Ireny City (eye-REEN-ee)

BUREAU OF COLONIES — PLANETARY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTORATE (PDD)

URBAN & INDUSTRIAL SURVEY — FORMAT 12-F (RESTRICTED)

File Code: BUCOL/PDD/MARS/URB-IRENY-01

Subject: Ireny City (colloquial: “I-City”)

Classification: Subterranean Industrial Hub – Category Prime (Ruthenium / Ferrous Extraction Zone)

Filed by: Dr. Ysabel Tarren, BuCol Martian Infrastructure Division

Date: 2346.04.12 (Mars Federation Calendar)

Clearance: Level 5 — Administrative / Interindustrial Access Only

1. GENERAL OVERVIEW

Ireny City, known informally as I-City, is one of Mars’ oldest still-functioning subterranean industrial metropolises.

Constructed within the Tharsis mining belt, approximately 900 km east of the extinct volcano Ascraeus Mons, it lies at the volatile intersection of four dormant volcanic plugs and the upper lip of the Ma’adim Vallis Canyon complex.

Founded within thirty years of the first Martian colonists’ arrival (ca. 2059–2062 CE), Ireny began as a modular ore extraction colony under the Tharsis Terraforming Authority. Over two centuries of expansion transformed it into a heavily stratified subterranean city of 3.5 million inhabitants — a labyrinth of iron corridors, plasma furnaces, rusted catwalks, and geothermal coolant lines.

Today, Ireny remains Mars’ primary Ruthenium extraction hub and the largest ferro-mineral export node west of Valles Marineris City .

2. DEMOGRAPHICS

• Population: ~3.52 million permanent residents
• Transient Population: ~100,000 contractors, miners, haulers, and Flexible Levitation on a Track FLOAT trains crews
• Primary Languages: Martian Standard Patois, Russian (historical), Hindi, Mandarin, Spanish
• Ethnic Composition:
• 37 % Martian-born mixed descent
• 28 % Earth-origin Eurasian
• 21 % Indo-African colonial diaspora
• 9 % Cydonian
• 5 % Other (Outer Belt migrants, legal and otherwise)
• Augmentation Rate: 41 % of workforce registered as augmented; 17 % with neural-interface equipment.
• Religious Affiliations: Predominantly secular; small enclaves of Russian Orthodox Revivalists, Desert Daoist, and machinist cults (notably the Order of the Ferric Heart).

3. GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

Ireny operates under a Tri-Authority Governance Charter consisting of:

• Governor: Mireille Dakhova — Corporate-appointed administrator representing the Martian Federation Resource Bureau (MFRB).
• Rainmaster: Hon. Kaito Bernal — Oversees the Hydrothermal Regulation Authority controlling coolant-water vapor distribution and geothermal reclamation.
• Council of Shifts: a twelve-seat rotating syndicate council representing miners’ guilds, hauler unions, and fabrication consortiums.

While officially under Martian Federation jurisdiction, real power rests with the industrial guilds, who regulate mining access, labor contracts, and float-train logistics.

Corruption is normalized as people buy appointments and trade favors for mineral futures or coolant rights.

4. INDUSTRY AND TRADE

Primary Exports:

• Ruthenium: Core catalyst for starship fusion reactor components and advanced microcircuitry.
• Iron and Nickel: Foundational alloy materials for orbital shipyards.
• Rare Earth Metals: Including neodymium, yttrium, cerium, and Samarium.
• By-products: Sulfur, hematite dust, magnetite slag, and minimal gold/silver trace elements.

Industrial Infrastructure:

• Four Deepcore Mines:
• Helix Vein, Tamarisk Bore, Deimos Pit, Ruthenium Shaft 09-A
• Smelting and Refinement Complexes:
• Operated by Tharsis Metals Union (TMU) and Ruthenia Works, both under joint Mars–Alpha Centauri trade agreements.
• Ore Transport:
• Via FLOAT Trains (Mag-Lev Atmospheric Units) that connect Ireny to the Valles Marineris Industrial Basin and Cydonia Freight Hub.
• Each train carries up to 80,000 metric tons.
• Average departure frequency: every 7 hours.

5. HISTORY

2059–2075: Initial foundation as Tharsis Extraction Colony 7 under corporate charter from the Earth-Mars Joint Terraforming Council.

2120: Collapse of early mining shafts during Ma’adim Vallis tremor; approximately 2,300 deaths (total number unknown). Reconstructed as multi-tiered geothermal settlement.

2188: Completion of Ruthenium Shaft 09-A, establishing Mars’ first platinum-group metal monopoly.

2221–2245: Labor uprisings during Machine War I; partial evacuation and heavy automation.

2304: Incorporation into the Martian Federation Resource Bureau.

2346 to Present: Industrial output stable; resource seams showing slow depletion possible within the next century.

6. INFRASTRUCTURE AND URBAN DESIGN

They built I-City vertically around its original mine shafts. The architecture is utilitarian — a hybrid of reinforced basalt concrete, Plasteel superstructures, Ceracrete, and superconducting Ferroglass conduits glowing with the orange pulse of molten slag lines.

Districts

Core Shaft District (The Old Bore):

• Original habitat ring built around Shaft 09-A.
• Home to miners’ quarters, bars, whore houses, oxygen exchange stations, flophouses, and bunkhouses.
• Notorious for black-market prosthetic dealers and the Ferric Heart Temple.

Rainmarket District:

• Mid-level layer. Houses coolant towers and vapor condensers.
• “Rainmasters” operate mist generators to keep humidity at 10–15 %.
• Popular meeting point for traders, scavengers, and syndicate liaisons.

Governor’s Tier:

• Upper residential and administrative level.
• Corporate enclave; fortified with anti-riot shutters and recycled-glass domes.

Freight Concourse:

• Subsurface transport nexus connecting to the FLOAT rails.
• Oxygen-thin environment; populated by loaders and drone operators.

The Forges:

• Southern sublevel; houses fusion powered smelters and material sorting zones.
• Ambient temperature ~55 °C; red glow visible through vent shafts.

Crescent Colony (Outskirts):

• Surface-level settlement ring; low-gravity miners, day laborers, sand traders, and eco-refugees.
• Small surface museum dedicated to early colonist history (tourist traffic negligible).

7. CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT

Since it's subterranean, geothermal reclamation and vapor distribution regulate Ireny's "climate."

• Average Interior Temperature: 27–34 °C
• Humidity: 12–18 %
• Air Composition: 78 % N₂, 20 % O₂, 2 % particulates (iron oxide, carbonatite dust)
• External Surface: Hyper-arid volcanic desert; radiation flux high.

The city’s air smells of ozone, rust, and scorched lubricant. The atmosphere hums with turbines, dripping condensers, and the rhythmic clang of distant drills.

8. FACTIONS AND GUILDS

• Tharsis Metals Union (TMU): Controls 70 % of ore rights. Operates de facto private security.
• Ferric Heart Order: Technotheistic cult that worships the volcanic mantle as a sentient being — rumored to recycle human ashes into steel prayer tablets.
• The Float Syndicate: Oversees ore shipment logistics and smuggles rare earth concentrates to private buyers on Phobos.
• Rainmasters: Semi-religious engineering guild managing condensation and vapor systems; viewed historically, during the Martian City-State Wars period, as minor nobility.
• Independent Prospectors’ League (IPL): Small guild of ex-miners who specialize in mapping deep unregistered veins.

9. POINTS OF INTEREST

• Ferric Heart Temple: Built from molten slag and basalt, with constantly burning geothermal vents. Pilgrims burn iron dust offerings in fusion powered magnetic crucibles.
• Rainmarket Grand Condenser: A tower of mist and glass at the city’s midlevel; center of trade and gossip.
• Old Bore Museum: A small collection of mining tools, early colony gear, and a memorial for the first cave-in victims. Tourists: ~2,000 per Martian year.
• Governor’s Spire: Suspended from the ceiling of the upper shaft, it’s a chrome and glass aerie with a view of the molten lava lake far below.

10. NATURAL RESOURCES

All exports pass through FLOAT Terminal 09-C, where they magnetically seal raw cargo into armored hoppers destined for Valles Marineris fabrication sectors.

11. CULTURE AND CHARACTER

Life in I-City is claustrophobic and pragmatic. Residents rarely see the Martian sky; most live and die by artificial light.

Yet, the city retains an austere beauty: the slow shimmer of molten metal rivers, the rhythmic clang of drills echoing through carved basalt corridors, and the constant hiss of mist jets softening the rust-red glow.

Bars serve Ruthenium Whiskey, a silvery, slightly psychedelic distilled liquor that leaves a faint metallic aftertaste. Outside of I-City, Ruthenium Whiskey is very rare. Off Mars, the whiskey is exceptionally rare. Despite Mars' strict policy against drug use, food and drink that are slightly drug infused, such as Martian absinthe and Ruthenium Whiskey, are legal.

Graffiti often reads: “We dig deep because the stars forgot us.”

DIRECTORATE COMMENT—Dr. Ysabel Tarren

“Ireny City is the beating furnace of Mars — a cathedral built for labor, echoing forever beneath the red rock. It is ugly, beautiful, and utterly necessary.”

DISTRIBUTION AND SECURITY NOTICE

Distribution: BuCol Planetary Development Directorate, Martian Federation Resource Bureau, and Chendiuria–Mars Trade Commission.

Restriction: Class 5 – Infrastructure and Industrial Intelligence. Unauthorized release punishable under Mars Federation Statute 22.4.

File Status: Active – Continuing Observation (Cycle 2346)

Filed Under: AuthKey MARS-IRENY-01 / 2346.04.12