The feudal city-state of CGØ hereby grants all of SFØ a glimpse inside our Fortress of DOOM: Chicagø's Deering Bridge.

This structure, which you may have seen appear in other Praxis, is now a fully functional battle station, in which we will hole up during the Zombie Apocalypse, thereafter mobilizing the structure to destroy and enslave our enemies in the post-apocalyptic landscape.

We suggest that other cityZeros survey our might, and consider becoming a Vassal of the indisputably powerful (but fair and benevolent) CGØ Empire.


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The Deering Bridge was once a functioning cantilever bridge over the north branch of the Chicago River. The engine room caught fire some time ago, and since then the structure has fallen into disrepair (ie. broken handrails reaching out over abyss, and holes rusted through all the catwalks). Despite the condition of the trellis, however, the tracks beneath are still in regular use by Metra trains, which pass underneath about once an hour on a Sunday night. Access to the Metra tracks is by 12 feet of ladder, which have a steel plate padlocked over the first 6 feet. Access to the first level of the bridge is a simple staircase (that once had handrails).


At the top of this staircase, however, a steel door has been installed (and locked) to keep trespassers from continuing upward - climbing over the door is prevented by 6-inch metal teeth that were slapped on later. There once was a ladder here going up to another catwalk, but a steel plate has been welded to the rungs, preventing its use. Enter Zer0gee with her chain ladder (fits neatly in a fanny pack). While CGØ boasts superior agility to your common player, we are not afraid to defeat obstructions using cunning engineering.





Approximately 30 feet above the tracks (45 feet above street level), we climb over enormous gears and tanks and pipes into what once was the Engine Room. Demolished by the fire and filled with huge metal junk, this open-air flat is large enough to hold quite a few people. We set ourselves up around the old furnace, amid the little trees which have begun to grow out of the floor.




In order to outfit this Team HQ, we schlepped a whole bunch of junk, in backpacks, all the way up to this first landing - each team member brought something to either make the place feel more like home, or to outfit it as the invincible fortress which it was always meant to be. Items included:

- 1 tarp, 2 blankets, 1 rug: to cover the broken glass and metal scraps on the floor
- propane camping stove
- large kettle
- 12 tea cups
- assortment of teas
- electric lantern
- wind-up LED flashlight
- a laminated map of Chicago (from Journey)
- a copy of "How to Survive Anything, Anywhere"
- 3 candles of St. Jude
- graph paper, pencil, 20-sided die (for plotting)
- home made cookies (bacon & vegetarian)
- trail mix
- 1.5 gallons of water
- an apple, an orange
- various other cookie-like snacks, in packages
- 2 digital SLRs for long exposures (but only 1 battery)
- mini tripod and supernatural sticky tripod
- CGØ flag
- win, win, and more win

DCØ Senator, Spidere, met us on the bridge. We wined and dined this eastern ambassador, and took his advice on many matters. We look forward to future relations with DCØ.




Once we had the tea poured, we entered into our first official team meeting. Muffinbot, Amby D and Ayma Mack took down the minutes. At the end, we had drafted a list of team goals and demands of the SFØ community.




DEMANDS!
(From meeting notes on the sacred graph paper)
1. "SFØ" to be renamed "CGØ"
2. We demand representation for Chicago-specific tasks
2a. The High Score task should be rewritten to be the Sears Tower
3. AUØ should extradite Sparrows Fall and her cohorts back to Chicago
4. Harry Lee must stay
5. Piratey Monkey must play or die
6. NYØ must be destroyed before it can grow
7. Annex SLØ to CGØ
8. A marriage alliance with MNØ to ensure good relations into the future
8a. Propose a betrothal of Eleanorest to Terpsichore's upstairs neighbor's son (Jack-the-most-awesome).
9. All other cityZeroes must tithe fresh produce on a bimonthly basis
10. is a secret and you will obey


After we finished this list, the CGØ flag was carried to the highest catwalk and zip-tied in place. Members of the team climbed around the various i-beams, risking death in order to properly explore our new home.




While we were taking our team photo, two urban spelunkers showed up. We invited these adventurers to break our bread, served them tea, then took a second photograph with them (bottom right). They had many secrets to tell us about accessible awesomeness around the South Side of Chicago. Further collaboration is in the works.





OBSERVE OUR MIGHTY FORTRESS: