AN NYPD EQUIPMENT GUIDE TO 2050s SURVIVAL
Alice's NYPD uniform developed between the books and my own illustrations. Here's a more in depth look at what it takes to survive on those mean streets...
New York 2050 is an extreme environment. Not only because of the weather—which is in a state of perpetual and unpredictable upheaval—but because of the desperate situation occurring at ground level. Cortex’s first two books, The Paradise Factory and This Automatic Eden, take place during the longest winter on record, hence one of the NYPD’s major challenges is how to keep cops moving in week-long sub-zero temperatures.
Their uniform has adapted to this post-automation reality. The clothing now consists of multiple specialized layers, the innermost being a heating suit similar to those worn by contemporary arctic survival teams:
Alice’s 2055 jacket has an internal power supply feeding an 18-volt system connected to heat-tracing elements woven into the fabric. Nice and toasty... except it’s a killer on battery life. Yeah, even thirty years into the future and after an AI revolution, batteries are still a problem. Sure, the one percent skiing down their private mountains in Colorado would have the latest solid-state batteries which last for days, but the NYPD is using old, worn out gear.
The batteries in Alice’s jacket last for eight hours, while her typical shift is twelve hours long. So, for four hours of every day, she’s freezing. She tries to regulate it so that after every hour of heat she has thirty minutes of cold, but sometimes life just gets in the way, and she spends hours fighting off exposure.
This heated layer looks more like a diver’s suit than normal clothing—a thick, stretchy coverall designed for maximum flexibility combined with complete coverage. Fabric technology has advanced to the extent that these layers are woven from composite fibers creating bulletproof clothing which is light and breathable, preventing heat exhaustion or dehydration.
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Thousands of tiny lights are embedded in the fabric. This enables the uniform to spell out any warning the wearer wants. It normally displays legal forms—such as cease-and-desists, or limited liability for medical costs incurred—you know, pleasant stuff like that 😀 While it is a requirement for NYPD jackets to display these warnings at all times, they also come with a hit on battery life, so not every cop does as instructed. Over this is be worn an optional layer of body armor and something very special indeed… read on to find out what…