Base de Cayambe
Situated beneath Chakana, Base de Cayambe does not prosper from the proximity of the space elevator so much as feed off those who pass through on their way to or from it. After the Beanstalk went operational, Base de Cayambe quickly grew into a major district dedicated to providing all the economic and industrial necessities of Earth’s largest spaceport. Warehouses, micro factories, distribution facilities, transit hubs, and countless kilometers of mag-lev tracks and roads quickly filled the quiet hillsides, leaving towns like Puéllaro and Malchingui entirely new neighborhoods in all but name.
Base de Cayambe fulfills all the stereotypes of a rough port town, with cheap accommodations, booze (or something stronger), and paid companionship available, no questions asked. Students, war veterans, spacers, and merchants all stay here or regularly pass through. Retired prisec officers look for work in the bars or join Los Scorpiones, who keep order in lieu of a strong NAPD presence.
A large number of warehouses, with their own private security, fill the gaps between the old streets and the newer tenement buildings. For New Angeles, storage and accommodations can be fairly cheap, so many small businesses begin here, where factories can employ locals for a minimal wage as long as they overlook the lack of IDs. Some highly skilled engineers and artists arrive looking for somewhere to work and sell their creations without placing themselves under the control of a megacorp.
Then, there are those who cater to the desperate and underprivileged in the red-light hotels and stim-dens. For criminals under the protection of Los Scorpiones, Base de Cayambe is a safer place than it is for the tourists, who sometimes come looking for the original architecture and forgotten remnants of Ecuador hidden behind the flashing signs and projected advertisements.
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