Sooooo, I've been living in my long-estranged (twenty-four years!!!) home town for the last few years... And the city I was born in has been growing on me like a fungus. (Doesn't help that this is a quintessential Blue City stuck in a Red State.)
Now, San Antonio has one landmark in particular that stands out immediately. One that upon arrival in our city people will have to be blind not to notice it: The Tower of Americas. And it is, with no doubt, the tallest structure in our city. None of the hotels or office buildings come close, though some do try (like the Grand Hyatt and the Marriott Rivercenter). And of course, it features the usual acoutrements of such a tower built for the Worlds Fair back in the day, such as a rotating restaurant and a f-ing huge observation deck.
But lately, for some ineffable reason, I keep looking at it and two words keep popping into my head: Command Post.
Really, it's utterly brilliant. It has a spectacular view of the entire city, the base is made of solid concrete and highly defensible, and I bet if you juice up the drive motors then you can even make clever tactical use of the turntable restaurant.
And now, I hear you guys wondering, "What does that have to do with Fenspace?"
Well, naturally if a mundane such as myself had these thoughts, then what if an irrationally batshit insane Mad had the same thought? Someone that felt that the Fen could use a nice piece of highly defensible unreal estate?
How would he do it without being noticed until it was all too late? I think he would plant a seed. Literally. A seed. Only it doesn't sprout into a plant. Instead it burrow deep underground and utilize the abundant silicates of San Antonio's soil to create a bubble that is one mile in diameter.
Now for the really interesting part: what all would he score with that, using the Tower as the epicenter?
Quite a lot, actually.
First of all, the entirety of Hemisfair Park along with the Grand Hyatt and the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center is a given.He'd also bag the Rivercenter Mall, the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel, and a nice chunk of suburbs. He'd also snag the historic La Villita Arts Village. More pressing, however, would be the added bonus of the Alamodome, Amtrak's Sunset Station, about a mile of superhighway (IH-37/US-281) and about 3/4 of a mile of main-line railroad track.
Fortunately, he would just barely miss the Alamo.
Unfortunately, he'd probably destroy the Menger Hotel. That'll piss off quite a few people on general principal alone.
Of course, the Fen in general would be outraged. Stupid mad scientists giving the rest of the Fen a bad rep, you know. And of course, the locals are gonna be about as pleased as a beehive when a bear comes nosing around. Which is to say, just short of rioting in the streets.
So, the trouble is that once damage on this scale is done, it's pretty damn hard to undo it, even with Handwavium (some would say especially so). For one thing there's gonna be the political backlash - even if the Fen were to do the political equivalent of delivering this guy's head on a platter it's not gonna make the uneasiness or the damage go away. There will, of course, be a demand for monetary reparations. There may also be some that demand that the Fen themselves do what they can to help with the repairs. And with any luck, everything will be better than it was before.
(The upshot of all this is that if the Fen do agree to do all that, then the City of San Antonio no longer has to worry about the budget shortfalls caused by the Alamodome - all budgetary evils being traced back to that has been a political running gag around here ever since they broke ground on it. San Antonio may yet get the street car system it so craves.)
As for the unreal estate itself, well... Whatcha gonna do? For certain, La Villita is gonna have to be carefully and painstakingly returned and restored (probably with one or two rather comical mistakes along the way). Otherwise, everything else... well... let's just face it, it's a nice chunk of real estate. You have three very large hotels, a spacious and scenic shopping mall, a stage theater, a convention center, a sports arena, and some nice suburban homes and apartments that can house all the staffers. Not to mention that the stretch of Highway can be converted into an easy-in-easy-out landing bay for automotive-type space craft. And Sunset Station can be reconfigured as a Galaxy Railways Station, with the parking lot at the Alamodome working double-duty as a rail-freight yard (the mainline runs right alongside it).
So, thoughts? Bear in mind, I fully expect this to not be full of rainbows and butterflies. But then again, Fenspace isn't a dystopia, either.
Now, San Antonio has one landmark in particular that stands out immediately. One that upon arrival in our city people will have to be blind not to notice it: The Tower of Americas. And it is, with no doubt, the tallest structure in our city. None of the hotels or office buildings come close, though some do try (like the Grand Hyatt and the Marriott Rivercenter). And of course, it features the usual acoutrements of such a tower built for the Worlds Fair back in the day, such as a rotating restaurant and a f-ing huge observation deck.
But lately, for some ineffable reason, I keep looking at it and two words keep popping into my head: Command Post.
Really, it's utterly brilliant. It has a spectacular view of the entire city, the base is made of solid concrete and highly defensible, and I bet if you juice up the drive motors then you can even make clever tactical use of the turntable restaurant.
And now, I hear you guys wondering, "What does that have to do with Fenspace?"
Well, naturally if a mundane such as myself had these thoughts, then what if an irrationally batshit insane Mad had the same thought? Someone that felt that the Fen could use a nice piece of highly defensible unreal estate?
How would he do it without being noticed until it was all too late? I think he would plant a seed. Literally. A seed. Only it doesn't sprout into a plant. Instead it burrow deep underground and utilize the abundant silicates of San Antonio's soil to create a bubble that is one mile in diameter.
Now for the really interesting part: what all would he score with that, using the Tower as the epicenter?
Quite a lot, actually.
First of all, the entirety of Hemisfair Park along with the Grand Hyatt and the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center is a given.He'd also bag the Rivercenter Mall, the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel, and a nice chunk of suburbs. He'd also snag the historic La Villita Arts Village. More pressing, however, would be the added bonus of the Alamodome, Amtrak's Sunset Station, about a mile of superhighway (IH-37/US-281) and about 3/4 of a mile of main-line railroad track.
Fortunately, he would just barely miss the Alamo.
Unfortunately, he'd probably destroy the Menger Hotel. That'll piss off quite a few people on general principal alone.
Of course, the Fen in general would be outraged. Stupid mad scientists giving the rest of the Fen a bad rep, you know. And of course, the locals are gonna be about as pleased as a beehive when a bear comes nosing around. Which is to say, just short of rioting in the streets.
So, the trouble is that once damage on this scale is done, it's pretty damn hard to undo it, even with Handwavium (some would say especially so). For one thing there's gonna be the political backlash - even if the Fen were to do the political equivalent of delivering this guy's head on a platter it's not gonna make the uneasiness or the damage go away. There will, of course, be a demand for monetary reparations. There may also be some that demand that the Fen themselves do what they can to help with the repairs. And with any luck, everything will be better than it was before.
(The upshot of all this is that if the Fen do agree to do all that, then the City of San Antonio no longer has to worry about the budget shortfalls caused by the Alamodome - all budgetary evils being traced back to that has been a political running gag around here ever since they broke ground on it. San Antonio may yet get the street car system it so craves.)
As for the unreal estate itself, well... Whatcha gonna do? For certain, La Villita is gonna have to be carefully and painstakingly returned and restored (probably with one or two rather comical mistakes along the way). Otherwise, everything else... well... let's just face it, it's a nice chunk of real estate. You have three very large hotels, a spacious and scenic shopping mall, a stage theater, a convention center, a sports arena, and some nice suburban homes and apartments that can house all the staffers. Not to mention that the stretch of Highway can be converted into an easy-in-easy-out landing bay for automotive-type space craft. And Sunset Station can be reconfigured as a Galaxy Railways Station, with the parking lot at the Alamodome working double-duty as a rail-freight yard (the mainline runs right alongside it).
So, thoughts? Bear in mind, I fully expect this to not be full of rainbows and butterflies. But then again, Fenspace isn't a dystopia, either.