"Alright, to start things off you should know the basics of the current power structure of the Criminal Underworld of Zone 3," Taze explained as he swerved through a crowd of people with me following behind.
"Power Structure?" I questioned, "I thought that Zone 3 was the center of the Criminal Underworld?" I asked.
"It is," Taze responded, walking through the bustling crowd effortlessly as if it was routine, "But that doesn't mean it has control over all of the Zones in America. Zone 3 is just where all the deals and jobs get set up and completed, it's also where all the top players that are not corpos or political figures reside. Some of the best vendors in the United Zones of America are not that far from you right now Dior."
"Really huh?" I scoffed, "Tell me the Power Structure. The last thing I need is to get dragged into necessary beef because of something I didn't know or worse yet; a situation that I can't handle."
"Look who's learning huh?" Taze chuckled, "Zone 3 is run by gangs, families, and organizations. There are smaller gangs and other organizations but they are irrelevant now. To start you off let me name the ones that you need to know, the ones who run Zone 3."
"No," I sternly declined, " I want to know everything. I don't want to end up dying or stuck in a situation I can't get out of because I missed some information deemed 'irrelevant' by you" I reasoned.
Taze chuckled, "Looks like you might survive longer than most if you keep this up."
"The strongest gangs in Zone 3 are SP, $MM, MA, MS, and RP. Also known as Snow Patrol, Sex Money Murder, Move Alone, Murder Strip, and Roupell Park respectively. Other gangs are weaker than these, but their power can't be ignored, such as Anthrax, SAD, also known as Search and Destroy. Emporium Market, and Drillford." Taze named off as I focused intensively to make sure I didn't miss a single detail, which wasn't a difficult task thanks to my now superhuman senses.
"If there's anything lucrative that's going on in the criminal underworld that involves the streets then you can be certain that at least three of the five gangs are involved. The other four I just named may also have a hand in it as well." He explained before he stopped and turned around, glaring at me with a stern expression, "Remember Dior, just because I said that those gangs are weaker than the top five doesn't mean they are weak and helpless, these gangs have caused the top five some serious damage over the years and are not to be underestimated or looked down upon." He warned.
I made a mental note of his warning and nodded my head, acknowledging his warning. He smiled and continued walking forward as he maneuvered his way through the crowd.
"My mind is still stuck on something though," I mumbled under my breath but loud enough for only Taze to hear me with his otherworldly hearing as a psychic.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Do these gangs all beef with each other?" I asked as I thought deeper about the power structure of the gangs specifically.
With the introduction of energy all those years ago and people being able to become superhumans everything changed. The crime rate skyrocketed along with the violence but what could people do? The council was all but exposed at that point and the world was damn near armageddon with all those wars and America imploding on themselves with their civil war going on.
But the people who had minds could see the endless opportunities within all the chaos. The current year is 2317 and a total of four Corporate Wars have passed since the first one back in 2220. The current state of the world was the corporations were stronger than the nations and empires of the past and were trying to have absolute control of everyone's lives, well as much control as they could in a world full of superhumans but they were making progress in that goal.
The fact that these gangs were strong enough to the point that the megacorporations were paying attention to them means that they see them as potential allies or threats...well that's depending on who's looking at them. This also shows that the people who are leading these gangs are very competent and they all have structure, unlike how gangs used to be in the past where kids were just killing each for little to no reason at all if anything the criminal underworld is much more dangerous than it was in the past.
"None of the top five get along with each other and have been trying for years to take each other out but they still respect the status quo and the beef has not escalated to a full-blown war, but currently the tension between these gangs has been at an all-time high," Taze answered in a heavy tone.
"Oh? Do you suspect something? I've never seen you show such fear for the future so far. You're always calm and nonchalant with everything. Like nothing can ever bother you. Seem like that was all just a persona huh?" I chided with a smile slowly forming on my face.
"Something is coming Dior. I don't know what it is but whatever it is it's going to change everything. At first, I thought this strange and uneasy feeling was just my mind playing tricks on me but now that I'm seeing things fall into place with my own eyes I can't be foolish enough to deny it anymore, it would be purley delusional." He said as he started into the sky with a lost look in his eyes.
"The fuck are you talking about?" I asked softly, creeped the fuck out by how Taze was acting right now.
"The list of those geniuses, all the gangs moving like a war is about to start, the hidden but dark tension in the air, all that along with your appearance makes one thing clear. The games are about to begin and I'm afraid that no one is safe this time around."