Byloc

Byloc is known for two things: its space program and its casino. Almost all of Byloc is located in one massive building built into the side of a crater. The bottom floors contain maintenance buildings, utility shops, and some housing. The middle floors are mostly taken up by the casino and high-end shops. The top floors are high-end apartments and hotels. There're a few scientific buildings located near the launchpad in the center of the crater as well as a small village on the other tip of the island.

Culture

Known for excess and luxury, Byloc's space program mainly caters to those looking to travel to one of the moons. The daily rocket arrivals and departures tend to draw crowds of tourists to the massive windows of the casino.

Politics

Byloc is run mainly by the family of casino bosses: Family 19, A group of old-fashioned automatons who have been programmed especially to run the casino and be good hosts. They also serve as Byloc's government administration. Although this is technically a dictatorship, no one seems to mind; Family 19 are good leaders who just keep the casino running. Being old-fashioned automatons-- not modern heart-containing robots-- they are not sentient. They simply preform the actions that they are programmed to preform.

Climate

The seasons never seem to change in Byloc. It is routinely cold and dangerously windy. The side of the island opposite the crater is nearly uninhabitable as there is no protection from the strong ocean winds that blow in from the Anthali Ocean to the west.

History

Historically settled by Afari and Selta, Byloc mainly existed independently until the meteor crash of -850 RMU. The impact of the meteor destroyed Byloc's central city, but the citizens found that the crater formed ideal protection from the west wind. The impact inspired the Selta and Afari in two key ways: they realized they could burrow into the mountainside and that they could pierce the sky. Through years of work and research, the Byloc Space Program successfully left the planet and began space exploration in -685 RMU by tracing the meteor's path out of the sky.

Another key event linked to the meteor crash is the arrival of Bluehearts from space. This proved to be integral in the development of sentience in robotics.

As space travel became more recreational and less exploratory, Byloc became an important port of space travel. In the early days of space travel was reserved for the wealthy; having traveled to one of the moons was seen as a status symbol. To cater to (read as: take money from) the wealthy travelers, casinos and luxury businesses began to pop up. These casinos eventually merged into one mega casino that occupies the 7th- 11th floors of the meteor.

The mega casino was formed in -550RMU, the height of pre-sentient robotics, Family 19 were commissioned by the board of directors of the mega casino to run it.