Hygeia Station

Overview

Hygeia Station is officially a failed corporate venture: an attempt at a self-sustaining colony that lost funding when the business case collapsed in 2158. Officially abandoned. Actually home to roughly 2,000 people living entirely outside the contract labor system – the belt’s closest thing to a free settlement.

Structure and Layout

The station was originally built for colony life, and traces of that ambition remain. Corporate infrastructure is partially maintained alongside improvised additions built from salvaged components and jury-rigged systems. Agricultural sections still grow food using hydroponics from the original colony design. There are no formal districts – the community developed organically.

Population

Hygeia’s approximately 2,000 permanent residents are a mix of contract-breakers, retirees, independents, and the desperate. There is no formal registration or documentation. A rotating population of people who “don’t exist” passes through.

Resources

The station is self-sufficient in food, barely. Energy comes from salvaged solar collectors. Water recycling operates at 94% efficiency. Material shortages are constant. Everything is slightly broken, slightly patched, slightly insufficient.

History

Hygeia was founded in 2152 as an experimental self-sustaining colony. The project failed economically in 2158 when projections showed it would never produce exportable profit. Rather than evacuate, some workers stayed – joined by others over the years.

The station exists because it’s not worth the cost to clear. The corporations know it’s there; they pretend otherwise. This arrangement suits everyone, under normal circumstances.

Atmosphere

The smell of hydroponics is the first thing visitors notice: damp, green, organic in a way that feels wrong in space. Gravity is slightly lower than Ceres – Hygeia’s rotation was never optimized. Lighting from salvaged panels is inconsistent, often flickering. The sound of improvised systems fills the corridors: creaking, humming, occasionally alarming. Temperature varies widely because heating is unreliable. Everything has been repaired with whatever was available.

The community that’s developed here is insular, suspicious of outsiders, and fiercely protective of its precarious freedom.