In 2118, Coordinator Sebastian Bryant stunned the Angelus City Council with a proposal for a space elevator to be built using Angelus as the base station. A mobile oceangoing city, he argued, would be the perfect compromise between stability and utility with more efficient means of getting packages into orbit as the goal. Debate raged for nearly an entire year before the proposal was given a probational approval.
Key to the program's success was Coordinator Bryant's predictions of economic growth. The first of its kind, a space elevator ("beanstalk") would put Angelus firmly in place to reap considerable economic rewards in the form of terrestrial tariffs on space-going goods while remaining cheaper and more efficient than other means of achieving orbit. In addition, the opportunity to conduct zero-gravity construction on a large scale on the top end of the beanstalk would provide Angelus with a much-needed shot in the arm for industrial capacity.
The main sticking point, however, is that once the base station was completed, Angelus would be required to maneuver down to the equator—a significant shift in climate would then ensue. Public opinion was equally split between those who favored the move and those who resisted it. Some opposition groups campaigned on a 'old home' platform emphasizing Angelus' ties to vanished California. Plans remain in place to move the city south upon the completion of the base station, due in 2128.
Construction on the base tower began in 2120 as the Spiras Corporation finalized their bid and set up shop in Sigma Sector. Vast swathes of the city center were torn down and relocated to make room as the ziggurat-like tower began to take shape. By 2123, the Spiras tower is a vast, towering finger pointing demandingly at the sky that can be seen from nearly any corner of the city. Any visit to Sigma sector confronts the senses with construction workers and equipment seemingly everywhere. Accidents and injuries have been depressingly common in the sector over the last three years, but the work continues unabated due to excellent hiring packages offered by Spiras for talented workers.
Spiras has drawn fire for refusing to hire citizens of the Clade Nation. "The Spiras Corporation serves the city-state of Angelus and will accept any qualified applicants who are Angelus Citizens." Alan Reynolds, the corporate spokesperson for Angelus, responded to these allegations. "However, Spiras has no obligation to subsidize any specific racial group regardless of geographical location. If clades want to work for us, fine. Get your Angelus citizenship and sign a contract."
Michael’s Addendum: I’m going to make two suggestions here. 1) Angelus isn’t exactly on the equator, but more near the Tropic of Cancer. Then again, placing it on the equator might make a nice change of pace, removing the omni-present mist of the older games and replacing it with the contrast of bright sun and dark shadows. 2) Placing the base station in Sigma strikes me as unfeasible. Spiras may run things from Sigma, but it’s make more sense to attach the base of the elevator to a new platform, attached to the wqest edge of Angelus (due to the direction of the prevailing trade winds). The bottom of the elevator can be attached to the ocean floor (or at least extend deep into the ocean) and serve to anchor Angelus. By placing the elevator on a platform like this, it also allows Angelus to separate from the elevator if needed.
Michael’s Addendum II: Per play input, misty is still the predominant weather condition for Angelus. It is worst in the early morning, before the sun has had a change to really burn off the worst of it. As it tends to get cool quickly in the evening, the mists tend to return in force just after sundown. The mist is thickest along the edges of the city, thinnest to almost non-existent in Sigma Sector.