Cities

After the Rusty Crash, many of the old cities fell into disrepair, leaving behind only metal skeletons. The surviving humans built new cities, but they were much smaller and spread much further apart than their Rusty counterparts. Although the cities do communicate with each other, they are largely independent.

Seatac (Tally's City)[]

While Tally's city was never given a name in her trilogy, the map in Bogus to Bubbly places it near the Seattle Rusty Ruins in the North American continent. Shatter City is the first book which refers to this City by the name Seatac, referencing the greater metropolitan area spanning Seattle and Tacoma Washington.

The city itself is laid out strictly according to the Pretty Operation in the form of three main areas. The first area in the center of the city is the island of New Pretty Town where new Pretties go to live. Its separated from the Uglies in Uglyville by a river that stretches all the way to the Rusty Ruins. The second area surrounds the New Pretty Town island and includes Uglyville, where Uglies live in dorms, and the Greenbelt, a pleasantly forested area Uglies go to hoverboard and play sports. The third ring surrounds Uglyville and includes the Factory Belt (which conceals Special Circumstances Headquarters) and the Suburbs, where middle pretties settle down to raise their gardens and families. The outer edges of the city are home to Crumblyville, where late pretties live, and the Trails, where adventurous citizens can hike through nature without being too far away from the city or a hovercar that can pick them up when they get tired.

Many of its buildings and parks are named after famous natural Pretties from history, such as Valentino Mansion, Lillian Russell Mansion, Denzel Park, and Cleopatra Park. New Pretty Town even featured a floating ice rink above Nefertiti Stadium until the Crims knocked it down. There is also a hospital where the Operation is performed and where late pretties can arrive via monorail to receive life-extension treatments.

Diego[]

Diego appears to have been built near or on top of the ruins of San Diego. It is located southwest of Death Valley and is close to a Rusty railway.

Diego never had the same barriers between Pretties and Uglies the way Tally's city did. Whereas Tally's city reversed the lesions in firefighters, scientists, and Specials, Diego reversed the lesions in teachers and librarians, ensuring that their citizens were influenced by clear thinkers. Diego had always valued independent thinking, and so greeted the changes the New Smoke brought with enthusiasm. Diego was the first city to admit the truth about the lesions and was the first to offer a "New System" in which citizens, including runaways from other cities, could safely have their bubblehead surgery reversed. In an unexpected side-effect, repealing the Pretty Committee's guidelines resulted in an explosion of wild self-expression surge, causing the lines between Uglies and Pretties to crumble.

With Diego's help, the New Smoke spread the cure further and faster than ever. This did not escape the notice of Special Circumstances, and Dr. Cable decided that this chaos had to be stopped at any cost, even if she had to start a war.

In the aftermath of the brief Diego War, the Town Hall had been destroyed and its hospital was wrecked. Its government a shambles, Diego turned to the recently-despecialized Cutters to help put the city back on its feet. The whole ordeal proved that cured people could function much better in a disaster than bubbleheads and ultimately helped the cure to be accepted in every city in the world.

The Rusty Ruins[]

Ruined Continent — Ruins of North America

The ancient remains of every Rusty city are all called the Rusty Ruins. The Ruins to the west of Tally's city appear to be the remainders of Seattle, Washington. The skeletal remains of Rusties can still be seen in a few of the burnt-out cars in the Ruins, forever trying to escape the Crash that claimed their lives.

The Rusty Ruins have been carefully preserved as a history lesson to young littlies, showing how the Rusties destroyed themselves. They also serve as a rite of passage, or a proving ground, for uglies who want to be as tricky as possible by sneaking out to the Ruins. Once the Smoke was founded, David would meet with potential Smokies in the Ruins, signaling them with flares.

Since the mind-rain and the beginning of the Expansion, Rusty Ruins everywhere are seen as a valuable source of metal. Udzir and the Extras are determined to take much of it into space, both to slow down the Expansion and to use as building material for their orbital habitats.

Post-Rusty Singapore[]

The Rusty city of Singapore in Southeast Asia is the headquarters of the Extraterrestrials, a group founded by a man named Udzir. Harvesting metal from the Ruins nearby, they created multiple space shuttles in preparation to leave Earth's surface and instead live in orbit. Mistaking their space shuttles for weapons of mass destruction, Tally and the Cutters, along with Aya, Hiro, and Frizz, attacked the Singapore Ruins before realizing their misunderstanding.

Yokohama[]

Yokahama is the home city of Aya Fuse in Extras. Although the name was not mentioned in the book, early drafts refer to the city as Yokohama. As the city doesn't appear to have and Rusty Ruins nearby, it is thought that the city itself is built over the remains of the ancient Rusty city of Yokohama.

Since the mind-rain, Yokohama has experimented with smart matter in architecture, yielding buildings that can move and transform.

Londinium[]

Tally mentions this city only once in Extras, saying that metal from its Rusty Ruins has been disappearing. It's presumed that Londinium is built near or on the ancient Rusty city of London.

Shreve[]

Shreve has been built upon the ruins of Shreveport, Louisiana. Run as a dictatorship by the First Family, Shreve has established itself as a military power capable of taking whatever they wish. Their spy dust infamously tracks the words and actions of every citizen of the city, which forces the population into quiet obedience to the local authorities.

Rafia of Shreve is the First Daughter of this City.

Victoria[]

Victoria is the city where Frey is sent for her father's deal and is home to the Palafox family. We know that Victoria is located on the rusty ruins of or nearby what is currently Ciudad Victoria, Mexico. We know this because of the native range of 3 animals mentioned in Impostors, Jaguar, Cottontail Rabbit, and Volcano Rabbit. The Volcano Rabbit has the most exclusive range which confirms the exact location of Victoria. Victoria values privacy which leads them to outlaw Spy Dust and delete the data on it's citizens every morning. It has wild animals roaming the streets such as birds and chickens. The wealthy mingle with the poor and the first family walks around the streets without much security. Victoria has more relaxed rules about surgery, the colors, and clothing that the citizens can wear compared to Shreve.

Paz (aka Shatter City)[]

Built on or near the ruins of La Paz, Baja California. They proudly refer to themselves as a Free City, harboring refugees and remaining neutral from conflict. Its citizens are dedicated to the right to privacy and personal freedom, as well as a culture of emotional regulation. Most Pazx have been surged with a fully-unlocked feels implant which grants them the ability to select which emotions dominate their minds at any particular time.

After an unnaturally-strong earthquake sends the city into ruin, The Pazx affectionately begin to refer to their city as Shatter City.

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