Utopia

"Comrades, to the south their is haven of wretched scum and villainy just waiting to put an end to our Workers Paradise, we must never let that happen. We must forever be vigilant"

-Danica Korsun, CPLAZ delegate & Politburo Member

"Utopia, yeah great beaches if your a surfer, great uni if your a student. If you're anyone else it's a fairly boring shithole as far as cities go though."

-Ronin Jones, failed uni student

"Come to where Paradise is Real, where Living is Easy...COME TO UTOPIA!"

-billboard on the northern outskirts

Construction on Utopia began several years after Ryu'ichi Dyson had made landfall on Lazarus. The Provisional Authority had elected to chose a different location from Dyson's initial settlement in order to place it's own stamp upon the settlement.

During the period some historians have dubbed "the Lost Years" Utopia swiftly grew. The Provisional Authority had intended that the first settlemnt would become the capital, the center of the settlement as a whole. With the arrival of the SACV Novo Mir in 2098 CE and then the EJCV Takarabune in the following year this claim seemed to be in doubt for a time.

Things were bolstered by the arrival of UNCV Calypso in 2104 CE and Utopia began to outstrip other settlements in terms of growth and expansion. For some time during the years of settlement Utopia gained a reputation as a major tourist hotspot. It's golden beaches were a major draw for those looking to get away from the harsh realities of life on the frontier.

Fast forward into the Consolidation Era and Utopia had become what's it's founders had desire and envisaged, the capital of a new world, the capital of Lazarus. Some wags did point out the fact that current human settlement of Lazarus was relatively small in regards to the planet as a whole. But this view was swiftly shouted down.

In addition to sprawling golden beaches to the north and south of the main urban areas Utopia is also home to numerous UN organs. One of which is the UN University of Lazarus or UNULAZ. The premier learning institute on the continent if not the planet UNULAZ offers a broad curriculum of studies for any apsiring student as well as decent on campus accommodation.

Most of the students that do attend UNULAZ are pursuing degrees in the following courses:

• Xenoarchaeology
• Xenobiology
• Exotic Technology
• Law

These four are the biggest faculty areas and they draw in numerous students every year from across the continent. Most go on to work with various Dig groups, some join the ranks of Corporate Research and a rare few are recruited by the Exotic Technology Research Authority (ERA).

And naturally as a 'capital' Utopia has attracted the captains of captial, the biggest financial institutions all have offices if not headquarters in Utopia's Financial Plaza. Watched over by an elite security detail, the Plaza is a buzzing hive of money, commerce and data. And not a place for the unwary according to local rumours.

All in all there are those that say Utopia is a city of apparatchiks, kaisha-in, students peppered with drop outs here and there. Certainly that is one view of the city. The reality is that Utopia is just as diverse as an other settlement, it's just that the concentration of the aforementioned groups is higher than in any other place on Lazarus.