The Strip

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The Strip is the common name for Slab's first night section. Its internal size was determined from the original construction (see Original Design) which was gutted, turned side-on to the direction of travel and re-fitted with opposing downs. It therefore shares the same gravitational orientation of UpSideDown and DownSideUp with Seacombe, Mitchell, Smith and AllWeather and common bulkheads with Seacombe and The Well.

Being dedicated to all aspects of human nocturnal activity[1], The Strip has many unique qualities and quirks - far too numerous for us to elaborate here[2]. However, it is worth noting some of the more stable and long-established areas.

TorryTown

UpSide. Considered by musos and aficionados alike as the center of excellence for live music onSlab.

ToNight High

ToNight Highs can be found in most areas of The Strip and are places where people enjoy exploring 'alternative realities' (see Reality Sucks) usually through the use of various psychoactive drug- or tech-induced euphorics/hypnotics[3][4].

Dead zones

Dead zones are areas that are deliberately shielded from system presence awareness. Consequently;

  • All eye comms with Sis are blocked.
  • Private channels are not affected nor are sensurround or stim feeds.
  • Local prefs can vary wildly in dead zones and it is your responsibility to check what they are (see Life disclaimer).
  • All citizens will be advised when entering a Contemporary Morality subversion zone and acknowledgment is required[5] before vex access is allowed.

Social Engineering

One of the problems noted by early Slab demographers were the significant feelings of isolation among SlabCitizens who lived exclusively in Seacombe where the tube system was designed for door-to-door access. Human interaction in large group environments was reduced to voluntary attendance only and this was having a detrimental effect on inter-personal social skills especially among the recent graduates from Zone61.

However, as everyone likes a good night out, it was decided, when The Strip was re-fitted as a night zone, to only allow common tube vexits in public spaces. This forces people to interact in the laneways and pedestrian-only thoroughfares and provides the much needed 'passing trade' to restaurants, cafés and other side-walk attractions.

As an experiment in social engineering it has been widely hailed as a success and many spontaneous friendships have sprung up by a new phenomena called bumping into someone. Apparently many people actually like having to push their way through crowds[6].

Footnotes and references

  1. except sleeping of course, for that see Smith
  2. and in any case, they change all the diceing time
  3. it is beyond the remit of this resource to pass judgement on these Leaf Blowers
  4. HEY!
  5. no matter how stimmed-out or outsauced you are
  6. go figure