The CBD

The Central Business District Is home to the COC, where the offices of PARNAS HARN and the other city Directors can be found, in addition to the City Council Hall and ELDER's core processors. The Mirror Building is the headquarters of Intelligence Services Corp, where DEA FITZHARN is a top strategic executive.

### Shareholders

The Big Nine
Artificial Living Solutions (ALS)
CRABB Protection Services
Cycloco
Global Nation Products (GNP)
Intelligence Services (IS)
MegaMedia
MolRec
Nutrex
Wolfram Medical

## Story Tie-Ins

### Book 1

"Feed the Hand that Bites You" by Tod Foley, "Stockholm Syndrome" by Sharrian Lewitt, "Rebel, Rebel" by Tod Davies

### Overview

The CBD or Central Business District (also known as Downtown) is the political hub of the city, and it possesses the greatest pervasive computing infrastructure of all the districts. It is a gleaming and world-renowned showcase of modern urban design featuring the latest in AI systems, advanced green tech, and augmented services. All Buildings in the CBD are smart and green, and are connected to the CitySystem via built-in sensors. The district features both ground and aircar traffic, majestic highrise office towers, automated vertical gardens and cutting-edge architecture.

The CBD is covered by a hovering set of solar filters that control heat and humidity for maximum comfort.

### Locations in The CBD

#### NBP Aquarium

Maintained by Nutrex Biological and Pharmaceutical (NBP), this massive marine biological complex houses many types of sea life, including numerous endangered species. The massive tanks are comprised of AlumiGlass and climate-smart transparent alloys, allowing observation of aquatic life from all sides and from below. By arrangement with the city, exhibits are open to the public during regular business hours. The subterranean levels of the complex house the NBP marine research labs, where experiments are performed in search of new sea-based foods and bioactives.

#### BattlePark

Surrounded by the terraced faces of the GNP megastore and the South Central Mall, this outdoor area is nearly a mile across, filling what once was the downtown area's largest public park. Today the BattleParkTM (a joint production of *Hypgnostic Augmented* and *Tufr* sports gear) is dotted with padded barriers and constructs representing different types of terrain, tactical objectives and obstacles, upon which augmented layers are added to emulate famous locations from history or fiction. Teams of players use padded weapons and haptic suits to engage in large-scale, week-long aug battles which often feature “guest appearances” by famous athletes and heroic characters (both real and virtual). There is a contested accusation (in some circles) that celebrity guests are given “plot armor,” and that this ruins the “objective reality” of the games.

#### Criminal Processing Center

Punitive decisions within UbiquiCity are made and carried out by legal representatives who work in the city’s Criminal Processing Center downtown. This brutalist structure houses the city’s AI-augmented court chambers and subterranean detention center.

#### Daddy Like

A masc-themed restaurant where staff is costumed and augmented to represent iconic masculine figures from history: Hercules, Attila the Hun, Shaka Zulu, John Wayne, Hulk Hogan, 21st-century bodysculpting hero Bash Brisbane, and a host of generic stereotypes such as “Biker Man,” “Army Man,” “Labor Man,” “Surfer Man” and “Cowboy Man” (star of the online stalkshow “Big Hat”). The downstairs club “Perspire” features a 24-hour clothing-optional dancefloor and private rooms (rented by the hour).

#### Global Nation Store

The flagship retail space of the gigantic Global Nation Products conglomerate, this megastore is fully automated and hands-free, offering AI-assisted shopping for everything from shelved goods and produce to remote-delivered household appliances and specialty items. A new traffic lane was recently added to CBD airspace to accommodate the delivery drones from this store alone.

#### Hospital

The Union City Hospital possesses all state-of-the-art medical technology, installations and systems. Treatment for common ailments and contagious diseases are cost-free for citizens, while elective procedures and advanced treatments must be subsidized by insurance packages.

#### The Mirror Building

The corporate offices of Intelligence Services are located in The Mirror Building, the tallest skyscraper in the city. IntServ owns some of the most advanced AI available, and uses it in part to secure their busy cybersystems.

#### Java Gastro

The downtown Java Gastro features human baristas and semi-private booths with aug settings for immersive flavor: “1920s Newshounds” and “Brazilian Tycoons” are two popular options.

#### Klub

An augmented nightlife spot, popular with the rich and beautiful hard-partiers of Union City and beyond. Holoprojectors line the large sunken central area, projecting images into and around the dance floor, robodancers keep the crowd entertained with precision acrobatics, and semi-private augmented “envirobooths” provide discreet and customizable locations from which to watch the scene, enjoy your favorite mind-altering drugs, or close a business deal. The club is owned and operated by the elusive Reno Brothers, who are rumored to have dirt on many of Union City's most beloved celebrities.

#### NBP Headquarters

The headquarters of Nutrex Biological and Pharmaceutical (NBP) is located in a glistening silver tower adjacent to the aquarium. In a guarded hushroom in the center of the building sits an un-networked computer housing the company's trade secrets and recipes.

#### Civic Operations Center (COC)

The network hub of all city services, the COC houses the courts, offices and meeting halls of the municipal government, and in its underground floors reside the neural networks on which *CitySystem* runs. The building is heavily secured and populated by IT technicians and corporate bureaucrats all hours of the day and night. The *City Council Hall* on the ground floor hosts press conferences, public announcements and open hearings, and is often filled with reporters and lobbyists seeking audience with this or that representative. Around the building's perimeter sit the offices of the city's departments, the offices of the Council of Elders, and the New Citizen In-Processing Center, where immigrants receive their PIDs and initialize their accounts.

#### Reich Science Center

A variety of cutting-edge biotech experiments are performed here, where Big Nine funding is used collectively to benefit the general population. The RSC has access to public medical records and related data from CitySystem, though this data is reported to be scrubbed.

#### Velaria.

A smooth tangle of sweeping curves checkered in diagonal patterns of urban gardens and drone delivery terraces, the Velaria building is one of the most prestigious (and expensive) residential buildings in the city, and is home to many of the rich and powerful whose business keeps them close to the city's core. All services in the Velaria are automated, the service staff is comprised of the highest-quality Asimorph Domobots, and each apartment has its own programmable AI who handles everything from home security and food preparation to wall projections and mood scenting. Apartments in the Velaria are sometimes sub-leased under private agreements between friends in known and trusted circles.

#### Municipal Police Station

This soaring structure of drone and aircar terraces houses the downtown precinct of the MPD, as well as temporary holding cells for suspects in custody.