Basic Description
The Imperial Palace is the seat of the government of Synthetica. It is a large, ring-shaped structure of contemporary architecture with three rotunda chambers spaced around its interior and four levels above ground. Twelve long canopies extend radially from the palace, and as one walks under the main entrance canopy, they enter the main lobby of the palace. Two floors high and tens of metres wide, this lobby bustles with activity. Directly beyond this lobby is the entry passage to the Throne Room, while to either side extends the central passage around the ring of the palace.
- The first above ground level of the palace consists of galleries, museums, a library, and a few other general public access facilities.
- The second level consists of public offices of the various administrations and ministries of the Empire. These are main branch offices designated for public access, where citizens of the Empire can go when they require more comprehensive support than their local branch office may be able to provide, and where the Empress herself goes to maintain direct communication with her government’s ministries.
- The third level presently remains unoccupied, with a few sections of this level reserved for facilities to act as a noise buffer between the three main lobbies on the first level and the three imperial condominiums directly above.
- The fourth level consists of suites used to house Distinguished Guests of the Empire (i.e. diplomats and other heads of state). This is also the level where Calyo’s palacial penthouse is located. Her penthouse, one of three imperial condominiums on this level, lies directly above the main lobby, with direct access to the throne room via a balcony.
There is one underground level of the palace as well that consists primarily of facilities to support the entirety of the palace infrastructure such as power distribution and plumbing, as well as underground passages to the city metro system and other, much more closely guarded secretive sections of the palace.
Imperial Throne Room
The throne room is a cavernous, cathedralesque space, lined with internal buttresses around its perimeter. Two entry passages wrap around the outside perimeter of the throne room, with their inside walls opening into galleries halfway around. A large, circular pool filled with rubber occupies the back quadrant of the throne room, with a balcony from the fourth level overlooking it and the Empress’s bean bag shaped throne resting in the center. Two arms extend from this pool around the throne room, and a set of statues pose on plinths in front of this pool. Each of the columns is lined with a dark grey rubber cladding near the bottom, with additional figures embedded within.
The Throne Room is open to the public, although her Majesty may not always occupy the throne. When she is, however, she is holding public court and anyone may approach her at any time and for any reason. The surface of the pool is… strange, to say the least. For most, it feels firm and solid and can be walked upon. For some who wish to swim in this pool, the surface gives way and permits them to sink as if in thick water. And for the rare few who enjoy a more inescapable situation, the rubber of the pool cures around them and bonds to them, keeping them trapped and unable to even reach the edge to escape.
All of the rubber in this throne room is Calyo’s own living mass, from the statues decorating its perimeter to the massive pool to her own throne. Though she may not always occupy her throne in a form that one may approach and address, she is always occupying her throne room, day and night.
Calyo’s Penthouse
Calyo’s penthouse is where she tends to do most of her living. Though she has a separate Palacial Estate that is a much more private escape, most of the time when she is not on official business, not teaching class, or not out and about, she can be found in and around in her penthouse.
If the doors are open, guests are welcome.
Calyo’s penthouse is furnished in contemporary luxury sin opulence, with stained and sealed red oak flooring, thick and padded latex area rugs, houseplants spread throughout, and a general feel that this is a space well within the means of someone on the lower end of the upper class, and not someone right at the very peak of it like the Empress herself. One gathers that this is a space in which the Empress has all that she wants, but not much more than what she needs.
Immediately adjacent to her penthouse is the room of her son Viveno Delphi and godson (and Viveno’s best friend) Anthony Panucci.
Imperial High Court
The Imperial High Court occupies one of the other three large cathedralesque chambers of the Imperial Palace. It is here that the highest court of the land addresses legal cases of highest import, that have appealed up to this level and been approved for hearing.
Calyo presides over the Imperial High Court as its chief justice, alongside four appointees who serve as her advisors. Once a ruling is made by the Imperial High Court, it cannot be appealed to a higher court. Although Calyo’s rulings are not considered to be final, it is difficult to convince her to change her stance once the gavel has struck.
The Third Space
The third space, of similar architecture to both the Imperial Throne Room and the Imperial High Court, is presently vacant and unoccupied. There are many rumors as to what the Empress has planned for this space, with some thinking it’s going to become a harem or a public playspace for her toys, and others thinking it may become some sort of a museum or art gallery. Unfortunately, the Empress has kept quiet on its intended purpose, and the space has not only remained entirely closed to the public, but the windows have been kept perpetually shaded or frosted to prevent attempts to spy inside.