Base Seven

New York City: A place where population density has influenced the landscape so much that reality warps. New York City is fast approaching a baseline of MpH 7.0, the highest recorded base at which human life can exist as we know it. The last time a region of high population reached Base Seven, it vanished wholesale from the face of the Earth.

When Vijaya Chaudhari is called to New York to help stop the city’s rising baseline, he’s unprepared for what it means to live at Base Seven. Lyall Reyes, adopted son of the Reyes crime family, already knows: he was born of the city. That means something a little different from those who were simply born there.

But Vijaya’s arrival marks the beginning of the end for Lyall. Caught between his adopted family and his siblings of the city, Vijaya might be Lyall’s only option for survival. Which is a problem, because Lyall’s already stolen the objects Vijaya needs to do his job, and now they’re in the hands of people who want Lyall dead.

Triggers

Emotional abuse (implied past)
Killing
Sexual assault
Violent assault

Squicks

Burn injuries
Descriptions of mild gore
Frequent swearing
Hand injuries
Instances of physiological body horror
Instance of non-graphic hospitalisation

Kinks

Dubiously consensual
Exhibitionism (mild)
Spite kissing

New York City: A place where population density has influenced the landscape so much that reality warps. New York City is fast approaching a baseline of MpH 7.0, the highest recorded base at which human life can exist as we know it. The last time a region of high population reached Base Seven, it vanished wholesale from the face of the Earth.

The Reyes Family is crippled. Lyall’s efforts to protect what remains are battered by the oversight of the law and Viltautas’s steady attrition. Lyall knows the dodecahedron might be able to help — but he also knows it must be in Vijaya’s hands, and Vijaya is protected by the laws of hospitality.

When Vijaya leaves the Plaza to take up his own residence in the city, and Viltautas offers to back off in exchange for Vijaya’s murder, Lyall chooses an alternate option: to break into Vijaya’s new apartment and take the dodecahedron for himself. But Vijaya doesn’t have it — and Lyall’s action triggers Viltautas’s final movements to claim the city for the Children, for good.

Triggers

Child abuse
Emotional abuse
Emotional abuse (implied past)
Killing
Misogyny
Racism (overt)
Sexual assault
Torture
Violent assault

Squicks

Forced memory loss
Frequent swearing
Physiological body horror
Shark attacks

Kinks

Dubiously consensual
Exhibitionism (mild)
Forced pleasure
Spite kissing