Act 1-2: Roger the Negotiator

[Roger Smith]

True to form, Roger's predictions had been right on the nose. They'd been subtle about it, of course, but it all came through as one big recruitment attempt. Not into the military, per se, but it all lead to the same end result. 'Empire' this, 'the Empire's finest' that, working with the 'Empire Peace Division'... All part of the same group. And it gave Roger Smith a nauseous feeling in his gut that had nothing to do with the suffocating cleanliness -- the sheer lack of smell was almost as bad to him as he suspected the decrepit state of things he was used to might be for others. He was liking this less and less, the more he heard about it. Just like Paradigm City...and the Paradigm Corporation that ruled it.

Paradigm had been both the city and its government. They knew what was best, and no one else's say really mattered. Within the domes, or outside of them, it didn't really matter. The city's elected officials were all either working for them or literally in their back pocket. Even the Military Police were on their payroll -- they'd even been called Paradigm's Watchdogs. In a sense, it was meant for the city as a whole, but in reality...it was to the corporation. Paradigm's Lapdogs might have been more accurate.

Again and again, Roger turned down the various positions and job opportunities offered to him, taking opportunities to ask his own questions as he did. Harmless enough on the surface, just little probing queries to sate his curiosity. Fishing out little tidbits about how this city wasn't all as shiny and magnificent as it appeared on the surface. This was just the top level of a huge, sprawling cityscape layercake. Veritable striations of culture and design, getting steadily less and less advanced and resplendent the further down you went: A shining, glorious jewel that anyone would be awed and amazed by at the top, and little more than a decaying cesspit of forgotten waste and industry at the bottom.

If the bottom was that bad...then the lower few tiers must have been something like the worse parts of Paradigm.

Eventually, things began to start to drag on. Roger had gotten all of his burning questions answered and his curiosity was, for now, satisfied. Reluctantly, he began actually taking the job offers more seriously. Much as he might despise the work, he would need some kind of way to make a living. At least until he could amass enough working knowledge and resources to retreat to his zone of familiarity. Negotiation.

There weren't quite any jobs within that field available at the moment. Though there were a few positions similar to it, as he was informed. Detective work, mostly in the lower tiers. They had a high turnover rate down there, with the amount of work they were often required to do and the situations they got involved in. The recruiter made no bones about it: it would be dangerous work, and probably pretty nasty. But given that Roger was a Prime, they said, it probably wouldn't have any major risks.

An unnerving thought, to be sure, even if he could only assume it was meant to be comforting. Regardless, he took the job. It would be a good enough fit for him, for now.

And of course, to secure his position in the job...more paperwork.