Iron and Copper

Iron and Copper is the primary location in the Iron and Copper Series.

Home to former USPP Officer, Kalina Kapua, the primary antagonist of the novels.

After nuclear exchange, but before the subsequent food riots, the surviving visitors and staff on Liberty Island decided to fortify their location and attempt to rebuild some semblance of community and stability. Once the food riots began, their population swelled as refugees from the mainland attempted to flee the violence.

Home to just over a thousand survivors, their cramped dwellings have stretched the resources and led to a need to venture deeper into what remains of New York City, often leading to conflict with the Boneyard Settlement.

Iron and Copper no longer open their doors to new refugees. However, children have been born post-collapse and have begun to add to the settlement's population once again.

History

Founded by the National Park Service employees present when the nuclear warhead headed for New York City was intercepted and detonated at ground level at JFK Airport. Declaring a national emergency, most visitors and staff were sent home. At the same time, a core group of NPS Employees and Park Police met and discussed creating a safe haven as enacted by the President.

The group, including Officer Kapua, was able to secure NBC Survival Tents and pallets of hard-stocked military MREs. They also secured a supply of air scrubbers and a water purification system.

Over the following week, Federal assistance began to waver and ended as military transports were needed to handle the food riots and looting. On October 14th, 2048, the last transmission came from the White House Bunker ordering martial law and rationing - neither order was ever enacted as utility services shut down completely. The final industrial shipment of portable solar generators never made it onto the final ferry.

The Park Employees on Liberty Island council decided to continue with the Safe Haven plan and began offering shelter to refugees. This open-door policy ended abruptly on December 2nd, 2048, when a group of starving raiders attacked the island and tried to seize control of their warehouse. The assault cost Deputy Rook his life. Deputy Rook had been the most senior member of the Park Service and the de facto leader.

After the island was locked down, the settlement elected a new leader. Mayor Terry McCormick was elected and decreed the settlement be named Iron and Copper, after a piece of trivia about the makeup of the statue. Mayor McCormick was one of the first refugees, not an original NPS staff member, putting him at odds with council members building the Safe Haven.

In January 2049, Mayor McCormick dismantled the council and formed an Iron and Copper Militia to replace the NPSS security forces. Mayor McCormick also built a stockade around the ferry landing, restricting all future migration or visits to the mainland without permission. McCormick, a former restaurant franchisee owner, pressed hard to encourage citizens to begin private enterprise. He conceded utilities and housing would be granted to all citizens, but a tax would offset their upkeep.

Economy

For Reference Only. Image credit https://pennypresses.com/

The initial economy consisted of basic living needs to be fulfilled by NPS Staff. As survival gear and food shipments lessened, the NPS Staff implemented a hasty draft for specialist and skilled labor. This necessitated a system of printed vouchers for extra rations. However, a horde of counterfeit vouchers was discovered with no way to control the duplication of vouchers.

Soon after, Park Staff realized they had control of the only penny press on the island. They collected every penny available to them and pressed them into elongated copper slabs with an imprint of the Statue of Liberty. These became known as 'Coppers' and are the only official currency accepted by the commissary for excess rations over your allotment.

The Coppers soon became the de facto form of currency for most transactions. It's generally agreed one copper is worth approximately one hour of hard labor (either in the greenhouse or fishery). As there is no agreed fractional unit, debts between private parties often still include some measure of bartering or trade.

Other Currency

A collection of Souvenir Medallions were also secured from the vending machines throughout the island. These larger copper coins all bear an image of the statue on the front and verbiage or other imagery on the rears. Originally they were planned to be traded away to other settlements or used as a copper multiplier. However, as private business has begun to take root on the island, they've become equivalently worth 100 Coppers and are often traded between the larger companies and the governing body.

Industry

When the Safe Haven was first established, Federal food and supplies were abundant enough not to require work from anyone outside of the Federal agencies running the Safe Haven. Even as the first voucher system was established, work was done by Federal Employees and draftees. That all changed with Deputy Rook's death and the election of Mayor McCormick.

Citizens are generally allowed the freedom to choose a profession. However, there is no unemployment benefit. Your living stipend is paid on completion of weeks worth of work with utility and housing tax deducted. Most specialist jobs are paid a flat rate on top of their stipend at the end of each week. This allows all citizens to be paid the same amount, with benefits for skilled labor.