Outskirts

The outskirts have poisonous, acrid air. The conditions in the underground factory are inhumane. The towering barriers protect the city from the deadly winds of the wasteland outside.^[2] The housing in the outskirts is in the form of human hives inside tall buildings.^[3]

There were somewhere between sixty and seventy million people living on the outskirts. The inhabitants in the outskirts looked decrepit. They were all frail, thin, and with unhealthy skin. People who lived in the outskirts were much shorter than those who lived in the inner city, mostly due to undernourishment and sickness.^[4]

In the outskirts, it is uncommon for individuals to have graves. The area has historically been severely overcrowded—at least until the advent of the Dream Gates—and experiences an exceptionally high mortality rate. Bodies are typically disposed of in a strictly utilitarian manner, leaving no physical remnants behind. Additionally, only a small number of individuals from the outskirts manage to survive the First Nightmare.^[5]

In the outskirts, the easiest food to get was called a "universal ration pack" or simply rat pack. It contained a tube of synthpaste, a cheap water filter, and several dry, tasteless crackers.^[6]

The government's treatment of the outskirts was based on necessity, as the planet could not sustain the entire human population. To ensure the survival of the remaining population, someone had to be sacrificed to ensure sufficient resources for everyone.^[7]

The outskirts were provided a decent standard of living, with cheap synthpaste, jobs, electricity, and entertainment. However, their lives were short and bitterly hard. The great clans were not entirely heartless, but their plans for humanity were aimed at the Dream Realm, not the waking world.^[7]