Themes: journalism, neutrality, integrity, price of freedom.
Jez never dreamed of a great future—their highest hopes so far have been to get a steady job where they do not have to worry about when and whether the next paycheck will come. But sometimes, talent shines through, and Jez turned out to be quite skilled with a pen or, later, with a primitive typewriter.
Their friendly, sociable nature and honed people-reading skills make them well-integrated into multiple groups, but all their relationships are held at arm’s length - after all, the story always comes first. And while their family provides the safety net that their modest pay cannot offer now, it also means they are under the heel of their cousins. But now, as the tensions are running higher in the community - and in the Schwenk family - every camp would like to have the reporter on their side. Jez values their integrity and their freedom above all - but will they be able to retain it? Even if retaining their integrity meant going back to the sweatshop every single day for the rest of their life?
Everybody who lives in La Cage is mostly poor and desperate. The families and professionals living in Apartment Blocks are the ones who really try to keep some semblance of normality in their lives. The Block B consists mostly of tradesmen and people of other desirable professions. People with no exceptional wealth or status, but the ones who are good and honest at their job and are beneficial to the La Cage. Educated, but not burgeois - teacher, nurse, students, social worker or people jilted from Block A. They mostly want to stay far from the troubles and extreme ideologies (to a small degree of success) but are willing to help each other as much as they can - like a big family.
The collective of anarchists is, as it usually goes, not the most structured group with any clear hierarchy. They banded together because they shared a common vision. The Union is right about the oppression of capital, but wrong about the requirement of authority. The mankind does not need to be governed. The movement stands on three main principles - mutual aid, voluntary cooperation, and direct action. Those are non-negotiable, however, when it comes to the beliefs of the individual members, they vary greatly. Maybe that is the reason that they fight as much against the regime, as among themselves. But the group is fresh and ready to take on some less abstract shape. How will the anarchy shape La Cage?
A group of youth "criminals", as some other older folks of La Cage would surely put it. And disgusting ones supposedly! Digging through trash and maybe even through the dead bodies stored in the old morgue. It's almost all bollocks. They do not see themselves that way, of course. They prefer calling themselves "treasure hunters" or "scavengers". That's their jam - getting their hands on rare fortune, diving into the unknown to save poor things from being orphaned and forgotten.
