Cyberpunk 2077 Lore Richard Night & Night Corp
The origin of Night City began with a small coastal town known as Morro Bay. Located at a junction between Northern and Southern California. In late 1992, marauders descended on the tiny coastal hamlet and nearly razed it to the ground. This massacre and the closure of the nearby Three Fingers power plant, considerably lowered the price of property in Morro Bay.
An enterprising land developer, Richard Night, bought up the entire town. Richard, at the time was a partner in the construction company of Halsey, Ferris and Night, but he soon departed to found his own development firm, Night International. Night had a dream of creating a city of the future so grand that all other cities built before or after would be compared to it.
The next step would be to secure the capital that would be needed to finance the project. With the Collapse, many megacorporations were starting to look at establishing their own urban areas, controlled zones free of crime, poverty and debt. City governments would be corporate-run, allowing optimum zoning and no antibusiness elements to interfere with corporate growth.
Night’s plan was tailor-made for their purposes; he provided the design and construction capacities they didn’t have, and the megacorporations provided the necessary cash. As fate would have it, Petrochem, owned both drilling rights and most of the land surrounding the Del Coronado Bay region.
A 132-million-dollar purchase secured the remaining property, and by 1993 Coronado City, the dream city, was under construction. Richard’s plan involved dredging the shallow Del Coronado bay to accommodate bulk carriers, while extending the upper peninsula on which the old town stood.
The existing township of Del Coronado, with a population of about twenty-eight thousand, was to be integrated into a picturesque “Old Downtown” while a gigantic Corporate Plaza would become the new nexus of the city. The old suburbs would be merged with larger residential groupings, involving planned growth and preserving the neighborhoodlike feel.
During construction, many attempts were made on Richard’s life. A proud and self-reliant man, he ignored them, but his luck eventually ran out. On September 20th, 1998, he was shot and killed in his penthouse suite at the top of the newly constructed Parkview Tower.
His killer was never apprehended. In his memory, the newly appointed City Council officially renamed Coronado City as Night City. Shortly afterwards the Night Foundation would be created by Richard’s wife, Miriam Night, with the goal of protecting and promoting his vision of the Dream City.
During the infamous Mob Wars, the foundation attempted to gain megacorporate support to end the reign of crime in Night City, but to no avail. Night Foundation was restructured and renamed Night Corp. Night Corp is a unique corporation that is solely focused on Night City and its affairs.
The company is the largest contractor of public procurements within the boundaries of the city, building and renovating facilities like roads, bridges, tunnels, metro lines, power plants, net transmitters, waterworks, and sewerage. The corporation is also known for its charity work designed to aid the city’s poorest children, and scholarship programs to benefit gifted young people.
Night Corp is also heavily invested in research for ecology and alternate power sources. Although Miriam Night stepped down from the role of CEO long ago, her legacy and ideals are outwardly upheld by her successors. However, Night Corp’s true intentions remains elusive.
