Marathon
Marathon began life as the administrative headquarters for the Pheidippides Corporation's mining and petrochemical operations in the Marathon Basin and the Downing Range. The city grew to become a major colonial administrative center, famed for its idyllic setting thanks to the wide separation between its industrial and residential sectors. Indeed, the quality of life in the city was so high that few inhabitants chose to leave Terra Nova when Earth withdrew in TN 1454. The Marathonites were soon given cause to rue their decision as the city came under repeated attack from wandering bands and other city-states. Clashes were particularly bitter with the city-state of Salisbury, located some 1500 km to the south, particularly between TN 1480 and 1486, though the razing of that city-state by bandits in TN 1525 shocked even Marathon, precipitating the formation of the Lyonnesse League.
Located on the northern edge of the basin that bears its name, the low-rise city sprawls across the foothills of the Downing Range, forming a elongated urban area. The rise to prominence of the Abaline Computing Corporation in the late seventeenth century, particularly the creation of optical neural nets (ONNets), led to Marathon becoming a center of the UMF's high-technology industry, attracting support industries and competitors in equal measure. ACC became involved with Northco in TN 1675, commissioned by the Rapid City industrial giant to develop a system capable of controking their prototype Bipedal One-man Tank, the progenitor of modern Heavy Gears. After the successful completion of the NOR project, the ONNET side of Abaline's business grew exponentially and in TN 1713 Abaline Research, the company's ONNet research and development division, bought out Abaline Computing Corporation.
During the Judas Syndrome, Abaline persuaded the Marathon Council to install a military sensor and weapon system known as the Abaline Research Marathon Electronic Defense System (ARMEDS) in the city's perimeter defenses. Designed to analyze the sensor input, filtering out natural events and alerting the human operators to any suspicious activity, ARMEDS controls numerous weapon systems, though a series of safety locks prevent the system from taking autonomous action. The success of this system against CEF saboteurs during the War of Alliance prompted Abaline to suggest the creation of a city wide computer system known as the Marathon Net. The city agreed, gaining an advanced computer network while Abaline gained a massive test-bed for its latest ONNets. Work began on the system in early TN 1918 under the direction of vice-president of ONNet Training and Development, Anthony Phills, and within a cycle the system controlled many aspects of life in the city, ranging from the telecommunication system to traffic control. Over the cycles, the Marathon Net has grown far beyond the original specifications, becoming an essential and all-pervasive part of life for those living in the city.
Demographics
The City That Thinks For Itself
Project: Marathon is an attempt to create a city that thinks for itself, constantly adapting to the needs of its citizens and maximizing the use of resources. Almost every aspect of life in the city comes under the control of the Net, ranging from traffic control to telecommunications and the media. Evely communication device in the city is linked to the Net, providing access to its vast resources but also feeding into the databases. The city database has replaced the Libraries common in most cities, though the sheer scope of information has prompted numerous subdivisions for ease of access. For example, The Marathon Education Network contains electronic copies of every textbook and reference volume published in the UMF and is a key element in the recent success of FTRI. Similarly, the Marathon News Network monitors and summarizes the media reports from across Terra Nova, providing an unparalleled (if somewhat overwhelming) resource for those interested in current affairs.
Though the Net is all-pervasive, it is not always obvious. Several areas of the city are designated low profile zones, with access terminals disguised as personal computers and vidphones, and with monitoring devices carefully concealed. Other regions are designated high profile, dotted with public access terminals and display screens and monitored by hover drones that serve as the eyes and ears of the city's police force. Furthermore, many citizens in the high profile zones use sophisticated datagloves, eye-screens and earbugs, traditionally regarded as the province of the corporate elite. Many houses in the city, whether in the high profile zone or not, are fitted with a computerized majordomo system that monitors the demands and preferences of the occupants. It then orders groceries and other goods as required, and also filters news and entertainment media to suit the inhabitants' preferences.
Some of the more evolved NNets, however, have begun to take action on their own initiative. For example, one NNet came to the conclusion that most of the city's inhabitants check the sports section during their review of the news and has taken to showing the sports section, irrespective of whether it was requested.
Government
Politics of the Eletronic Evolution
Electronic voting has become the norm in the city and the sophisticated system allows citizens to take a more active and immediate role in city affairs. Each of the city's twenty districts elects a representative to the city council and sessions are broadcast on trideo with time put aside where citizens can put forward points or raise questions. Though the council makes all decisions regarding the city, they frequently use the Net to enact district or citywide referenda on contentious issues.
Though he retired from active politics in TN 1933, former mayor Brian Chambers continues to play a major role in Marathon politics, particularly as an advocate of high technology in the city. Though continuing Chambers' policies, his successor, Gavrill Bonner, is more concerned with the city's substantial criminal element, particularly with regard to the Forzi Cartel and potential abuse of the Marathon Net. The Forzi have become particularly problematic in recent seasons as their conflict with the Kolson Cartel has escalated. Another prominent individual in local politics is Andrea Leiber, founder and leader of the neo-Luddite faction. The council representative of the low-profile Valley District, Leiber believes the Marathon Net is too pervasive and open to abuse, representing a real danger to the civil liberties of the city's population. Though her constituency is small, she has gained considerable popular support in the city, particularly in the wake of a recent citywide system crash.
Industry & Trade
- Computer Systems
- High Technology
Digital Economics
Though best known for Abaline Research and its electronic data network, Marathon's economy is surprisingly vaned. In addition to computer and electronics giants like Abaline and Manx industries, the city i s a major center of the Mercantile petrochemicals industry. Oil extracted at Baton Rouge and Canterbury i s shipped to the city for refinement where it is turned into a wide range of petroleum products and plastics i n the huge refinery complexes in the south of the city. Though considerably smaller than the Norlight refineries at Petropolis, they nonetheless play a significant role in the local economy. Marathon also serves as the processing center for a series of iron and tin mines located in the Downing Range.
Marathon's extensive computer network makes it an ideal home for many of the UMFs information processing companies. In addition to media-fed systems like the Marathon News Network the system collects data on citizens of Marathon, contains national and regional census data, and serves as a hub for the UMFs banking industry, particularly for EPOS and credit data. Many companies use this vast storehouse of information - much of it public and the remainder bought from private sources, including Abaline - to build electronic models of behavior that can be used to test goods and ad campaigns, and to tailor them to regional and demographic groups. Many citizens are concerned about such systems being used to invade their privacy - and several companies exist solely to police databases, expunging their clients' details where not legally required.
The Marathon Net's sophistication is also its weakness. While the bulk of the uses of the Marathon Net do so for legitimate purposes, the possibility exists for someone with sufficient knowledge of the systems to hack into the network and gain access to information - and more importantly net-controlled systems - and wreak havoc with many aspects of Mercantile life. To combat this possibility - made startlingly real by the Mekong Dominion's actions in the Second Merchant War even before the creation of the Marathon Net - the city is home to the UMF's Computer Warfare teams, an amalgam of FIA, SOE, UMFA and corporate computer specialists. Their job is to penetrate foreign systems and to secure the Federation's networks, particularly Marathon's.
Infrastructure
Net Crash: Crime or Conspiracy
(Mercantile Business News, 17 Autumn, TN 1936) - The citizens of Marathon were astounded last night when the Marathon Computer Network, brainchild of Abaline Research, inexplicably shut down at 03:14 for eleven minutes. An official Abaline announcement cites a computerized attack by agents of the Mekong Dominion, which prompted the isolation of elements of the network. They claim disruption was minimal thanks to the independent majordomo systems in each household which operated autonomously during the short break in service, but issued a formal apology to those inconvenienced by network restrictions. This is not the first time the Marathon Net has suffered at the hands of so-called hackers: In TN 1919 an unidentified hacker crashed the city's traffic control system and in TN 1927 an individual calling himself DarkProphet used the network to distribute blasphemous material before being caught and imprisoned.
As might be expected of such an august journal, the Northern Inquirer claims the crash was the result of a "world-spanning conspiracy, dedicated to keeping the truth from the citizens of Terra Nova." According to Kitsune Mokona, head of NI's Marathon office, "We had just begun a search on the Marathon News Network for information on stoneheads, particularly the work of the renowned archaeologist Dooglas Morasin, and the system had just reported fifty-nine articles meeting our criteria when the system locked up. There wasn't a thing we could do, everything was locked down tight. The system wasn't down for long, and we re-entered our search profile. This time MNN reported back only fifty-seven articles. The exact same profile! That's two articles missing, with no trace at all. None. The timing of the crash is just too convenient, too improbable. We want to know what the government is hiding!"
Maps
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Marathon
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