Greenland Farm: Worldbuilding for Murder in Heliopolis

Greenland Farm: Worldbuilding - Murder in Heliopolis

One of the biggest and most successful farms in Heliopolis is Greenland Farm. One of over two dozen vertical farms in the mega-city, Greenland Farm stands out due to a range of different reasons. 

First, its helix-shaped structure, so different from that of the other vertical farms in The Farms, is striking to onlookers:

With about 60 floors - most of which host a farm each - and a beautiful, hanging ivy and wisteria falling off the sides, it's a colorful and awe-inspiring sight to behold. Here is how it is described in Detective Laith Alazraq's POV in Chapter 2:

Greenland Farm was easy to pick out from the group of vertical farms. Its helical structure, which made use of the curves and spaces of his shaping to create a set of ivy falls all the way up its length, was impossible to mistake. Wisterias had recently been introduced, and their flowers - purple, blue, and white - cloaked the farm in beauty.

Second, its produce is of extremely high quality in all three dimensions: taste, size, and nutritional benefit. It has created even more competition among the farms, and in a world where humans are healing the scarred earth in order to make plant life abundant again, it is taking great strides towards ensuring that Heliopolis is well-fed. 

Here's another quote from Chapter 2:

      Greenland Farm had made quite a splash a while back, if Laith remembered correctly. Something about bursting onto the scene with low prices and great produce to match, essentially forcing other farms to lower their own prices and improve their own produce to compete.
      It was the youngest of the farms, and arguably the most successful.
      And at the helm was Aster Lockwood - a genius who kept himself to himself. Not much was known about him - unlike the heads of the other farms - and it seemed he preferred it like that.

That's right! Greenland Farm is owned by none other than Aster Lockwood.

Another fun fact about Greenland farm is that it harvests and generates its own power mainly through the use of solar panels and wind turbines. It also obtains water through condensate harvesting and is so water-efficient that around 70% of the water it harvests is given away for use in other industries.

But it's not all sunshine and rainbows over at the blossoming Greenland Farm. Aster Lockwood isn't who he seems, and neither are those working with him...

There's a little shady business happening at Greenland Farm. Could it be connected to Cassia Grove's murder?

🧬

To learn more about Murder in Heliopolis, its worldbuilding, and its characters, check out its dedicated page here. Also, if you would like to be an alpha reader, please read this post.