Century City Slaughter
At least that was what the advertisements for the planned metropolis said in the post-war population blitz. The truth was it never really made the money the investors were hoping, the widespread property speculation collapsing out by the seventies led to a horrible local economy. Only a few reliable industries keep the city afloat - the lumber mills on the west side of town, the small high tech quarter centered around FreeSearch a wunderkind internet company and a reasonable sized port that takes advantage of the right to work clause in the city charter that means the labor here isn't protected by unions. Between the three major industries is a sprawl of post-war homes in various states of disrepair and collapse. Automobiles show signs of their planned obsolesce on every street corner and graffiti is the only form of art most people in this town will ever see.
Still, life goes on because the alternative is no better. Like every town, there are small victories, small failures. For the last six years, however, there has been a murder of a college aged woman each year on the first of May. As April plays out, attention turns to the town, young women walk on egg shells. Law enforcement watches for what will come next. This year, however, three disappearances have occurred two weeks before the usual discovery of the body. National attention has focused on this sleepy, dying town and the inhabitants stir uncomfortably.
