Groundbreaker

• Main Author: Dang, Mai Trang
• Other Authors: Benjamin Alexander Slater
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Visual arts and music::General::Social aspects
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/63261
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Groundbreaker sets in a distant future where half of the earth population is mutants. Current notion of races and countries’ borders no longer exists. People are divided into two classes: the Normals and the Siblings - the name chosen by the mutants to signify the unity of their people. Together they coexist in a new social structure. The city is a gigantic tower, divided into two levels: the Phalanges - world of the Normal, and the Metacarpus - world of the Siblings. The tower is ruled by The Wardens - a company that built and developed the city from the Underground. The Underground is an independent state where majority of the Siblings resides. Often, it is called “the world of no rules” or “home of the Siblings”. Located under the ground, it is connected to the Tower by an enormous Lift that operates 24/7 and opens for everyone. After a series of riots, the crime rate in the city rises. The Wardens build a Gate around the Lift and ban all transports between the two worlds. Hundred thousands of Siblings are separated from their families and loved ones. The Wardens control the remaining Siblings by implementing a chip on each of their throat and force them to work as manual labour in factories, construction sites, etc… The Wardens make an agreement with the Brotherhood, an activist group of the Underground, to maintain the order down there and to protect possible “tourists” coming from the city, in exchange for trading and peace. A small lift is built and is only reserved for Normal citizens. Many years after the embargo, The Wardens decide to open The Gate for one day, allowing the Siblings to reunite with their families as reward for their hard work.