What is The Gate?
How did I come across it and why am I exploring it?
The first time I visited The Gate was in a daydream, sometime during early 2024. I can’t recall exactly what sparked it, but for some reason, I found myself mulling over the potential consequences of a dramatic rise in global sea levels for the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. From there, the idea of an enormous dam spanning the Öresund Strait began to take shape. Could such a structure regulate the water level of the Baltic Sea? As it turns out, no. While quickly checking some maps in the old archive I soon realized that the Atlantic (via The North Sea) connects to the Baltic through more pathways than a simple mind like mine initially considered. Realizing this, The Gate grew in my imagination, stretching beyond the Öresund strait to also encompass the waters between Denmark and Germany, with its southern bridgehead reaching east of Rostock. But then and there, in that initial daydream, such practicalities were irrelevant.
Instead, what took shape was a futuristic sci-fi megacity, perched atop the colossal dam. What a striking image! The dam grew to be several kilometers wide, stretching from Malmö to Copenhagen, and housed millions. The city couldn’t just expand outward; it had to grow vertically. The megablocks, their skyscrapers poking out like treetops, formed a dense, tangled forest of steel, concrete, and materials I hadn’t even imagined yet.
How did it come to this? Clearly, this daydream had thrust me several centuries into the future, into a society rich with history, mystique, intrigue, and, most importantly, people and their stories. I was totally hooked by this dystopian sci-fi melting pot.
Since then, I’ve continued exploring the city, its society and people. At first, through the traditional methods of world-building—posing questions to myself about governance, culture, history, technology, and the world beyond the city. But in recent months, it’s been through writing stories, letting the characters—the people of The Gate—show me the way.
So—in a nutshell—What is The Gate?
The Gate (in its expanded form) is a sprawling megacity atop a massive dam bridging what was once Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. Rising from the ruins of a collapsing world, it serves as a monument for humanity’s resilience and as a chilling reminder of its failures. It still protects the Baltic Sea from the ravages of climate disaster, but within its towering walls lies a society fractured by inequality, desperation, and ambition.
At its core, The Gate is a story of survival, control and hope. Here, dystopian sci-fi seamlessly blends with political intrigue and faint traces of magic. Technological marvels define daily life for the elite, while a rigid social hierarchy traps most citizens in the shadowy depths below. Beneath the surface, latent forces—scientific and mystical—simmer, hinting at a reality far stranger than it appears.
The Gate’s surface spans approximately 8,000 square kilometers, housing an estimated 70 to 100 million people. No one knows the exact number, of course. To put this into perspective, contemporary Tokyo—a densely populated area—holds over 37 million people in roughly the same area.
But wait—there is more
The Gate isn’t just vast; it’s layered—literally and metaphorically. Its megablocks stretch in all three (and perhaps even hint at a fourth) dimensions, creating a labyrinth of interconnected structures. Daylight rarely reaches the streets at the bottom. Simplifying its design, the city operates on a stark vertical hierarchy: workers and lower-class citizens occupy the shadowed depths, while the elite reside in the gleaming heights.
The city’s governance is dominated by powerful Houses, blending corporate empires and dynastic families, locked in a precarious balance of oligarchic control. This dynamic is thinly veiled by the semblance of democracy under The Council, which is ultimately controlled by its Executive Board.
Secrets Buried in The Barrier
The Gate is a city of countless secrets and ancient mysteries from before The Collapse. Its foundation, The Barrier, is a colossal structure filled with thousands of rooms, facilities, and chambers. Some are still in active use, while others have been abandoned, shrouded in darkness and mystery. Their purposes? Long lost to time.
The precise geography of The Gate might remain a mystery to readers, much like it is to its citizens. Most people here are too preoccupied with survival to concern themselves with distant truths or forgotten histories. The Gate’s allure lies not in what’s explicitly explained but in its mysteries, both literal and metaphorical.
Through the Eyes of Its People
The Gate is more than just a city; it’s a living, breathing narrative. Through its characters—diverse, flawed, and often desperate—we explore towering structures and shadowy depths. But more importantly, we delve into the moral, ethical, and existential questions of a society forever on the edge.
This is a city where power is everything, secrets are currency, and every step forward comes at a cost. I will continue my explorations—on my own and with the help of characters and storytelling. I invite you to be a part of the ride, I’d be honored and it would be awesome to share it with you.
Welcome to The Gate.
—Erik
Psst! If you want to follow the exploration through a character’s point of view—follow the megacity vagabond Lucian Wren’s guide to the city »
And if you’d like to dive even deeper—check out my short stories on Amazon: