The Provisional Diplomatic Cylinder, generally referred to as the Sill, is a city on Counterweight. It mainly relies on tourism and entertainment. Unusually for cities on Counterweight, it is a long climate-controlled cylinder instead of a dome, with a (relatively) low, transparent ceiling. The CCT officially directs the Sill and the Tourist's Union handles tourism, while much real power is in the hands of the Apostolosian Ithikos crime family, who run the central casino known as the Cerulean. Between the oversight of the CCT and the Tourist's Union, entrance to the Sill is highly monitored.
The Sill was built long pre-war in attempt to build diplomacy between Apostolos and its new rivals in the Diaspora and OriCon. Hopes for it to become the center of governance on Counterweight failed to pan out.
Toxic dust from outside will occasionally break the Sill's air filters, lowering temperatures and making ash that looks like snow fall inside the cylinder.
The Sill's eastern gate is now the only entrance. The residential areas cluster around the east side, with the agora (a large park used as a music venue and open marketplace, also housing Apostolosian temples), embassy district and Cerulean casino following as one moves west. The far western end has been taken over by the Open Arms campground.
Cerulean[edit | edit source]
The Cerulean was originally built to be the center of a unified government of Counterweight. It was taken over by the Ithikos and turned into a casino which sprawls out into surrounding buildings in a way reminiscent of the UN headquarters, although it's also called space Bellagio. It is painted a bright, gaudy blue.
It has a stringent security system, and using non-Holidaze communications equipment is not allowed.
As the Cerulean is run by Apostolosians, there is no "camera behind the screen that’s reading facial micro-expressions" or "secret Divine at the heart of this thing trying to rip out people’s minds." The casino might have a Holidaze room saving data about the gambler, but they rely on the "personal touch" to put pressure on people.[1]