Third Spanish States World Factbook

[Third Spanish States]

Third Spanish States World Factbook

Overview:

The Anarchist Confederacy of Third Spanish States is an umbrella name for a loosely-knit group of several anarchist communes spread-out across the NS World, which joined together during different times in history, encompassing areas in Haven, Tyrrhenia and in the mostly isolated archipelago of Atlantis amidst vast oceans that separate the many regions of the world. In fact, its members even are known for having radically different approaches to foreign relations, trade and diplomacy.

Every distant land which joined together to form the Confederacy had its own history, origins and struggles before the dawn of the Confederacy as an arguably unified political organization which cannot be truly classified as a "Ntation-Sate". Currently however, the most proeminent of its member confederations is the Confederation of South Havenic Anarchists(CSA), situated to the Soutwest of Haven, with its neighbors being the equally anarchic Vault 10 to the east, Senestrum to the west and a Lyran colonial holding to the southwest, while also being in proximity to the Terran Tribes. The CSA, due to its origins, its significantly larger land area and to the fact it is the most geographically closer to nations with a reputation of ruthlessness and little care for concepts of sovereignty, concentrates most of the military might of the Confederacy, and hosts the main branch of the MilNet Cooperative, the largest Private Defense Agency providing defense services for the Confederacy.

On the other hand, The Confederation of the Third Commune controls the distant Atlantean archipelago, which features as its largest islands the originally named "Third Spanish States" and Iberia, which until very recently was under the steel fist of the People's Republic of Spain, before the victory of Third Commune during the Anarcho-Stalinist war, unifying the archipelago once again. The Third Commune is reputed as the most isolationistic of all members of the Confederacy, perhaps due to their geographical situation or perhaps due to level-headness, and also as having the most advanced construction engineering industry among them, a fact noticeable by the few arcologies constructed inside its territory.

Finally, the Commune of Kell, in Tyrrhenia, lies entrenched amidst two ideologically hostile neighbors which populations and military power far outnumber their own: the Empire of Waldenburg and its arguably puppet state Paloni. Founded by a veteran in the revolutionary war that established the Third Commune, although rarely engaged in open conflict, the Commune of Kell has become home of the most ingenious political players among famed anarchists, with its direct representatives being known for their experience with intrigue, having survived several conspiracies and back-stab attempts to bring it down funded by its two neighbors, and continues to struggle in such secretive war. Due to the fact it is almost entirely surrounded by hostile nations, it also has the largest percentage of militias amidst all members of the Confederacy.

Common features among the three members of the Confederacy is the fact they stand as a prosperous multi-ethnic societies, albeit featured by the lack of truly multirracial relationships, with superb results in most societal, freedom and economic indexes. Their economies are considered to be either at an hypothetical Fourth Stage with the Information Sector encompassing the near entirety of its economically active population, or transitionary between the Third Stage and it, due to a high focus on automation and an unique mindset regarding business organization.

Geography:

South Havenic Anarchists


CSA Location in Southwest Haven

-insert image here-
Detailed CSA Map

Third Commune


Third Commune Sketch Map

Territories

Most of the Atlantean Archipelago was built artificially to adapt an environment naturally unsuitable for human settlement to human needs as terrestrial beings, leading to what could arguably be considered one of the first examples of a large-scale terraforming experiment in mankind history, as it involved radical topological alterations and the creation of an entire ecosystem "from scratch" in symbiosis with the existing ocean life. Once, the Confederacy knew no bounds as a constantly growing, low altitude, hilly pair of artificial islands built with earth and recycled materials acquired from Iberian countries, until being settled at their current proportions, with circa 498,180.74 km² of main land territory and circa 250,000 km² of land from floating cities in the east its claimed exclusive economic zone, which encompass 1,800,000 km², extending from the west of the Iberian plains to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, due to the ambitious initial project of recreating the lost continent of Atlantis, halted due to both economical and ecological reasons, as not only the costs increased dramatically after the current expansion of the artificial islands, but also because it was feared the alterations in the oceanic streams could bring drastic consequences in the European and worldwide weather. Its easternmost portion is located at about 300 kilometers west of the city of Lisbon in the Atlantic Ocean. It has around 35% of artificially forested territory, which is not under the shelter of any official environmental protection laws but still is unofficially preserved. 10% of its lands are used for advanced hydroponics agriculture outside of skyscraper farms and feedstock is almost vanishing due to the development of vat grown steam cell meat "manufacturing" technology. Urbanized territories with its seldom arcologies and common skyscrapers make the largest part of the Third Commune occupying about 40% of its whole area, due to the significantly high population density.

The Bacconi hills are the tallest in the Third Commune, claimed to be among the largest artificial hills of the world, with their highest altitude at 400 meters, and are located at the midwest of the Isla del Este, while encompassed by most of the artificially forested Bacconi woods, and bathed by the Cascadas de la Liberdad, one of the world's largest artificial waterfalls.

On the other hand, the island of Iberia was naturally formed, and is featured by greater elevations and mountain chains.

-WIP-

Weather

Most of the Confederacy weather is oceanic, with its northwest having a pleasant, subtropical climate thanks to the Gulf stream, which has also been one of the reasons for the western island expansion to stop, due to a heated diplomatic incident provoked as the Confederacy earthworks deviated the Gulf stream from Morocco, Canary islands and the British isles, provoking a sizable drop in their average temperatures, and even today the mentioned countries and territories maintain an uneasy relation with the Confederacy due to it. On the other hand, its southeast has a colder, temperate weather, while a continental climate exists in its center, with well defined seasons and the existence of a short period of snowfall from October to November. Parts of its central east coast are also featured by a Mediterranean climate. The average rainfall is more significant to the Northwest, ranging from 500 to 1,400 annual millimeters. Its location in a high pressure area of the atmosphere ensures its safety from cyclones and tornados.

Commune of Kell

Economy:



Overview

The Confederacy currently possess a mixed voluntaryist economy that is currently between mutualism and communism, with a few isolated cases of Igovian socialism as well, and even of capitalism, as cities are free to choose their economic systems, and individuals free to found their own communities according to commonly shared ideological principles. Its powerful, constantly growing mutualist free market encompasses more than 65% of the whole economy, and is specially predominant in industry, commerce and information. In it, although de jure a capitalist free market, due to the influence of shared ideology, copyright or patent laws don’t exist, properties that are not used by their owners are assumed public, renting, wage labor and interest rates are ostracized by consumers and business alike and cooperatives dominate the private sector of mass-produced goods, moved by arms industries, nanotechnology research institutes, software, computer hardware, automobiles and naval industry, while individual businessmen and artisans engage into friendly contests of creativity and control several niche markets of computer games, movies and other electronic goods usually distributed as GPL, but still profitable despite such fact, and with its entertainment industry mostly free of corporate straightjackets, creativity flows significantly, reducing the gaps in artistic worth between traditional arts, movies and games. The dwindling communist economy composes less than 15% of the GDP, although it is almost absolute 100% in the agricultural sector, maintained with the support cooperatives, which consider the economies of scale of unifying high-efficient, hydroponics and aeroponics based agriculture, realizing what the released purchasing power ensues to the economic future of their members and of the Confederacy. Taxes don't exist in any form or manner around the Confederacy as all public services are provided by private companies, making of it, superficially, a "free market paradise".

The primary sector is dominated by the production of rice, beans and soy, followed by fishing and bird hunting and by a slick production of recreational drugs, which are all legal in the Confederacy. Imports include chocolate, milk, exotic fruits and opiate. Exports in this sector include drugs in countries where they are also legal, and supposedly on those where they are illegal as well, according to International anti-drugs organizations, in one of the most polemic issues involving the Confederacy. Due to continued migrations of the population towards Haven and Tyrrhenia, coupled with the development of skyscraper farming, the Third Commune is currently almost self-sufficient in food.

Regarding the life of every modern civilization, energy, most of the Confederacy members are featured as self-sufficient, nuclear-powered civilizations, as with proper storage methods and recycling of depleted uranium among other residues for new applications, nuclear power is much cleaner than coal or oil. As of current, 92% of its energetic needs is derived from fission power, 4% from tidal power, 3% from waste biomass power and 1% from solar power.

The Third Commune lacks any source of minerals in dry land, resorting instead to its burgeoning, high technology sector of deepsea mining which was shared with other members of the Confederacy, through which it extracts significant quantities of zinc, copper, manganese, iron and a fair amount of silver which it also exports in a limited degree. Regardless of its geographically dispersed territories, still lacking self-sufficiency in many critical roles, the Confederacy has to import most of its coal, niobium, petroleum, of which it produces less than 5% of what would be necessary to attend its needs, and uranium.

As an overall picture of its foreign commerce, the Confederacy is a known importer of synthetic recreational drugs, electronic devices, robots and computer hardware with the occasional meat to supply the demand vat-grown meat doesn't reach. Its strongest export activity lies with military technology, "know-how", biotechnology, earthworks services and software.

Economic Variables

It has an increasing estimated GDP of ??? and an estimated nominal GDP per capita of $45,000 per year, which massive consuming power is elevated due to extensive social welfare and mutual aid networks promoted by the private sector itself rather than by a central government through taxes, leading to a Purchasing Power Parity GDP Per capita of $65,000 per year. Nobody lives below the line of poverty, and despite that, the voluntary unemployment rate is of 2.55%, which some claim to be the inevitable result of slackers accommodating with the always supplied basic needs or of the excess of capabilities to supply each one’s needs. All personal income is spent into recreational activities, there is no inflation due to direct democratic controls of the economy, which labor force is about 75% of the population. Its currency is the mutualist credit( m¢ ), a strong currency equivalent in foreign trade to $1.95, and its people are avid consumerists of military hardware, cars, furniture, entertainment, recreational drugs and arts.

History:

South Havenic Anarchists

The CSA history is deeply linked with the history of Vault 10, for the "founding fathers" of the CSA once were survivors of the great war that devastated the territories of Vault 10. Everything began when a growing group of bikers, free artists, drifters, left-wing anarchists, computer hackers, resigned military, prostitutes and others which would be considered the dregs of mankind by some, and who lacked the privileges to gain access to a Vault, decided to take a Tanker named PMV Juarez as their temporary home and shelter. Led by Jack "Billboard", a former ship captain and resigned employee of Symmetriad, the actual proprietors of PMV Juarez who abandoned it after the nuclear devastation. The tanker has been for a long time non-operational, as the ship was disabled and its FOB passkey was taken away. Everything changed however, when among many covert conflicts, a GNAVT agent sought to exploit the Juarez as a way to infiltrate in a heavily secure Symmetriad naval base due to the fact its IFF was still operational. Restoring the damaged computer of the Juarez and managing to capture its FOB, he finally managed to get it running. Although initially agreeing with his idea, and glad for the fact the Chosen One of GNAVT has finally transformed their "squat" in a mobile one, Jack didn't take long to realize the agent was leading them to a suicidal mission, and after secretly meeting with the rest of the inhabitants of the ship, they surrounded and killed the agent to secure their own lives.

However, by taking this action, they have made powerful enemies in Vault 10, and thus, wisely, they sailed through the east and eventually through the south, close to the coastline, with the guidance of Jack's navigational experience, and observed from the horizon the wastelands, and the mountain chain amidst which the infamous Hell's Pass lied. The farther they left the wastelands, the more welcoming the lands seemed to become, until the marks of nuclear destruction became almost imperceptible, when they finally decided to drop their anchors in a gulf they found through their travel, and reach the shores of such unclaimed land by men, and explored its still vivid forests, laying the foundations for what would become the Confederation of South Havenic Anarchists, as they settled its first city, having its humble beginnings with homes built from whatever scraps they had inside the tanker: New Junktown. Although it no longer makes justice to its name, it remains as a testament to how everything started.

Every person with too many Vault 10 corporations or organized crime syndicates wanting them dead, and a few who have been at the lower end of the societal pyramid, also enticed by the promise of a land not devastated by radiation and mankind, began to migrate towards the newly founded Confederation through its several decades of existence. While the fallout was still too excessive over the surface of Vault 10, such migration was particularly more significant, as the underclass, deprived from the right to take shelter in the Vaults, sought a land free from the marks of the war.

Although CSA was not the starter of the idea of a greater, world-wide anarchist civilization and was the last Confederation to join Third Spanish States, soon its influence swept over the other smaller member-states, making of its population the most significant influence for the entire Confederacy, and of it the unofficial "capital" of Third Spanish States.

Third Commune

To understand the Third Commune, we must go back to the 1930’s and take a look at the Spanish Civil War that ravaged the Atlantean archipelago. Spain had changed without bloodshed, its previous monarchy renounced. But that only delayed the inevitable as the new, socially progressive government conflicted with conservative and clerical interests. With the rise of fascism across the world, soon a group of militaries, led by Francisco Belgrano, mutinied against the recently established Second Spanish States, leading Spain into a tragic Civil War where his nacionales, with the support of -insert whoever would care in Haven here-, eventually took over the nation in a bloody conflict against social-democrats, liberals, communists and anarchists. For many historians of the Confederacy, the joining with republican forces and the request of aid from -TWSP??? Kredakov??? - were the greatest mistakes, which they consider to have hindered any chance of victory.

Even after the defeat, many anarchists formed resistance groups, which struggled against Belgrano regime until the late 20th century, when they were nearly wiped out. After “democracy” returned in the final of the last century, they resumed activities into the small but idealistic CNT/AIT and the more realistically minded CNT/U, while squatters sympathized with their ideals. In 2010, a national economic crisis provoked by a new record on petroleum prices led Atlantis into turmoil, bringing again the phantom of civil war, and the Spanish government answered to the constant rioting of miserable people with oppressive police violence. From this date to 2010 anarchism and Marxism started to gain significant support from the oppressed population thanks to many who would risk their lives to spread both ideals, and by 2008, guerrillas began to form with the goal of overthrowing the government. During the Food Riots of 2017 a young anarchist and engineer named Saúl Cortez, believing in the hopelessness of establishing a new order in his own homeland, called all those weary from the establishment to join him and build slowly a new nation, a nation so free that not even ocean would bound it… a nation built over a massive artificial island.

Many did laugh and ridiculed over the idea, but the despair was enough to convince about 6 million Europeans to join his cause. In the wreckages of a new Civil War, they scavenged materials to slowly build their island and claimed a small portion of southwestern Spanish coast in Huelva, Cádiz, Málaga and Seville while they were building it, which became the provisional Confederacy. Unfortunately their claim wasn't ignored and they had to defend Seville many times against government incursions with their limited arsenal of ADATS, RPGs, rifles, machineguns and stolen tanks, and with their expertise of guerrilla warfare, where the first Iron Column was born, in honor of the Iron Column of the first Spanish Civil War, for the official authorities continued to attack them, even though at the same time both anarchist and Marxist guerrillas were still actively seeking to violently overthrow the government with covert attacks and hit-and-run tactics. After a long march and gather up of reinforcements which has mimicked the principles of People's War in China avoiding for 2 years direct engagements with government troops whenever possible, the Spanish emergency powers "provisional" government was overthrown in 2019 by the effort of an war hero named Júlio Santiago and his comrades, although his success was betrayed as the Marxists who exploited it and the attention of the anarchists over the planned island to replace the former government with a dictatorship of the "proletariat", which has became the next enemy of the anarchists in the form of yet another police State. Using the pretext that the anarchists were "petit bourgeoisie", in certain part "justified" as many small businessmen sought refuge with them following the dawn of a new totalitarian police State, the People's Republic of Spain, like the former government, has attempted many times to take over the four provinces controlled by the anarchists. For seven years, the brave people of the first Confederacy have stood, against all odds, and proven their worth as a people. Their experience with the war, comradeship, perseverance and readiness to fight when necessary for their freedom would not be left behind, and even today marks their strangely "militaristic" culture(in vision regarding the need of arms rather than in social organization) despite their anarchist values.

In 2023, after four years of brutal combats against Soviet Spain, the island, which was already previously inhabited by some was done… earth and grass covered its recycled material “boat”, trees were planted, animals were brought, tidal generators were built and looted computers and network equipments filled all cities, it was in certain ways a secular version of the Noah's Ark, a new hope for humankind. A new nation was literally built from scratch and all hopped on board of many transport ships to migrate for it during three years. It happened just at the right time, for should a single delay have happened, Third Spanish States wouldn't exist. In 2022, Seville was taken over by the Soviet as many fought to death to cover the retreat of the population, the situation was becoming dire while the exodus to Third Spanish States was on its way, and fortunately most of the Navy was either beyond repair or under control of the anarchists. In brave combats, the final invasion against Cádiz was delayed for just enough time for the last transport and inherent logistics preparations of the last migrants to happen.It took many years for the man-made continent to reach its current dimensions, economic power and technological supremacy where it stands as proof of the power of mutual aid. From this day onwards, the Confederacy of the Third Spanish States(Confederación de los Terceros Estados Españoles) began to officially exist. During the First Meeting(Primero Encontro) it was decided that, considering the foreign threats, guerrilla warfare training should be established and absorbed as part of the culture of each confederate. Also the same Meeting was known for the heated discussions between anarcho-individualists, mutualists, anarcho-capitalists and anarcho-communists among others about how the economy should be, that ended in a consensus of having a mixed, voluntaryist economy.

Commune of Kell

Work in Progress

[Third Spanish States]

Modern Iron Column propaganda based on an original of the Spanish Civil War

Military

Business Type: Private Defense Agency, Cooperative
Economic Activity: Military Technologies Industry
Commercial HQ: Milnet Business Council, Tucker
Commercial Mission: "To provide the best equipments for self-defense and freedom assurance to our customers, both resellers and to the direct user, with a constant care on ethical and moral principles, coupled with training, advice and continual customer support as aggregates"
Local market share: 80% (De facto monopoly)
Revenue(2038): US$776,849,773,392.00
Expenses(2038): US$776,800,450,000.00
Result: US$49,323,392

Briefing

Having its experience from the Second Civil War, the Confederacy’s military forces are composed of voluntary civilian militias and professional guerrillas, which have a very unique feature: The lack of any formal hierarchy and the democratic consensus-based leadership by which it operates. The professional guerrillas are divided into regular and special forces, both forming the divisions known Iron Columns(15,000 man each) which divide into regiments of 5,000 men, battalions of 1,500 men and companies of 300 men, usually supported in combined arms by the supported by the automotive industry Steel Striders ultra light brigades(80 armored vehicles each), when stealth and going through rough terrain are not needed. They have many specialized small teams into the companies which commonly operate individually. Each company is formed by 150 logistics operatives, 30 demolitions and stealth experts, 20 heavy infantrymen, 90 guerrillas, 6 blackguard special forces and 1 electronic warfare officer and major. 0.32% of the population compose the regular military while there is an estimative of in between 30 and 50% of the population belonging to private militias, while maintaining their main peacetime professional activities nonetheless. The growth of the automobile cooperatives and of the economy recently gave TSS logistical capability to manufacture and maintain armored vehicles in large scale, empowering its well equipped and well trained infantry, and by 2039, the Confederacy has a fully effective military in all branches which relies entirely on homegrown technology, including even the Orbital Forces, which primary highlight is the Sistema Orbital de Defensa Estratégica(SODE) which is basically the Confederacy "Strategic Defense Initiative". Third Spanish States military is also a private business organization sought to fund its operation through revenues from sales of military technology and know-how rather than through taxes, making of its leaders also effectively skilled in business management, and having even customer-oriented personell to attend providers, resellers and customers, coupling as a cooperative and as a military force at the same time, comparable in functioning to a "corporate army", although entirely the opposite in principles. It is also by far the wealthiest business of the entire Confederacy, although almost all its profits are used to fund the military.

Army

Further details in this specific military factbook(Coming Soon)

Number in active service: 330,000
Infantry and support: 150,000
- Montañeros Elite Forces: 1,500
- JBC(Jungla, Bosque, Ciudad) Elite Forces: 3,000
- Paracaidistas Elite Forces: 12,000
- Blackguards SpecOps: 300
AFV crew and support: 180,000
Infantry divisions: 10
Armored divisions: 5
Reserves: 1,800,000
HQ: Virtual, Military Network Army Subsystem(MilNet-Army)
Leadership: MilNet Integrated Strategic Council

Note: Due to the current state of war in the Confederacy, divisional strength numbers may change each trimester.

Technology

Infantry
Armored Vehicles
Artillery

Ranks

The closest comparison to Third Spanish States military organization, in a very basic glance, is to compare it to a Participatory Democracy where an EW Officer is the equivalent of an elected congressman on the decision making of the Army during a war. All positions of leadership are voted upon by those at the bottom rather than chosen by those at the top. At the same time all can participate into decision making and mission planning through the MilNet.

Meritocratic Ranks:

Reservista - Reservists, as there are more people interested in joining the active military than available positions, are those who are not among the most skilled 0.2% who belong to Third Spanish States professional Military and have as primary function during peacetime to serve as a bridge between the Military and Civilian Militias, finding potential recruits among them. During wartime, their large numbers will ensure that the Confederacy, although not having massed deployments, will be always prepared to reinforce their forces quickly, and they will be tasked with defensive missions in the home islands as well.

Soldado - To become a soldier one must not only compete with an overall of 50 or more candidates for a position in the Army, but also prove their entire moral integrity and loyalty to the cause of freedom. Only the most honest, physically and mentally fit of those 50 become soldiers.

Elite - An elite rank is only achieved by about 1 of each 1,000 soldiers and allows a soldier to join the Blackguards or other special forces.

Elective and Meritocratic Ranks:

Líder de Fireteam - a Fireteam leader is usually the most entrusted and skilled member, elected by the members of the fireteam itself in a fast, usually consensus based process. Only those with at least 2 years of field experience can candidate themselves to become fireteam leaders.

Líder de Esquadrón - A squad leader is, like the fireteam leader, elected by the members of the Squad based on several guidelines. Only people with at least 3 years of field experience can candidate themselves to become squad leaders in most circumstances.

Líder the Sección - A platoon leader integrates both armored vehicles and infantry forces operating together in a platoon and is elected by the vote of all platoon members. 4 years of experience and a degree in Logistics and Multiple intensity conflicts Military Tactics from one of the Military Academy are required from any candidate. They are the primary tactical officers and mission planners of Third Spanish States military.

Oficial de GE y Major - The EW Officer and Major is elected to lead an entire company and its following armored vehicles. To become one it is required to have a Degree in electronic warfare and in Flexible Military Strategy from the Academy, plus 7 years of military experience. Majors are the strategic officers in Third Spanish States army, specialized organizing the larger forces through the battlefield strategically. It's the highest rank in the Army of Third Spanish States, not counting the variations of these ranks for logistics, which have different names but similar principles. All older soldiers are encouraged to specialize in EW.

Armored Vehicles

Number of AFVs: 18,900
Battle tanks:

• Stealth: 1,890
• Main: 2,363
• Assault: 472

Infantry fighting vehicles: 7,088
ADATS: 2,599 units(2 vehicles each)
Kinetic artillery: 945 units(2 vehicles each)

Navy

Further details in this specific military factbook(Coming Soon)

Active personell: 204,000
Blackmarines: 50,000
Marine Divisions: 4
HQ: Virtual, Military Network Navy Subsystem(MilNet-Navy)
Leadership: MilNet Integrated Strategic Council

Supercarriers: 4
Cruiser-carriers: 45
Battlecruisers: 360
Destroyers: 180
Frigates: 180
Submarines: 200
Amphibious assault: 60
Amphibious transport 160
Mine warfare: 50
Naval aviation: 1,000 aircrafts

Air Force

Further details in this specific military factbook(Coming Soon)

Active personell: 356,000
HQ: Virtual, Military Network Air Force Subsystem(MilNet-AF)
Leadership: MilNet Integrated Strategic Council

Total of Aircrafts: 6,000
Fighters: 2,800
AEW&C: 40
Air Wings: 60

Total of UAVs: 8,500
Miniature UAVs: 7,400*
UCAVs: 200
Recon: 850
AEW: 50

*Most are under control of the Army

Orbital Forces

Information on orbital forces is classified.

Government

Country Name

Full Name: Confederacy of the Third Spanish States
Short Name: Third Spanish States
Common Reference: Confederacionist

Description

Third Spanish States is a libertarian's wet dream: there is no real government in Third Spanish States, and much less taxes. A fully voluntary, online organization and confederation of cooperatives, the EDDNet(Electronic Direct Democratic Network), is the closest thing to a government in the Confederacy. An E-democracy and business organization based upon non-coercive, voluntary decision making in "one person, one vote" principles, with no representatives or hierarchical positions of any type, only occasional direct representatives, like the current one, Cecily Lockhelm, to which a limited amount of power is delegated from the people, although they still must comply with the will of the people in every decision they make, and cannot take any action without the authorization of the population at large, including diplomatic agreements and policy changes, and thus, there is no real separation between government and people. In truth, the EDDNet is closer to a conglomerate of cooperatives which provide services of public interest than to a de facto public sector and government, and unlike a government, as charging taxes would go entirely against all anarchists basic principles, its necessity to become self-sufficient through aggregated businesses has led to a much more competitive, non-bureaucratic mindset among those who belong to the cooperatives associated with the EDDNet.

There is no de jure constitution or law, as there is no organization taking the police role. Instead, a draconian Common Law vulgarly known as 12 gauge justice, which includes the principles that prisons completely unethical and ineffective, that many criminals are irreparable due to genetic aspects and which allows any average citizen to be an enforcer of justice has been the primary basis for policing since the dawn of the Confederacy, and was once culturally modified by a polemic set of suggestions which was pejoratively named Final solution to the crime question, which although lessened compared to its extremist original version, influences even today the overall behavior of citizens against criminals. The abundant practice of concealed carry and shoot-on-sight authorization for heinous crimes like murder and rape, and seldom cases of mob brutality against the most heinous criminals have been critical to the still going dismantlement of an once rampant criminality. In the early days, exploiting surplus wage outside of Enclave City could be answered with immediate death, but as the revolutionary passions gave way to logic, tolerance was increased, but while no longer de facto forbidden, corporatism remains an uneconomical practice in most of the Confederacy due to its ideologically loaded consumer base and workforce.

Foundation and National Holiday

Third Spanish States were officially founded in 5th of February, 2023 and has as national holiday the Día de Memoria a Guernica (Day of Remembering Guernica), which is April 26, which is a honor to the victims of the bombing of Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War.

Ideological Movements

As there is no representative democracy, there are no political parties in the Confederacy. Instead ideological movements exist attempting to convince the population to push forward their goals, mostly linked to economics. When one of them manage to push the balance to their side TSS economy and politics leans either toward “left” or “right”, “faith” or “rationalism”, “ecology” or “progress”, "peace" or "war", depending on which one manages to do it. The following ones are the most significant and each of them have either founded or moved to certain cities or locations where they are the dominant ideological group:

Anarcho-Communists
Dominant Ideology's City: Porto Bakunin
Description:They preach a completely collective communist economy and the abolition of the mutualist free market, claiming that it will eventually become a capitalist market and make all the efforts and ideals of TSS in vain. They fear the late events are about to transform the Confederacy in a capitalist nation, though an influx of social equality laws approved due to the phantom of poverty stopped that trend.

Conservatives
Dominant Ideology's City: Nueva Madrid
Description: A completely relative term, in TSS the conservatives are those who simply wish to maintain its current revolutionary status quo of a mixed Mutualist/Communist economy with EDD unchanged. Previously the most dominant view, it has currently fallen as a second.

Mutualists
Dominant Ideology's City: Nueva Mallorca
Description: They claim that the collective portion of TSS economy is highly inefficient, halts its progress and harms individual freedoms, affirming that the welfare encourages social parasites and wish that its economy becomes an entirely mutualist free market. Their agenda has grown stronger, and it is predicted the flawed communist experiments will be integrated soon.

Anarcho-Individualists
Dominant Ideology's City: Tucker, which also has large numbers of anarcho-capitalists
Description: Anarcho-individualists are against any form of social coercion and lobby for not only the complete extinction of the collective economy, but also for the abolition of the E-democracy so people can better “govern their own business instead of everybody’s ones”. They are currently unhappy with the growing belligerence of the MilNet.

Anarcho-Capitalists
Dominant Ideology's City: Tucker
Description: Anarcho-capitalists were since the beginning attempting to convince the population that wage labor, renting and interest rates aren’t evil things and can actually make TSS economy as a whole much better. However, different from most anarcho-capitalists, they believe that “everyone should begin with the same chances of financial success” and are against legacies. They prefer to call themselves anarcho-meritocrats. With their intervention a group to support the automobile cooperatives was founded and a little more recently, a controversial Artificial Intelligence was approved, boosting TSS economy and making automobiles and IT its major industries. Other ideological groups accuse them of promoting the gambling and international drug trade black market. Their reputation was throughly broken after Questarian corporations funded their movement during the Head of State election campaigns.

Anarcho-Primitivists
Dominant Ideology's City: None, as they abhor urban areas
Description: A very environmentally radical ideology, they seek to return TSS society to a communitarian primitive state of living similar to the one of native Americans, claiming that modern industrial society is a disease, whether the means of production are controlled by the people or not. Many of them inhabit the forests of TSS and offer free of charge guidance to visitors.

Green Anarchists
Dominant Ideology's City: Ciudad Gaia
Description: Less radical than the Anarcho-primitivists, they only seek to reduce the density of human population to the village-level and will not frown upon environmentally friendly technologies. They also defend a communist economy and their wide main city is famous for having a large population in a very low density. They are not very happy with the growth of the automobile sector and there is an increasing pressure for them to withdraw their population density restrictions due to overpopulation.

Christian Anarchists
Dominant Ideology's City: Fátima
Description: They defend a communist economy and are trying to approve non-compulsory Christianism classes in teachers cooperatives(the schools of TSS) which is not accepted due to “lack of scientific foundations”. Also they are radical pacifists and frown upon militarism, seeking to always lobby the Confederacy to reduce its military activities. They were very disturbed by the endorsement of a completely secular policy on religious matters and with the state-sponsored human eugenics and cloning programs. Sometimes they mobilize to protest against the growing MilNet belligerence the majority seems to approve.

Eugenic Anarchism
Dominant Ideology's City: Savate
Description: The Eugenic anarchism believe that submission, sadism, domination and many other traits they consider negative and inferior are originated from faults of the human genetic code that must be wiped out of human race, and for such end, they consider all means as justifiable, although they focus in positive eugenics for the victims of oppression and in negative eugenics for criminals and oppressors, standing for draconian, zero-tolerance shoot-on-sight procedures against crime and coup d'etat attempts. Also, they believe in the use of nanotechnology and genetic engineering to improve mankind until the superhuman race is born, in the far future, and stand for a highly aggressive foreign policy, considering the duty of the Confederacy to fight for the cause of freedom.

WA Category

According to the people of Third Spanish States, such classifications are as relevant as the World Assembly itself. Or in brief: they are irrelevant.

People and Population

Total Population: 300,000,000 inhabitants

Effective Population Density: 85 inhabitants per cubic kilometer*

*The recently approved and completed Arcology and SubmarineCity projects have rendered the square kilometer measure obsolete.

Age Structure

00-18 years: 20%
18-30 years: 50%
30-50 years: 15%
50-80 years: 05%
80-xx years: 10%

Median age: 31.3 years old

Growth and Life

Population Growth Rate: 3.87%
Net Migration Rate: 15.5%
Life Expectancy at Birth: 96 years
HDI: 0.99

Culture and Ethnicity

Conservative Advisory: The place where there is the least likelihood of seeing people walking around nude, and no likelihood of people performing sexual and orgiastic acts in public of all the Confederacy is the city Fatima. All other cities are not recommended for ultra-conservative Christians, Muslims or ultra-conservatives of any religion that shuns orgies and nudism, people faint of heart who get shocked easily and protestant preachers.

Scientology Advisory: The Church of Scientology, although not banned, is highly despised by most, if not all of the Confederacy population.

Clothing and Fashion (Warning: Pictures suppressed as they would be NSFW)

The way people tend to dress themselves varies depending on region and city, and obviously depending on the season of the year, except for common features regarding clothing in the entire Third Spanish States: First, a conservative will immediately become shocked by visiting Third Spanish States, as people have no idea, among their society, of what "indecency" and "Prudishness" mean. Second, if there is something which is trend internationally, the anti-conformist culture of Third Spanish States turns it, whether it is something that makes sense to consider it such way or not, into a symbol of conformism to "The Man" and to the "Unfair capitalist market". "Brand" names have the same worth of a fly inside Third Spanish States as they evaluate a product worth based on its real quality rather than on "famous names". And as expected what is mainstream and formal in most of the world tend to be commonly rejected as what some people also call "reactionary fashion". Something that can be found in almost the entire nation, even in the Christian city of Fatima(using the "Adam and Eve" as an argument), are people who simply embrace nudism and do everything in their lives, including work when such does not require safety wear, naked during summer, only dressing themselves during the winter. Also the DYI(Do It Yourself) is a very strong trend in Third Spanish States and many prefer to design their own clothes. Also the vision that "people should rely on their own capabilities of defense" brought some military fashion influence, specially among militias. Finally, several, strong retro influences from the 1930s Second Spanish Republic clothing and from the 1940s French clothing, specially from the anarchist militias and partisans, are present in the mish-mash that is Third Spanish States clothing. Thus, the closest thing ever to "formal clothing" in Third Spanish States are the military uniforms and suits and ties are particularly unpopular. Another minor detail lies with footwear, as it is heavily dependent upon the "cleaning week" of each town and city, with the exception of Gaia City. The cleaning week is the only week of the month when the mostly automated cleaners and garbage collector services are provided. As it is very usual for the junkies and drunkards to leave broken glasses, nails and other hazardous and sharp materials along the streets, in the three weeks before the cleaning week, people tend to wear thick boots, tennis, shoes or also, if they are women(or men who are a little "different" from the western Judaic-Christian societal standards - PS: this was written in such way for the readers convenience, for in the Confederacy nobody cares about political correctness), sandals and clogs with high heels and thick soles. During the cleaning week, on the other hand, specially during the summer, lighter footwear with thinner soles that sometimes are as thin as a sheet of paper, perforated supermarket plastic bags(seriously), rubber bands wrapped around their feet(it remains unknown who was the pothead who got such ridiculous idea that is now a fad across many cities) or nothing at all is more common. And the dog continues eating and walking.

And finally, don't think that all you heard about the Confederacy is a lie if you see a naked or barely dressed woman or man with a collar over the neck and shackled arms and legs being pushed by another person of the same or of different sex. Such is a sort of "clothing style" that certain groups tend to practice.

In Tucker and surrounding region:

As the "greatest bastion of decentralized and fair free market economics", Tucker is also the "capital of fashion" although there is no place for supermodels or fancy brands. The DYI trend means most textiles cooperatives are actively involved into custom services of creating personalized clothing. Brands are never used as deemed completely non-influential on the choice of clothing, while Tucker and the surrounding region, which includes the harbor metropolis of Hampshire Haven is infamous for having the second largest ratio of nudists among its population(during the warm seasons only, obviously). Now for those who wear clothes, there are a few visible Celtic influences, influences of Punk, Yuppies among others. A cotton shirt and a nylon pants is considered a "formal attire" for businesses, and it's very rare for a cooperative to have dress codes except those truly needed, like those involving safety wear for those few manual labor positions which have yet to be automated. Provocative clothing, including entirely semi-transparent or transparent sets of clothes and things like "crotch straps" and "nipple bikinis", is popular, considering the active and highly liberal sexual life of a typical family or "collective" in Tucker that starts at 12(local age of consent), and it is not more uncommon to see people only in their underwear or in clothings which are little more than underwear than it is to see naked people, although some prefer to dress less provocatively. There are also some "Goths" here and there, who intermingle with the sadomasochists, although their style is more of a combination of red and black clothing of all types besides dresses, with no eyeliners or pale complexion. Anyway, everything imaginable of weird regarding "dress codes" can be expected to be seen in Tucker, and anything, as long as it's consensual, is accepted, even in public. Among particularly interesting items that most people in Tucker, and some in other cities as well, wear,are the jeans pants with zippers on both sides and edible underwear(which is used as a normal underwear would be, and found in any clothes store). Buying lots of edible underwear is a symbol of status among certain groups, particularly teenagers.

Fatima(Northwest)

There are only two accepted ways to dress oneself in public: either with a "decent, humble" clothing or with nothing at all, "like Adam and Eve"(seldom). The keyword is humility: "Provocative" or "luxurious" clothing is frowned upon as Fatima was founded by a "conservative" group of Christian Anarchists which embrace a communist economy and seek to create an Utopian, pacifist and religious commune(conservative by Third Spanish States standards). Most of their clothing comes straight from Portuguese cultural influences, and womanly dresses are not uncommon, though highly casual and simple. People rarely have more than two different shoes and three different sets of clothing. Military-esque clothing is frowned upon as well due to their strong beliefs in pacifism and non-violence similar to those of Gandhi.

Gaia City and Bacconi Woods(Center)

In Ciudad Gaia(Gaia City), as expected there are several "flower power" and Hippies influences in their way of dressing, and also some Rastafari influences. But it's more infamously known as the region with the largest amount of nudists in the entire Third Spanish States as a way to "be closer to nature and Earth". Light, loose clothing and no shoes during summer, flowers and marijuana engravings(also it has the largest ratio of consumers of the drugs) and a complete disdain of any hint of formality are commonplace in this region. Winter cloaks are commonly used as well.

Southwest

Spanish and French influences are very visible, and there is a very strong retro style inspired by the clothing of the Second Spanish Republic in this region mostly inhabited by people who have Spanish as their first language. Sometimes it seems it is like a travel back to the Spain of 1930s from the way people tend to dress(until a nudist cross the street), although several "modernizations", including the liberalization of provocative pieces with a slightly retro look, also happened on the style, without damaging its retro essence. The "A" shaped hollowed bikini and lingerie, with such shape as a sort of homage to anarchism, is one of the most know inventions in clothing there. Some people claim it was made to allow mothers to breastfeed their children without taking it away, but even if such was genuinely the desire of its creator, it is more commonly used for different purposes.

Southeast

Drawing Portuguese influences like Fatima, and a bit slightly more conservative than Tucker, the Southeast cities tend to have a clothing style more liberal compared to Fatima, although anything more provocative than a thong tends to be considered just "an unnecessary intermediary state too close from just being fully naked to be worth the use", but overall almost everything that can be seen in Tucker can be seen here as well, just with Portuguese rather than English influences.

Far Southeast

Essentially a carbon copy of Tucker, except that most people, due to the warm climate, prefer to not wear shirts, and there is obviously nothing wrong about women going around naked, or topless, for the matter. There is a strong presence of Scandinavian culture in it, and perhaps the popularity of the topless and of the laced thongs has something to do with it.

Cuisine: As a multi-ethnic society it is, if there is a dish in even the most obscure corner of the world, there is a restaurant of it.

Nationality: TSS are composed by 30% of Spaniards, 25% of Portuguese, 24.4% of English and 20.6% from several different nations across the globe.

Ethnicity

Composition

By nation-related ancestry

20% Hispanics
20% South Africans
15% British
15% Brazilians
14% Other European nationalities
10% Asians
5% North Africans(Algerians et al)
1% Other

By "racial" composition

45% Mixed "race"

• Non-determined*: 35%
• Caucasian-African: 30%
• Caucasian-Asian: 24%
• African-Asian: 10%
• Other: 1%

25% Caucasian
20% African
10% Asian

By skin color

• 80% white
• 12% mulatto
• 5% yellow
• 3% black

Religions: Agnosticism(40%), Atheism(28%), Christianism(26%) are the most practiced beliefs(or lack of them), while in the remaining 6% any kind of human faith can be found.

Languages: Spanish, Portuguese and English are respectively the most commonly spoken languages.

Literacy: The Confederacy citizens usually tend to proudly announce their 100% literacy rate during international trips when their nation is mentioned.

Communications

Country Code: 26
Number of Televisions: 0*
Number of Telephones: 0*
Number of Cell Phones: 285,500,000
Number of Radios: 0*
Number of Computers: 300,000,000
Radio Broadcast Stations: About 100,500 Independent Broadcasters
Major Radio Broadcasters: None.
Television Broadcasters: About 80,335 Independent Media Foundations.
Internet Hosts: Thousands of truly free hosting services.
Internet Service Providers: Public EDDNet Access and 10990 free private owned providers.
Internet Users: 100% of TSS population.
Domain Extension: In Internet it’s .tss , no extensions exist in EDDNet

*The people of the Confederacy dismissed these devices as obsolete because personal computers replaced them.

[Third Spanish States]

Notorious Cities



Tucker

Tucker is the largest area, biggest, most populated and most developed industrial and commercial megacity of Third Spanish States, with a bustling population of 45 millions, and among the largest cities of the world. Located a few miles southwest of the large harbor metropolis of Hampshire Haven, it is characterized by concentrating most of Third Spanish States population of English ethnic origins, also being logically the region where English is the most spoken language. More than 10% of Third Spanish States GDP is originated from Tucker.

For a city of its dimensions, it features commendable standards and a large quantity of parks and green areas amidst the grey of towering structures and of its three monolithic arcologies. Despite technically having a free market economy, the significant quantity of cooperative federations have soon worked to drastically minimize income inequalities between the most and least successful cooperatives, and as of today Tucker's economy is made by multiples organizations which put cooperation ahead of competition. Its primary problems are the issue of the radioactive waste of its nuclear powerplants, something faced by the entire Confederacy due to its power being mostly provided by nuclear plants, and the rampant criminality of 2038. Regarding the latter, drastic measures have led to much smaller problems this year, with most of them being related to Third Spanish States anonymous servers being used as proxy servers for international hackers to steal from bank accounts, and due to the given belief that bankers don't deserve their wealth, permanently unsolved.

The city have many similarities to London, except for its heavily libertine tendencies and for the total lack of surveillance cameras other than those personally carried by citizens. Or for the complete lack of an official police, of traffic signs, of anything that could imply authority, coupled with the common practiced of carrying firearms by the average Joe. It is a haven for counter-culture, and graffiti art can be seen painted into its skyscrapers, walls and even on the pavements with the ever-present "Big A" seen around, making of it a much more colorful metropolis than usual. In fact, revolutionary messages and counter-culture virtually replace the scenery that would otherwise be filled with advertisements, although a few cooperatives actually advertise their products, using a similar style. There is a certain cyberpunk aesthetic to the overall look of the city, with a few neighborhoods having covers on the sky like the Sony Center in Berlin, except for the dirty and grim Dystopia part. On the hacker and crime themes of cyberpunk however, it fits quite well.

On public transports, buses are completely shunned because they do not ease the traffic as well as those means which do not depend on pavement do, and because they are a symbol of a time where the same were associated with social inequality and poverty. Instead, the most commonly used mean of public transport are the ever-present MagLev monorails, with some of their terminals built integrated with the skyways of its common skyscrapers as a way to further optimize transit. Skyways are extremely common between different buildings, and in regions of high densities multiple skyways are built between the same floors of some buildings, with a few being as long as bridges. In Tucker Downtown is entirely possible to reach anywhere through them and through the Monorail stations linked to them.

However, the prime example of transportation lie with the multi-billionaire investments of the Arcologies. Megastructures designed as an ultimate way of coping with the extremely high population densities of the Confederacy and their inherent issues, they can get past a kilometer in height, with each of their sections housing everything from buildings to parks, and a series of monorails and mass elevators in a highly planned pattern intended have made individual transport entirely obsolete inside the same. Also developed to research life support systems for applications in the far future, the arcologies are self-sufficient biospheres, protected by layers of elements able of keeping even radioactive fallout at bay, and extending to a few underground levels. These wonders of engineering are the most paradisiac places to live, but as whoever comes first gets it, and as few ever leave making their ownership over their former residences void, there are lines of people willing to take a residence in them, although those became slightly smaller as people became aware that improving their own neighborhoods was the most noble option rather than going where the grass is greener.

Numbers

Population: 45 million
Infrastructure: Proto-ecumenopolis
Area: 15,000 km²
Density: 3,000/km²
Number of Arcologies: 3
Population residing in Arcologies: 9 million
Pollution: Low to Moderate
Environmental Issues: Radioactive waste.
Power consumption: 37,500 Terawatts-hour/month
Number of Parks: 45,000

Economy: Information Technology, Automobile Manufacturing, Services
Economic System: Mutualist free market
GDP: US$ 2.25 trillions
GDP per capita: US$ 50,000
Human Development Index: 0.99
Gini Index: 5.3%
Highest to lowest income ratio: 1.6
Social Classes: Virtually classless

Crime: High
Common Crimes: Computer crimes, fraud, money laundering, pedophilia.
Number of Reported Crimes: 1,802,300 (2038)
Criminals Rehabilitated: 800,000 (2038)
Criminals Ostracized: 500,000 (2038)
Criminals Killed: 350,000 (2038)
Number of Prisons: 0

Tucker and its Culture in Depth(In-Character depiction)

What a long day that Cecily Lockhelm had to cope with. First, being called for a online meeting that never happened. Then, again the threats of many engineers in the MilNet that they would take away all blueprints of the CL-32 if they did not stop selling it to enemies of the free people, an issue triggered since the failure in the Aero Kargucagstan, that was getting out of control as those who wanted restrictions on Third Spanish States sales were slowly becoming the majority. She was sent into the fire to persuade all of them that the ends justified the means, and even had to promise she will openly support the liberation of all tyrannical nations they sold their fighters to once the time comes, solving temporarily a major crisis that threatened to split the largest cooperative group in the Confederacy. And to end her afternoon, they threw her multiple war plans about an amphibious assault in Spain, as if they thought she was qualified for Grand Strategy just because she played Hearts of Iron 5 and World in Conflict 7. Meanwhile, most people of her same age were rarely given any greater responsibility than paper-pushing, although in a way, it was fulfilling despite stressful to do what she did.

All in all, there was certainly too much for a head of State to do in a place that supposedly was an anarchy, but Cecily had no powers, just a good skill of persuasion and a stubborn mind, and although there were no governments, people too mediocre to have opinions of their own were plenty. In a way, she could rule over people even without any formal authority, simply through arguments, through the art of convincing them of what she believed to be the best action. In many ways, there was a de facto government in the Confederacy, the government of the people who cared enough to influence the decision-making of the direct democratic organizations across it and who had a strong opinion.

But sometimes, even the strong of personality let themselves be influenced by the suggestions of others. As Cecily left her "Home Office", the mess of an apartment she lived on, and began to walk on the shiny, gritty night streets of Tucker shouting out the sort of scenery expected from a William Gibson book, to the point a few public Internet connection points she saw across the streets were already taken by individuals with black coats and laptops, blackhats seeking profits from "stealing from the capitalist pigs" through exploits in Internet Banking systems of few countries that haven't blocked most Third Spanish States IP addresses. And add the occasional punk walking around, the nudists, the people too high to even walk and the massive arcology she could spot afar whenever she looked above, and thus was formed a typical cyberpunk scenario, except for cybernetic implants, because those were still nonexistent, or perhaps part of secretive research programs. Even Cecily's "casual" clothing, a brown leather jacket placed over a bulletproof vest, riot boots and brown leather pants would only finish them off with the sort of Mad Max post-apocalyptic grade style. However, it was more than style, for in a place like Tucker, wearing a bulletproof vest was a nice idea, and the cold winter night usually made long coats useful, while the nails, splinters and glass on the streets made wearing thick boots a nice idea before the cleaning week.

Her rimmed eyes, from overwork rather than from smoking certain things, were like signals for some. And while she moved to Fred's Pub, which was only two blocks away from her apartment to meet her old friends: Aaron Paul, Kcarrab Amabo and George Hines, an irresistible offer came to her, as an elegant men, wearing a badass black and long coat, with liss black hair and green eyes, immediately looked at her, not like the usual types that she tended to humiliate as they asked for a date, or more oftenly, for sex, but with the look of a man of business, speaking clearly without hormonal influences, either for being a perfect liar or for not caring on her because of such matters:

"Hey Cecily! You seem quite down, don't you? Why don't we catch our names on Fred's? I can offer you a drink, or more heavy stuff, if you wish."

Nodding at the strange acquaintance, Cecily moved her hand near to the holster of her pistol, a safe reaction when a stranger suddenly approaches a young and attractive woman like her from an alley. And she wouldn't let anything happen.

"Oh! If I wanted to take you down, you'd already be taken Cecily," the man then explained, "your reaction time is too slow for even defending yourself against the cheapest thugs and rapists around. Maybe you are a bit out of shape, as I see..." the man then said, observing the small amount of fat that Cecily had on her belly. She was a bit overweight, but it still didn't detracted from her looks. The sort of "cute" attractive appearance of her face that drew the disciples of a certain infamous Japanese bear to her.

"Yeah, I know. like if I cared. There are more important things than frivolities for me to worry about." Cecily then said, with a shrug as she began to walk through the streets, with he following her towards the pub.

"So politics fatten people, I see." the man said, smiling.

"To be honest, I hoped being this close to a "fat chick" would cut off the number of pricks trying to convince me to sleep with them. I have more important matters than attending the needs of pubescent boys unable to get it in a place like this, where even obese boys manage to do it." Cecily answered, as she crossed the street and saw the neons of the pub right ahead.

"Yes... I see what you mean. Now, do you have a date Cecily? Not that I am asking this because I am interested in you physically."

"It is a silly, emotional illusion losers cling to because they have no real purpose in their lives. Aaron Paul divorced fifteen times before writing his essay about evolution and the delusion of love." Cecily replied back with her cynical coldness regarding subjects like romance and love. Of course, if Aaron Paul was as much of a prick with his former wives as he seemed to be whenever he stated something on behalf of the Dawkins Institute for Research of Memes, then it would be well explained.

"Maybe you are afraid, you must feel something sometimes." the man then replied.

"Yes, I have a passion," Cecily answered back as both were talking next to the pub. It was quite crowded, with conversations running around and some people doing drugs.

"I am passionate for the idea of building a free world. Now regardless, what is your name? And what do you do? I bet you make a living by doing crimes nobody here cares about... like taking some sips from the wealth of fat bourgeois pigs who own banks."

"Just call me Bob, and I am a Hacker, yes, I hack banks for a living."

"Full Robin Hood or just the "steal from the rich" part?" Cecily then asked him with a wry smile.

"The latter, there aren't poor people here anyway."

And then they got inside the pub. It was not like most pubs in the world. There were no waiters, no attendants, only automated vending machines, some of them linked with conveyor belts where food came from, and an humanoid robot that stood in the counter standing as the sheer bottom of the uncanny valley, which had the same capability of chatbots in the Internet to answer customers. Most preferred to type their questions in a terminal, but youngsters found it amusing to throw insults against the robot, as it absorbed words, and nobody cared. A pub where the only attendant was a robot who said "Welcome to Fred's Pub Newfag. Generate LULZ or GTFO." certainly wasn't something found in most places of the world. Repetitive jobs were being gradually replaced, and the demand for automation was massive across the Confederacy, even beyond what currently technology allowed. Every office was a server database. Paperwork was virtually nonexistent and fast food chains had to develop full automation for everything role besides manager to succeed.

There, Bob came next to a drug vending machine as Lockhelm found seats for both, not being able to found any of her old friends there for now. It was then that he asked again, while Lockhelm yawned from having a day like such.

"Are you sure you don't want some marijuana? I swear, it's not as bad on your health as alcohol. In fact, you'll probably feel better once you start."

Sighing, Cecily took a bottle of ketchup from the table and began to drink it. Bob realized her message, but nevertheless he stubbornly purchased two cigars of pakalolo, and sat next to Lockhelm again, offering for one last time:

"It won't hurt you. This is the pure legalized deal, there is no shit like in the dirty drugs of backstreet dealers, you won't regret it... really. Even the Bolivians did drugs. Why should you deprive yourself the right of altering reality to your will? Why?"

Cecily, who still tasted sourly the ketchup on her mouth, began to drink mustard, then, when her tastes were totally messed, she put the mustard on the table and got up, seeing that perhaps delusions weren't that bad. Or perhaps it was just the way her personality was set on the moment, for tomorrow she would have probably refused. Friday was the drug day in the Confederacy, where most people had their ways with marijuana, cocaine, crack and all sorts of heavy and not so heavy drugs.

And thus, Bob took the staircase to the terrace of the pub, where some tables and chairs were set, and nothing but starlight made the roof. It was a cold night, but their heavy clothing was enough to keep most of it off. The cigar would eventually be right next to Cecily's hand, as she observed Bob lightening his and taking some puffs of the stuff. He was slowly relaxing, his eye seemingly becoming distant as they stared at the stars. She took her own lighter, and lit it up. The smell of marijuana was now permeating her, and thus Lockhelm, not resisting it anymore, moved the cigar to her mouth and tried it for the first time... everything began to slow down, as she relaxed more and more with each puff of it. Feeling light-headed and staring at the stars as well. Even the simplest memories were difficult to gather at such moment, as she simply stood there, enjoying such guilty pleasure in silence. All notion of time lost.

There was no certainty on how much time has passed, only that he left, and as Cecily began to slowly recover from the effects of the drug, she felt a nearly insatiable hunger, and thus Cecily walked, a bit on shambles, and got downstairs. Most of the patrons were already passed out or very high, as she saw it was 4:00 AM. Although never losing totally her consciousness, she certainly smoked more than once during that night, and fortunately it was Saturday now.

Taking ten mini-pizzas from the vending machine, she satiated her hunger, and then made her way back to the apartment. Bob didn't leave any message or address, that man simply vanished, like if even he was an hallucination perhaps. As she laid again on her bed, with an unusual urge to sleep completely naked, Cecily could only think about the acid trip. Eventually, already relaxed by the load of drugs, she fell asleep.

[Third Spanish States]

Gaia City

Work in progress, just posted preemptively for the sake of formatting.

[Third Spanish States]

Image

Enclave City

Enclave, famous for being entirely built underwater, is the only City of the Confederacy which has decided, through democratic referendum, to adopt a capitalist economy.

Work in progress, posted preemptively for formatting sake.

[Third Spanish States]

The Most Notoriously Infamous Establishments of the Confederacy

The House of Sodom

Orgies nightclubs aren't, unlike many assume, whorehouses, but simply places that allow for multiple consenting individuals to commit sexual acts in a far larger scale than usual, and were born from the extremely libertine mindset of the Confederacy regarding sex, which is considered normal, and sometimes even as a sign of greater friendship, even if there is no feeling of "love" involved. They are commonly frequented by teenagers and young adults, and feature everything from the most normal to the most unusual types of acts. A common house rule among them is that previously drunk or drugged people are not allowed inside, to prevent the practice of drug-based rape, although some questionable houses tend to let them in.

The House of Sodom is the most known "Orgy Nightclub" of the Confederacy, because of its truly unrestricted policy and of the extreme events it hosts. Founded by the self proclaimed "King of the Pimps", Don Fokker Vanugler Azhell (Photo), the House of Sodom advertises itself as "A small piece of the Internet", as a way to refer to Rules 34 and 35 of the Internet: in other words, if some idea or fetish, no matter how bizarre it seems, exist, there is a place for it in the House of Sodom. The House of Sodom packs both straight and GLBT areas, and even areas with clear social stigmas, like the "Yiff" areas. Other features include the infamous "Free for all preferences, a special set of multiple rooms and chambers, where, by entering inside, one gives consent to have sexual activities of any kind with anyone inside, and the "Great Dungeons", which need no further comments.

What truly sets it apart, and makes of it the most infamous Orgy Nightclub of the Confederacy, is the annual event known as "The 40 days of Sodom", the reason for the naming of the club, which draws thousands every year to the several "Houses of Sodom" spread through the Confederacy. The fact is, that this event is advertised as "the most extreme experience ever imagined", and it makes justice to it. Completely inspired by the infamous Marquis de Sade book, the 40 Days of Sodom is like a scripted Free-for-All, with one catch for those who consent joining in that tends to reduce the number of interested people in joining: half of the participants, selected randomly, will be held in "captivity" inside the "Great Dungeon" used for the event during the entirety of the 40 days, while the other half will be free to do anything they desire with those held "captive" but not allowed to leave the compound as well, and neither allowed to cause permanent injury, permanent scarring or death, and each day, half of the participants are swapped by random chance in roles, although participants can express their desire to not swap. To draw more interest, the event is also separated by sexual preference.

The polemic is mostly caused by people who underestimate the intensity of the event, and how extreme is to be held, even with one's own consent, captive for 40 days and constantly "tortured", even if the same is done for deriving pleasure, and for how the rule that "once given the word, it is done" is enforced, as people who openly desire to leave before the event ends for regretting their decision aren't allowed, under the argument they knew what they were getting into, and signed a compromise to consent with the 40 days. A handful of people have acquired psychological traumas from participating from the event, and since then the requirements and the way things are explained became more and more detailed so people know exactly what they will experience if they consent in joining the event, and "One day test drives" have been opened to give to people the certainty they are going to endure and enjoy such event.

Like in the book, the suggested intensity of the orgies increase every day, until there is the infamous 40th day, which so far never occurred. The 41st day is considered extremely disturbing, as it essentially involves one consenting in participating of "deadly passions", which essentially means, that it only would happen should someone consent to be killed, as the 41st day would involve the death of a person through extremely questionable means. For many, the 41st day is simply a fake done for the sake of marketing, and isn't truly planned.

4chan.tv

From an obscure Internet TV Channel, 4chan.tv, also known as Channel 4 among people who are trying to make it look better when speaking to foreigners, would eventually become the most watched television podcaster across the Confederacy. Intended to be a highly interactive, "televised imageboard", it has become an icon of Third Spanish States Internet-centric culture, and a breeding ground for memes, not-so-serious mobilizations and a springboard for people seeking fame, as long as they don't mind having some scars and bones broken and (in some cases) losing their virginity. The reason why the acronym NSFW is irrelevant in the Confederacy, its shows, movies and programs are, according to a Christian, "so gross that South Park looks like a Gospel Cartoon done by a Catholic Bishop in the 5th century in comparison". Among the most popular shows are "The LARP Show", which is a mix of Live-Action Roleplaying with MTV's Jackass that packs occasional real sex among participants, EFG Contest, which is an interactive competition where yearly one can be awarded as the "Epic Fail Guy", "Why don't you take a seat?", a pornographic series and matchmaking show involving 12-years old that look younger, which according to some is simply a tool of the vigilantes(Third Spanish States unofficial and volunteer "cops") to lure and kill pedophiles, and the infamous "Internet Hate Machine", a show where a random target, usually a furry or neonazi, is picked by Anonymous(people wearing V for Vendetta masks) to be bullied, and where Anonymous also run through the streets causing mischief against random people "just for the LULZ" and the extremely infamous "An Hero Show" that laughs over people who killed themselves over extremely stupid reasons across the Confederacy. While the show runs its course, an imageboard appears to the side of the screen for people to interact, and sometimes(most times) the boards are more amusing than the show, although as most, if not all shows are claimed Live, the people doing the show will change script according to suggestions in the imageboard.

Were it not for the fact lawsuits don't exist in the Confederacy and for the fact nobody cares about political correctness around, this channel would have gone bankrupt a long time ago. As for why it is infamous, needs no further explanation.