The sci-noir scenario of Argent Starr: Tales From The Archives takes place in 2062, presenting sweeping action from the galactic glitter and controlled chaos of Cyg City, to a massive underground lair located at the center of New York’s only radioactive exclusion ‘glow-zone’. Here you can learn more about some of the key production sets.
CAUTION READ CHAPTERS 1 & 2 FIRST: CONTAINS SPOILERS
GlowZone Motel
Watkins Glen,
Upstate NY
♦ Argent’s upstate residence is a rundown 1960s motel at the edge of the Watkins Glen State Park radiation exclusion zone. He’s restored large portions of the interior, but plans to leave the outside mostly undisturbed to avoid attention. He resists the persistent urge to power up the glorious old neon sign unless he’s testing energy shielding or other defenses.
♦ The classic bar/diner on the ground floor conceals the entrance to an underground tunnel that connects to Glenlab 2 miles away.
♦ Robots of every description seem to have run of the place, operating at will any time they please, especially the many Spider-bots that clean, repair and make minor modifications.
Glenlab
Watkins Glen,
Upstate NY
♦ Watkins Glen State Park, centered around a deep natural canyon decked out in cascades and waterfalls, was declared an off-limits glow-zone after a terrorist group released a small amount of radioactive material there in 2027.
♦ The 1930s era underground facility, an abandoned Tesla project, was bankrupt, sealed, and forgotten until 2053, when Argent found it. Situated well within the radioactive exclusion zone, Argent secretly ‘scrubbed’ the area using high-powered alien tech and now maintains false radiation signatures as an invisible shield.
♦ This massive hydro-powered space, part lair part lab, and perfect for storing his large 20th Century collectibles, is an underground concrete dome 215 feet in diameter, lined with cast cement ribs that rise up ten stories to a natural stalactite ceiling. Hidden behind the glen canyon cliffs, this is the main chamber of Glenlab, linked by tunnels to his upstate residence, the Glow Zone Motel.
♦ The entire park is seeded with components of Argents high-tech trespasser deterrents and security systems, including low-frequency ultra-sonics that produce anxiety, flying spycams, tranquemines, and stickytraps large enough to hold a tank.
♦ Punched into the cliffs walls of the glen canyon is a 100-foot-wide entry portal into Glenlab, protected by enormous metal doors fitted into the bare rock. A deep-resolution holographic projection creates a perfectly executed illusion of completely whole and unmodified cliff walls, complete with ferns.
New Flatiron Building (NFB)
Flatiron District, NYC
♦ The New Flatiron Building supports the luminous and hyperactive Midtown Skyport, the hottest transit hub in Manhattan. 10 floors of high-security, blast-proof parking and expresscalators, built to handle commercial aircraft, corporate choptors, and private hoppers, as well as cargo and tourist blimpies.
♦ The 70th floor features an LED tarmac that can instantly reconfigure it’s markings and welcomes 400 commuter flights daily with something landing or taking off every few minutes.
♦ Created by a Port Authority air-rights grab, the 92-story NFB tower perches above and engulfs the original Flatiron building and three adjoining city blocks. The original landmark structure is now known as the Hughes Mews, a private fortress for high-class citizens, it’s 22nd floor the site of Argent’s Manhattan apartment.
♦ Argent has hacked nearly every control system in the NFB.
Empire District
34th Street, NYC
♦ The most famous of the secure enclaves currently scattered around the island, Empire District is proclaimed by City Hall as the core of a reconstructed Manhattan. Sectors like this are the first signs that the city is finally recovering from the collapse of the office real estate market and the ensuing financial nosedive into decay and crime known as “The Fall”.
♦ The 30-square-block gated midtown area, is protected by the Empire Militia and is served by two stops on the six-story-high crosstown “AlphaRail” monorail system. Chang’s Empire Casino, the finest gambling destination in Manhattan is an anchor tenant, taking up the top ten floors of the Empire State Building.
♦ Chang’s Empire Casino, the finest legal gambling destination in Manhattan takes up several top floors of the Empire State Building and commands outstanding panoramic views. A large, loud and glamorous entertainment hub, that after almost ten years still manages to be an ultra-popular destination with both trendsetters and tourists. Features include: a four-star restaurant, cafes, three bars, a lounge, and the three-story-tall Spire theater famous for it’s hot bod-modder revue.
Cyg City
Cygnus System
♦ A Lunar megalopolis, always dark and always on. Built in and on the protecting mountain ridges just over the horizon, on the dark side of the largest of three moons circling a gas giant. Low gravity [0.82 of standard] makes towers up to 400 stories tall the norm here.
♦ The largest population center in this sector of the Galaxy. 37 million souls fill the walkways, skyways, and lines of flying cars that stretch into the distance in every direction, moving about in controlled chaos.
♦ Rey Zyten’s base of operations. He enjoys watching the Rantas soar among the endless spires of light and skytop gardens from the balcony of his office on the 387th floor, and he’s sure he can almost see the sun.
TG:19 (Lucky 19)
Galactic Sector 19:01:63:19
♦ TransGate 19, aka Lucky 19, is a GTA interstellar transportation hub consumed with non-stop traffic,
too much infrastructure, loud signage floating in near space, and a serious buildup of entertainment venues. But it’s the massive TransGate array that rules the landscape. Spanning over three-and-a-half miles, and in use 24/7, it’s control-tower alone is the size of the Empire State building.
♦ It’s arcs and collectors present a mesmerizing event as the gorgeously-hued gravimetric vortex constantly opens and closes to accommodate continuous intragalactic traffic. Flashing beacons mark the transit corridor packed with hotels, warehouses, offices, maintenance facilities and casinos.
♦ In operation for over two hundred years, Lucky 19, is not only one of the busiest transport and cargo hubs in the GTA (Galactic Transport Authority) system, it also sucks in tourists at a hellified clip.
♦ Far outside any sovereign legal area, this jam-packed transient population cluster spawns activities outlawed in other planetary systems within the sector, and they continue, largely unabated. GTA enforcers, known as Executables, can barely keep a lid on the unending gambling, un-sanctioned prostitution, smuggling and illicit trade.
♦ The near-ring area is home to such popular destinations as the humongous, five-star, 1,700 room Intergalactik Hotel & Casino, the Starlux casino, Trans-Colony 207, Jek-Kez Funplex, Splum’s Budget Lodge, the infamous Mho-Jo Sexhub, and Queeng Soodoh’s dazzling asteroid resort complex.
Soodoh’s Casino
Transgate TG:19
“Lucky 19”
♦ Queeng Soodoh’s Casino Resort complex doesn’t so much sit on an asteroid as inhabit it, the famous garden atrium, casino domes, and tapered towers engulfing the hunk of space rock with a luxurious emerald glitter. The transparent tube bridge offers the most breathtaking views of the cosmos in the quadrant.
♦ The party never ends at Soodoh’s—The main casino dome includes: 5 VIP Gho-Die game rooms, over 200 paKAR tables, 150 aka-lek tubs and numerous specialty gambling spaces to cater to all species. With over 500 newly refurbished Tak Tak machines, many offering super bonus payouts, every guests a winner at Soodoh’s.
♦ There’s plenty of docking to accommodate even the largest space liners, so groups are always welcome, (reservations a must). If it’s just the two of you and you’re staying nearby at one of the other fabulous hotels in the ring, you can simply zip over in a personal pod and have the valet attendants take care of everything.
♦ The entire complex is one of the most secure in the area, with a state-of-the-art weapons lock-up so everyone can relax. In addition, the whole resort is self-contained and entirely radiation and meteoroid shielded, incorporating a class one gravity lease with redundant backups. At Soodoh’s nothing interferes with the patron’s pleasure!
Sciencebase Ultracore
Two Days From Undocumented Transgate
♦ Sciencebase Ultracore is a massive facility that is The Code’s cathedral of science, the sole occupant of the largest of a group of asteroids, a good two days travel from it’s undocumented TransGate. For additional security the entire facility is most often kept veiled in a state of invisibility.
♦ Elite Code think-tank and training academy. Here gifted young trainees of any species within the TGA (Trans Gate Authority) – controlled portion of the galaxy are taken from their families at a very young age, educated and indoctrinated by The Code to become BoBs, members of their warrior scientist army. They learn to follow the ‘Language’, are taught the sciences, combat and espionage techniques, and to hold scientific exploration and advancement above all.