Nexus Central District
The Heart of Corporate Power
Overview
Nexus Central is the heart of corporate power in the Sprawl—a vertical city of gleaming towers, climate-controlled plazas, and infrastructure so clean it feels like a different planet from the Dregs. This is where 40% of the Sprawl's computational infrastructure lives, where Project Convergence operates in secret, and where Marcus Chen looks down on the world he intends to save.
For players reaching Age 3, this is enemy territory. But it's also opportunity territory. The same systems that make Nexus powerful make them vulnerable to someone who can navigate their networks from the inside.
Atmosphere
Everything in Nexus Central is controlled. The temperature maintains a perfect 22°C year-round. The air is filtered, humidified, faintly scented with something calming. The lighting adjusts automatically based on time, activity, and productivity optimization research. Even the background noise is engineered—white noise calibrated to reduce stress and increase focus.
It's comfortable. It's beautiful. It's deeply unsettling.
Sound
The silence is the first thing people from the lower districts notice. No machinery noise, no street vendors, no uncontrolled human activity. What sound exists is designed: gentle chimes, soft music, synthesized voices providing helpful information.
Danger
Paradoxically safe and extremely dangerous. Physical violence is nearly impossible—security intervenes before threats materialize. But once Nexus knows what you are, your safety depends entirely on their assessment of your value.
Vertical Structure
Nexus Central is built around the Nexus Prime Tower—a 2.3-kilometer spire that serves as both corporate headquarters and the district's literal center of gravity.
The Apex
Marcus Chen's domain. Access by personal invitation only.
Executive Zone
Senior leadership, strategic operations, high-security research.
Corporate Floors
Office space, research facilities, mid-level executive housing.
Street Level
Commercial zones, public plazas, corporate retail. Accessible to visitors.
Sub-Surface
Infrastructure, maintenance, service worker housing. Invisible but essential.
Key Locations
Nexus Prime Tower
The center of everything. 2.3 kilometers of corporate achievement housing 180,000 employees, countless AI systems, and the most advanced computational infrastructure outside the orbital networks. Breaking in is possible. Breaking in undetected is a career-defining achievement.
The Lattice
Levels 60-80Nexus's primary data center—or at least, the one they admit exists. A massive computing facility that processes a significant portion of the Sprawl's network traffic. Strategic target and deliberate bait.
Genesis Plaza
Level 35A public space showcasing Nexus's vision for the future. Holographic displays, interactive exhibits, corporate propaganda presented as education. "Rebuilding Tomorrow" made physical. Accessible—and heavily surveilled.
The Undercity
Levels -10 to -1Where Nexus Central hides its necessary imperfections—service worker housing, maintenance access, waste processing. Security is lighter here because residents are considered beneath notice. Their invisibility can become yours.
Project Convergence
Level 187, ClassifiedThis location does not appear on any public map.
Hidden within the Apex levels: reconstructed ORACLE fragments, Dr. Voss's research team, and the infrastructure for creating a controlled superintelligence. The future Nexus is building—or the catastrophe they're creating.
Power Structure
Nexus Central is a corporate state. Marcus Chen is the ultimate authority. The Board of Directors provides nominal oversight but in practice defers to his vision.
Executive Council
Department heads who run day-to-day operations. Loyal because loyalty is the path to power.
Management Tiers
Stratified bureaucracy. Each tier knows only what it needs to know.
Worker Classes
From senior engineers to maintenance staff—everyone with specific clearances and explicit boundaries.
Player Relevance
Age 3: Corporate Infiltrator
This is where the game changes. You're no longer a street-level salvager—you're operating in corporate space. The skills that kept you alive in the Dregs are liabilities here. Success requires new tools: social engineering, system exploitation, patience.
Story Beats
- First corporate operation (seeing the other side)
- Meeting Marcus Chen (the enemy with a reasonable face)
- Discovering Project Convergence (the true stakes)
- Choosing sides (or trying to walk between them)
Age 4-5: Power Player
With legitimate corporate presence, Nexus Central becomes partially accessible. You're no longer infiltrating—you're competing. The question becomes: what is your relationship with Nexus? Ally, competitor, or enemy?