Zynima Network

Planet Zynima

> Radius: 6,288 km
> Gravity: 8.4 m/s
> Air composition: Fatal
> Species: Robots
> Population: ~4,300
> Day cycle: 6 hours
> Year cycle: 504 days

Zynima is a barren, desert-like planet filled with rocky terrain, sand, and large stone plateaus. Its climate is very arid with almost no accessible water, and an air composition fatal to carbon-based life.

Zynima is the site of the Mechanical Society Experiment, during which, 100 robots with no prior knowledge of humanity were left on the planet to see if any unique societal patterns would emerge. The experiment saw the robots thrive and create one massive, mechanical city in the desert landscape, where they manufactured buildings, machinery, and other robots for 11 Zynima years. The population now rests in the thousands, and while the vast majority of the robots live in the singular city (simply named Zynima City), some others venture off to create their own homes in the desert. The vast majority of jobs and hobbies in their society are creative in nature, ranging from the composition of music to graffiti to parkour and skate courses.

Zynima's calendar is split into two 252 day seasons, named Light and Neon. Light is the equivalent of Hallow's summer when days are very long, and Neon is the equivalent of winter when days are much shorter. Zynima's star is considerably closer to the planet than Hallow's sun, causing the surface to be extremely hot and dry.

Global charts

Likely the most unexpected result of the MSE, aside from the explosive progress made by the machines, was the natural implementation of a series of "global charts" throughout the robot civilization. These charts track the creative talent of each robot, classifying them under three broad categories: sight, sound, and skill. Every single self-aware robot is placed on each chart, all ranked in a fashion similar to a universal high-score board. Machines ranked at the top of each chart are often renowned, influential, and generally held in high regard; examples of robots with this status are Lavil II, who is ranked #1 on the skill chart, or CITE+SCAN, who holds the #1 position on the sight chart.

The sight chart encompasses several forms of visual art, ranging from paintings, graffiti, sculptures, architecture, and decoration. Machines focusing on visual creativity often showcase their creations in the form of public displays and museum-esque buildings, but some also prefer more private works such as interior design or something as simple as hanging pictures in their homes.

The sound chart is based on music. Zynima City contains countless radio stations that all play music produced by the robots of Zynima, and even though the most popular musicians are usually played more than others, smaller musicians are still given high consideration when a radio decides what music to play. Music published on Zynima is submitted to a worldwide database where an artist can build a discography under their name, while also allowing others to freely listen to or use their music on a radio station.

The skill chart is primarily based around physical feats of speed, dexterity, reflexes, and showmanship. Two of the main ways a machine can increase their skill ranking is by participating in races or performances that demonstrate one's physical ability (such as parkour and breakdancing). Because races are usually not formally organized in specifically designated areas, they often happen on the streets of Zynima City, which involves both finding fast routes around the city and ensuring participants don't smash into any bystanders who find themselves on a race route.

A large portion of Zynima's charts are controlled by global databases, which are managed by archivists such as Historical.

Notable Locations

Assault - Assault is Aural Automaton's club located between Verdin Square and the city outskirts. She regularly performs for a regular group of 60 to 80 guests, some of whom are musicians that volunteer their own music to be played at the club. Assault is open every three days from dusk until dawn, with an entry fee of 150 bytes per person per night.

Assault's soundproof exterior has two tinted double-doors as its front entrance with Aural Automaton's logo in bright lights just above it, and the interior of the club has a black and red colour scheme, matching Aural's own colours and lights. Most of the club is black, but the edges of the walls and ceiling are lined with red lights that pulse to the beat of the music currently playing. Speakers are present everywhere, from the front stage to the back walls.

CRT Siphon Yard - Situated on Zynima city's outskirts, the CRT Siphon Yard is an expansive junkyard that serves as a home for the vast majority of Zynima's TV heads. While it may be a home for many, it is also a highly dangerous area due to many TV heads' addictive desire for packet fluids (or, as they refer to it as, robot blood); if an outsider cannot supply any packets to fulfill a TV head's demand, they will often resort to paralysing the other robot and siphoning most, if not all, of the fluids in the robot's body instead.

CRT Siphon Yard has no discernible houses or buildings, but there is more than enough scrap material and metal that ends up in the junkyard, allowing its machines to loosely assemble shelters and hidden hovels in the mountains of metal. These scrap piles are often lined with parts or entire bodies of deactivated robots, a few of whom are still on the verge of functionality despite their "drained" state.

In the depths of the yard is a large tunnel that allegedly leads to Zynima's "underworld." Such claims remain unproven, since nobody has emerged from the tunnel with any evidence to support these suspicions, if they emerge from the tunnel at all.

Grilith Tower - Situated kilometres away from Zynima City, Grilith Tower is a huge silver spire adorned with violet markings and patterns, all of which were created by the famous artist CITE+SCAN. Jutting out of the tower in several locations far above the ground are countless pathways and ramps, looping around the tower and connecting various different floors and entrances.

Because of the layout and curvature of the tower's pathways, Grilith is home to many thrill-seeking robots who enjoy skating or rolling around the paths at high speeds. For this reason, many of the highest ranking machines on Zynima's skill chart live here because of the risky and competitive nature of free-running in such a dangerous environment. Races are a very common occurrence, with at least one race being organized daily.

Lavil II lives near the top of Grilith Tower, and they are also responsible for most of its management.

Outskirts - The edges of Zynima City are simply known as the outskirts. The raised foundation most of the buildings near the border stand on are homes to robots who prefer the quiet or enjoy exploring the wastelands outside of the city. Unfortunately, the area just inside the outskirts is home to several small gangs of ruffians and punks, making it a generally dangerous area to pass through. The recharge stations around the outskirts are generally of a lower >purity than those in the main city as well.

Aside from the buildings on top of the tall border of Zynima city, most buildings are either built into the side of the border or right on the desert sand near the border. Most most structures situated on the sand are somewhat makeshift and prone to collapsing, giving repair-bots and material traders strong business opportunities when working around the outskirts.

The outskirts are where Decker's shop is located, and it's also where None appears the most.

Reassignment Station - Far away from Zynima City, a small underground complex lies beneath the sand of the planet's deserts. Though it's rarely discussed publicly in the city, those who do speak of it tell tales of fear and horror.

The Reassignment Station is a structure with three floors, all worn down and illuminated poorly, if at all. Despite its run-down nature, the station includes computers, powered storage compartments, and a factory grade conveyor belt that actively carries miscellaneous objects from one section of the station to another. All of these functionalities have been running since the station's conception, and they are all still powered by an unknown energy source.

The front door of the Reassignment Station is often sealed shut, but it is left unlocked at arbitrary periods of time, suggesting someone regularly accesses it.

Verdin Square - Although Verdin Square is one of the smaller areas that central Zynima City has to offer, it is still one of the more popular conglomeration spots in the city, seeing over a thousand robots daily. Verdin Square features a wide open plaza with bright and colourful lights alongside many public art displays, as well as its own bustling market district with music stores, electronic shops, and the widely popular "restaurant," Packet Park.

Verdin is unique in that anyone is allowed to post their art on designated walls between many of the shops in the market district, turning them into colourful canvases filled with unique images that change on a regular basis as more artists add their own pictures.

Verdin's popularity is responsible for the high prices in almost every store in its strip mall, but the market is also open all 6 hours a day.