The Ziggurat

The main office arcology of Demnoph, built several hundred years ago using cutting-edge technology to develop the most advanced structure of its kind on the House Eridanus homeworld of Demnoph. Since then it has gone through several, and sometimes extreme, renovations inside, though you could never tell when looking from the outside from its sloped surface. Serving as the main residential and commercial hub for billions of people, the true size of the Ziggurat is hard to fathom. The shape of it used to be synonymous with A.C.R.E. until the corporation was dissolved in late 3200. House Eridanus added a spire onto the top floor of the Ziggurat to break up its iconic shape.

History

Upon arrival on Demnoph, the ancient Eridani splinter group which later incorporated as A.C.R.E. soon found an unexplained and unnaturally flat plane upon the planet. Here they decided it to be the perfect place to build their organization’s headquarters. Aspiring to great heights, A.C.R.E. began both the construction of the massive Ziggurat and simultaneously reviving the rest of Demnoph.

After only 50 years of construction, the highest floor of the Ziggurat was completed. A few years later, while the First Imperial Civil War raged on, a vast network of structures, floors, and tunnels, seeming to be still under construction were found beneath the surface of the massive trapezium. These mysterious and incomplete underground construction sites had been ravaged by the Scream with some of the sites utilizing automated machinery still going on about its programmed tasks.

Exploring the structures A.C.R.E. was met with robust and unexpected resistance from a still-functioning pre-tech security system. What ensued was a two-decade-long infrastructural war with the corporation and security intelligence capturing key industrial sites and launching hit and run attacks through the planets existing grav-train network. It is this conflict that is most often credited for A.C.R.E.'s martial tendencies.

This war concluded at The Battle of Orion's Fall, where the A.C.R.E. conducted an assault upon the Security Systems command cluster under The Ziggurat itself.

The pre-scream purpose of the structure or whatever warranted such heavy defenses remains a mystery.

Description

The Ziggurat dominates the landscape of Demnoph even from space. The structure is built out of dark metals with a brutalist architectural style. It is giant, with each floor the size of a small country. To understand the sheer size of the Ziggurat, it can be instructive to know that there was once a full-scale war conducted between two ancient A.C.R.E. Directors entirely within the Ziggurats infrastructure.

The spire at the top of The Ziggurat is constructed of dark metal and tinted glass, with gold and silver trimmings, built in the architectural style of Tiberian archeologies. The spire reaches high into the thin atmosphere of Demnoph. The aesthetic has been followed through on the outside of the Ziggurat, adding gold and silver trimmings to the already dark and imposing looking structure. The grav-train network on the outside of the Ziggurat has been remodeled in the same colour scheme, giving the illusion of golden, and silver rivers flowing on the outside of the megastructure. The interior of the Ziggurat is built in a space-efficient utilitarian style, same as the rest of Demnoph.

Working and living in the Ziggurat is a mark of honor to Demnophs citizens. They eagerly take on even the lowest jobs, as it pays better and provides better comforts than what most outside of it could ever hope to earn.

Ziggurat Position System

The Ziggurat Position System (ZPS) was specifically developed to make the navigation of the Ziggurat possible and easy. It tracks each person in the building via cameras, sensors, trackers and so on, giving each person inside the Ziggurat access to an interactive holo-map with their current position and functionality to let them know the most efficient route between their position and any desired destination. For most employees, ZPS gives a schedule as well as the most efficient route to each appointment automatically. Screens are placed at strategic positions, can show relative position and automatically displaying optimal routes for visitors who have not connected their personal devices.

Internally, the ZPS was also used by A.C.R.E. to keep track of every person inside of the Ziggurat, helping to ensure the productivity of each employee and security within the Ziggurat. Nowadays, the Ordo Fiducalem monitors the ZPS data.

Security

Since 3201 Eridanus's most well-equipped troops, G.E.T.I Units, guard this great edifice. Condottiere Eridanus Vasudha Sima leads La Rapidità della Mente Sconfigge il Male, the first G.E.T.I Unit to be developed. With genetic and cybernetic enhancements they are considered nye invincible defenders of The Ziggurat.

Floors

The Ziggurat is divided into 50 floors specializing on different tasks each with several sub-floors. Each floor is semi self-sufficient and able to function independently for years if needed. They all have their own management, legal departments, housing, schools, etc.

Each floor has a separate train system and floors are connected by a complicated elevator system to move between them.

The Foundation

Under the Ziggurat lies The Foundation, a mess of mysterious pre-Scream tunnels and hallways.

Floor 1 - Trash

The Ground floor is responsible for the trash of the Ziggurat as well as its surrounding areas. Trash is transported here in giant containers on an independent track system within the walls of the Ziggurat. Giant recycling facilities, incineration plants, and waste dumps can be found here.

Floor 2 to 4 - Food Production

Production of vat-grown food to be exported or distributed on Demnoph.

Floor 5 - Demnoph Train Hub

A giant train station over the entire floor. Separated between Personal and Cargo Transport the monorails dive straight into the floor on the outside and unload their cargo in an efficient system too complex for any one human to fully grasp.

For people on Demnoph, this Train Hub serves as the main entrance to the Ziggurat. It is designed to be as intuitive as possible to navigate but also to demonstrate the sheer size of the Ziggurat to new arrivals. On this floor, the horizon is nothing but trains, tracks, and waiting areas.

Leaving Demnoph, the Train Hub provides an economical option to reach directly to the spaceport of Floor 47.

Floor 6 to 22 - Manufacturing

A multitude of various manufacturing facilities crucial to the operation of the Ziggurat.

Floor 23 - Genetic Research

Laboratories full of researchers creating the foundation of better food production and optimization of agricultural growth, yield, resilience, etc.

Floor 24 to 37 - Manufacturing

There are even more manufacturing facilities in this massive edifice.

Floor 38 - Human Resources

A center for optimization of laborers across the various industries of the sector. Human Resources does so by ensuring their productivity, regulates endorphin rushes for good behavior, and keeps living costs at optimal heights.

Floor 39 - Marketing / PRISM Offices

Responsible for ad creation, product recognition, and marketing campaigns. The PRISM Network acquired much of this floor in 3200 as part of their increasing cooperation with A.C.R.E. in the STO. Currently, these offices have provided extensive market analytics and have been beneficial for the various Eridanii Actii housed in the Ziggurat.

Floor 40 - Security

While technically responsible for the security of the entire Ziggurat each floor provides security independent of the rest. As such the main tasks of this Floor are to guard against external forces who threaten the entire the planet.

In these walls lie training facilities for those within the Demnophi Planetary Militia (DPM). Those with exceptional talent are often recruited to The Cleaners of the Ordo Fiducalem.

Floor 41 - Engineering

Formerly a center for A.C.R.E. electrical and mechanical design, prototyping, and testing, various Actii use this floor to finalize new products.

Floor 42 - Computing Research

Texarchs and many of the Acti Artesa visit this site of highly advanced computer research aiming to optimize even the hardest logistical problems.

Floor 43 - Gravity Research

Research laboratories for gravetics technology and its practical applications for transport and industry.

Floor 44 - Audit Adjustment Bureau

Formerly known as the Anti-Cabal Regulations Enforcement, this was A.C.R.E.’s legal department. The floor was mostly responsible with burying House Eridanus in legal paperwork to halt the processing of claims of trade infringement by the corporation. Hundreds of ongoing cases from anti-competitive behavior over unpaid taxes to IP-infringements were in the process of being settled when A.C.R.E. went under.

Generations of work by A.C.R.E.’s lawyers have left a legal mess that may take centuries to unravel. The employees here are proud to shoulder that burden.

Floor 45 to 48 - Demnoph Central Transit Authority

Floor 45 - Transit Control

The logistical center for every transport system on Demnoph and in orbit.

Floor 46 - Storage

Temporary storage for everything arriving and departing Demnoph. No single item is stored here for longer than six hours before being sent where it needs to go.

Floor 47 - Loading / Unloading

A loading and unloading bay getting passengers and cargo where they need to go quickly.

Floor 48 - Launch pad

From here on the top of the Ziggurat is open to space. Giant arrays of grav-tech guided railguns for cargo or cheap personal transport as well as a space elevator for those who can afford it can be found here.

Floor 49 - Headquarters

The administrative centre of Demnoph and the many Noble companies. This floor is a giant office complex for the people making the big decisions. The bureaucratic apparatus of the Actii Mercantil is also located on this floor.

Floor 50 - Actii Guild Halls

The central management structure of the Actii Mercantil, the Eridanii noble guilds, is located up here. The top level of the Ziggurat that previously housed the A.C.R.E. Directors has been remodeled into Noble estates, as well as into the Guild Halls where the Actii operate from. It also contains the enormous estates of the nobles who work in the Guild Halls. These estates were seized from A.C.R.E. Directors who have been killed or arrested during the dismantling of A.C.R.E.

The Guild Halls are the center of House Eridanus economic governance and are the workplace for over ten thousand representatives of the Actii and their entourage, as well as the clerks and bureaucrats who run the administration of the Actii Mercantil. They are constantly busy; Summits, discussions, and meetings are never-ending. Clerks and aides are perpetually overworked to keep up with the massive workload of managing the sector-wide holdings of the Actii. Millions of serfs are required to keep the Guild Halls running day and night.

The architectural design of the Guild Halls has been influenced by the opulence and deliberate extravagance of Tiberian architecture. Each of the thousand Acti have their own individual hall. A Guild Hall houses the offices for each Actii nobles and serfs, as well as a Summit Hall where representatives meet and debate. The design of an Acti hall is influenced by the cultural identity of the most powerful families in that Acti. This custom gives each Acti Hall a distinct cultural identity that collectively represent the whole spectrum of Eridanii cultures, mixed with the more utilitarian architectural style of Demoph.

The Spire - Grand Summit Hall and Acti Maggori

The Grand Summit Hall and the Guild Halls of the Actii Maggiori are built in the massive newly constructed spire on top of the Ziggurat. The other Guild Halls are located directly under the spire on the 50th floor of the Ziggurat. This spire is designed to mimic the architectural style of the Tiberian Offices of the Transactos on Tiber; Constructed of dark metal and tinted glass, with gold and silver trimmings. The spire reaches high into the atmosphere, looking out over the thin cloud layers of Demnoph.