Gerod City

Gerod (pronounced guh-road) City is one of the main settings of Plan B. It's where Genesis is headquartered and where most of the main characters live. It's a hotbed of culture and technology, since it was the first (and currently the largest) spaceport in the American Protectorate.

Gerod City was founded in the late 21st century in the plains of South Dakota. Given its excellent proximity to the middle of nowhere, it was well suited as a "ground up" city of the future. Renowned city planner Julius Gerod's vision depicted towering buildings of glass, both to supersede New York and Dubai. A central core of residential and commercial towers serve to keep commuting distance down and resident activity up. This is augmented with a vast mass transit system consisting of a ring of high speed rail tracks connected to major areas.

The centerpiece of the city is the main office tower for the Gilmour Group, one of the Protectorate's chief designers and manufacturers of interplanetary spacecraft. Tall, with swooping curves and multicolored glass, the relatively new tower displays the ingenuity of Japanese architect Rei Ishikawa. Competition with the likes of Boeing and EADS is cutthroat, and Gilmour's spacecraft, first designed by company founder Benjamin Gilmour, are recognized for delivering much bang for buck. Gilmour is one of the leading employers of Gerod's citizens and one of the main drivers of the economy. Their production facility and private air and space port lies just to the north of Gerod.

On the south side of Gerod lies the Arthur J. Andelman Memorial Spaceport. Named after Gerod's deceased first mayor, Andelman Spaceport is one of the premiere gateways for interplanetary travel in the Protectorate. Its terminals, at the time of construction, were some of the most advanced in the world, able to handle both terrestrial and spacebound vehicles at the same gates. One could transfer easily from their return trip from the moon to an Earthbound aircraft to travel to nearly any destination. This advantage has been largely negated in recent years as competing airports became spaceports, but none are at the scale of Andelman.

Gerod's population currently hovers around five million people in the city proper. It trails New York and other population centers in terms of raw numbers, but as a media market is just as lively, due to the many businesses that moved there to expand. It is currently home to two major news agencies - Janus Syndication System and Genesis News Service. Janus' central HQ is located inside the center of Gerod, while Genesis' main office lies on the fringe in an underground building. Janus' shining office tower strikes a stark contrast to the surplussed military lands that create the dank environment of Genesis. The location of Genesis was picked mainly for one reason - it was cheap. These two companies compete to provide news and information to Earth and Space. Other news organizations exist, but many have been purchased by Janus to increase their power.

Aside from the high speed rail that connects major areas, people move around by means of walking, bicycles, hoverboards (often enjoyed by youth), electric scooters, and electric automobiles. To move from city to city, electric autos are used by individuals. One can also take a long-distance maglev train. Aviation and boating still exist and are some of the last bastions of liquid fuel, due to the energy requirements of their turbines. Items like used vegetable oil, biodiesel, et cetera have been highly refined and reduced to near zero emissions; what isn't reduced is cleaned up by atmospheric scrubbers. These scrubbers help keep the proper levels of CO2 and other nasties in the air to avoid issues like ozone depletion.

Gerod derives most of its electricity from solar, wind, and nuclear fission. Though they have tried many times, weather grids are still currently unavailable, as they have been proven to be too unreliable. The tech is still being pursued by many scientists with too much time on their hands.

Of course, Gerod features many parks and entertainment options as well. The north side of the city is renowned for its botanical garden, a prime place for people to tend to public gardens or play a simple game of chess. Scattered throughout the city are smaller parks, at least one for each district, and are protected under law from easements or private companies from purchasing them. Gerod himself modeled the park in the South End, sculpting several bronze statues. Artists have since used this area to relax and hone their craft.