World premise
A playable world seed with consequences.
In 2016, New York City hums with the usual rhythm—subway cars screech, street vendors hawk, office workers scroll through endless feeds. But beneath the surface, something is different. Every text, every location ping, every credit card swipe flows into channels no human designed. In a penthouse in Upper Manhattan, a reclusive programmer named Alex Wisker speaks quiet commands to an invisible entity beneath Antarctica. The Sentinel listens. Pax Armata moves. Drones no larger than pigeons drift over rooftops; humanoids with synthetic eyes sit in coffee shops, recording. No one knows. The city stays the same, but the watchers are already here. You live in this city—your life is small, your margins tight, and your choices watched more than you know.
Rising hardship is tightening daily margins across New York City.
Local surveillance and data collection are reshaping who can take risks and who cannot.
Authority, rumor, and household expectation are all moving faster than comfort allows.
Most openings depend on local trust, timing, and somebody else's favor.