Overview
New Tucson, usually called Tucson, is a protected city reached through the Hollow Metropolis. Its enormous black dome is the shield surrounding the Safe Zone, and the sanctuary has only two entrances, both fitted with gates.
Inside the shield, residents live under a bureaucracy that combines four-year elections with an indirectly elected main leader. Most of the government is corrupt. The city is divided into upper- and lower-class areas, while its population includes several races.
New Tucson was founded after the destruction of another Node. The Safe Zone has been fought over repeatedly, and that struggle continues into the present.
Founding and Continuing Conflict
The destruction of another Node preceded New Tucson’s founding.
The resulting settlement became contested protected territory. Conflict over the Safe Zone has occurred repeatedly throughout its history and continues today.
The city’s existence therefore rests on more than the protection of its dome. Control of the settlement remains an ongoing struggle.
The Black Dome and Two Gates
The Black Dome is the protective shield around New Tucson’s Safe Zone. It is the enormous dark landmark seen during the journey through the Hollow Metropolis.
There are only two ways into the sanctuary. Both entrances have gates.
In Chapter 7: The Hollow Metropolis, Mayhem guides Vestige Soul toward the dome. She estimates about a day’s walk from their position and recalls a previous journey taking roughly a week. The chapter ends at the checkpoint.
The walk through the Hollow Metropolis to New Tucson is travel within the surrounding Node, separate from crossing an edge into it. See Travel Between Nodes for the rules governing those crossings.
Travel through the surrounding Node remains dangerous. The approach exposes them to the Red-Light anomaly, Ticker-Wolves, and Ledgerra’s Wolf Market presence.
Government and the Four-Year Cycle
New Tucson is governed through a bureaucracy operating in four-year cycles.
Eligible residents elect officials. Those officials then hold a vote of their own to select and appoint the city’s main leader for the next four years.
The public election and the appointment of the main leader are therefore separate stages of the same governing cycle. Residents choose the officials, and the elected officials choose the leader.
Most of the government is corrupt. The existence of elections and formal administration does not establish honest government.
Residence and Voting Rights
Voting requires New Tucson to be a person’s primary residence.
Residents must also complete the correct paperwork to obtain the right to vote. Residence alone does not automatically grant that right.
These requirements concern participation in New Tucson’s government. The city’s entry and identification procedures serve separate administrative purposes.
Guards and Entry Procedures
New Tucson has gate guards, inner guards, and special forces.
Gate guards cover the entrances to the sanctuary. Inner guards operate within the city, while special forces form an additional part of its security structure.
Chapter 8: Fateful Reunions in Tucson shows mandatory entry scans, comparison with earlier records, gun turrets, and thick security doors. New arrivals undergo further scanning, blood testing, paperwork, and identification processing. Mayhem’s existing credits remain attached to her identification card. The card holds her account information, while purchases and sales are cross-referenced with the Safe Zone network. Its usefulness in other Safe Zones is limited. See Currency and Trade for the distinction between local payment cards and universal credit coins.
The checkpoint and processing facilities show wear and old battle damage, even while their equipment continues to operate.
Class, Housing, and Population
The city is divided into upper- and lower-class areas.
Some races form small pockets within lower-class districts. These pockets do not describe the entire population: most residents live wherever they can find a place.
New Tucson contains several races, as seen on its busy streets. That diversity exists alongside class division and local concentrations of particular communities.
The broader patterns of government, housing, work, and community within protected settlements are described in Life Within Safe Zones.
Food Production
Food is grown in building complexes. The city’s food production also includes fish.
Other kinds of meat are rare. Lab-grown meat is available when residents are fortunate enough to obtain it.
Protected cultivation and fish production help support life inside the sanctuary, while access to other meat remains limited.
Streets, Commerce, and Local Activity
The city has shops, restaurants, and a fairy shop. Chapter 8 also depicts an apparent red-light district.
Hex maintains a secured hideout with surveillance equipment and robots. Fuze operates in the city, and her activities draw an armed guard pursuit that pulls Mayhem and Vestige into her escape.
These scenes place everyday commerce and guarded administration alongside dangerous local activity.
Current Status
New Tucson remains inhabited, protected by its dome, and contested.
It offers a place to live within the Hollow Metropolis, but its shield does not resolve the corruption, class divisions, or conflict inside and around the city. Its significance lies in that combination: a functioning sanctuary whose protection and society are both shaped by the struggle to control it.