Plot

Tanner Hill has always been ruled by the owners of Netherfield Associates. Names have changed over the years, but that has not. Now, Netherfield Associates has moved away from simple goods exchanged and has partaken in some controversial research, which has resulted in something... fantastic, fantastical: metanths.

Metanths are humans who, through gene manipulation, are able to transform into a single animal that somehow has something to do with his or her personality or character. It has nothing to do with their genes; only that they are able to shift is present, but not into what. How many metanths are there? Who knows? It seems to be a dominant trait, though there are some families that seem resistant to it, so Netherfield Associates is uncertain, but keen to learn more.

The thing is, the test subjects were released to try to live in an enclosed area. How would they react to normal humans? How would they integrate themselves? It worked wonderfully. They fit in perfectly, and nobody could tell that they were different unless they revealed themselves. The company could not have been more pleased. To keep watch and record of these metanths, named so for the Latin and Greek words for "change" and "human", Netherfield Associates created an official branch of the company called Vigilance. It is a tax-paying entity that, when examined closely, appears to have no employees, products, or records. The workers in Vigilance are called vigils. The vigils' jobs ranged from hunting down and exterminating dangerous metanths to simple paperwork and number crunching, though all were supposed to be able to perform the prior. Everything was working according to plan.

But, when a new generation of chairpeople of the company were preparing to sell the formula for creating these people, it disappeared. And, in fifteen years, it has not been recreated. Now, they wonder -- perhaps vigils should take a more aggressive stance and not stand as guards, but actively kidnap proven metanths. Or no? There is controversy within the company over what to do.

Meanwhile, below the lofty clouds of the soul owners above, the metanths are prevented from leaving. Some people find that they dislike their living conditions and that there is too much stratification between the rich and the poor. Then there are those who are simply vying for power over a mere block of a neighborhood. Can there be any unification for any sort of decision?

Well, that, my friend, is up to you.