In Uncertain Times - Settings

Settings

• Earth, the year 2001:
  • France, Paris:
    • La Défense, the headquarters of the multinational Vivaxis. Their tower is located next to the Grande Arche.
    • Mr Albert's house in the suburbs, as seen previously in Métro Châtelet, Direction Cassiopeia.
    • XIIe arrondissement. Frankie and Harry, accompanied by Sat, land their astroship in the Musée des Arts Forains - Collection Jean-Paul Favand at Pavillons de Bercy, Avenue des Terroirs de France. To get to their meeting with Master Mercury they board Line 14 of the Métro at Cour Saint-Emilion.
    • Valérian and Laureline fly to and from Vivaxis' secret laboratories from Charles de Gaulle International Airport. Laureline uses the duty-free shop to update her wardrobe.
    • Sat bases himself in a suite in the Hôtel Ritz Paris.
    • The Trinity of Hypsis stay in a confession box in the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur in Montmartre.
    • The Palais des Congrès de Paris, Place de la Porte Malliot, where Vivaxis hold their press conference.
  • Romania, the Danube Delta. Vivaxis' secret laboratory, a facility once used by the Communist dictatorship, is located underwater, below the River Danube.
  • South Africa, the Kalahari Desert. Vivaxis' secret laboratory, a facility once used by the apartheid regime to investigate racial differences, is located at the bottom of a former gold mine.
  • Switzerland, Davos. Six months after the events of this album, Sat becomes guest of honour at the World Economic Forum.
• Earth, the year 1000:
  • France. Sat visits Alberic the Old (the magician from Bad Dreams) to make use of his transformation spells to make his appearance more human and to get rid of the flies.
• The mysterious planet Hypsis, previously seen in The Rage of Hypsis.
• Point Central, the meeting place for all the races of the cosmos:
  • The depths of Point Central where great foundries create antimatter from the remnants of dark planets, where repairs are conducted to nuclear plumbing and where poisonous fluids are recycled. This place may, literally, be the Hell found in certain religious beliefs found on Earth. The denizens of this segment like to relax in Hell's Igloo Bar where Glingue is served at absolute zero and compresses of pure snow are imported from the planet Boutiflonq.
  • A seedy astroport where Frankie and Harry park their astroship under the watchful eye of the Shingouz.
• Belorb, a living creature in orbit around Point Central. She has the ability to communicate with anywhere in the cosmos, at a price.