In the old days, the city used to float in clouds by the sea; touched by mist and sunlight. They called it the Emerald City, for it's greenery and the otherworldy air around it.

Most of that's gone now, washed away by sterile corporate conformity. In place of quaint buildings and farmers markets, now rise sleek spires of wealth. What was once a magical city by the sea is now a sterile megapolis crouched on the side of a polluted sound, toxins swishing against the shore where clean waves used to crash.

Still, there are hints of what made it special still hidden within the borders of Sea-Met. Gothic architecture hides in the shadows of corporate towers; Native American art hides in rocky coves among the islands of Puget Sound. And here, the underground is strong. Music clubs, rebel societies, strange cults; they all gravitate to the Pacific Northwest for various reasons. Virtually all the corporations have major offices in Seattle. Arasaka, Biotechnica...They're all here. But what's even more special is it's close proximity to the Canadian border, and what that means -- a chance at freedom. The border is tight, but there are still the precious few who risk it all in attempt to escape the ISA and make it to the promised land of maple leafs and bacon.

The crash of '97 hit the Pacific Northwest hard, but after a few years, the area recovered well. A lot of it was turned over to farmland (most of Oregon and Eastern Washington), while Sea-Met grew due to an influx of corp money seeking another port on the West Coast, one more stable than California and Night City.

All in all, not a bad place to live. The streets are cleaner here than in some parts of the world; the ISA keeps a sharp eye on things. Only in the south and the mountain ranges to the east are things a bit more wild and rugged. The Street is mostly run by Triad and Yakuza; Tribal juvegangs and Streetfighter schools are very common.

Perhaps the most well-known place among the juvegang set is RKCNDY2, the revamped underground club that moves from place to place in the city, taking up residence in abandoned arcologies but always shifting location before the authorities can shut it down. It's neutral ground; most of the local yogangs have tacitly agreed to 'take it outside' if there's a problem, so it's one of the few places in Sea-Met where just about any 'ganger type can be found...