Redacre

Redacre is the fictional town in Virginia where the events of occur.

Description
Redacre is a town located in Virginia within the National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ). It is a small town with a population of only a few thousand, described as a severely overgrown village with woods in between sections. The orange city lights seen from the edge of Lower East Hoadly are a section of Redacre.

SPEAK-AS-ONE founded and oversees Redacre. They often refer to it as their garden. Residents of Redacre are kept largely unaware of anything unusual and lead relatively normal lives not much different than any other family in the United States. The largest difference is a distinct and intentional exclusion of modern technology that saturates the town's culture. This exclusion is a highlight many residents value and is a selling point that draws some new residents into town. Some are so technophobic they fled to Redacre to avoid the Internet. Resident Maligras Quiroga attempted to appeal to the Redacre School Board to bring technology classes to Redacre, an act classified as opposing "Saturation laws" as "THEY WISHED TO BRING MACHINES TO TEACH THE YOUNG." Unlike other towns in the NRQZ, Redacre has no internet or cell services aside from the local CHORUS Communities provided service. Because of this, the residents of Redacre have very limited contact with the outside world.

CHORUS is a constant presence in Redacre. They are foremost a housing program, but their name and influence can be found on local utility companies, medical insurance claims, and schools such as the Old Growth Daycare Center. Their goal is to collect unity-promoting minds from all over the world, people that subconsciously hold values that SPEAK-AS-ONE embodies. They consider Redacre their haven for when the outside world collapses. Chorus is responsible for the local cell service, so residents can call each other within the town, but not anywhere outside. Even with this service, residents often have little cellular connection and call quality is an issue, as seen in the Prologue when Bells attempted to call her parents. All attempts to set up other signal broadcasts have failed (with one exception that did succeed from an outside source, but was short lived).

SPEAK-AS-ONE's followers believe town is a body that acts as one. To maintain, Chorus oversees the task of social engineering to keep Redacre looking dull and ordinary while staying functional for SPEAK-AS-ONE's goals. Locally, the population size means major businesses may have a few versions competing, but not dozens (i.e. two grocers, not ten. The high school is Central High, and its mascot is a unspecified wildcat. Residents celebrate holidays, such as Christmas and Halloween, as seen by decorations around Hoadly Street during their respective seasons. On higher levels, selective deals are stuck with government local and external, with people who are sympathetic to SPEAK-AS-ONE's ideals to ensure Redacre is as overlooked as possible. Tourism is very carefully controlled and is usually a prelude to being invited to move to Redacre. External franchises are allowed to set up businesses, but Chorus freezes out the ones that carry risk of bringing unconditioned strangers into town. Some of the police force are Lucids, backed up by the minute detail of a Police Report being "Case No. 543 SA1 -229". Overall, great measures and compromises have been made to keep Redacre hidden.

Redacre has recently enacted a strict curfew that prevents residents from wandering around after dark due to a supposed coyote invasion problem (though there have been no signs of said coyotes). Despite this, TBC members have undertaken investigation of Redacre's rampant sleepwalking problem though most adults do not seem to make much of it.

Before the Game
Redacre's history contains several distinct eras, though exact dates are left undefined. Before Redacre's founding, the region was known for hunting. Those who slept in the area would have intense dreams, affected by vapors from the large cave systems below. While the vapors in the caves are now known to relate to the origin of The Voices, it is unknown if SPEAK-AS-ONE was aware of the vapors at the time.

SPEAK-AS-ONE was drawn to the area for its "silence", after technological booms led to an increase in global human connection via telephone and radio systems. The increased connection of humanity affected The Voices drastically, leading to rapid changes and spread of the ideals that spawned the births and deaths of Voices at an unprecedented pace. What is meant by silence is related to The Song, and the clarity of broadcast SPEAK-AS-ONE is able to achieve in the area.

After considering other options to escape the increased connectivity of the outer world and the "pestilence of change" that threatened their existence, SPEAK-AS-ONE left the outside world, and founded Redacre as refuge. CHORUS Communities was created as their public facing presence to stay hidden to the outside world. As SPEAK-AS-ONE expects the outer world's infrastructure to fail, Redacre was slowly grown to be as self-sufficient as possible. According to THEE-I-DARE, Redacre hoards an obscene surplus of everything.

At some point, in addition to the natural cave system, mining operations were set up. The mines were suggested to be the foundation of what became known as The Maze.

After founding Redacre, SPEAK-AS-ONE struck up an alliance with THE-MEASURE-CUTS who claims responsibility for helping build the Instrument under town, designing the sonic fences, creating the process that coerces the residents into sleepwalking, the procedure that turns someone Lucid, and the construction of the Voice's secret archives. The alliance between THE-MEASURE-CUTS and SPEAK-AS-ONE has since failed. THE-MEASURE-CUTS was the last Voice to join in opposition of them, leaving after concluding they were "BIAS ITSELF."

Though the name was a "legal oversight", Redacre was officially ratified as a town thanks to the efforts of lawyer Everest Biehl, the great-grandfather of Officer J. Biehl. Devin explained, "they got it added to one federal map, and inherited a bunch of rights to the area with legal gooberism because people assumed it was real."

The "Legacy of the Redacre Runaways" hangs over Redacre's past, implying teens are "running away" from home and going missing since before the 90s. Labeling the missing children as runaways is likely a cover CHORUS uses to hide the deaths of those who resist their goals.

In the 90s, there was a version of The Blackout Club, though their actions and fates are largely unknown. Some survived and are parents in Redacre now. Lucids will sometimes remark that they grew up in Redacre.

The Voices invaded Redacre in the years following Redacre's founding despite SPEAK-AS-ONE's preventative efforts. They call this invasion a growing pestilence where once it was rare. While some Voices have open disdain for the way SPEAK-AS-ONE has cultivated Redacre's population, all the Voices benefit from the residents very slow-changing ideals. All Voices are sheltered from the rapid changes of the the outer world that have only grown faster since the internet's creation. SPEAK-AS-ONE has commented on this trait, saying "BELIEF SPREADS SLOWLY HERE/ WORD OF MOUTH. NOTHING MORE." Some of the Voices were drawn to Redacre for the unique refuge it provides, and the versions of the Voices that exist in Redacre are likely unique, removed from versions of them that exist externally. SPEAK-AS-ONE has gone to great lengths to eradicate the others presence in Redacre, going so far as to initiate a "Great Cull" against THEE-I-DARE that involved CHORUS tracking and killing his Hosts. This Cull left Redacre scattered with THEE-I-DARE's Name Fragments.

The residents of Redacre under influence of The Song have been conditioned into not recognizing the strange things around town. Namely, Red Doors, the secret passages that lead to the Maze, and at one point even the sight of the moon in the sky was hidden from them. Very few residents are Lucids and fully aware of their actions.

The previous mayor was Omar uz-Zaman, who is presumed to be a SPEAK-AS-ONE loyalist because they held a big memorial after his death. The new mayoral candidates are Maligras Quiroga and Myron Trips. After Maligras disappeared, the election was delayed, causing complaints from some parents. Devin thinks Myron is secretly doing the job anyways under a different title. Maligras was a host to DIE-FOR-YOU and had the support of The Blackout Club (Group). Gwen said she would vote for Maligras if she could vote.

In-Game
Non-SPEAK-AS-ONE Voices are attempting different means to survive, escape, or otherwise open Redacre's now strictly closed borders. The Voices reach out to the The Blackout Club as the club carries out missions in Redacre overnight, in hopes of sharing information, learning more, and mutually aiding each other. Only the youth of Redacre are able to resist the Song. Lucids remark that they are watching the borders and woods of Redacre, a consequence of Bells' disappearance. Despite historically strict monitoring, Chorus placed a new lock-down on travel in and out of town after her disappearance.

SPEAK-AS-ONE often interferes with these missions and encourages their followers (called "Eyes", taking the form of Stalkers in-game) to search out THEE-I-DARE's Name Fragments to destroy them. They claim interest only in holding Redacre, despising the world outside the borders. SPEAK-AS-ONE has stated "WE HAVE ABANDONED THE OLD WORLD. AS IT RICHLY DESERVES." They instead focus on the internal goals of eradicating the other Voices by killing Hosts, researching Old Tongue, and returning everyone to The Song.

Hoadly's Leap
A small neighborhood of Redacre where missions take place. Lake Tolmie's waters lay far below the sheer drop-off at the southeastern side of the neighborhood. Click on a section of the map to explore more about that area or select the region from below.

Major sections:
 * Lower East Hoadly
 * Lower West Hoadly
 * Old Growth (Region)

Notable Areas:
 * 98 Ave NE- The road that bisects Lower East and Lower West Hoadly.
 * The Maze - A network of rooms and tunnels running underneath Redacre that houses the Instrument.

Undisclosed Locations

 * The Hideout - The Blackout Club's base of operations, a set of boxcars located somewhere in the woods of Redacre.
 * The Stalker Van - The Stalker's hideout located somewhere in the woods of Redacre.

Trivia

 * Redacre is supposedly one of the safest places in Virginia.
 * Photographs of both dogs and cats can be found alongside family portraits in the houses of Hoadly's Leap. Paired with SPEAK-AS-ONE's comment that some of their hosts are comforted by cats, this indicates that residents have pets despite their absence during missions.
 * Redacre has an ice rink.