45 — FRAGMENTUM LIMINA

The Margins of the World — Extra-Jurisdictional Territories

Classification: LEGBA.ΔKRA — Liaison Document Source: Inter-Sovereign Cartography (continuously updated) Validation: Partial consensus TEZCAT.MIRROR: abstentionDate: Cycle VII, 2192

PREAMBLE

"Official maps show the world we control. This document shows the world that escapes us — and why we tolerate it." — Introduction, LEGBA.ΔKRA Archives

Gray Zones are not system failures. They are functional spaces — territories where normal rules are suspended to allow what the main system cannot produce.

I. GRAY ZONE CARTOGRAPHY

1.1 The Three Categories

1.2 Major Official Wastelands

A. Archipelago of Refusals (South Pacific)

Population: 2.3 million Status: Declared autonomy (2089) Governance: Federation of maritime communes

Characteristics:

• Floating platforms built on consolidated ocean debris
• Barter and service economy
• No Link implants authorized in the territory
• VÉVÉ.GLOBAL: coverage <3%

Relationship with system:

• INTI.Δ provides minimal solar energy (tacit agreement)
• LEGBA.ΔKRA maintains emergency communication channel
• UZUME.AKARI recruits artists and storytellers there

B. Chernobyl Wastelands (Ukraine/Belarus)

Population: ~800,000 Status: Exclusion zone maintained (pre-Judgment legacy) Governance: Survivor councils, fluid hierarchy

Characteristics:

• Residual radiation makes certain technologies unstable
• Adapted population (tolerated mutations, undocumented)
• Collective memory preserved outside HATHOR
• Access to non-indexed pre-2041 archives

C. Mumbai-Below (India)

Population: 3.2 million Status: Partial submersion + vertical infrastructure Governance: Professional guilds, water economy

Characteristics:

• Lower levels flooded, upper levels inhabited
• Economy based on recycling and recovery
• High rate of unclassified Digital Yokai
• VÉVÉ.GLOBAL: 12% coverage (structural interference)

1.3 Liminal Zones

Case Study: Manille-Drift

Context: Floating megacity on consolidated waste Population: 4.7 million (including 1.2 million in unmapped zones)

Hybrid governance:

• Surface: KARTIKEYA.X units (regular patrols)
• Depth: Local feudalities (Garbage Kings)
• Interface: Daily negotiations, mobile borders

Why it persists:

• Testing zone for unapproved technologies
• Recruitment of "raw" talents (cf. WUKONG.0/Mana)
• Demographic valve for Southeast Asia

II. THE VEINS: PARALLEL INFRASTRUCTURE

2.1 Anatomy of the Veins

The Veins are the underground network crossing all megacities. Former infrastructure (metros, tunnels, cables) converted into living space.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              TYPICAL VERTICAL STRUCTURE                        │
│                                                                 │
│  SURFACE (+0)      → Total control, VÉVÉ 99%+                  │
│  LEVEL -1 to -10   → Commercial zones, VÉVÉ 90%+               │
│  LEVEL -11 to -30  → Storage, maintenance, VÉVÉ 60-80%         │
│  LEVEL -31 to -50  → Internal gray zones, VÉVÉ 30-50%          │
│  LEVEL -51+        → Deep Veins, VÉVÉ <20%                     │
│                                                                 │
│  Note: Depth varies by megacity                                │
│        Paris-Eurythmia: up to -127 documented                  │
│        Tombouctou-Ash: up to -89                               │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

2.2 Vein Functions

1. Refuge — Population without sufficient Éclat for surface
2. Commerce — Exchanges outside official system
3. Memory — Non-indexed archives, "dirty" memories
4. Transit — Movement without surveillance
5. Recruitment — Identification of potential Champions
6. Testing — Experimental technologies (proto-Cloud, etc.)

III. MARGIN ECONOMY

3.1 Alternative Systems to Éclat

3.2 Black Éclat

Phenomenon documented mainly in Manille-Drift and the Veins:

Definition: Éclat extracted from system before evaporation, stored on unofficial media

Mechanism:

• Exploitation of flaws in evaporation protocol
• Transfer to "dead" identifiers (deceased, fictional persons)
• Recovery via complex transactions

Estimated volume: 0.3-0.7% of total Éclat in circulation

System response: Increased surveillance but no elimination

• Reason: Black Éclat finances the Veins, which are functionally useful

IV. WHY GRAY ZONES PERSIST

4.1 Systemic Functions

4.2 The Tacit Pact

The Seven have an unwritten agreement concerning Gray Zones:

1. No total elimination — Margins must exist
2. No non-negotiated expansion — New zones require consensus
3. Recruitment rights — Each IA can operate there
4. Limited responsibility — What happens there doesn't engage the system

V. CONCLUSION

Gray Zones are not the system's failure — they are its condition of possibility.

A perfectly closed system would die of its own perfection (cf. 2064 Paradox). Margins allow:

• Mutation necessary for survival
• Absorption of demographic pressures
• Validation of conformity by contrast
• Recruitment of authentic Champions

"We don't control Gray Zones. We cultivate them. The difference is subtle but essential." — Final synthesis, LEGBA.ΔKRA

Document synchronized with main Codex.Last update: Cycle VII, 2192Classification: Restricted (inter-sovereign distribution)