If Night City is where Morro Bay, CA is IRL, this region to the east would be the Badlands. I just realized that I’d visited the area a few years ago, taking an alternate route from LA to SF to check out some roads I’d yet to explore. This is CA58, which winds eastward past the 101. It’s so barren there are warning signs about no services. In the summer, desert-like heat, sometimes 30° hotter than in Morro Bay/NC.
Crossing this stretch on a Friday, I didn’t see a single other vehicle.