[ WP ] A utopia has been created that is perfect in every way for all citizens everywhere . Describe the hell it has become for them .

“ Time for another history lesson, ” Jane proclaimed, as they sat around the oval table, empty cartons that had contained spicy, eggy noodles, pushed to one side now. They had been delivered by a rope and pulley system from the canal below; clearly this was a regular meal for the penthouse dwellers. 
 Katya had never seen people *eat* so constantly - and with such abandon. In all the Tiers she had lived in, food was a luxury that only the stupendously wealthy wasted money on – mostly as a means to impress, to flaunt that wealth. 
 But her attention turned away from the waxy, cardboard cartons as Jane ’ s voice cut through her thoughts. 
 “ Originally, ” the blond woman began, “ there were no Tiers; there were just districts in one huge City. Sennaya was one such district, as were all the others – Nightside, Urbia, Harbourview etcetera. ” 
 She punctuated the names by gesturing in the direction the places had once been, in relation to Sennaya. With a glance at Jack, she continued the lesson. 
 “ People could move between them freely and there was no upkeep fee. Sensory upgrades still had to be purchased, but the upload packages people bought to enter Ziggurat often included them – as well as storage packages and other upgrades. ” 
 She tossed one of the old magazines onto the table. The cover read ‘ Wired ’ and the headline below – emblazoned over a wireframe picture of a digital avatar – read ‘ The New Frontier: Digital Utopia or Virtual Hell? ’ 
 “ As the place got more crowded, more popular, the System was forced to redistribute resources. It split the world into three levels; poor, average and wealthy. ” 
 Jack picked up the thread of conversation now, eager to add his knowledge, 
 “ Render distances and other ‘ privileges ’ were reduced for the poor – as well as the ability to enter the other Tiers. For the average citizen, in the second Tier, the changes were barely noticeable; while the wealthy maintained full access and saw themselves as having privileges over the lesser Tiers. ” 
 “ Thus Ziggurat was born, ” Jo intoned. 
 Katya listened, spellbound, as Jane picked up the thread again, 
 “ Over time, the conditions in the Old World deteriorated – famine, sickness, overcrowding were the norm. ” 
 She rapped the magazine with her knuckles, 
 “ And so the supposed ‘ Virtual Hell ’ began to look increasingly appealing to everyone left behind. *Legions* of people began to pour in, threatening to upset the balance that had been found. ” 
 She trailed off, picking at the label of her beer. 
 Jack leaned forward to fill the silence, 
 “ Upgrades to the System by the Admins staved off the initial overload, then super smart – and incredibly powerful – cluster AIs were brought online to compensate. With their aid, the Tier system would be abolished and Ziggurat would revert to the promised infrastructure. ” 
 “ But something went wrong, ” Katya husked. 
 Jane gave a grim smile, 
 “ The Crash happened just minutes after the AIs were brought online. Nobody knows exactly what happened, because everyone went offline. ” 
 “ How long we were offline is hard to pinpoint, ” Jack interjected, “ because as far as we can tell *everything* went down. It could have been a few hours, or it could have been decades. ” 
 “ But when the System came back online, everything had changed. ” 
 Jane tossed her bamboo chopsticks at the brimming waste basket near the door – and missed. 
 “ When we all rebooted, the Ten Tiers greeted us and we ’ d all been redistributed amongst them by our wealth. Everything had a price now – even just *existing* in Ziggurat cost credits. ” 
 “ But why? ” 
 Jo ’ s voice answered her, 
 “ We don ’ t know. Nobody has access to that information; not a single mind was active during the Crash. ” 
 “ Some think the AIs went crazy, ” Jack offered. 
 “ *Most* think the AIs went crazy, ” corrected Jane. 
 Katya ’ s mind raced, 
 “ But the Archive will have that information. ” 
 Jane hooted with glee, 
 “ Told you fuckers she was smart! ” 
 “ But what about the Admins? What happened to them? ” 
 The three hackers looked uneasily at each other. Jack coughed. 
 “ We ’ re not sure, ” responded Jane, picking at her nails. 
 Jo ’ s eerie, blank visage turned to regard her, 
 “ That ’ s what we want you to find out. We only knew the name of one of them, the rest were a mystery to us. ” 
 “ Anyway, let ’ s pack this in for the night. Katya ’ s go a lot to process and it ’ s late. ” 
 Jane untangled herself from her chair, then headed for one of the internal bedrooms. Jack followed her. 
 Moving to clear the table of mess, Jo spoke quietly to Katya, 
 “ Unlike us, they still cling to the Old World habit of sleep; they are creatures of routine and comfort. ” 
 Jo offered hir off-white hand to Katya, 
 “ Come. Let me show you my creation. ” 

