Consider this: the largest free standing building in the world was built in 2013. It is so large it could contain within it three (count em three) Pentagons (the US military building in DC). Inside is a water park, hotels, and, of course, lots of shopping venues. It is a grand memorial to the power of capitalism but it is its location that is the irony. It is called the New Century Global Center and it is located in Chengdu China! That's right, communist China.
Now consider this: In medieval times towns were constructed near rivers or near hills for protection and trade but the highest point of any hill was left for the church and its tall spire. From the distance, the thing that was seen first was the church and it was lifted above all other buildings. Look at skylines now. What buildings are seen from the distance? What is lifted above the others? Most often it is the bank and insurance buildings.
That is the vision of the people of the island of Kethix as well. Their tallest building is a temple dedicated to the worship of the corp ceorans–the bosses of the companies that control the lives of nearly all the people on the island. There is no pretense here. The ceorans encourage a kind of faithful devotion similar to evangelical preachers–without the snakes, fortunately. But now that revolution is in the air, that devotion has been shaken.
