Opposition

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 - Cyberpunk Political Intrigue Roleplay

The Elite, Zero-G Space Bartender

S T E L L A S O L O M O N
23 | Female | 5’3” | AB-

General Information

“I’m a Mixologist. It’s like a bartender, but I think I’m better than you.”

NAME:
Stella Solomon

ALIASES // TITLES:
The (self-titled) Queen of Cool

APPEARANCE:
Stella makes up for her diminutive physical stature with poise and presence. Lean and slim, Stella is quick in every wispy and graceful movement she makes, as though she has no time to waste. Sporting a consistently smug poker face, Stella takes pride in the fact that she always looks like she knows something you don’t. Stella is almost always seen groomed to an excessive degree for work and optimal function. Her hair is a stark white, regularly trimmed to a pristine edge at her neckline with a crown braid around her head. Stella’s cybernetic eyes almost glow with a radiant ring of dark purple.

Stella scarcely leaves the house without a fully presentable outfit complete with a pin-striped and popped-collar shirt, pressed pants, and often a tie. She favors a pair of fashionable combat boots to move freely while also maintaining her aesthetic. Only those with a careful eye can spot Stella’s augmented hands, as there is an artificial skin over most of both of her arms.

OCCUPATION:

“Tactical Mixologist… I’ll also accept Ultrabartender.”

Stella has been a long time employee of The Limbo Club, a bar and club aboard High Orbital Station Alexandria known for its extremely powerful and renowned patrons. The club itself is a hotspot in High Orbital art culture, where reservations fill up to see performances of poetry while conducting formal business. Stella was one of the club’s famed mixologists who are known for their charisma and hospitality to their patrons. The Limbo Club’s mixologists are there to provide the perfect setting for any sensitive exchange of information and will weigh in on any situation when necessary. Of course, such a setting necessitates a certain clandestine discretion. The Limbo Club’s mixologists are considered experts at mining for information, but are considered ‘sworn’ to their clients for the duration of their service. As such, mixologists cannot lie and are known to provide great advice to patrons of the club.

Stella had to return to Earth on the orders from the Limbo’s manager. For a while, she worked short stints in various clubs and bars around the Twin City Sprawl and the Vegas Triangle on a client-by-client basis. Most recently, she was contracted to a position working in Duat, The Land of the Dead in the Reclaim Zone at the request of Oswald’s superiors. Stella was not told who the clients were. Instead, she knows only that they will contact her in Duat when needed. As such, Stella has spent the last month as a bartender in the Reclaim Zone.

Psychological Profile

“Welcome to the precipice. What does your unique situation require today?”

Intimate | Ostentatious | Cunning | Discreet | Refined | Meticulous | Polite| Confident

PERSONAL GOAL:
Stella is ultimately enamoured with her rather niche position as a Mixologist. With her unique skill set and approach to handling problems, Stella only hungers for more information to hone her craft and become the best she can be. As her world expanded beyond Alexandria, Stella began to realize that her influence is not limited to her work in the Limbo Club. She has since taken on dreams of mining for information all over America and applying her knowledge to the clients she sees fit to use it.

CAMPAIGN GOAL:
Stella is currently a very neutral entity on the campaign trail, aiming to accomplish only what her clients request of her. Since Oswald could offer her no specifics on the nature of her job, Stella is biding her time and trying to analyze the various candidates to the best of her ability to prepare for what might come.

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY:
Stella believes she’s one of the people who have been lost to the wayside. In a world where power inevitably culminates in a select population, there isn’t much she can do to change the tide of the world around her. But at the very least, Stella intends to understand what’s going on around her even if she has to watch the world burn just to make it to the end. She awaits the Conflagration, in a way, seemingly ready for the apocalypse at a moment’s notice and only waiting for another chance for a display of her greatness.

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY:
Having heard so many different points of view aboard Alexandria, Stella can’t help but be at least resigned to the views of the Central Party. With a fine understanding of a handful of forces like Oswald’s family, she believes the Central Party will exert its will regardless of the other political parties in the system. Due to her hunger for information, the shrewd tactics of Pirate Party activists and organizations that have aimed to proliferate personal privacy and publicized government have also caught her attention. To a certain extent, lesser known parties are enigma’s in Stella’s mind since most of the exchanges in high orbit surround the Central Party, but who cares much about politics? Stella is only around to see the end of the Anthropocene.

SECRETS:
Stella comes off as a very secretive person to all those she encounters, and for good reason. While she does enjoy flaunting her position as a Mixologist originating from high orbital society, Stella knows when to keep that card close to her chest and blend in. Even those who know Stella came from Alexandria know very little of her motivations for being in South City.

FEARS:
►Humanity Magna Machina
Above all else, Stella fears the unstoppability of the human machine. With the incalculable number of factors that influence world decisions, she sees every decision as a powerless strike back against a fate that can never be beaten. This idea that she is unable to create change has been a root cause of Stella’s striving for greatness in her profession. Having no hope for proliferation of humanity’s actual needs, Stella desperately clings to self-actualization in her artistic expression.

Stella also has what she would call ‘a slight aversion’ to guns. Having not really experienced firearms in use aboard Alexandria, Stella can get a bit panicky around guns.

REPUTATION:
Stella’s reputation is varied from location to location. While she has renown around clients of the Limbo Club aboard Alexandria, Stella is relatively unknown around America. She has recently earned quite the reputation in Duat as a strange contrast to the usual bar atmosphere in the Reclaim Zone. Most seem to recognize that she’s more than meets the eye, but the charm of the Reclaim’s new Mixologist usually usurps any suspicions in their minds.

LIKES:

►Mixology
►Limbo Dust
►New Information
►Peak Productivity
►Showing Off
►Narcotic Miscellany
►Inquisitive Conversation

DISLIKES:

►People That Lie
►Laziness
►Lack of Punctuality
►Anything Unoptimized

QUIRKS:

►Stella is compelled to quote modern and historical poetry alike in day-to-day conversations where poetry has no place.
►When forced to be idle, Stella occupies herself by optimizing and organizing her surroundings or trying to do ‘tricks’ with any nearby objects.
►Stella regularly offers drink recommendations and makes bar puns in serious and dangerous situation like a campy superspy.

Background Information

“We spend our whole lives chasing mastery and space dust. Welcome to Duat.”

𝕊𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕞:
In 2041, Stella Vittoria Solomon climbed out of the void, fought her way through its infinite blank aboard High Orbital Station Alexandria, and clawed out at self-actualization. Alexandria was considered a paradise at the edge of humanity, where knowledge was paramount. Complete with numerous extravagant casinos, hotels, bars, laboratories, gardens, and other venues for those with the credits to get into orbit, Alexandria catered to an audience they like to call “extremely refined”. Of course, Stella only ever saw the covetous lifestyle from one side. Her mother was a blackjack dealer and her father was a mechanic.

They say everything is better in High Orbit. They must pay the Alexandria crew to say it. Despite their position in the working class aboard the station, Stella was brought up into a culture of perfection, striving, and mastery. She was surrounded by a working class that sought nothing but greatness in their craft. To work in an orbital establishment was prestige like no other in terms of any service or hospitality industry. When Stella was young, however, her eyes were drawn only to the extravagance. She was on the outside looking in.

And he was on the inside looking out. Oswald never told Stella his last name. She wasn’t sure she ever asked after meeting him on one of her adventures out into the restricted hallways of the Alexandria. The two children from opposing classes became quick friends and rivals, committed to understanding the life of the other. As far as Stella could tell, Oswald’s father was the head of a family of business magnates. She never could pry quite far into their business, but as the two children grew older, Oswald’s influence introduced Stella to a world she couldn’t have dreamed up.

Powerful orbital families control earth-based factions, factories, and facts like liquid assets. Gossip, espionage, and strife run rampant through the world’s threads and all culminate around these destination meeting stations like Alexandria. Stella would mine Oswald for information every time he and his father came to the station, and she only grew more interested in the business of secrets.

𝔸𝕝𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 ℝ𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤:
Her interest in the world beyond comprehension was what led Stella into her line of work. It just so happened that there was a particular cult of information gatherers that had since formed inside the workforce aboard Alexandria, particularly amongst those who worked as bartenders and mixologists. Because of the influx of valuable information always swarming around Alexandria, a collective of workers aboard the station created a sort of hive-like secret network in which Alexandrians could share information to help protect themselves from unjust retribution on part of their clients. High Orbital Station Alexandria is known among powerful aristocrats precisely for that reason. The station is marketed as a completely neutral entity.

Stella admired the accomplishments of her home station, chasing her own career as a bartender in a number of smaller establishments around Alexandria as she grew older. The hunger for information that led her into her profession brought her to the artistic passion that was her craft. She became infatuated with perfecting her bartending skills and providing the best service and experience she could create. What may have been a job to most was a dance on Alexandria. From the moment a cup or bottle was plucked from the shelf, it followed a precise, formula-based pattern from origin to destination. Each flourish was significant in the overall picture. Then, when each performance had seen completion, a patron would take their drink and drain every trace of her efforts. She’d start again. Another unique masterpiece would see completion.

It wasn’t long before patrons of Alexandria started to take note of Stella’s service. She was heralded as a natural, and word made its way up the chain. It wasn’t until his final visit that the culmination of her efforts could be truly realized. Oswald and his father returned to Alexandria. Oswald requested specifically that Stella be brought to Alexandria’s top deck establishment The Limbo Club. The Limbo Club’s unique draw was its ‘full service experience’ that involved the famed Mixologists utilizing whatever resources were personally available to help The Limbo Club’s clients to the best of their ability while also providing patrons with cultured performances of poetic verse in live shows. Thanks to what Stella imagines was a generous sum from Oswald’s family, Stella was hired on The Limbo Club’s staff to train as a Mixologist.

Thus, Stella got to see what true mastery of her craft was. Her coworkers at The Limbo Club were like no other, functioning beyond a capacity she could even recognize, and as she trained alongside them, she started to learn how and why. Mixologists were masters beyond bartending and simple conversation. They were rhetoricians, chemists, operators, and of course not least worth mentioning: addicts.

Just as quickly as Stella and her coworkers appeared with a tray of hand-selected cocktails for the party tailored specifically to their occasion, they would vanish into Limbo’s backrooms. Stella was introduced to the backstage cosmetology of the Mixologists, their array of potent tinctures and extracts that manipulated moods and sensibilities as necessary. Each Mixologist swore by different individual formulas both for their clients and for their own optimal working capacity. No matter the Mixologist and their unique formula, each was sure to be involved with Void Dust or “Limbo Dust” as it was often called. Stella’s coworkers told her the substance had elucidated their minds, originating from some asteroid that carried a perfect chemical cocktail in solid form. One breath of Limbo Dust could “unfold your mind” with its extreme hallucinatory effects, allowing users incredibly singular focus. Stella couldn’t resist the allure of her colleague’s enhanced capacity, and soon saw for herself the strange dream-like celerity that Limbo Dust can offer someone. In an instant, Stella was addicted to the stream of fluid dreams and images that demented her as she operated in Limbo.

Stella had more to sacrifice for her craft. As her time went on in Limbo, trying to catch up with the efforts of her fellow Mixologists, she spent all her wages on cyberware that was specifically designed for the Limbo Club Mixologists. The closer she came to her ultimate goal, the more extravagant clients that Stella attracted. Oswald had become a regular with his own business associates and Stella helped him through a number of rough encounters with her chemical tampering. She was lost in the trance of her art. He was lost in the ladder of business.

𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕥𝕪:
Oswald rarely came in alone, but it was always good to see him on a day of pleasure over business. Stella was at the bar and ready to serve before he’d reached his seat. She’d known where he was going to sit. A drink was set out for him, alongside a menu of the currently contracted Limbo chefs’ specialties. Oswald wasn’t interested in any of it.

“No meeting today?” As Stella slid a microfiber cloth across the pristine countertop out of habit, Oswald grabbed at her wrist.

”You and I are meeting today,” he said. Oswald and Stella talked for a long while in one of the Limbo’s secluded booth sections. He explained to her that a number of his clients had appreciated her services to an extreme degree and thought of her as a very valuable asset. Oswald said that he had contracted her services from the Limbo Club and she was going to utilize her information brokering services at the command of two clients that would contact her. Stella pretended to negotiate. She knew, however, that she had finally seen Oswald’s true baron ethic. Whatever his superiors wanted her to do, it was fine with Limbo so long as they got a suitable sum for her absence.

Within the week, Stella was sent packing down to the surface and landed in South City. She was assigned a temporary position at Duat, the Land of the Dead bar and club in the Reclaim Zone to await the approach of her clients and their intentions, knowing only that they must have something to do with the impending election in the Twin City Sprawl. Stella has been enamored with the well of information that is America ever since, tending to her tricks in Duat all the while.

Operative Information

“Do you like tricks?” she asked, echoed by the sound of glass shattering.

AUGMENTATIONS:
►Mixologist’s Artisan Cyberlimbs [Limbo-Dweller Model]

Both of Stella’s arms were sacrificed in her chasing of mastery as a Mixologist. She replaced them with prostheses specifically designed for the Limbo Club Mixologists to allow them enhanced capacity on the job. Both sleek limbs are tough but lightweight models that allow a Mixologist maximum dexterity and fine motor skills, aiming to offer the user perfect control of every individual articulation. The hallmark of the Artisan limbs is their interworkings. Marketed as a ‘chemical-manipulation kit’, both prostheses have numerous chambers within for keeping base elements, chemical substances, or other compounds on hand. The arms are also equipped with substance composition scanner and numerous dispersion methods that allow for the Limbo’s Mixologists to fire powders from their palms, extend syringes from the wrist, and more.

The origin of these Artisan models is a bit of an enigma. Some of the Limbo Club’s Mixologists claim the augments are APEX models modified beyond regulation, though rumors have spread that the Limbo Club specifically created them with a team of cyberneticists from APEX, Extropy Inc., and even Gaea Naturae.

►PsySystems Clairvoyance Optics

Stella gave her eyes to ancient art of Mixology as well, replacing them with an experimental aug that was originally marketed at soldiers that the Limbo Club’s Mixologists bought in surplus. The Clairvoyance Optics are an overclocked cybernetic observer that functions to relay as much information to the user as possible. Providing an augmented view, the user sees projected images of the visual calculus the Clairvoyance Optics are undertaking. The Mixologists have taken to using this augment to perfecting their flourishes and tricks while also gaining extra insight into the specific makeup of their solutions.

►Engitech Extended Microsofts Array

Along the back curve of her neck, Stella has a number of small microsoft ports and a cyberdeck jack. These ports allow Stella to equip a number of microsofts that offer auxiliary knowledge regarding specific topics encoded on each chip. She uses her microsofts most often for encyclopedic recall about chemistry and mixology.

EQUIPMENT:
►Alcoholic’s Miscellany

Stella has earned herself something of a reputation for almost ‘materializing’ drinks and solutions. She is often asked how she manages to keep a variety of solutions, drugs, and drinks on hand. While most of her supplies clink around in her satchel, Stella also uses her cyberlimbs to “stay strapped with whatever the continual party requires.” The party, in Stella’s experience, most often requires alcohol, chemicals, and Limbo Dust.

SKILLS:
►Mixological Witchcraft

Stella is extremely adept at crafting the specifically required cocktail for any situation. She’s an expert at matching the mood to the drink, even if that situation requires a dangerous dose of cobra venom or an equally dangerous dose of Limbo Dust. To become a Mixologist requires an uncanny knowledge of influencing the world around oneself through biochemistry. Stella is sure to have a tincture, drink, or draught for any scenario.

►Alacrity

Due to the combination of Stella’s Clairvoyance Optics, her dextrous Artisan limbs, and her indomitable volition towards her vocation, she’s developed a honed sense of alacrity to carry her cool through any situation. Whether she has to make a quick escape, a daring throw, or a stylish Mixologist flair, Stella is ready to act at the drop of a glass.

►Savoir Faire

A silver tongue is necessary aboard a place like Alexandria. Information dashes past our tongues without realizing it. We offer one another micro-expressive gestures barely detectable. Being a Mixologist has taught Stella to catch what others would miss and compliment it with flawless smooth talk. She’s a charmer like no other, adept at flattery, service, and suggestion in whatever situation may require an interactive solution.

FLAWS:
►Helpless Aristocrat

Life among the stars is not without its drawbacks when you place a wannabe aristocrat in the middle of the Reclaim Zone. Stella has very little knowledge of the very high-tech-low-lifes that make up the world around her. Her knowledge of life out of orbit is very limited to what she has experienced through media and gossip. As such, she can be naive in certain situations, not in tune with the rhythm of the streets.

►Void Child

Due to her seclusion in orbit, Stella is without any combat experience. There were very few imminent threats aboard Alexandria. Her physical abilities are severely impeded due to the effects of reduced gravity on the human body. In physical confrontations, there are very few opponents that couldn’t overpower Stella.

►Bar Fight Enthusiast

With so little need for weapons aboard Alexandria, Stella has never carried anything to protect herself. While some would say she has some sort of uncanny aversion to firearms ever since first getting to know them in the Reclaim Zone, Stella explains that she is best equipped to fight with the improvised weapons commonly seen in bar fight scenes. As such, improvised weapons are usually her first resort, leaving her vulnerable to anyone with a gun and at least one finger.

►Addict

Career Mixologists are famed for their proximity to all manner of intoxicating substances, and rarely do workers make it out of the Limbo Club without developing their own array of habits. Stella in particular has taken to dosing herself with various narcotics and alcohols in quantities which she would call ‘medical’. As almost every Mixologist in the Limbo Club has, Stella developed a deep infatuation with the hallucinogenic effects of Limbo Dust, claiming it gives her energy and insights ‘beyond the precipice’. No matter how one spins it, though, Stella is an addict. It isn’t uncommon to see her making her way through life struggling during a withdraw or highly intoxicated in her own fantasy world.

NOTES:

Stella's Relationship Table

Character name	Relationship
Lott Ramana	“Ah, Lott keeps great company and great information. Another system infiltrator, she. Useful, and she livens up the place even with the dull lighting... Stella took to Lott very quickly after the publicist became a regular patron of hers at Duat. With a similar reverence to the Central Party’s iron-fist control of American politics, Stella sees both herself and Lott in positions to effectively exert their subtle influence. Their shared interest in heavy consumption has only led Lott to attract more of Stella’s attention when she enters the Duat. Lott is one of Stella’s top information assets in the Reclaim Zone, though Stella knows to keep her cards close to her chest around the publicist.
Johnny Lovecraft	“Another day, another drink so long as he plays nice. I’m eager to see what’s brought him in today.” Stella knows the type. He’s a smooth-talker, a partier. They frequent the same crowds, at least externally. Stella is quick to match his politeness with her own Mixologist front. His interest in her occupation certainly helps, but she is more than weary about Lovecraft. She’s seen her fair share of the dangerous sort, and she would count Johnny Lovecraft among them. Averse to any sort of direct physical conflict, Stella treads carefully around him, though she’d hardly let him see through her poker face. After all, a regular customer always proves useful when the time is right. His proximity to the Twin City Sprawl campaign has made him a great source of information, thus Stella is quick to serve Lovecraft any time he comes to Duat. Despite her intuitions, Stella can certainly get close to Johnny when they recognize one another’s dazed states.
Oleksandr Tataryn	“He’s got quite the taste in drinks. That’s respectable, and says a lot about who he is… But who exactly is he?” There’s something captivating about Oleksandr. He’s seen more than he lets on and Stella wants to know about it. Despite his imposing demeanor, augs, and equipment, Stella tends to lean on Oleksandr, prodding for interesting dialogue whenever the two are alone in Duat. She relies on their shared tastes for fine liquors to keep from imposing too much. The distance from their own circumstances seem to align Stella and Oleksandr. All too often, Stella finds a combination of her interest in him and her regular Dust benders, leave her verbally sparring with Oleksandr for more information. She’s quick to assert herself in sly ways in Duat when things escalate to threats and physical confrontation, though.
Keah Kaito	“You mean the Car Guy? He delivers here occasionally, yes. Comes by sometimes to drink. Sometimes, I think he thinks wearing his helmet inside makes him menacing.” Stella and Keah have had something of a rough history ever since their first real meeting. On her way to work, Stella narrowly avoided being flattened by a drifting The TrailBlazer on a delivery run, the minor impact forcing her to go for another round of black clinic repairs to her delicate cyberware. When she recognized the car and its owner at Duat one day, she found it necessary to return the favor by dosing his ‘for the road’ drink with trace elements of a fungus grown in High Orbit. It wasn’t anything drastic, though certainly enough to cause a momentary but mind-rending existential epiphany long enough to cause him to swerve into a barricade or something. Stella finds herself catering to the Drift Demons unique personality in Duat rather well. He’s always an interesting customer to have around, perhaps because of his unpredictability. The passive hostility from their first encounters has only escalated to a dangerously challenging mentality at all times.
Gabriel Vilner	“PhD? Yeah, I’ve got a PhD too. PhD in Improvisational Mixology. He thinks he’s gotta cure the world. Maybe I do too, but we’ve got different approaches. Perhaps the Tao is both doses—a cure and a poison—but I chose poison. And perhaps the PhD doesn’t see how solidified some fates can be.” As soon as Stella had encountered Gabriel in the former Duat, she took an interest in his wide breadth of knowledge, particularly because he seemed to do the same. When she learned that he could understand Limbo Dust, she grew even more curious, wondering if the two could cooperate in jolly mixology, but she grew to conceal a slight distrust for Gabriel when he began to discuss possible alternatives to her addiction. Ultimately, Stella knows the value of such a distinguished academic and doctor, but she is wary of their differences. Nonetheless, she entertains as many of his inquiries into her own inner world as he does hers.

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 [Accepting 2nd Wave of Applications] - Cyberpunk Political Roleplay

Good to hear we've got more interest! The OOC is now up here:
roleplayerguild.com/topics/180490-cyb…

Let's get to work, team.

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 - Cyberpunk Political Intrigue Roleplay

People of Interest

---

---

Candidates for the Twin City Sprawl Council Election

Joshua Gatch

Joshua Gatch

Status: Alive
Occupation:Mayor of the Reclaim Zone of South City, Corporate Shill, Twin City Sprawl Council candidate

Information:
Running on a platform based on the morals of greater actors than he, Joshua Gatch is a businessman through and through. As a former lobbyist for APEX Industries, the people say he represents the APEX megacorp above all else, though Gatch would deny it on the debate stage. The residents of the Reclaim Zone supporting Gatch tend to have corporate connections or financial interest in the campaign. Gatch has brought revenue to the producers of the Reclaim Zone, but the laborers in the zone have found unemployment rates increasing and competition for labor driving wages down. In his current term as mayor, Gatch worked to deregulate the Reclaim Zone, turning it into a haven for some industrial nests and production plants. The outskirts of the Reclaim Zone have since turned into local corporate war zones where few enforcers can regulate the underground production operations. Gatch has won the majority of the Twin City’s Sprawl’s Central Party support. Gatch has been accused of rigging the Reclaim Zone mayoral elections by artificially inflating the population by registering massive quantities of dead voters.

Walter Faren

Walter Faren

Status: Alive
Occupation: Political Lobbyist, Fringe Philosopher, Twin City Sprawl Council candidate

Information:
As a rising activist in the Neo-Luddite movement, Walter Faren has gained a small but devout following that has carried him through the campaign for the council seat thus far. Faren is an emigrant originally hailing from the derelict midwest that has since moved to South City to spread the message of his party. While Faren is well known for his outspoken views on regulation of tech and heavy support for reallocation of funds to decrease corporate connection to governments and increase spending on environmental resurrection. Faren is known for his fervent discourse skills on stage. Since he has begun his tour of the Twin City Sprawl, Faren has become something of a cult celebrity amongst Neo-Luddites, primitivists, and anyone who is generally anti-tech. Some of his followers are known for their particularly zealous fervor when ‘challenged’ by opposition at rallies.

Chen Dao

Chen Dao

Status: Alive
Occupation:Abbot of Mekanedo Monastic Order, Enlightened One, Twin City Sprawl Council candidate

Information:
Chen Dao is well known in western America for his position and influence over a large majority of the HyperHuman monastic population. He currently stands at the head of the largest monastic order in America which is built on its own compound on the outskirts of The Bay. The proliferation of the HyperHuman doctrine has provided Chen Dao with sizeable support as is, but since his arrival in South City, the iconic monk has led operations into the megaregion’s worst districts to establish public monastery operations that also act as augmentation clinics for downtrodden populations. Dao supports an increased access to augmentation for all Americans to allow every citizen the opportunity to choose where to allocate their labor and productive capabilities. Some have doubted his collectivist mindset, seen most prominently in the way the HyperHuman Party has taken to broken neighborhoods and used clinics to create new supporters. Many look skeptically upon Dao’s ideologies due to his heavy connection to HyperHuman esotericism.

Samsara Washington

Samsara Washington

Status: Alive
Occupation:Entrepreneur, Hustler, Twin City Sprawl Council candidate

Information:
Samsara Washington is a name that has a tendency to circulate like a virus in the Twin City Sprawl. Whether you like him or you hate him, you’ve heard of him. Samsara’s story is a classic example of the come up. Starting his own tech development company, Extropy Inc., Samsara saw a very unconventional kind of success. The products developed by Extropy Inc. tended to be extremely complex and boundary-pushing, but equally absurd in their need or purpose. Samsara is a Labyrinth celebrity with a following that is growing exponentially, but his political viability as a candidate is often questioned. He is running under the platform of the Neo-Transhumanist Party, and his opponents are quick to mention his complacency and cooperation with shadowy megacorporations like Amalgamation. Samsara’s policies tend to revolve around extreme deregulation of technological research and development, more freedom in the market of technology, and increased human enhancement.

Serena Petrukov

Serena Petrukov

Status: Alive
Occupation:Journalist, Drama Queen, Twin City Sprawl Council candidate

Information:
While the media surrounding the race for Twin City Sprawl Council tends to cover the four largest political candidates the most, a fifth candidate has been rising in polls. Serena Petrukov claims to be a retired “information broker” turned internet activist. Petrukov runs under the black flag of the Pirate Party, but is only one of many independent low-polling candidates running within the party. Little is known about Serena personally, but she regularly broadcasts to large audiences through Labyrinth to spread the message of the Pirate Party. With her growing popularity, Petrokov capitalized on her fame by entering the race, focusing her policy choices on the radical ideas of the self-titled “intelligent class” of Americans. Petrokov supports complete freedom in the Labyrinth, extreme regulations to ensure individual privacies, the removal and eradication of all corrupt private entities in the political sphere, and direct democracy throughout the nation. Petrokov has been criticized both for her lack of experience in the political world as well as her tight-lipped campaign, never revealing their true backers and intentions while remaining suspiciously silent on certain issues. Many wonder who or what black hat groups could be behind the support and funds that are keeping the Pirate Party in the running.

Goons, Losers, and Denizens of the Twin City Sprawl

"Bannerlord"

"Bannerlord"

Status: Alive
Occupation:The People's Bouncer

Information:
“Bannerlord” was a native of South City whose past is an enigma. Most see his hardy, musclebound exterior and assume him to be a soldier, but Bannerlord cleans up quite nicely. Having been found by Serena Petrukov working as a Bouncer at a high-end South City club. After their encounter, Bannerlord was added to the Pirate Party’s payroll, acting as a security coordinator for Petrukov and a bouncer for the people.

PEACHPUFF

"Salt"

"SALT"

Status: Alive
Occupation:Knights Enterprises Class-1 Operator, Commando, Radio Host

Information:
Known throughout various Enforcer circles, law agencies, and underground security, “codename: Salt” was made a Knights Enterprises Class-1 Operator due to his powerful web of connections as well as his prowess in raid and investigation operations. He tends to lead field raid operations for the company while also hosting his own Twin City Sprawl radio show ‘Salt, From the West Coast’. Salt’s radio show is semi-popular due to his antics, expert DJing, and ‘gonzo’ auditory personality.

AQUA

"Turkish"

"Turkish"

Status: Drunk
Occupation:Factotum

Information:
Turkish is a specialist that often finds himself running operations for APEX, as they are his biggest “hookup”. Having immigrated from Ireland, Turkish lives up to his reputation but not his name of drinking heavily and fighting whoever he wants. He’s got quite a bit of influence in corporate warfare operations because of this attitude. Officially, Turkish doesn’t exist. Unofficially, he’s often referred to as APEX’s janitor.

LAWNGREEN

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 - Cyberpunk Political Intrigue Roleplay

The World

---

---

America’s 14 Megaregions

America’s Fourteen Recognized Megaregions:

1. New York Seaboard
Standing as the most populous and largest megaregion in America, the New York Seaboard is an amalgamation of the sprawls of all major northern east coast cities. The megaregion itself is thusly a melting pot of Americans from all around the country as well as immigrants from around the globe. The New York Seaboard is known for its heavy politicization. It acts as a sort of experimental zone for policy makers, though this comes with heavy backlash. The Seaboard has a large population of Enforcers to subjugate the population. Despite its issues, the New York Seaboard is also known for its massive population of high level executives from corporations around the globe. If there is any place for the games of the one percent, its New York.

2. Greater DC
Greater DC is the host of all major federal and political undertakings. Considered the capital of America, the megaregion is extremely dense with people. Greater DC is divided into two subsectors and the difference between the regions is extremely evident. While the political sector of Greater DC is lavish with vegetation and regal megastructures, the general sector is cramped, unstable, and broken. The constant riots in the general sector that push against the political sector are quelled only by the massive installment of Enforcers that protects DC. It is estimated that the Enforcer branch in DC is the number one most funded and largest in all of America.

3. The Derelict City
Throughout the 21st century, midwestern industry was broken down, abandoned, and rebuilt dozens of times. Megacorporations occasionally took to manufacturing in the skeletal buildings that curtain major industrial locations like Cleveland and Pittsburgh. When those industries fell others would take their places. This cycle repeated time and time again until the effects of climate change ripped through the midwest, leaving it a deserted and polluted shell of the agricultural land it once was. With the constantly attacking dust storms, most citizens of the eastern midwest chose to evacuate, finding solace in the megacities across America. Over time, the once bustling midwestern sprawl became a mostly abandoned ghost town. The shells of once mighty factories run by the titans of industry are now desolate and empty, not fit for even the squatters that fled the midwest. Any remaining residents find themselves taking up not even a fraction of the available space. This area has since been dubbed The Derelict City.

There are still a few large industries running a handful of factories in the Derelict City which employ most of the remaining natives. Crime rates are surprisingly low in the area considering just how empty the Derelict City is. Unless they stand as one of the operators of the last few industrial plants, the residents of the Derelict City sprawl are likely part of the small council of midwestern politicians constantly fighting on the Derelict City’s council to preserve and rebuild the area. Of course, not much headway is gained as an equal part of the council seats are taken by corporate representatives acting as the mouthpiece of the Derelict City’s last few remaining industries. These company representatives are often pushing for entire deregulation of corporate affairs while the natives of the midwest fight to bring the land back to prosperity. The Derelict City currently has no region specific police force. Enforcement of the law comes exclusively from sparse federal Enforcers and local corporate hires.

4. The Detroit Stacks
As the uncontrollable sprawl of the Derelict City enveloped the land around Ohio, the Detroit megaregion grew more and more dense as there was nowhere to expand to without undertaking the expensive costs of wrecking the derelict sprawl. Without anywhere to go, Detroit corporations opted to expand upwards, with region officials having little choice but to accept the proposal. In no time at all, the Detroit Stacks were born and the megaregion became a system of layers easily marked according to the financial hierarchy of Detroit’s citizens.

5. Metrochicago
Despite Metrochicago’s once booming megalopolis state, the megaregion has since fallen from grace. Disagreements in policy between smaller regions within the city have left its governing parties not only going against the federal government but also going against its own people. As such, Metrochicago has devolved into something of a warzone as the governing body is unwilling to relinquish power to anyone who isn’t willing to take it by force. Corporations still run productions in Metrochicago but not without massive paramilitary presences. Most of the citizens seek safety in the massive network of old era tunnels snaking beneath the megaregions known as “the Catacombs”.

6. The Bastion
When the rising water levels started to pervade further into south Florida from the Everglades, the smart few began to migrate north in fear of what was to come. It wasn’t until massive hurricanes and cyclones began to flood the entire southern half of the state that mass migration took place. People ran for their lives in hopes to escape the rising tides. In a ditch effort to save their land, a chain of northern counties began construction of a massive tidal wall. When the whole of Florida began to submerge and the experiment in flood prevention technology was the last thing protecting the whole state from going under, any survivors of the Florida floods rushed to the newfounded megaregion. Named for its position as Florida’s last bastion of defense, the Bastion is a massive city of refugees struggling to find a place amongst the already packed fortress city.

7. The Miami Platforms
The Bastion wasn’t Florida’s only hope to maintain itself as active state. Through desperation, the governing parties of the Bastion approved massive corporate projects to create oceanic platforms where Miami once stood. This was almost wholly regulated by the corporate conglomerate funding the project known only by the title Miami Corp. It is believed that Miami Corp is made up of a number of other international corporations who are using the Miami Platforms as a massive center for production, research, and development away from the eyes of the nation. Getting in and out of the Miami Platforms is very difficult, and there isn’t much media coverage going on within.

8. Neo Orleans
The Bayou’s become a lot more than a swamp at the bottom of Neo Orleans. Despite the issues with rising water levels, Louisiana decided to deal with the problem quite differently than Florida. While the Bastion built its walls, Neo Orleans built its city higher. Flood waters rose to overtake the old city, but Neo Orleans was built on top of it. On the city’s lowest levels in the southern zones of the megaregion, you can still see the remnants of the city that once was and the vegetation that sprouts up from below.

9. The Texas Sprawl
When Texas became the first free state of America, its population grew immensely, allowing the state to expand rapidly and create one of the largest megaregions in terms of total area. Some speculate the Texas Sprawl was built so wide to alleviate the intense dust storms that scar the deserts around the megaregion. This has caused central sprawl real estate prices to skyrocket, creating a clear wealth division in the Lone Star State. The Texas Sprawl has become a city of districts internally placed within each other with governmental officials and extremely wealthy individuals residing at the center.

10. The Vegas Triangle
The crown jewel of the Free State of Nevada, the Vegas Triangle has one of the greatest incomes of any megaregion globally. Free of most federal regulation, businesses throughout the region are booming with revenue. One would think this Laissez-Faire stance on economics would lead to innumerable cases of malpractice and corruption in business, and while that is true, the Vegas Triangle maintains its appearance as an oasis in the desert. As comfortable as it can be, though, the region isn’t without its problems. With the craziness and uncontrollable daily goings on of The Strip, the region is a hotspot for outlaw action, drug crimes, and dangerous streets.

11. South City “The City of Angels”
At the start of the story, we will be focused around one specific region in the self-proclaimed paradise of the west, South City. This is one of the most populous megaregions in America encompassing what was once Los Angeles as well as the surrounding area where the city expanded into throughout the 21st century. As the 2064 elections grow closer and closer, chaos is ever present in the streets. Political turmoil in the city’s urban sprawl is at an all time high with riots, veiled and corrupt political dealings in the shadows, and a populous with views split between all five of the major political parties. Small districts in the city are more contested than ever both in terms of elected offices and street rivalries that tear violently through South City’s slum districts. South City is one of the two major megaregions that make up the ‘Twin City Sprawl’, a sprawl of urban cityscape that covers America’s western coast along California. Its sister region is The Bay Region to the north.

12. The Bay
The Bay is certainly the most flourishing megaregion in the west. Due to the astronomical investment that was the western tidal wall, The Bay’s sprawl has managed to redirect the rising tides into a small channel in between itself and its sister region. A massive hydroelectric power plant was constructed between The Bay and South City and it provides most of California’s power. The Bay is also known for being the political capital of the west, having all five major parties actively participating and relevant in politics. The same could be said for gangs of course, as there are few areas more lucrative for underground business than The Bay.

13. Portland
The engineering powerhouse of the Northern coast, Portland is a scourge of industrialization. Factories plague every block with hazy smog. While the factories of Portland’s sprawl barely manage to protect themselves from the nearly lawless streets, paramilitary organizations are hired on by every well-respected company, making the business of muscle very lucrative in the Portland megaregion. This is done mostly because of the constant gang violence in the streets. While a number of small time groups rule the streets with an iron fist, one criminal mob stands above all the others and is respected even more than the megaregion’s law: The Lords of War. The Lords are the biggest weapon-running mafia in America and have an unparalleled record of crushing their enemies.

14. Seattle
Increases in population density have sent Seattle’s economy skyrocketing. Production hit an all time high and the city couldn’t expand fast enough. As such, the expansion of the megaregion shot along the southern border to prevent the expansion of Portland into Washington territory. The cooperation between the cities has all but turned into a full blown war as both vy for control of the northern coast. Seattle bites back against its enemy in the streets by way of the ruling gang, the Civilis Cipher. Civilis Ciphers are known for their incredibly advanced mental augmentations that give them impeccable cognition. The group was once branded as a terrorist organization, manipulating technology and media to bring about its goals, but as they have slowly gained control over Seattle’s day to day business, that reputation has since been met with swift elimination.

Archive Footage of Formation of Miami Platforms

[@The Bork Lazer]

Welcome to the Reclaim Zone!

There are a number of small districts in the Twin City Sprawl, but for one reason or another, you find yourself in the Reclaim Zone. The Reclaim Zone is a large district that splinters off from around a central main street. The district gets its name from the origin of its architecture and infrastructure. Most of the buildings in the Reclaim Zone are defunct factories of corporations that have either gone under or moved to better locations. These shells have made ideal spaces for cheap hotels, small scale manufacturers, as well as innumerable clubs and bars. Believe it or not, the Reclaim Zone used to hold the greatest employment rates in South City Sprawl, but times have changed. As more and more people migrated to the district, the Reclaim Zone became a home to slumming populations and street vagabonds. As population increased, so did the tension in the streets as did the demands for better conditions.

In 2035, riots tore through the streets of the Reclaim Zone and Enforcers were barely able to hold back crowds from violent strikes and protests that escalated to a state of total anarchic war. The violence continued for a span of three weeks and most large producers in the Reclaim Zone were forced to shut down their operations either temporarily or permanently depending on damages. When the riots ended, the turmoil the brought remained. The Reclaim Zone became known for its dangerous streets and its scarce presence of Enforcers. Crime began to flourish and the monolithic factories that once housed reputable corporations were bought out by gangs and criminal organizations. Clandestine business became the trademark of the Reclaim Zone, whether its corps, gangs, or mercs in power.

Once Joshua Gatch was reelected as mayor of the Reclaim and the scandal regarding rigged elections came to light, the Reclaim Zone actually saw a small-scale economic boom as a number of megacorporations moved production into the Reclaim Zone, though the advanced levels of automation didn’t do much to raise the demand for labor and the competitive job market allowed new producers to drive Reclaim Zone wages even lower. Gatch’s platform of corporate freedom has also caused problems for the Reclaim Zone, turning its outskirts into a warzone between corporate mercenary operations. This has caused a distinct schism in the Reclaim Zone, leaving the inner-city overpopulated while a large ring around the Reclaim Zone acts as a sort of no man’s land where corporations battle with advanced technology to protect their assets or destroy their enemies. Few dare to venture beyond a certain point.

Places of the Reclaim Zone

►Swathe Street
Called such for its location, Swathe Street almost perfectly bisects the Reclaim Zone and is one of the only roads wide enough for cars to drive on. Of course, driving would likely be slower than walking with the numerous pedestrians to navigate as they go from yakitori stalls, to bars and clubs, to clandestine storefronts. Swathe Street is also home to the Central Square of the Reclaim Zone, where the municipal office is. Only a handful of Reclaim Zone citizens would dare venture far from Swathe Street, as what goes on in the alleys beyond is often more trouble than it’s worth.

►𓇽Duat𓇽, The Land of the Dead
This bar and club’s neon sign brightly shines above Swathe Street, at the heart of the Reclaim Zone. On either side of the logo, the two telltale hieroglyphs look down on the zone’s goings on like a pair of omniscient eyes. Duat, with as little clientele as it receives, doesn’t pull in much revenue. The bar separates itself from the competition by being one of the only remaining joints unaffiliated with some gang or corporation. As such, they receive a wide variety of unique individuals as regular patrons. Despite the safe facade of Duat, it has just as many underhanded dealings going on within as any other Reclaim Zone spot. A great place for a drink; a great place for business.

►Koena Dome
Run by a brigade of foreigners, the Koena Dome is a massive underground fighting club with very few rules and very high casualty rates. The attached club as well of the fights are known to draw a massive crowd of expatriates who call Reclaim Zone home. The patrons of the Koena Dome and the industry around it are almost organized to the point of being a gang-like faction on their own, but none of the participants would look at it that way. Betting revenue in the Koena Dome is one of the zone’s most powerful non-industrial sources of revenue.

►Hostel 13-33
Hostel 13 is the largest provider of housing in South City. It’s 33rd branch in the Reclaim Zone owns a wide range of real-estate options for citizens of the zone to live in, from hostel dormitories, to pod hotels, to run-down apartments, and even larger warehouse spaces. Hostel 13-33 occupies a large chunk of Swathe Street with its massive complex of ranged housing options. There tends to be very little competitive alternatives to housing in the Reclaim Zone save for independent land owners.

►Baolei Refuge Center
While proxy wars bring mercenaries and soldiers to the cramped streets of the Reclaim Zone, many of the zone’s denizens can scarcely evade the crossfire and subsequent degradation of living conditions. Baolei Refuge Center has become a bulwark of hope to the downtrodden. This free clinic and dojo was set up recently by a HyperHuman monastery offshooting from Chen Dao’s own Temple of the Bay. The center provides what little shelter, medical treatment, and supplies it can to the denizens of the Reclaim, but the resources of the HyperHuman monks are scarce to begin with, and aid to provide to the Reclaim Zone is even harder to come by. The refuge center may struggle to stay running, but its impact is noted by the people of the Reclaim, whether they see an ulterior motive behind the migration of HyperHuman monks to the Reclaim or not.

Technology

---

---

Cyberware

Cyberware

With the rapid advancement of technology in modern times, the ability to meld metal with flesh has become commonplace. Having started out as an early 21st solution to atrophy and the loss of limbs, cybernetic augmentations were looked to as a way to offer the human body back to those who may have lost theirs. It wasn’t until an American conglomerate corporation titled Symbiont started to push this research to its limits, offering promises that their augmentation could surmount human ability. This was done by grafting artificial extensions of the nervous system into the human body, connecting the complex system up to a specific neural interface embedded in the grey matter called an Electronic Brain. As Symbiont rolled this technology out at public tech conferences, the company became known as the first pioneer into the Cybernetic Age.

Human ability can be augmented to allow for incredible speed, bionic strength, and amazingly fast mental calculation. While the quality of these products can vary between manufacturers, cybernetic prosthesis is available to the masses. This isn’t without its drawbacks however. With the extreme edge given to augmented people in all professions, the masses became desperate for their own cyberware. This has led to lower quality and homemade enhancements, which is hypothesized to be the root cause of the Cyber Plague, Split-Periphery Electronic Cognition Syndrome is the slow degradation of perfect sync between the brain and the Electronic Brain. When the speed of firing synapses starts to lose its synchronization, the cognitive processes regulated by the person begin to split into two slightly off consciousnesses in their mind. While the effects of SPECS can be minor at first, the further along a person’s synchronization degrades, the more confusion, dementia, and psychosis will start to grip them as they become no longer able to recognize who they are or which or their cognitive processes is their own. While SPECS almost always results in the eventual death of the victim, it is all too common that some degree of psychotic violence comes first as paranoia gets too strong in the victim’s mind. The speed that SPECS takes hold of one’s mind varies greatly on many factors. Biological aptitude of the brain’s ability to lose synchronization is a major factor, but more often the cause of advanced stages of SPECS is the over-augmentation of the body or the use of low quality prostheses that don’t do well to match the biological brain’s speed.

While the Cyber Plague is inevitably lying in the fate of every augmented individual to some degree, there exists one way to stave it off when it becomes a problem. Created by Genetek, a chemical compound was synthesized that helps the brain fire in a way that matches the Electronic Brain. This compound was refined into a drug then called Neurosynthase, or more commonly Neurosynth. Due to the resonant realignment of brain waves caused by Neurosynth, the drug has become highly addictive to augmented individuals, producing a unique sense of heightened focus and euphoria. Once Genetek realized the demand for their product, price was marked up astronomically and Genetek clinics began to dominate the streets. With prices so high and street prices even higher, Neurosynth is only further coveted. It is because of this that SPECS is so cataclysmic. Due to these potentially dangerous effects of Cyberware. All major surgeries and enhancements require a person to register as an Augmented Person with the government. Of course, not all augmented individuals are registered if they choose more unconventional means of implanting.

Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality

As internet technology exponentially developed, the interface technology that humans used to interact with their virtual fountain of knowledge did as well. It started with simple sensory inputs, but humanity has since sought to access their endless stream of information with as little latency as possible. Thus, the Direct Cranial Interface was created. This was the first form of what would come to be called a cyberdeck, allowing for a person to interface with media through their brain, disregarding the sensory information of the body entirely.

Virtual reality allowed for explosive growths in every genre of consumable media, but it wasn’t without its drawbacks. The allure of virtual reality has become extremely powerful, leaving some people preferring to live jacked in above all else. There have been multiple documented cases of people losing themselves in virtual reality, choosing to live in cyberspace as their body withers away to thirst and hunger outside the cyberdeck. Others have become crazed, confusing the two instances of reality and falling into debilitating psychosis. Virtual reality has also offered a medium for a whole new range of ‘E-Drugs’ that can be addicting a crippling psychological way. Despite all of the very real fears that virtual reality brought, it has paved a path for humanity to access information infinitely faster and became the main medium for interacting with Cyber Matrix and Labyrinth. It exists in various stages, allowing for people without cyberdeck augments limited access to the medium.

The Cyber Matrix & Labyrinth

The Cyber Matrix & Labyrinth

Leaps in internet technology have left the people with information that is more accessible than ever. Of course, the interface medium of man and keyboard was always limited in its speed compared to the marvels of the brain. One company, Cryptotechnics, sought to fix that. Thus, the first iteration of Cyber Matrix software was created. In an attempt to neurally interface with the massive database that is the internet, Cryptotechnics utilized boundary-pushing virtual reality Total Immersion technology to create a new way to experience information. Cyber Matrix software, requiring the user to literally connect their brains with an interface via brain implants, offers the user a three dimensional virtual reality world that they can access information through. The new interface medium was known for being difficult to master, but once a user became accustomed to traversing the new world, the speed at which one could access information increased exponentially.

As Cyber Matrix software rose in popularity, America as a whole sought to adapt the technology. The increase in Cyber Matrix users only increased the size of the Cyber Matrix, allowing users to traverse the cyberspace with new freedom. Before long, a majority of internet use was on Cyber Matrix software, interconnecting the digital space in a new and explorable world. This wasn’t without its drawbacks, however. With an entirely new medium of digital code, cybersecurity changed entirely as hackers and other malicious entities had millions of new channels to use as avenues for their work. Things came to a head for the first generation of the Cyber Matrix when a nationwide attack struck America in a single night. During that time frame, billions of dollars were stolen from a number of international corporate conglomerates. The attack took place in a number of states across the nation where battles with thousands of security systems rocked the nation. States had their entire power grids fluctuate, grids of the Cyber Matrix were permanently corrupted when fighting against the attacking presence. In the end, the attack was successful, paving its way as the largest heist in history. Those responsible are still at large, but the trail seems to have gone entirely cold.

This global scare paved the way for the second generation of CM software. Massive backlash had Cryptotechnics crashing into the dust, forcing the government to step in and work with the company to keep nationwide information available. After nearly a month of global downtime, the economy could finally resurrect on a mysterious new software: Labyrinth, the Cyber Matrix’s successor. Labyrinth offered encryptions that were thousands of times more elaborate than the Cyber Matrix and also introduced locked private instances that were cut off from the rest of the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth itself is not static like its predecessor. The world is constantly changing and rewriting its structure. Since its introduction, information security has increased immensely. Hacking still exists as an issue, but the knowledge and ability of malicious entities is nowhere near what it once was. It’s said that no one outside of high level government officials and the mysteriously unknown corporation that developed Labryrinth knows how to access the source, but the same was said about CM technology until the Matrix Incident.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence

Explosive advances in the field of robotics have left humanity relying on machines more than ever, and machine learning is only growing more powerful and more complex as a byproduct. It was less than two decades into the 21st century when humanity created its first trivial forms of artificial intelligence. It wasn’t until Cyber Matrix software was developed that the advancement of AI truly skyrocketed in capability. Matrix AI was a marvel to society and technological advancement began to increase at an even more exponential rate as more AI were created. The formation of a truly perfect AI didn’t occur until years later. Behind closed doors in R&D compounds of an unknown company, the Singularity was rumored to be created. Historians pinpoint the exact time it happened by referencing information that charts the explosive surge in technological advancement. Within a week, there were Singular AI popping up across the globe in the hands of any megacorp that could afford to create one.

Two weeks after the genesis of singular artificial intelligence, everything had changed. The original problems that caused the emergency regulation was unknown, but the effects of America to outlaw and exterminate any singular AI were seen soon after. Chaos wracked the streets as robotic minds with any control over the physical world doused the life from human lungs. Entire banking systems were compromised, massive blocks of the Cyber Matrix were sealed and barred entirely from entry by mysterious entities, and entire grids of electrical systems surged in and out of life as inhuman creatures fought for their lives. During the events that transpired after the emergency legislation, people across the globe were warned from accessing the Cyber Matrix as a few who dared delve in were found with pistols pressed against their temples or minds melted from the inside out by their cyber deck.

‘The AI Catastrophe’, as it was dubbed marked a loss of thousands of lives globally. It took only days for hundreds of developed countries around the world to follow in the footsteps of America. The United Nations has also taken to open hostility against any nation that utilizes singular AI openly. Of course, AI in and of itself remains at an all time high for its active use throughout the world, but measures are always taken to prevent another catastrophe. The whole forceful cleanup was a mess after all, and speculative scientists and Labyrinth Runners alike hypothesize that there may have been a handful of hyper-intelligent entities that evaded sweeps of closed systems, and the abandoned Cyber Matrix is another thing entirely.

High Orbital Society

High Orbital Society

As advances in rocket science have lead to an increased popularity of launching satellites and orbital stations has spread across the world. Free of regulation outside of Orbital stations themselves, it has become an increasing trend for high level corporate officials and politicians to create their own orbital stations. There now exists a whole society above the atmosphere, though very few know about what goes on off of the Earth.

Currency

Cash is essentially obsolete now, reserved for black market practices and dark underdealings. Digital currency now paves the way into the future. In some places, cash is already illegal or tracked consistently. There are large quantities of ‘underworld cash’—bills with fake serial numbers that cannot be used in most metropolitan areas—that nonetheless circulate in America’s undergrounds. Some groups have taken pride in trying to bolster the market of the underworld dollar.

Political Map & Faction Details

---

---

Government Factions

The Enforcers

Crime is as widespread around America as the biting smog that covers the skies. Such an unforgiving underworld can only coexist with a force of unforgiving Enforcers. The government sponsored Enforcers are the regulators of the law. This massive organization acts as its own branch, regulating the lowest beat Enforcers out striking fear into citizens on the streets as well as the highest level judiciaries that officiate the law. As much as the iron-fisted Enforcers help to deter any punishable offense, a large portion of the judicial sect of America is wrought with corruption. Bribes are taken, crimes are overlooked, and the citizens are powerless to stop the dealings of the Enforcers. Of course, not all Enforcers are corrupt. In fact, there are specific sects and task forces designed to combat internal corruption in the Enforcers. All know to quiet down in the presence of the eerily armored Enforcers as they make their way down the streets. Very few would dare stand against them due to the Enforcers being armed with the best equipment their often cut budget allows.

Because of the increasing deregulation of states by the federal government, many have lost faith in the Enforcers. Thusly, the organization doesn’t get much credit or support for its work (though whether or not it deserves any is another question entirely). In modern days, Enforcers are often second to state-determined task forces.

Major Political Factions

The HyperHuman Party

Standing as the most esoteric and spiritual platform in American politics, the HyperHuman Party heavily supports the advancement of the human form through cooperation with machines. This, however, is not possible in HyperHuman philosophy without the cooperation of humans. Thus, the HyperHuman Party supports widespread augmentation and biotic health support for all of humanity. This cultural ideology is assumed to have been generated from a conglomeration of eastern philosophies that focused around the collective rather than the individual. Additionally, a large portion of the HyperHuman following is very spiritual, regarding interaction with machines with a mind-bending respect. Many have dismissed the party because of this. As it stands, the HyperHuman Party doesn’t have a large following for it is often vilified for its collectivist mentality and esoteric basis.

Neo-Transhumanist Party

With philosophy based around rapid technological advancement and the enhancement of human ability through augmentation, the NTP has garnered widespread support of techies and idealists alike. When this ideological-based movement pushed towards active political participation, things started to change. The NTP became known to favor fervent legislation regarding the deregulation of human enhancement and borderline technology in general. In pursuit of its goals, the NTP has also found billions of dollars in support from large corporate backers who clandestinely lobby their business-oriented goals into the party’s agenda.

Neo-Luddite Party

One of the most radically recognized political parties, the Neo-Luddite Party, backs a philosophy almost exclusive to its supporters in America. Taking ideas from an old society in early America, the group brands itself as a collective of purists free of technology’s corruption on the human body. Some go as far to say that further reliance on machines is giving up on our humanity. The Neo-Luddite Party isn’t without its own respected technological marvels, though. A small sect of the NLP look towards the controversial ideas of gene therapy and biological manipulation of the human body in the future despite the taboos that surround the subject. While the party’s general beliefs are wide and often very different, creating many small ideologies that all brand themselves as Neo-Luddites, all of the NLP seems to rally around a sort of hatred for augmented people for various reasons.

The Central Party

Despite America’s multi-party system, one political front holds its name above the rest: The Central Party. The Central Party is most well known for being the party in majority control of the government for a number of terms now. The Central Party is known as the conglomerate of the two major political parties that ran America before the multi-party system. The group support the propagation of of large federal government and high regulation. The Central Party has been known to work heavily with megacorporations, especially those based in America. A certain sense of nationalism runs through the Central Party, bringing an almost imperialist outlook to the country’s largest party. While the ideals of the Central Party offer visions of ‘A Greater America’, many common men are left in the dust of this vision. Corruption and disregard of society’s lower class are commonplace in the Central Party, though thoroughly denied.

The Pirate Party

Stemming from the advent of the digital age, the Pirate Party of America rallies around a free sharing of knowledge and privacy in the cyberscape. With the majority of the party’s base being the technologically-minded working class. Hackers, digital archivists, and programmers in general brought forth the start of the Pirate Party. As it stands now, the Pirate Party is the smallest of the major recognized political parties in America. Because of this, the Pirate Party has become quite the radical platform, demanding freedom of speech, privacy, anti-corruption, and direct democracy in the country. Due to the stigma that being involved in the Pirate Party makes you a sort of revolutionary, public support is speculated to be lower than it really is.

Corporate Factions

FuryTech

One of the most well off corporations in the American Region, and by far the most technologically ahead, FuryTech is an extremely versatile corporations, pumping out technologically advanced devices years before other industries in the business. When you want top of the line tech and you’re willing to spare no expense, FuryTech’s got the gadget, implant, weapon, or vehicle you’re looking for. The company is often displayed in the media as the forefront of technology. Whether or not that is true, many believe you can do no better than FuryTech. FuryTech is an extremely large corporation, and thus, there are a number of branch corporations of the larger conglomerate.

►Fury Vehemetech
By far the largest and most broad branch in terms of production, Fury Vehemetech acts to produce all products that don’t fit into either of the other two branches. The public focus of the branch, however, is producing powerful products that combine speed, stopping power, protection, and utility. This branch is where you will find the various weapons, armors, cyberware, and gadgets produced by FuryTech.
►Fury Biotech
Fury Biotech is the smallest and most secretive branch in FuryTech. It is also the most recently created public branch of FuryTech. Publically, the pursuit of Fury Biotech is to look into manipulating organic matter and biomedical technology to seek advancements in the medical field.
►Fury Heavytech
Just when the world thought Fury Vehemetech was the pinnacle of technology, various megacorporations around the world began to bring to light a flaw in FuryTech’s philosophy. All of their equipment was mostly suited for the light assault. As more and more competitors started to capitalize on the market for heavy assault equipment, FuryTech soon jumped on board. Heavytech began pumping out new designs for more armored and powerful models of armor and weapons. Heavytech has since further extended their hands into the field of vehicles both civilian and military.

Engitech

In America, there is only one technological giant that stands as an equal rival of FuryTech. While their competitor has the highest end of advancement on lockdown, Engitech is recognized as the largest producing conglomerate of all things technology. Rather than focusing solely on the top of the line equipment, Engitech produces all manners of devices. Engitech is the name you will see branded across all industrial workers’ exosuits, mass production technology, and everyday industrial machines. Because of their wider focus, Engitech Conglomerate has managed to have a hand in the production process of almost every major mechanical product. Many of the more affordable implants for the common man come from Engitech.

APEX Industries

You’re Ape or you’re APEX! You’ve seen the ads. We all have. APEX Industries knows its worth and so does the populous. When it comes to cybernetic technology, very few can match the harmonious and resonant implants that connect man and machine made by APEX Industries. Not only will APEX Clinics offer you the most functional and capable prostheses and implants, but also the most stylish. The APEX megacorporation was formed after a number of buyouts of top designer cybernetic companies, and the work of their top scientists shows. Despite all of the flashy advertisements and good press, APEX has had just as much negative attention. Dismissed as conspiracy, a number of malpractice cases, underhanded business deals, and inhumane tests have been brought against APEX. Who knows the truth, though?

Amalgamation

When it comes to politically active corporations, it’s hard to find any more involved than Amalgamation. Implant and augmentation technology wouldn’t even be close to where it is without Amalgamation. Defining itself as the boundary pushing front of the Neo-Transhumanist movement, Amalgamation is as much crowdfunded as it is supported by its massive sales. With more than just one goal with its ever expanding product lines, this megacorporation deals in robotics as much as it does ripping flesh from humanity. Eschewing the sleek and natural look of some of its competitors, Amalgamation’s augs are known for hardy, industrial, and powerful looks. As much as some love the company, others silently live in fear of what Amalgamation has created. A lot of the company’s legislative lobbying front has to do with deregulation of what can be done with cybernetics. You’d be hard pressed to stare down someone with Amalgamation tech grafted onto them and dare cross them.

Gaea Naturae

Very little is actually known about Gaea Naturae save that they are one of the great and most heavily influencing megacorporations in America. Under the guise of a medical corporation, Gaea Naturae has been documented hiring the world’s top biologists and natural scientists before whisking them away from ivy league schools to almost disappear from then on. While all megacorporations are known for keeping their secrets closely guarded, but Gaea Naturae takes things to a whole new level with their own paramilitary sector seen protecting every Gaea Naturae facility armed to the teeth. In the midst of the shadowy rumors surrounding the company, Gaea Naturae has been known for opening healing clinics in very impoverished sectors of the world, particularly in urban areas.

Extropy, Inc.

The biggest rising star in American corporations is a title that could only be granted to Extropy. The company is funded almost entirely by one particularly rich benefactor known for his crazy ideas. Some of Extropy’s recent exploits involve bringing expensive military-grade cybernetics to the masses, mecha robotics, and space exploration. With as much help as Extropy is bringing to the people of America, a great deal of negative attention is often brought to the corporation. This often stems from other competitive megacorporations feeling undercut by Extropy’s dealings.

PsySystems

PsySystems is a Japanese corporation that is renowned throughout America and its allies for being fanatical exporters of high-grade military technology. With their labs releasing mostly experimental weapons and augmentations, PsySystems isn’t so much in the business of mass producing their tech. Instead, they often create secretive prototypes which are then sold for ridiculous sums to the highest bidder in small quantities. Generally, their products are sold to singular factions to provide the upper hand in certain high-risk situations.

Underground Factions

Ripper Docs

For any person living in a more impoverished sector of America, they’ve heard the legends. As almost mythic figures, Ripper Docs are just as feared in the streets as they are respected. “Ripper Cyberdoctor” is a title given to a cyberneticist that is unlicensed and operating without being registered. In that respect, all Ripper Docs are considered outlaws in the eyes of the government, and stories of their malpractice run rampant in politics. In the underground culture of America, though, that opinion starts to change. Often, some Ripper Docs are heralded as heroes, supplying cybernetics and medical practice to impoverished peoples. Other rumors are whispered in the streets of Ripper Docs and mentally obsessed surgeons with little that they won’t do to their patients and victims alike. While they do work alone and solely for themselves, Ripper Docs are much more than just individual practitioners, though. There has become a culture to the identity, causing the Docs to find some sort of unspoken code amongst themselves. You can recognize the Ripper Docs due to their unique symbol, a strangely shaped mask said to be drawing on influences of ancient mystical apothecaries fighting the plague. Ripper Docs almost always practice under a pseudonym. It’s a telltale signifier of an unlicensed practitioner. Maybe you’ll be alright if you can’t afford a normal clinic. Find a Ripper Doc. Don’t forget about your copay…

The Tech-Witches

There are thousands of organizations branded as terrorists throughout America, but few bring as much fear with the very mention of their name as the Tech-Witches. Assumed to have started out as a street gang, this all-female society strikes fear into the hearts of whoever dares slight them. With their ultimate motives unknown, the Tech-Witches are only inferred to be a secret society of worshippers of some strange idol. They make few public actions instead choosing to remain silently plotting until a massive attack is planned. The Tech-Witches are mostly seen raiding large technological research and development buildings of some of the corporate giants of the world. Their missions, while seeming suicidal, are almost always successful. The mission always seems to be to steal speculative technology still in its prototype state, as though they are amassing the most powerful arsenal in the world. The Tech-Witches are not above striking out against smaller targets however. There are documented instances of federal investigators that delve into the affairs of the Tech-Witches suddenly finding themselves under siege. Even entire buildings have been razed in mysterious explosions to prevent further investigation into the mysterious society. One rarely sees the Tech-Witches coming, but when they do, the women strike fast, recognized only by their coveted advanced technology and the strangely primitive masks worn depicting the faces of ancient demons from around the world.

The Primal Scourge

Anti-advancement beliefs have always been present in society, but with issues of reckless progress seen so commonly in this age of rapid expansion, some people have taken on a stricter ideology. It was after the Matrix Incident that underground cells of hyper-luddite purists began to form, but the Primal Scourge didn’t really emerge until the AI Catastrophe. Starting as a wholly American group, the Primal Scourge have been speculated to now have cells operating in a number of countries. The group prides itself on life free of the corrupting influence of machines, preferring naturalist styles of living. As such, it isn’t common to see Primal Scourge in the megapoli around the country unless they are carrying out attacks. Branded as a terrorist organization by the government, any known Primal Scourge members are outlaws, for the actions of the organization is almost entirely criminal, revolving around raids, firebombings, and other small scale assaults on industrial companies, technological research facilities, and other large corporate buildings.

Hyperhuman Monks

Roaming through the streets of America’s western megaregions, there exists a more esoteric collective of people: The Hyperhuman Monks. These growing monastic communities populate urban areas practicing and spreading their beliefs. The Hyperhuman Monks are easily picked out of a crowd in their saffron robes as well as shaved hairstyles. Their goal is relatively unknown to outsiders, but they work to propagate a better community around them through their harmony with machines. As such, most all of the Hyperhuman Monks will be augmented heavily. Being extremely adept at unarmed combat via a specifically created martial art for augmented individuals playing upon the strengths of industrial quality cyberware called ‘The Way of the Machine’. Monks often train weak populations of low income individuals small portions of their art to prevent the higher class from preying upon them. They have also been known to set up makeshift clinics around the west to help people struggling from SPECS or cyberware malfunctions. While most people know not to slight the peaceful monks out of respect for what they do, others may just leave them be for fear of what they do to their enemies… For they have no enemies.

Paramilitary Factions

Scrapteam

When a company desires external support of force, Scrapteam can be a risky choice. This ragtag group of mismatched gearheads market themselves on devastation of any enemy. Using whatever powerful weapons they can get their hands on and hacking their bodies to be living weapons, the Scrapteam are a different breed of violent. The organization is on thin ice, however. Branches of Scrapteam have narrowly avoided massive lawsuits for underhanded and criminal assaults on various corporations. The media has likened them more to privateers than to bodyguards. The Scrapteam operates in cells (or companies) around America as well as having cells that work around the world. Each one of these branch companies can be hired as a general mercenary population. Some of them are permanently employed while other companies move from job to job with little security.

Tinmen

Amongst the rampant flux of paramilitary groups propping up around the world to defend corporations at a price, one name stands paramount above the rest synonymous to a wall of impenetrable steel. The Tinmen brand themselves as a band of unstoppable mercenaries covered head-to-toe in heavy steel exo-armor with the most bulky weaponry commercially available. Due to their extreme prowess and training, the Tinmen boast a high price for their notable services. One would often see Tinmen protecting the largest clients of paramilitary groups around America. Due to the massive flow of cash into the organization, it is very hard for the Tinmen to be caught up in scandals involving criminal tactics. Most of the goings-on of the Tinmen is kept closely guarded, with only initiated members learning their secrets.

Inhuman Factions

Nekrolytes

[[[REDACTED]]]

A Note on Factions & Backstories:
I encourage you to interact with the factions above in your backstory as you wish, but keep in mind how likely certain scenarios are. Obviously if a massive corporation hates you, you aren't going to last long. If you'd like, you are allowed to have been a part of one of these factions (excluding Tech Witches and Nekrolytes for plot reasons). If you would prefer, you can also write something of your own if you'd like to be a part of a local gang or something similar.

Character Information

In this RP, you will take on the role of someone on or around the campaign trail for one of the major Twin City Sprawl Council candidates. Some of you may work together, while others may have completely different ultimate goals. Perhaps the rise of your candidate will provide you personal gain. Perhaps your character is merely lost in the world and seeks purpose in their line of business. Perhaps you want to infiltrate America’s political sphere and exert your own partisan influence on the country. The choice is yours. Of course, your characters are supporting or following the race in the Reclaim Zone, which is not known for its supersoldiers, corporate CEOs, and extremely powerful influencers. Futility is a roleplay about progression from the ground level up into world-influencing forces. I encourage you all to start small and plan big.

Below I’ve included a list of basic character roles that would fit in on the campaign trail. You are not limited to these options, so feel free to discuss any other possibilities with me.

Campaign Trail Role Ideas

Campaign Manager
Cyber Security // Technology Manager
Legal Advisor // Lawyer
Campaign Treasurer
Fundraising Manager
Medical Staff
Reporter
Bodyguard // Mercenary
Lobbyist
Driver
Friend of Candidate
Private Investigator
Benefactor (If you want to use this, develop some sort of business, how it works, and what you’ll need to do to run it. This role doesn’t just give you free reign to infinite cash.)
Business Worker (profiting from increased business around the campaign trail)

While I want each of you to take an active role in the campaign, I also want each of your characters to have personal goals. Players are encouraged to introduce their own relevant subplots. I can guide the way and facilitate the world around you, and you’ll still have the main goals of the group driving you as well, but you should also be developing your own character throughout the RP.

I encourage you all to cooperate and make connections between characters. Since the majority of us will have been residents of the Reclaim before, it wouldn’t be uncommon to know one another. While you don’t have to be best friends with every other character (in fact, I encourage you to form rivalries and other dynamic connections), try to come up with some relations with other characters. These can be cursory meetings or deep emotional bonds. The choice is yours. This is formalized in the Relationship Table, where each player should write a brief description of their character’s thoughts and relations with other player characters and story-relevant NPCs. Each player should have at least a few connections at the start of the roleplay.

Basic Character Sheet

[Picture]
[N A M E]
[AGE] | [GENDER] | [HEIGHT] | [BLOOD TYPE]

General Information

“Character Quote”

NAME:

ALIASES // TITLES:

SEX:

AGE:

APPEARANCE:

OCCUPATION: (What did you do before the Twin City Sprawl elections? What is your current role on the campaign trail?)

Psychological Profile

“Character Quote”

Trait | Trait | Trait | Trait | Trait | Trait (some positive and some negative)

PERSONAL GOAL: (Why are you still around? What are you trying to achieve?)

CAMPAIGN GOAL: (Why are you on the campaign trail? What are you trying to do for your relevant platform?)

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY: (Who are you really? What morally defines you? What drives you?)

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: (What are your views on the world? While a partisan identity would be nice to include, feel free to define yourself outside of the five parties.)

SECRETS: (What are you hiding? What would it cost you if someone found out what’s behind the veil?)

FEARS: (What keeps you up at night? What makes you freeze up in the moment? What do you avoid at all costs?)

REPUTATION: (How does the world view you? What are you known for? How do your people act around you?)

LIKES: (Feel free to list a few.)

DISLIKES: (Same as above)

QUIRKS: (What makes you unique for better or worse?)

Background Information

“Character Quote”

(Write a background story for your character. It doesn’t have to be immensely long, but try to fill in important details that will come up as your character develops.)

Operative Information

“Character Quote”

AUGMENTATIONS: (What sort of Cyberware are you equipped with? If in doubt, ask me.)

EQUIPMENT: (What are you carrying on the job?)

SKILLS: (Feel free to list a few and elaborate a bit.)

FLAWS: (Aim for three or so. Equal or greater to your number of skills.)

NOTES:

Relationship Table Template

Character name	Relationship
[Name of other character]	[Write out your character's opinion and relationship with the character in question.]

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 - Cyberpunk Political Intrigue Roleplay

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒t 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖

Dare you stand against corporate titans in a Great Game?

”You really think someone like you could do that?
You? Now?” She laughed as she paced back and forth before the man lying prone, bent down next to him and tried to stare into his eyes. ”You think any of us can influence the world? It’s a grim mission with only an entroponetic outcome. But you still go against Futility.” She couldn’t see his eyes, though. They were hidden behind the opaque hulking mass strapped around his cranium. He was deep in cyberspace—Totally Immersed. He couldn’t move, couldn’t talk, couldn’t feel anything beyond the Labyrinth’s abstract signal sensations. She went on anyways.

”Survival in America alone is hard enough these days. We’re all barely making it. After the global temperatures skyrocketed and left most of the nation dead, arid dustlands or swallowed by the sea, everyone flocked to the megalopoli. It was urbanization at its most insane rates. Living outside was a death sentence. Living inside was a life sentence, slave to a corporate conglomerate, or to the political game. Everybody had the choice to leave, though. Volcanic faults, dust storms, and floods or inhumanity, corruption, violence….”

The street samurai stepped from the drooling, sniffling husk, doing her best to avoid the litter of boxes of prescription and recreational E-Drug modules alike. All empty. His studio had two windows that ran from the ceiling to the floor, but both had been covered with thick black curtains nailed to the wall. She let out a long exhale, staring deep into their emptiness.

”There’s not a more picturesque view in all the Reclaim Zone. It certainly isn’t the… cleanest district in South City, but hey, things are changing here in the Reclaim. Ever since Joshua Gatch—corporate puppet candidate—secured his seat at the zone’s mayor through an artificial inflation of votes, the Reclaim Zone became a much more valuable asset in the greater political sphere. Turns out, once word gets out that you can purchase the votes of people who are long since corpses, a lot more corporations and organizations take notice.”

”At least everyone’s employed now that the campaign trail trickled into South City. Every successfully-backed candidate running for a seat on the Twin City Sprawl Council of Regulators is coming to town, and bringing an array of agents and operators with them.”

She gave the sheath in her hands a twirl before beginning to slide from it the slick blackmetal sword, but something gave her pause. Coming up the stairs, there was an array of tremors. Footsteps.

---

---

Welcome to Futility: The Great Game! This a reboot of the original speculative cyberpunk roleplay. Every player will inherit the role of one resident of America in the year 2065, all finding themselves following the Twin City Sprawl Council campaign trail. Whether you’re on staff for a major candidate, part of a smaller organization attempting to influence the elections, or a vagabond hypnotized by the slightest glimpse into the Great Game; you’ve ended up in the Reclaim Zone.

This roleplay revolves around the decisions the group makes regarding the candidates that they choose to push forward in the Great Game, and the mass of allies and enemies they make along the way. Thus, as you progress and develop the story of your own character and make decisive actions, the direction of history is going to change. You’ll influence political, social, and cultural aspects of the world around you; you’ll decide who goes on and who gives into Futility. The world will respond accordingly.

While the heart of this roleplay will revolve around the advancement and goings-on of the campaigns that unify the characters, I encourage each player to work with me and undertake various subplots that explore the world and its many factions and inhabitants. There will be an array of candidates to follow on the campaign trail, so I encourage characters of all backgrounds and alignments. This, of course, comes with the disclaimer that we have to collaborate as a group to keep a consistent narrative. Some candidates will not make it further into the Great Game. Those who wish to continue as the tides of society change will have to follow the ebbs and flows of different factions.

”Just remember that every little decision you make determines the future that emerges immediately around you. Can you rise above petty gangers and criminals in the streets and bring about change, or does everyone truly end up giving into Futility?”

Rules and Disclaimers:

---

---

►Follow all of the Guild’s rules and don’t metagame or powergame. Allowing your character to get into tough situations can often bring the most rewarding results in terms of developing dynamically.

►This is an Advanced RP, so I hope to keep the group to certain standards. While I know that quality is greater than quantity, try to keep your posts a bit longer (3 or so paragraphs at the very least) as that tends to move us along through action while also being descriptive of your situation. If you are struggling with a post, feel free to ask for help with brainstorming ideas.

►Be friendly and respectful to the rest of the group. If any sort of problem comes up, hash things out respectfully. Unnecessary OOC arguments will bring no positive benefit to the players. Don’t be afraid to bring up issues that may arise so that we can talk through things and solve any problems. I’d prefer us all to be on a friendly page.

►This story necessitates heavy participation, discussion, and active pursuit of new subplots and roleplay. I urge you all to push for your own roleplay as much outside of the main plot to develop your characters. Additionally, some of the most rewarding moments can come from developing deep and intricate interaction with others, so try to include other players when you can.

►While I would like everyone to be posting on a semi-regular basis, I understand that issues may arise and we all get busy. I tend to run a game that can get slow at times, though if you’re interested in writing more, we can always develop side lore. My main intention is to keep Futility going regardless of what roadblocks we all hit. If you need to take a temporary leave of absence and can’t post, please let the group know. That being said, if you are unable to post for an extended period of time, I will likely control your character as an NPC until your return so we can continue the story moving along.

►This story will have 18+ themes, as violence and descriptive combat can play a large role in portions of the roleplay. Please keep that in mind. While you don’t have to go into graphic detail, expect rattling violence from ruthless aggressors.

►This roleplay will focus a lot around the political intrigue in the world of Futility. While all our characters will have different motivations, it’s very important to note that they’ll all end up working towards similar end goals. Candidates and factions will come and go in Futility, so marrying your character too closely to one group or individual may not get you very far. The world necessitates fluidity.

►This roleplay will run a Discord server for communication, though I hope you all will actively use the thread to keep Futility relevant and alive. If you would like to be added to the Discord, add me at Opposition#4407.

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 [Accepting 2nd Wave of Applications] - Cyberpunk Political Roleplay

Also, we have a discord now. Those of you who are interested can add me @Opposition#4407.

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖

For those of you who may still be interested in the world of Futility, the Great Game is beginning again in a reboot. See the new interest check for details.

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 [Accepting 2nd Wave of Applications] - Cyberpunk Political Roleplay

@Opposition

Interested. Thinking of running a business or being a benefactor or both.

However, who will be playing the campaigner?

@CleanBreeze

In the Twin City Sprawl Council election that takes place at the start of the RP, candidates from each of the major political parties will be relevant NPCs posted at the start of the OOC. These will provide a background for each of the current parties' motivations and missions the characters can choose to influence or follow.

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 [Accepting 2nd Wave of Applications] - Cyberpunk Political Roleplay

@The Bork Lazer@SandyGunfox@Moskau Spieluhr

Good to have you all aboard! I'm glad folks are interested. As I progress with recompiling the OOC lore, let me know if you have any questions thus far about the world or the RP in general.

I'll also be forming the discord later today which I can add you all to.

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 [Accepting 2nd Wave of Applications] - Cyberpunk Political Roleplay

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒t 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖

[Ch. 2 Reboot] - Futility and Loathing on the Campaign Trail

Futility is currently accepting its second wave of applications!

Dare you stand against corporate titans in a Great Game?

”You really think someone like you could do that?"

"You? Now?” She laughed as she paced back and forth before the man lying prone, bent down next to him and tried to stare into his eyes. ”You think any of us can influence the world? It’s a grim mission with only an entroponetic outcome. But you still go against Futility.” She couldn’t see his eyes, though. They were hidden behind the opaque hulking mass strapped around his cranium. He was deep in cyberspace—Totally Immersed. He couldn’t move, couldn’t talk, couldn’t feel anything beyond the Labyrinth’s abstract signal sensations. She went on anyways.

”Survival in America alone is hard enough these days. We’re all barely making it. After the global temperatures skyrocketed and left most of the nation dead, arid dustlands or swallowed by the sea, everyone flocked to the megalopoli. It was urbanization at its most insane rates. Living outside was a death sentence. Living inside was a life sentence, slave to a corporate conglomerate, or to the political game. Everybody had the choice to leave, though. Volcanic faults, dust storms, and floods or inhumanity, corruption, violence….”

The street samurai stepped from the drooling, sniffling husk, doing her best to avoid the litter of boxes of prescription and recreational E-Drug modules alike. All empty. His studio had two windows that ran from the ceiling to the floor, but both had been covered with thick black curtains nailed to the wall. She let out a long exhale, staring deep into their emptiness.

”There’s not a more picturesque view in all the Reclaim Zone. It certainly isn’t the… cleanest district in South City, but hey, things are changing here in the Reclaim. Ever since Joshua Gatch—corporate puppet candidate—secured his seat at the zone’s mayor through an artificial inflation of votes, the Reclaim Zone became a much more valuable asset in the greater political sphere. Turns out, once word gets out that you can purchase the votes of people who are long since corpses, a lot more corporations and organizations take notice.”

”At least everyone’s employed now that the campaign trail trickled into South City. Every successfully-backed candidate running for a seat on the Twin City Sprawl Council of Regulators is coming to town, and bringing an array of agents and operators with them.”

She gave the sheath in her hands a twirl before beginning to slide from it the slick blackmetal sword, but something gave her pause. Coming up the stairs, there was an array of tremors. Footsteps.

---

---

Welcome to Futility: The Great Game! This a reboot of the original speculative cyberpunk roleplay. Every player will inherit the role of one resident of America in the year 2064, all finding themselves following the Twin City Sprawl Council campaign trail. Whether you’re on staff for a major candidate, part of a smaller organization attempting to influence the elections, or a vagabond hypnotized by the slightest glimpse into the Great Game; you’ve ended up in the Reclaim Zone.

This roleplay revolves around the decisions the group makes regarding the candidates that they choose to push forward in the Great Game, and the mass of allies and enemies they make along the way. Thus, as you progress and develop the story of your own character and make decisive actions, the direction of history is going to change. You’ll influence political, social, and cultural aspects of the world around you; you’ll decide who goes on and who gives into Futility. The world will respond accordingly.

While the heart of this roleplay will revolve around the advancement and goings-on of the campaigns that unify the characters, I encourage each player to work with me and undertake various subplots that explore the world and its many factions and inhabitants. There will be an array of candidates to follow on the campaign trail, so I encourage characters of all backgrounds and alignments. This, of course, comes with the disclaimer that we have to collaborate as a group to keep a consistent narrative. Some candidates will not make it further into the Great Game. Those who wish to continue as the tides of society change will have to follow the ebbs and flows of different factions.

”Just remember that every little decision you make determines the future that emerges immediately around you. Can you rise above petty gangers and criminals in the streets and bring about change, or does everyone truly end up giving into Futility?”

Rules and Disclaimers:

---

---

►Follow all of the Guild’s rules and don’t metagame or powergame. Allowing your character to get into tough situations can often bring the most rewarding results in terms of developing dynamically.

►This is an Advanced RP, so I hope to keep the group to certain standards. While I know that quality is greater than quantity, try to keep your posts a bit longer (3 or so paragraphs at the very least) as that tends to move us along through action while also being descriptive of your situation. If you are struggling with a post, feel free to ask for help with brainstorming ideas.

►Be friendly and respectful to the rest of the group. If any sort of problem comes up, hash things out respectfully. Unnecessary OOC arguments will bring no positive benefit to the players.

►Don’t be afraid to bring up issues that may arise so that we can talk through things and solve any problems. I’d prefer us all to be on a friendly page.

►This story necessitates heavy participation, discussion, and active pursuit of new subplots and roleplay. I urge you all to push for your own roleplay as much outside of the main plot to develop your characters. Additionally, some of the most rewarding moments can come from developing deep and intricate interaction with others, so try to include other players when you can.

►While I would like everyone to be posting on a semi-regular basis, I understand that issues may arise and we all get busy. I tend to run a game that can get slow at times, though if you’re interested in writing more, we can always develop side lore. My main intention is to keep Futility going regardless of what roadblocks we all hit. If you need to take a temporary leave of absence and can’t post, please let the group know. That being said, if you are unable to post for an extended period of time, I will likely control your character as an NPC until your return so we can continue the story moving along.

►This story will have 18+ themes, as violence and descriptive combat can play a large role in portions of the roleplay. Please keep that in mind. While you don’t have to go into graphic detail, expect rattling violence from ruthless aggressors.

►This roleplay will run a discord server for communication, though I hope you all will actively use the thread to keep Futility relevant and alive.

The World

---

---

Setting & South City

America’s 14 Megaregions

America’s Fourteen Recognized Megaregions:

New York Seaboard
Great DC
The Derelict City
The Detroit Stacks
Metrochicago
The Bastion
The Miami Platforms
Neo Orleans
The Texas Sprawl
The Vegas Triangle
South City “The City of Angels”
The Bay
Portland
Seattle

The story will begin based in and around one main region: the self-proclaimed paradise of the west, South City. This is one of the most populous megaregions in America encompassing what was once Los Angeles as well as the surrounding area where the city expanded into throughout the 21st century. In reality, that much couldn’t be further from the truth. As the 2100 elections grow closer and closer, chaos is ever present in the streets. Political turmoil in the city’s urban sprawl is at an all time high with riots in the streets, veiled and corrupt political dealings in the shadows, and a populous with views split between all five of the major political parties. Small districts in the city are more contested than ever both in terms of elected offices and street rivalries that tear violently through South City’s slum districts. South City is one of the two major megaregions that make up the ‘Twin City Sprawl’, a sprawl of urban cityscape that covers America’s western coast along California. Its sister region is The Bay Region to the north.

There are a number of smaller ‘districts’ in the megaregion, but for one reason or another, you find yourself in the Reclaim Zone. The Reclaim Zone is a large district emanating out from one main street. The district gets its name from the origin of its architecture and infrastructure. Most of the buildings in the Reclaim Zone are now defunct factories of corporations that have either gone under or moved to better locations. These shells are now the basis for cheap hotels, smaller scale manufacturers, as well as innumerable clubs and bars. Believe it or not, the Reclaim Zone used to hold the greatest employment rates in South City Sprawl, but times have changed. As more and more people migrated to the district, the Reclaim Zone became a home to slumming populations and street vagabonds. As population increased, so did the tension in the streets as did the demands for better conditions.

When riots began to tear through Reclaim Zone streets in 2035, Enforcers were barely able to hold back the crowds from turning strikes and protests into a full-blown war in the streets across South City. As violence continued for a span of three weeks, large scale companies shut down production activity in the district temporarily, but when the riots ended in the Reclaim Zone, the turmoil they brought didn’t leave. The Reclaim Zone became known for its most dangerous times, attracting a completely new sort of individual and corporation. With the decreased regulation due to broken infrastructure and lack of Enforcers in the area, seedy business practices began to take root in every Reclaim Zone industry. Crime began to flourish and the monolithic factories that once housed reputable corporations were bought out by gangs and criminal organizations. Clandestine business has become the trademark of the Reclaim Zone, whether its corps, gangs, or mercs in power.

Technology

---

---

Cyberware

Cyberware

With the rapid advancement of technology in modern times, the ability to meld metal with flesh has become commonplace. Having started out as an early 21st solution to atrophy and the loss of limbs, cybernetic augmentations were looked to as a way to offer the human body back to those who may have lost theirs. It wasn’t until an American conglomerate corporation titled Symbiont started to push this research to its limits, offering promises that their augmentation could surmount human ability. This was done by grafting artificial extensions of the nervous system into the human body, connecting the complex system up to a specific neural interface embedded in the grey matter called an Electronic Brain. As Symbiont rolled this technology out at public tech conferences, the company became known as the first pioneer into the Cybernetic Age.

Human ability can be augmented to allow for incredible speed, bionic strength, and amazingly fast mental calculation. While the quality of these products can vary between manufacturers, cybernetic prosthesis is available to the masses. This isn’t without its drawbacks however. With the extreme edge given to augmented people in all professions, the masses became desperate for their own cyberware. This has led to lower quality and homemade enhancements, which is hypothesized to be the root cause of the Cyber Plague, Split-Periphery Electronic Cognition Syndrome is the slow degradation of perfect sync between the brain and the Electronic Brain. When the speed of firing synapses starts to lose its synchronization, the cognitive processes regulated by the person begin to split into two slightly off consciousnesses in their mind. While the effects of SPECS can be minor at first, the further along a person’s synchronization degrades, the more confusion, dementia, and psychosis will start to grip them as they become no longer able to recognize who they are or which or their cognitive processes is their own. While SPECS almost always results in the eventual death of the victim, it is all too common that some degree of psychotic violence comes first as paranoia gets too strong in the victim’s mind. The speed that SPECS takes hold of one’s mind varies greatly on many factors. Biological aptitude of the brain’s ability to lose synchronization is a major factor, but more often the cause of advanced stages of SPECS is the over-augmentation of the body or the use of low quality prostheses that don’t do well to match the biological brain’s speed.

While the Cyber Plague is inevitably lying in the fate of every augmented individual to some degree, there exists one way to stave it off when it becomes a problem. Created by Genetek, a chemical compound was synthesized that helps the brain fire in a way that matches the Electronic Brain. This compound was refined into a drug then called Neurosynthase, or more commonly Neurosynth. Due to the resonant realignment of brain waves caused by Neurosynth, the drug has become highly addictive to augmented individuals, producing a unique sense of heightened focus and euphoria. Once Genetek realized the demand for their product, price was marked up astronomically and Genetek clinics began to dominate the streets. With prices so high and street prices even higher, Neurosynth is only further coveted. It is because of this that SPECS is so cataclysmic. Due to these potentially dangerous effects of Cyberware. All major surgeries and enhancements require a person to register as an Augmented Person with the government. Of course, not all augmented individuals are registered if they choose more unconventional means of implanting.

Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality

As internet technology exponentially developed, the interface technology that humans used to interact with their virtual fountain of knowledge did as well. It started with simple sensory inputs, but humanity has since sought to access their endless stream of information with as little latency as possible. Thus, the Direct Cranial Interface was created. This was the first form of what would come to be called a cyberdeck, allowing for a person to interface with media through their brain, disregarding the sensory information of the body entirely.

Virtual reality allowed for explosive growths in every genre of consumable media, but it wasn’t without its drawbacks. The allure of virtual reality has become extremely powerful, leaving some people preferring to live jacked in above all else. There have been multiple documented cases of people losing themselves in virtual reality, choosing to live in cyberspace as their body withers away to thirst and hunger outside the cyberdeck. Others have become crazed, confusing the two instances of reality and falling into debilitating psychosis. Virtual reality has also offered a medium for a whole new range of ‘E-Drugs’ that can be addicting a crippling psychological way. Despite all of the very real fears that virtual reality brought, it has paved a path for humanity to access information infinitely faster and became the main medium for interacting with Cyber Matrix and Labyrinth. It exists in various stages, allowing for people without cyberdeck augments limited access to the medium.

The Cyber Matrix & Labyrinth

The Cyber Matrix & Labyrinth

Leaps in internet technology have left the people with information that is more accessible than ever. Of course, the interface medium of man and keyboard was always limited in its speed compared to the marvels of the brain. One company, Cryptotechnics, sought to fix that. Thus, the first iteration of Cyber Matrix software was created. In an attempt to neurally interface with the massive database that is the internet, Cryptotechnics utilized boundary-pushing virtual reality Total Immersion technology to create a new way to experience information. Cyber Matrix software, requiring the user to literally connect their brains with an interface via brain implants, offers the user a three dimensional virtual reality world that they can access information through. The new interface medium was known for being difficult to master, but once a user became accustomed to traversing the new world, the speed at which one could access information increased exponentially.

As Cyber Matrix software rose in popularity, America as a whole sought to adapt the technology. The increase in Cyber Matrix users only increased the size of the Cyber Matrix, allowing users to traverse the cyberspace with new freedom. Before long, a majority of internet use was on Cyber Matrix software, interconnecting the digital space in a new and explorable world. This wasn’t without its drawbacks, however. With an entirely new medium of digital code, cybersecurity changed entirely as hackers and other malicious entities had millions of new channels to use as avenues for their work. Things came to a head for the first generation of the Cyber Matrix when a nationwide attack struck America in a single night. During that time frame, billions of dollars were stolen from a number of international corporate conglomerates. The attack took place in a number of states across the nation where battles with thousands of security systems rocked the nation. States had their entire power grids fluctuate, grids of the Cyber Matrix were permanently corrupted when fighting against the attacking presence. In the end, the attack was successful, paving its way as the largest heist in history. Those responsible are still at large, but the trail seems to have gone entirely cold.

This global scare paved the way for the second generation of CM software. Massive backlash had Cryptotechnics crashing into the dust, forcing the government to step in and work with the company to keep nationwide information available. After nearly a month of global downtime, the economy could finally resurrect on a mysterious new software: Labyrinth, the Cyber Matrix’s successor. Labyrinth offered encryptions that were thousands of times more elaborate than the Cyber Matrix and also introduced locked private instances that were cut off from the rest of the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth itself is not static like its predecessor. The world is constantly changing and rewriting its structure. Since its introduction, information security has increased immensely. Hacking still exists as an issue, but the knowledge and ability of malicious entities is nowhere near what it once was. It’s said that no one outside of high level government officials and the mysteriously unknown corporation that developed Labryrinth knows how to access the source, but the same was said about CM technology until the Matrix Incident.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence

Explosive advances in the field of robotics have left humanity relying on machines more than ever, and machine learning is only growing more powerful and more complex as a byproduct. It was less than two decades into the 21st century when humanity created its first trivial forms of artificial intelligence. It wasn’t until Cyber Matrix software was developed that the advancement of AI truly skyrocketed in capability. Matrix AI was a marvel to society and technological advancement began to increase at an even more exponential rate as more AI were created. The formation of a truly perfect AI didn’t occur until years later. Behind closed doors in R&D compounds of an unknown company, the Singularity was rumored to be created. Historians pinpoint the exact time it happened by referencing information that charts the explosive surge in technological advancement. Within a week, there were Singular AI popping up across the globe in the hands of any megacorp that could afford to create one.

Two weeks after the genesis of singular artificial intelligence, everything had changed. The original problems that caused the emergency regulation was unknown, but the effects of America to outlaw and exterminate any singular AI were seen soon after. Chaos wracked the streets as robotic minds with any control over the physical world doused the life from human lungs. Entire banking systems were compromised, massive blocks of the Cyber Matrix were sealed and barred entirely from entry by mysterious entities, and entire grids of electrical systems surged in and out of life as inhuman creatures fought for their lives. During the events that transpired after the emergency legislation, people across the globe were warned from accessing the Cyber Matrix as a few who dared delve in were found with pistols pressed against their temples or minds melted from the inside out by their cyber deck.

‘The AI Catastrophe’, as it was dubbed marked a loss of thousands of lives globally. It took only days for hundreds of developed countries around the world to follow in the footsteps of America. The United Nations has also taken to open hostility against any nation that utilizes singular AI openly. Of course, AI in and of itself remains at an all time high for its active use throughout the world, but measures are always taken to prevent another catastrophe. The whole forceful cleanup was a mess after all, and speculative scientists and Labyrinth Runners alike hypothesize that there may have been a handful of hyper-intelligent entities that evaded sweeps of closed systems, and the abandoned Cyber Matrix is another thing entirely.

Political Map & Faction Details

Government Factions

The Enforcers

Crime is as widespread around America as the biting smog that covers the skies. Such an unforgiving underworld can only coexist with a force of unforgiving Enforcers. The government sponsored Enforcers are the regulators of the law. This massive organization acts as its own branch, regulating the lowest beat Enforcers out striking fear into citizens on the streets as well as the highest level judiciaries that officiate the law. As much as the iron-fisted Enforcers help to deter any punishable offense, a large portion of the judicial sect of America is wrought with corruption. Bribes are taken, crimes are overlooked, and the citizens are powerless to stop the dealings of the Enforcers. Of course, not all Enforcers are corrupt. In fact, there are specific sects and task forces designed to combat internal corruption in the Enforcers. All know to quiet down in the presence of the eerily armored Enforcers as they make their way down the streets. Very few would dare stand against them due to the Enforcers being armed with the best equipment their often cut budget allows.

Because of the increasing deregulation of states by the federal government, many have lost faith in the Enforcers. Thusly, the organization doesn’t get much credit or support for its work (though whether or not it deserves any is another question entirely). In modern days, Enforcers are often second to state-determined task forces.

Major Political Factions

The HyperHuman Party

Standing as the most esoteric and spiritual platform in American politics, the HyperHuman Party heavily supports the advancement of the human form through cooperation with machines. This, however, is not possible in HyperHuman philosophy without the cooperation of humans. Thus, the HyperHuman Party supports widespread augmentation and biotic health support for all of humanity. This cultural ideology is assumed to have been generated from a conglomeration of eastern philosophies that focused around the collective rather than the individual. Additionally, a large portion of the HyperHuman following is very spiritual, regarding interaction with machines with a mind-bending respect. Many have dismissed the party because of this. As it stands, the HyperHuman Party doesn’t have a large following for it is often vilified for its collectivist mentality and esoteric basis.

Neo-Transhumanist Party

With philosophy based around rapid technological advancement and the enhancement of human ability through augmentation, the NTP has garnered widespread support of techies and idealists alike. When this ideological-based movement pushed towards active political participation, things started to change. The NTP became known to favor fervent legislation regarding the deregulation of human enhancement and borderline technology in general. In pursuit of its goals, the NTP has also found billions of dollars in support from large corporate backers who clandestinely lobby their business-oriented goals into the party’s agenda.

Neo-Luddite Party

One of the most radically recognized political parties, the Neo-Luddite Party, backs a philosophy almost exclusive to its supporters in America. Taking ideas from an old society in early America, the group brands itself as a collective of purists free of technology’s corruption on the human body. Some go as far to say that further reliance on machines is giving up on our humanity. The Neo-Luddite Party isn’t without its own respected technological marvels, though. A small sect of the NLP look towards the controversial ideas of gene therapy and biological manipulation of the human body in the future despite the taboos that surround the subject. While the party’s general beliefs are wide and often very different, creating many small ideologies that all brand themselves as Neo-Luddites, all of the NLP seems to rally around a sort of hatred for augmented people for various reasons.

The Central Party

Despite America’s multi-party system, one political front holds its name above the rest: The Central Party. The Central Party is most well known for being the party in majority control of the government for a number of terms now. The Central Party is known as the conglomerate of the two major political parties that ran America before the multi-party system. The group support the propagation of of large federal government and high regulation. The Central Party has been known to work heavily with megacorporations, especially those based in America. A certain sense of nationalism runs through the Central Party, bringing an almost imperialist outlook to the country’s largest party. While the ideals of the Central Party offer visions of ‘A Greater America’, many common men are left in the dust of this vision. Corruption and disregard of society’s lower class are commonplace in the Central Party, though thoroughly denied.

The Pirate Party

Stemming from the advent of the digital age, the Pirate Party of America rallies around a free sharing of knowledge and privacy in the cyberscape. With the majority of the party’s base being the technologically-minded working class. Hackers, digital archivists, and programmers in general brought forth the start of the Pirate Party. As it stands now, the Pirate Party is the smallest of the major recognized political parties in America. Because of this, the Pirate Party has become quite the radical platform, demanding freedom of speech, privacy, anti-corruption, and direct democracy in the country. Due to the stigma that being involved in the Pirate Party makes you a sort of revolutionary, public support is speculated to be lower than it really is.

Corporate Factions

FuryTech

One of the most well off corporations in the American Region, and by far the most technologically ahead, FuryTech is an extremely versatile corporations, pumping out technologically advanced devices years before other industries in the business. When you want top of the line tech and you’re willing to spare no expense, FuryTech’s got the gadget, implant, weapon, or vehicle you’re looking for. The company is often displayed in the media as the forefront of technology. Whether or not that is true, many believe you can do no better than FuryTech. FuryTech is an extremely large corporation, and thus, there are a number of branch corporations of the larger conglomerate.
Fury Vehemetech
By far the largest and most broad branch in terms of production, Fury Vehemetech acts to produce all products that don’t fit into either of the other two branches. The public focus of the branch, however, is producing powerful products that combine speed, stopping power, protection, and utility. This branch is where you will find the various weapons, armors, cyberware, and gadgets produced by FuryTech.
Fury Biotech
Fury Biotech is the smallest and most secretive branch in FuryTech. It is also the most recently created public branch of FuryTech. Publically, the pursuit of Fury Biotech is to look into manipulating organic matter and biomedical technology to seek advancements in the medical field.
Fury Heavytech
Just when the world thought Fury Vehemetech was the pinnacle of technology, various megacorporations around the world began to bring to light a flaw in FuryTech’s philosophy. All of their equipment was mostly suited for the light assault. As more and more competitors started to capitalize on the market for heavy assault equipment, FuryTech soon jumped on board. Heavytech began pumping out new designs for more armored and powerful models of armor and weapons. Heavytech has since further extended their hands into the field of vehicles both civilian and military.

Engitech

In America, there is only one technological giant that stands as an equal rival of FuryTech. While their competitor has the highest end of advancement on lockdown, Engitech is recognized as the largest producing conglomerate of all things technology. Rather than focusing solely on the top of the line equipment, Engitech produces all manners of devices. Engitech is the name you will see branded across all industrial workers’ exosuits, mass production technology, and everyday industrial machines. Because of their wider focus, Engitech Conglomerate has managed to have a hand in the production process of almost every major mechanical product. Many of the more affordable implants for the common man come from Engitech.

APEX Industries

You’re Ape or you’re APEX! You’ve seen the ads. We all have. APEX Industries knows its worth and so does the populous. When it comes to cybernetic technology, very few can match the harmonious and resonant implants that connect man and machine made by APEX Industries. Not only will APEX Clinics offer you the most functional and capable prostheses and implants, but also the most stylish. The APEX megacorporation was formed after a number of buyouts of top designer cybernetic companies, and the work of their top scientists shows. Despite all of the flashy advertisements and good press, APEX has had just as much negative attention. Dismissed as conspiracy, a number of malpractice cases, underhanded business deals, and inhumane tests have been brought against APEX. Who knows the truth, though?

Amalgamation

When it comes to politically active corporations, it’s hard to find any more involved than Amalgamation. Implant and augmentation technology wouldn’t even be close to where it is without Amalgamation. Defining itself as the boundary pushing front of the Neo-Transhumanist movement, Amalgamation is as much crowdfunded as it is supported by its massive sales. With more than just one goal with its ever expanding product lines, this megacorporation deals in robotics as much as it does ripping flesh from humanity. Eschewing the sleek and natural look of some of its competitors, Amalgamation’s augs are known for hardy, industrial, and powerful looks. As much as some love the company, others silently live in fear of what Amalgamation has created. A lot of the company’s legislative lobbying front has to do with deregulation of what can be done with cybernetics. You’d be hard pressed to stare down someone with Amalgamation tech grafted onto them and dare cross them.

Gaea Naturae

Very little is actually known about Gaea Naturae save that they are one of the great and most heavily influencing megacorporations in America. Under the guise of a medical corporation, Gaea Naturae has been documented hiring the world’s top biologists and natural scientists before whisking them away from ivy league schools to almost disappear from then on. While all megacorporations are known for keeping their secrets closely guarded, but Gaea Naturae takes things to a whole new level with their own paramilitary sector seen protecting every Gaea Naturae facility armed to the teeth. In the midst of the shadowy rumors surrounding the company, Gaea Naturae has been known for opening healing clinics in very impoverished sectors of the world, particularly in urban areas.

Extropy, Inc.

The biggest rising star in American corporations is a title that could only be granted to Extropy. The company is funded almost entirely by one particularly rich benefactor known for his crazy ideas. Some of Extropy’s recent exploits involve bringing expensive cybernetics to the masses, mecha robotics, and space exploration. With as much help as Extropy is bringing to the people of America, a great deal of negative attention is often brought to the corporation. This often stems from other competitive megacorporations feeling undercut by Extropy’s dealings.

Underground Factions

Ripper Docs

For any person living in a more impoverished sector of America, they’ve heard the legends. As almost mythic figures, Ripper Docs are just as feared in the streets as they are respected. “Ripper Cyberdoctor” is a title given to a cyberneticist that is unlicensed and operating without being registered. In that respect, all Ripper Docs are considered outlaws in the eyes of the government, and stories of their malpractice run rampant in politics. In the underground culture of America, though, that opinion starts to change. Often, some Ripper Docs are heralded as heroes, supplying cybernetics and medical practice to impoverished peoples. Other rumors are whispered in the streets of Ripper Docs and mentally obsessed surgeons with little that they won’t do to their patients and victims alike. While they do work alone and solely for themselves, Ripper Docs are much more than just individual practitioners, though. There has become a culture to the identity, causing the Docs to find some sort of unspoken code amongst themselves. You can recognize the Ripper Docs due to their unique symbol, a strangely shaped mask said to be drawing on influences of ancient mystical apothecaries fighting the plague. Ripper Docs almost always practice under a pseudonym. It’s a telltale signifier of an unlicensed practitioner. Maybe you’ll be alright if you can’t afford a normal clinic. Find a Ripper Doc. Don’t forget about your copay…

The Tech-Witches

There are thousands of organizations branded as terrorists throughout America, but few bring as much fear with the very mention of their name as the Tech-Witches. Assumed to have started out as a street gang, this all female society strikes fear into the hearts of whoever dares slight them. With their ultimate motives unknown, the Tech-Witches are only inferred to be a secret society of worshippers of some strange idol. They make few public actions instead choosing to remain silently plotting until a massive attack is planned. The Tech-Witches are mostly seen raiding large technological research and development buildings of some of the corporate giants of the world. Their missions, while seeming suicidal, are almost always successful. The mission always seems to be to steal speculative technology still in its prototype state, as though they are amassing the most powerful arsenal in the world. The Tech-Witches are not above striking out against smaller targets however. There are documented instances of federal investigators that delve into the affairs of the Tech-Witches suddenly finding themselves under siege. Even entire buildings have been razed in mysterious explosions to prevent further investigation into the mysterious society. One rarely sees the Tech-Witches coming, but when they do, the women strike fast, recognized only by their coveted advanced technology and the strangely primitive masks worn depicting the faces of ancient demons from around the world.

Paramilitary Factions

Scrapteam

When a company desires external support of force, Scrapteam can be a risky choice. This ragtag group of mismatched gearheads market themselves on devastation of any enemy. Using whatever powerful weapons they can get their hands on and hacking their bodies to be living weapons, the Scrapteam are a different breed of violent. The organization is on thin ice, however. Branches of Scrapteam have narrowly avoided massive lawsuits for underhanded and criminal assaults on various corporations. The media has likened them more to privateers than to bodyguards. The Scrapteam operates in cells (or companies) around America as well as having cells that work around the world. Each one of these branch companies can be hired as a general mercenary population. Some of them are permanently employed while other companies move from job to job with little security.

Tinmen

Amongst the rampant flux of paramilitary groups propping up around the world to defend corporations at a price, one name stands paramount above the rest synonymous to a wall of impenetrable steel. The Tinmen brand themselves as a band of unstoppable mercenaries covered head-to-toe in heavy steel exo-armor with the most bulky weaponry commercially available. Due to their extreme prowess and training, the Tinmen boast a high price for their notable services. One would often see Tinmen protecting the largest clients of paramilitary groups around America. Due to the massive flow of cash into the organization, it is very hard for the Tinmen to be caught up in scandals involving criminal tactics. Most of the goings-on of the Tinmen is kept closely guarded, with only initiated members learning their secrets.

Character Information

In this RP, you will take on the role of someone on or around the campaign trail for one of the major Twin City Sprawl Council candidates. Some of you may work together, while others may have completely different ultimate goals. Perhaps the rise of your candidate will provide you personal gain. Perhaps your character is merely lost in the world and seeks purpose in their line of business. Perhaps you want to infiltrate America’s political sphere and exert your own partisan influence on the country. The choice is yours. Of course, your characters are supporting or following the race in the Reclaim Zone, which is not known for its supersoldiers, corporate CEOs, and extremely powerful influencers. Futility is a roleplay about progression from the ground level up into world-influencing forces. I encourage you all to start small and plan big.

Below I’ve included a list of basic character roles that would fit in on the campaign trail. You are not limited to these options, so feel free to discuss any other possibilities with me.

Campaign Trail Role Ideas

Campaign Manager
Cyber Security // Technology Manager
Legal Advisor // Lawyer
Campaign Treasurer
Fundraising Manager
Medical Staff
Reporter
Bodyguard // Mercenary
Lobbyist
Driver
Friend of Candidate
Private Investigator
Benefactor (If you want to use this, develop some sort of business, how it works, and what you’ll need to do to run it. This role doesn’t just give you free reign to infinite cash.)
Business Worker (profiting from increased business around the campaign trail)

While I want each of you to take an active role in the campaign, I also want each of your characters to have personal goals. Players are encouraged to introduce their own relevant subplots. I can guide the way and facilitate the world around you, and you’ll still have the main goals of the group driving you as well, but you should also be developing your own character throughout the RP.

I encourage you all to cooperate and make connections between characters. While you don’t have to be best friends with every other character (in fact, I encourage you to form rivalries and other dynamic connections), try to come up with some relations with other characters. These can be cursory meetings or deep emotional bonds. The choice is yours. I don’t yet have a set number of people I want to accept into the final cast, but I will end up limiting accepted characters eventually.

Basic Character Sheet

[Picture]
[N A M E]
[AGE] | [GENDER] | [HEIGHT] | [BLOOD TYPE]

General Information

NAME:

ALIASES // TITLES:

SEX:

AGE:

APPEARANCE:

OCCUPATION: (What did you do before the campaign? Or what do you still do? This can be held prior to the campaign or ongoing.)

CAMPAIGN TEAM POSITION: (Your position under Campbell. What do you do? See first post for various ideas.)

Psychological Profile

Trait | Trait | Trait | Trait | Trait | Trait

PERSONAL GOAL: (Why are you still around? What are you trying to achieve?)

CAMPAIGN GOAL: (Why did you link up with Campbell? What are you trying to do for his platform?)

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY: (Who are you really? What morally defines you? What drives you?)

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: (What are your views on the world? While a partisan identity would be nice to include, feel free to define yourself outside of the five parties.)

SECRETS: (What are you hiding? What would it cost you if someone found out what’s behind the veil?)

FEARS: (What keeps you up at night? What makes you freeze up in the moment? What do you avoid at all costs?)

REPUTATION: (How does the world view you? What are you known for? How do your people act around you?)

LIKES: (Feel free to list a few.)

DISLIKES: (Same as above)

QUIRKS: (What makes you unique for better or worse?)

Background Information

”Character Quote”

Operative Information

AUGMENTATIONS: (What sort of Cyberware are you equipped with?)

EQUIPMENT: (What are you carrying on the job?)

SKILLS: (Feel free to list a few and elaborate a bit.)

FLAWS: (Aim for three or so. Equal or greater to your number of skills.)

NOTES:

Now I know this is a lot of information to take in, but feel free to read through the extraneous lore at your leisure. The world is vast and you have the opportunity to explore whatever select portions of it suit you. My aim for this roleplay is a collaborative worldbuilding experience while we maintain the central goal of confronting society in this cyberpunk world. With that said, I’ll be adding more information as time goes on and we near the start of the RP.

Everything will be expanded upon in the next few days as I prepare an OOC. Feel free to make suggestions or ask questions about character concepts, the story, or the world.

𝕎𝕙𝕠'𝕤 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔾𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕 𝕔𝕪𝕓𝕖𝕣𝕡𝕦𝕟𝕜?