The compound of the Tessier-Ashpool clan, built inside one of the narrowing ends of Freeside, an 'island' which orbits the earth and which is accessable via a gravity well. The structure itself has many different aspects, but the whole of it is characterised by an insect-like pattern of construction, rooms folding in upon one another, smooth concrete walls and bits of 19th century architecture and decoration which have been made to fit into the futuristic setting of an orbiting space island. Most of the rooms are decorated with lush carpets and hand carved wooden doors (most of which have been truncated in order to fit into smaller than intended doorways). Something odd about the doors inside Straylight, many of them have mechanical locks which are something of a rarity in the technologically advanced time it was built in. Deep inside the compound is a massive cryogenic storage center which houses much of the T-A Clan. The personal quarters of 3Jane Marie France Tessier Ashpool are decorated as a faux cave, complete with blasted stone walls and a floor which appears as sand but which resmooths itself when the evenness of the sand is disturbed. Throughout the novel Neuromancer in which the compound is featured, the protagonist case compares the Tessier-Asphool base to a nest of wasps.

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