of the nearly 1,200 berths available. Other larger ships that cannot fit inside the docks also stop in orbit nearby or else at the storage depot on Ceres to offload and onload cargo on their way from the outer planets to the inner, or vice versa.

## History

Medea Station began construction shortly after the invention of the Exo Drive spurred humanity into the Belt and outer planets. Located in the heart of the asteroid belt, the station was build piece by piece in orbit via materials mined and processed in the Belt, a true testament of Belter engineering even if sponsored and overseen by the United Nations. Though the docks became operational after a couple of years, it would take years more before the workers could actually begin to live on the station in the outer residential layers, which were opened for public settlement in 2255. After this point, the station quickly became the most important port in the system, functioning as the perfect midpoint between the inner planets and the rest of the system.

## Geography

### Main Station

The main station of Medea is where the bulk of the people live and work. It has a maximum diameter of 4.2 kilometres, from the edge of one space dock to the other. It rotates clockwise at 0.38 RPM. At the outermost point, this generates an artificial spin gravity of 0.33 g (roughly one third of Earth's gravity, 3.3254 m/s2). The low gravity is still uncomfortable to those that have lived with a planet's gravity well, but is far more than most Belters live with.

The station's outer layer is protected from radiation and debris by two nine-metre thick walls of shielding and wiring, separated by two-metre tall maintenance tunnels that run the circumference of the station. Inside this is two dock layers, followed by another set of shielding/wiring walls and tunnels, and then the five residential layers stacked in concentric circles, ending with another set of shielding/wiring walls and tunnels on the innermost skin of the station.

The ring is supported by four massive wheel spokes that connect to the central reactor hub, which generates power for the entire station. Maintenance shafts and elevators run down these spokes for access to the central reactor and the ballast ring (for stabilisation) that surrounds it. Attached to the central spoke, jutting out away from the main station, is an array of communication lasers and antennae that communicate with the rest of the system, along with a small ring for water storage and maintenance.

#### Docks

The station has two dock layers on the protruding from the main ring, where the open berths are situated. These layers, though functionally separated by flooring, are more interconnected than any other part of the city, with constant movement back and forth between the two. The layers are roughly 300 metres wide, compared to the far more sizeable height of 1.6 kilometres of the main ring.

The Outer Docks layer (colloquially called *the Clamps*), is where the majority of economic thoroughfare occurs. It is 150 metres high with a radius of 1.98 km, giving it a spin gravity of 0.314 g. Four massive space docks, each with 24 hexagonal openings that have 6 large berths each, are arranged evenly every quarter ring, opening up via airlocks to the layer itself, where onloading and offloading of people and goods occurs. Furthermore, around 300 airlocks and clamps are arranged around the circumference on each side of the ring for smaller craft. This gives a total of nearly 1,200 berths available for docking. The bulk of the layer's available inner surface area of 3.732 km2 is covered in warehouses, dockyards, and customs facilities.

The Inner Docks layer (colloquially called *the Marina*), is where the trade, security, and union offices for the station are situated. It is 50 metres high, with a radius of 1.83 km, giving it a spin gravity of 0.29 g. This layer houses the administration of the docks and traffic control for the main station at large. It also has a number of residential sectors with temporary low-rent "coffins" (little more than a small space for sleeping) for travellers that won't be staying long.

#### Residential Layers

Inward from the dock layers are the five residential layers that house the majority of the population of Medea Station. These layers are connected by ramps for electrical vehicles, and rail lines or elevators as public transportation. The main ring which these layers are a part of is 1.6 kilometres high and some 300 metres thick, allowing plenty of room for residential space.

Level 1 (colloquially called *Downtown*) is the outermost, oldest, and most spacious residential layer. It is 80 metres high, with a radius of 1.76 km, giving it a spin gravity of 0.287 g. This layer, with an available area of 16.588 km2, is largely filled with corporate offices, tourist spaces, clinics, and flashy hotels and skyscrapers that serve as the more glamorous front-facing view that the rest of the system sees. Most tourists and visitors only ever visit this layer and not the more residential spaces. Despite the glamour, the Downtown streets are still rife with crime, though things are far more controlled here due to the close watch kept by the Medea Station Police Department (MSPD) offices that are also on this layer.

Level 2 (colloquially called *Waterside*) is the first actual residential layer of Medea Station, housing some 953,000 people. It is 50 metres high, with a radius of 1.68 km, giving it a spin gravity of 0.274 g. This layer, with an available area of 15.834 km2, is considered a more middle-class area, though the distinction is small. People here live in more spacious but still uniform 3D-printed apartments near the large gardens that serve to supplement the air filters of the station.

Level 3 (colloquially called *the Stacks*) is where the layer with the most densely packed residential habitats, housing approximately 1,845,000 people. It is 50 metres high, with a radius of 1.63 km, giving it a spin gravity of 0.266 g. This far into the ring, Coriolis begins to become a problem, though it is still not very noticeable for people that have lived here all their life. The available area of 15.362 km2 is packed with tiny, cramped, 6m by 4m, 3D-printed apartments called "boxes" in neatly-organised blocks 20 floors high. Each floor can fit about 375 tightly crammed apartments, coming out to 7500 "boxes" to a block, seperated only by a grid of narrow streets. These streets are the real heart of Medea Station: neon-lit shops, dark alleyways, complex labyrinths carved out between apartment blocks, and a night life that never sleeps.

Level 4 (colloquially called *the Narrows*) is essentially identical to Level 3, with the same setup of apartments housing approximately 1,562,000 people. It is 50 metres high, with a radius of 1.58 km, giving it a spin gravity of 0.258 g. Much of the same culture that pervades the Stacks is present here, to the point that these levels could be considered an extension of each other in all but name. The layer has an available area of 14.89 km2 packed tightly with living spaces in the same arrangement as the previous level.

Level 5 (colloquially called *the Jungle*) is the poorest of the residential layers; as much of a slum as you can have in a space station, housing some 817,000 people. It is 50 metres high, with a radius of 1.53 km, giving it a spin gravity of 0.251 g. Coriolis is extremely noticeable here, and makes anyone not accustomed to it sick with nausea. The living area of 14.42 km2 is an even more dense version of the layers below, packed tight around the maintenance stations and equipment that are dotted around this layer.

### Admin Station

The counter-rotating admin station is separate to the rest of Medea, and much smaller, serving as a habitat for the governance and true upper class of the station. It has a maximum diameter of 2.2 kilometres, from the edge of one of the smaller space docks to the other. It rotates anti-clockwise at 0.67 RPM. At the outermost point, this generates an artificial spin gravity of 0.5 g (roughly one half of Earth's gravity, 5.415 m/s2). This is considered a far more liveable gravity for the administration, that are more likely to have lived on a planet beforehand.

Similar to the main station, the outer layer is protected from radiation and debris by two nine-metre thick walls of shielding and wiring, separated by two-metre tall maintenance tunnels that run the circumference of the station. Inside this is two layers, one for administration and one for hydroponics, ending with another set of shielding/wiring walls and tunnels on the innermost skin of the station.

Like the main station, this ring is also supported by four wheel spokes that connect to a central reactor hub, which serves as a separate backup reactor for the admin station in the eventuality of blackout in the main station. Maintenance shafts and elevators run down these spokes for access to the central reactor and the ballast ring (for stabilisation) that surrounds it. Attached to the central spoke, jutting out away from the main station, is an array of powerful communication lasers and antennae for exclusive encrypted communication use by the administration.

#### Layers

Level 0 houses a population of approximately 13,100 people, which constitutes the upper class of Medea. Largely Terrans or Martians, these are generally government officials, corporate executives, and other important people that live on Medea or are traversing through the system. It also has four space docks of its own, reserved for the same upper class clientele. Each dock, arranged evenly every quarter ring, has 2 hexagonal openings that have 6 large berths each, opening up via airlocks to the layer itself. It is 110 metres high and 200 metres wide, with a radius of 1.03 km, giving it a spin gravity of 0.507 g.

The Hydroponics layer is essentially a garden that stretches over the entire ring, serving to bolster oxygen production for the entire station and to provide a green space for upper class officials to relax. There are no living spaces on this layer, since it serves an entirely different purpose. It is 50 metres high and 400 metres wide, though much of that width is occupied by hidden air recycling facilities. It has a radius of 0.9 km, giving it a spin gravity of 0.443 g.

## Society

### Population

Medea Station has a population of ~6 million permanent residents. The vast majority of these residents are Belters or immigrants from Earth and Mars that moved permanently to the Belt. These people live and die on Medea, well-used to the low gravity and the Coriolis, getting by on poverty rations and whatever else they can manage. Most of the population lives in the 5 cramped residential layers of the main station. These crowded levels are home to a dangerous society, under a blanket of appalling poverty, violence, and inequity. Neighbourhoods and zones vary wildly, depending on what faction, gang, or corporation controls the local turf, and even then, conditions can change on the flip of a neural chip. Navigating this turbulent landscape is by no means easy, and often fatal.

On top of the permanent residents, nearly a 1,000 commercial ships pass through Medea every day, dropping off tourists and sailors that largely only get as far as the outermost layers and Downtown. Medea is considered a thrilling and exciting location to visit, as well as an interesting and vibrant place to live for those of means. However, these visitors (specifically those not savvy enough) often fall victim to the crime life of Medea in some way or another, and many have been swallowed whole by the ruthless underground turf war. Outsiders, particularly inners, are only welcome in Medea to pay their due, whether in blood or coin.

### Government & Politics

Officially (and much to the chagrin of many of its residents), Medea Station is governed by the United Nations (UN), with an assigned governor and administrative staff that rotates out every five years. This administration handles the general upkeep and control of the city, issues executive orders for the station, manages security, and generally distributes the orders of the UN to the people they rule. The MSPD, tasked with enforcing these rules and controlling the populace, is also on the payroll of the UN, leading many of those Belters that work in the department to be treated as traitors to their people.

In practice, Medea Station (like much of the Belt) is a lawless place ruled by an array of different gangs and factions operating throughout the different sectors, only kept from all-out war through a loosely-affiliated network called the Outer Planets Alliance (OPA). Thrown into the mix are an assortment of corporations that have interest or footholds in Medea for one reason or another.

### Language

Most residents of Medea, particularly Belters, generally speak Belter Creole (often called Streetslang in the streets), a combination of loan-words and phrases from various languages, combined with gestures useful for communicating while wearing a vac suit and being unable to speak. On top of that, due to the mix-and-match nature of populations in Medea, many people know various languages that they can use interchangeably with each other.