Citizens of this country are called Hertians.
Resident Legend: Iyalis, the Mirror.
A technology and cultural melting pot, Hertain is by far the most powerful country, but with the Deal that the Mirror made with the planet and the other countries, they keep mostly to their own area. With so much development, Hertain actually quickly began to run out of space despite its relatively large land area. So, to solve this problem, the highlionds simply began building on top of and upwards their already built structures; and sometimes even further down. The result is that Hertain is practically more of a building than it is a continent. There are many layers and stories, some more forgotten than others. The original base is very dark at this point since it wasn't originally built with this sort of structure in mind.
So there aren't separations like city-states or anything, but competition in architecture and engineering have created natural borders. The main two styles that dominate the area are Eco-tecture (very modern/clean aesthetic that's made to integrate plantlife into the buildings) and Cyber Punk (lots of neon lights, darker aesthetic). Though there are a few areas that are park designs or want to give off a more historic aesthetic (think Greek/Rome/Victorian etc), those sorts of styles are considered more inefficient and for those of Higher Reputation (aka Rich).
Although those who live here consider themselves ungoverned, arguably it's ruled solely by the Mirror. Granted they don't have many laws in place, but the ones they do have, they enforce very strictly. Everyone who wishes to claim citizenship of Hertain is forced to be tagged by the system that the Mirror created and manages. It's biotech so reversing it isn't possible, but those who want to live elsewhere can just run it in the background and it doesn't affect daily life, since no one else will have one to interact with unless another Hertian comes by. It's simplest to think of it as having a UI in a video game, you can toggle it to show info of others as well as what you want publicly viewed to others.
Reputation is "currency" in Hertain, though you can do business with bartering as well, but there is no physical currency. Reputation is placed in various different polls and isn't a general average, so even if you have a shit personality, you can still have a good reputation for the quality of work you provide. Happiness or satisfaction is recorded through bio readings, so you also can't lie about your feelings towards another's work/personality. Sometimes egomancers try to falsify reactions, but the Mirror is a master of egomancy so the tech is programmed to see through that sort of thing by checking R'Aviv levels as well.
Of course, MantaChitin is still an accepted currency and can be exchanged easily. Manticrabs still land in Hertain, after all, and being a MantiHunter is a viable occupation. They deliver the chitin to various banks in exchange for Reputation and the banks provide currency exchange.
Resident Legend: Iyalis, the Mirror.
A technology and cultural melting pot, Hertain is by far the most powerful country, but with the Deal that the Mirror made with the planet and the other countries, they keep mostly to their own area. With so much development, Hertain actually quickly began to run out of space despite its relatively large land area. So, to solve this problem, the highlionds simply began building on top of and upwards their already built structures; and sometimes even further down. The result is that Hertain is practically more of a building than it is a continent. There are many layers and stories, some more forgotten than others. The original base is very dark at this point since it wasn't originally built with this sort of structure in mind.
So there aren't separations like city-states or anything, but competition in architecture and engineering have created natural borders. The main two styles that dominate the area are Eco-tecture (very modern/clean aesthetic that's made to integrate plantlife into the buildings) and Cyber Punk (lots of neon lights, darker aesthetic). Though there are a few areas that are park designs or want to give off a more historic aesthetic (think Greek/Rome/Victorian etc), those sorts of styles are considered more inefficient and for those of Higher Reputation (aka Rich).
Although those who live here consider themselves ungoverned, arguably it's ruled solely by the Mirror. Granted they don't have many laws in place, but the ones they do have, they enforce very strictly. Everyone who wishes to claim citizenship of Hertain is forced to be tagged by the system that the Mirror created and manages. It's biotech so reversing it isn't possible, but those who want to live elsewhere can just run it in the background and it doesn't affect daily life, since no one else will have one to interact with unless another Hertian comes by. It's simplest to think of it as having a UI in a video game, you can toggle it to show info of others as well as what you want publicly viewed to others.
Reputation is "currency" in Hertain, though you can do business with bartering as well, but there is no physical currency. Reputation is placed in various different polls and isn't a general average, so even if you have a shit personality, you can still have a good reputation for the quality of work you provide. Happiness or satisfaction is recorded through bio readings, so you also can't lie about your feelings towards another's work/personality. Sometimes egomancers try to falsify reactions, but the Mirror is a master of egomancy so the tech is programmed to see through that sort of thing by checking R'Aviv levels as well.
Of course, MantaChitin is still an accepted currency and can be exchanged easily. Manticrabs still land in Hertain, after all, and being a MantiHunter is a viable occupation. They deliver the chitin to various banks in exchange for Reputation and the banks provide currency exchange.