"How much for the little girl?"
"Excuse me?"
"The women, how much for the women?"
-- Jolliet Jake Blues, The Blues Brothers
The Minneapolis Barrens Free Zone is the definition of the word
destitute. Charon was activated in 2034 at 1:45 AM with no
notification whatsoever. Those that were trapped inside were unable
leave, no matter what their reason for being in the zone. Those that could
afford to buy their way out did, but this still left a population of
about 800,000 inside. Life was hard but survivable, which went directly
against the government's reasons for instituting the free zone. About two
years after the activation of the Charon device the state congress passed
a law that made it illegal to transport any goods or services to the
Minneapolis Free Zone from the outside, thus attempting to kill off all
inside the zone. As suddenly as Charon was put into place, the citizens
of the free zone faced another set of problems. Although it would have
been expected that the free zone would have been overrun by hunger and
disease, neither occured.
Overnight a system of sumuggling goods across the free zone was
in place. The people within the zone actually found themselves as
well off as they were before the law was instituted. Again the
government responded with a new resolution. The Frontier Patrol Force
(FPF) was established in an attempt to curb these efforts. The FPF held
all jurisdiction over the frontier and the zone itself and were given
lethal force autorization. Although no formal checkpoints were
instituted Charon's computer was instructed to watch for any unusual
activity and alert the FPF if neccisary. Comprised of former mercenaries,
National Guard members, and troopers that had failed Lone Star's psych
tests, the FPF is merely a heavly armed group of street thugs. Even with
the new policies, smuggling still ran rampant.
One of the main reasons behind this lack of success was the driving
force behind the smuggling ring; the UCAS chapter of the Red Cross
dedicated large amounts of its private resources to bring doctors,
medicine, and food to shelters they set up around within the zone.
Through their efforts they were able to feed and clothe most everybody
in the zone and to this date The Red Cross still delivers food, clothing,
and medicine to the people of the zone. Unfortunately their roll has
become secondary to the other black market.
The crime rate within the city skyrocketed, which was mainly caused by
the large gang presence. This rise in crime, both violent and non-violent
caused an inflow of guns and other such supplies such as drugs,
ammunition and armor, into the zone. The problem behind this was that most
of these supplies were intercepted by the gangs. Unable to resist the
idea of having the nuyen, the gangs started selling their weapons. This
lasted only so long though. With no inflow of nuyen into the zone, the
citizens quickly stopped buying and left the gangs with no real source of
income. This changed rapidly with the development of the bartering
system.
The bartering system now in place has changed little from its original
formula of 16 years ago, it has only expanded. Food, medicine, and other
essentials are still carted in by The Red Cross, but any other supplies
must be purchaced through bartering. Most items cost at least 300%
above normal retail value in bartered goods or services, but at any time
Nuyen can be substituted in any transaction. Hard currency is so scarse
that most traders will alow their products to be sold at retail price if
the transaction is conducted in Nuyen (NOTE: for game purposes objects
cost the same inside the zone as outside). Bartering can involve anything
from spices and other hard to get foods raised by the citizens of the
zone, to other things peiced together from scraps found in the zone. The
most popular form of payment is that of a service to the seller. Many
times this can be as simple providing skill the seller has no access to,
but needs; at others it can be as morally reprehensible as selling your
sister for a week. There is no court, and as most everybody has been
cheated themselves at least once, a code of honor has been placed upon
bartering. If you belive somebody has cheated you, or renegged on a
deal, it is more than acceptable to kill them outright. This law of
the streets has prompted most (but not all) to treat each other
honestly when an agreed upon price has been made.
Currently there are only a handful of "stores" running inside the free
zone. Most can't understand why anybody would risk such a lifestyle,
especially since the pay is so poor. Most of the store owners are either
packrats or those that somehow feel the need to aid those less fortunate.
While unwise to piss any of them off, most are good natured and enjoy
their work. Stores move locations often, and are open at odd times of the
day. The word on the street is what keeps the citizens of Minneapolis
keen to what is going on in their stores. The Red Cross is aware of most
of the store locations and often use them as distribution centers for
their goods as well. Curiously the gangs allow these stores to operate,
often for access to the best goods first though.