On the Lower Levels, survival isn’t about being good. It’s about being profitable.

In a towering space station split by wealth and corruption, your business runs on merchandise with flexible origins.

You’re a former scavenger who secured a storefront thanks to a generous loan and questionable timing. Now rent is rising, factions are watching, and most of your best margins live in legal gray zones

Profits Over Principles

Start as a gunsmith, chemist, water merchant, fence, farmer, or from absolute rock bottom.

Every product line has its own profit curve and its own way of ruining you, weapons bring inspections, chemicals bring addiction, water brings liability, contraband brings raids.

Some trades need heavy machinery and permits, others just a good hiding spot and a straight face.

The better the margins, the worse the consequences when something goes wrong.

You’re not choosing a theme for your shop, you’re choosing which kind of trouble you’re willing to monetize.

Know Your Customer

You never really know who’s on the other side of the counter.

Today’s customer could be Security fishing for evidence, a revolutionary looking for leverage, or a fallen elite testing your usefulness.

Every sale is a gamble.

Approve it, refuse it, report it, or look away, someone is always taking notes.

Reputation buys access and protection, but it also paints a target on your back.

On this station, every client is potential profit, and potential trouble

Controlled Illegality

Every item you stock carries its own risks.

Cigarette packs need visual inspection before resale. Water must be tested and filtered. Weapons require permits and modifications. Profitable chemicals rely on closely guarded recipes. Rare items need proper appraisal if you don’t want to overpay.

You can cut the product’s quality, relabel counterfeit as genuine products, or fence discounted stolen goods if you believe Security won’t reach you. But beware, there’s always the mob justice

Suppliers overstate value, customers push their luck, and contraband often comes with issues you only notice after the deal is done.

Your margins depend on how well you assess what’s in front of you.

Misjudge the item or the person selling it, and you absorb the cost.

Rent Is Non-Negotiable

Rent increases over time, regardless of how well your week went.

If you fall behind, the consequences are practical. Your store loses attractiveness, fewer customers walk in, revenue drops, and the gap widens. Recovering from that slide often means taking on riskier deals just to stabilize your cash flow.

You can choose to play it cautiously, or invest in expensive merchandise hoping for a strong return. But if that item gets confiscated, fails inspection, or simply doesn’t sell, you may not have enough left to cover what you owe.

Every purchase becomes a calculation. Every risk carries weight.

Something's Off

A sentient AI chip went rogue and took its hosts with it. Augs look like everyone else ... until they don't. Stay alert, pick up on the signs. Every faction agrees on the policy, and you have the gun to enforce it. But missing the signs, or misreading them, carries its own price