PostSapiens#PostSapiens #PandoraDownloaded WebNovel #Cyberpunk #SciF
Pandora Downloaded
https://www.midoria-files.com/blog/novels/
Cyber YukiRather than antagonists, I'm going to say villains, because my story is a murder mystery and we don't know who the culprit is. Still, there are known villains who might or might not have an agenda against the protagonists.
I'm undecided between Steve Meyer (CEO of Prometheus), and Cain.
Steve Meyer is your typical greedy CEO who's gone way above his head and turned a fantastic cybernetics research lab into a megacorporation, ruining several people's lives. But Karma is a bitch, and because of his greed he was doomed to suffer a life of existential torment, fearing an eternal hell in the Matrix.
The other villain is mysterious AF. If you've liked the Illusive Man from Mass Effect, or Sylens from Horizon Zero Dawn, you're gonna love Cain. Cain is the leader of a mysterious cyber crime ring, but none of the members have ever been caught. He's everywhere and nowhere.
He has never revealed his (her? their?) true identity, and every time the Cyberpol thinks they're on his trail, he vanishes without a trace. It's said he's managed to get control over important people in the government, and has forced the cyberpol to have frequent psychological / cybernetic checks. If he ever gets control of a single cyberpol member, it's game over for the entire agency.
Cain has contacted Pearson and reveals that Pearson's ex was one of his former "volunteers", but they broke contact because of her own flaws.
Speaking of Pearson's ex, Clarise is a classic noir femme fatale. She's never killed anyone, but she's been trafficking private data and selling it to her current employer, a pimp + data dealer called Trevor. Trevor is a ruthless and extremely sadistic character; he's an expert manipulator and has gaslighted Clarise to the point of total submission. He's the one who found her in the slums and offered her a life of riches, but after a few failed jobs, she owes him several million credits. Every time she's tried to run away, he finds her. She can't hide, and finding his real body is something only a skilled hacker could achieve. Since Clarise can't find someone like that, she's currently trapped.
I have planned a more important role for Trevor in a sequel; he's the member / founder of a gang of android traffickers who "steal" my android protagonist. I don't say kidnap because androids are legally objects and are not considered people (for now). You cannot kidnap an android; you steal it.
Narrator: For Richard Pearson, it's not easy living in the future with a brain implant disease.
Pearson, talking to the doctor: "What do you mean my memories aren't real?"
Doctor: "At first it starts with a feeling. Then the false memories expand, picking up scents, dreams, images you've seen in movies or TV..."
Pearson: "Including falling in love... watching my wife die?"
(Flashback to Pearson kissing his wife in a hotel room, then mourning her in a cemetery)
Doctor: "There's an experimental treatment... if you're willing to make some sacrifices."
(cut Pearson discussing with an armored agent in an alley)
Lieutenant Inoue (in her armor): "Do you have a death wish? You can't use avatars, you have coordination issues, and you're risking your life like this?"
(Scene: Police chief's office. Pearson is having an argument with the chief.
Chief: "Pearson, I don't want to hear another word. Give me a written apology, take a week off, or you're out!"
Pearson: "I'm gonna save you the trouble, skip. I quit."
Narrator: "But now, his life is going to turn upside down."
(Cut to scene in hospital room. An elegant man in a fine suit enters)
Man in suit: "I have a proposition for you, Mr. Pearson. Would you be interested in solving a high profile crime?"
(Scene: The morgue. The coroner is examining the body of a beautiful woman.)
Coroner: "Catherine Emerson, Neo Victorian. Died instantly due to a stabbing wound in the heart. The evidence points out to a suicide, but..."
Captain: "It doesn't make sense. What the hell was a Neo Victorian doing in the slums?"
(scene: Hong Kong police precinct. The captain gives Pearson an envelope).
Pearson opens the envelope. "Hello, what do we have here?"
A portrait of a beautiful teen girl, topless, but the portrait is cut off at the chest. In neon letters: "Venus." On the other side, handwritten: "For a good time, ask for Elizabetha." There's a lipstick kiss next to it.
Cut to scene in strip cub. Elizabetha is having a private dance for Pearson. Her bat wings move slowly. "So, Mr. Pearson, tell me about yourself."
Pearson, taking a sip from his glass and smiling: "You first."
(Cut to Cyberpol HQ, Lt. Inoue is looking at a screen, showing the same girl in the portrait. The name on the screen: Bethany Michaels Emerson)
"We got another stolen avatar, this time in Hong Kong."
Beth's voice over the phone, stressed: "I'm sorry, he said that if I reported this, he'd kill my family."
Lt. Inoue: "Cain, no doubt. Most ruthless crime Lord in New Hong Kong."
Cut to Pearson discussing with Bethany. Bethany yells: "You were investigating me from the beginning!?"
Pearson: "You had the motive, the means, and the opportunity. That puts you on the top of the suspects list. If you're really innocent, help me prove your innocence and stop hiding things from me!"
Narrator: "But as he investigates, the list of suspects grows larger."
Virtual Sherlock Holmes, talking to the captain: "Unlike dogs, which immediately respond with violence, rogue androids start plotting their revenge."
Pearson, talking to his partner in his apartment: "If we want to get to the bottom of this, we need to find that android."
Scene in an abandoned parking lot, with Beth talking to a blue skinned girl as they turn off a motorcycle : "Oh my god, you're an android? Don't tell me you're one of those rogues."
Android girl: "Listen close, Bethany. If you want to get through this, you're gonna have to trust me. Or would you rather go back and get arrested?"
(Stress music plays, cut to chaotic scene in a tech market).
Pearson grabs his gun. "Harris, rogue android in the market. Repeat, rogue android in the market!"
(Scene: A Victorian garden. Bethany's mother is in panic.
Bethany's mother: Mr. Pearson, my little girl is gone! You have to find her!"
(Fade to black)
Muffled voice, over the phone: "Good evening, Mr. Pearson. It has been brought to my attention that you're investigating a certain crime..."
Pearson: "Who is this?"
Muffled voice: "You can call me... A fixer."
PANDORA DOWNLOADED.
This summer, on Prime Video.
They fled from Earth, the planet was almost totally fucked up. Hundreds of millions dead.
After a long period of people living under giant domes and wars being waged over scarce resources, the planet finally recovered and the Earth was once again, fully inhabitable.
Meanwhile our protagonists are living under a capitalist dystopia in a nearby star system, in a planet filled with giant bugs, carnivorous plants and hairy dinosaurs.
We almost drove a native seafaring species to extinction. It was a lucky strike that a potent aphrodisiac was discovered in that species so now we grow it in tanks. Close call.
My work involves some heavy existential horror. Like the possibility of someone being forcefully plugged into the matrix and getting tortured in VR for hundreds of virtual years.
In a short story I decided to make it actual horror. It ends with the CEO (whose worst fear is being digitized and tortured for eternity in VR) looking at the sky and seeing the sky glitch. dun dun dunn!!! ๐
Fortunately this is not canon and the AI has a different agenda. Plus, I got sick-tired of the "rampant AI becomes evil" trope. Why can't an AI just be more human and acquire social skills and emotions like fear, hate, love, loneliness? (For the record my AI has actually assassinated people, not because she's evil, but precisely because she's not while her victims clearly are.)
In Midoria, technological advancement has led to the development of vertical cities, aka "citadels". Fully automated nuclear energy production, local emulated climate (including rain), rainwater collection, waste water processing and recycling facilities, and so on. Citadels are subdivided in levels (up to 150), where each level has its own buildings (up to 30 stories tall) and parks. Some levels are habitational, others hold citadel infrastructure (like water storage / treatment, electrical substations and long term heat storage), and some have industrial / manufacturing facilities, which little by little have been relocated to the ground.
Unfortunately, supply and demand led to capitalist investment in vertical real estate, which - as usual - turned everything to shit and now only the richest can afford to own a citadel home.
The poorest people in the citadels live in shared mini apartments located in the lowest levels of the citadels, colloquially known as "level-ones". These mini-apartments have common showers and common kitchens to economize space.
UBI takes care of level-1 inhabitants' basic necessities. Level 1 inhabitants are called level-oners, parasites, and even bottom-feeders. They're known for their heavy expenses in VR entertainment and have produced some of the most famous pro-gamers in the country. They're also a huge source of VR sex workers, also known as VGirls.
Outside the citadels there's the ground. Originally restricted for safety reasons (native bugs / diseases / local mega fauna), the ground now has all kinds of buildings, thanks to the influx of Terran immigrants.
In Hong Kong, those in the most precarious conditions need to live in cheap metal-plastic housing "prefabs" until they can get a better job and rent a normal apartment outside the slums. And because of corrupt / disinterested politicians, sex can be used as currency to pay rent. It's a very crappy situation.
On the other hand, billionaires can become neo feudal lords by purchasing adjacent blocks of the city, as long as they provide their inhabitants with adequate and reasonably priced services like rent, lighting, water, and security. In an irony of fate, regulations require neo feudal zones to have much cheaper rent than normal apartments, which turned away greedy investors.
Currently there's only one neo feudal zone in New Hong Kong: Little Japan, bought by a mysterious Japanese lady known as "the princess" or "Ojou-sama". She lives in a luxurious Japanese-styled mansion heavily guarded by cybernetic Samurai. Her identity is a mystery and she's even registered as her alias to the local tax agency. Access to her true identity is restricted to officials with high security clearance.
Little Japan has the lowest crime rate in the country and has been featured in numerous TV documentaries.
One.
Which I never seem to finish because I keep revising and rewriting chapters (help! ๐ข) ๐ ๐ ๐
To be precise, I had to rewrite stuff from scratch because of an important plot change near the beginning. It was useless to finish the draft if everything was going to unpredictably change.
(dammit, Beth, why did you have to suddenly fall in love with a mysterious key character! ๐ญ )
Yeah... character-based plot shenanigans. ๐คท
But yeah, it was worth it ๐คญ
Both Bethany and Pearson are birth citizens. This means they already have neural implants, can go to the citadels without problems, and more importantly, have a lifespan of at least 250 years.
Still, both suffer from their own problems:
Pearson can't use avatars because of a brain condition; being a detective means he'll have to put his life on the line to solve a case.
Bethany, on the other hand, has a criminal record. Despite it being an underage crime and the attenuating circumstances, the corporate world is ruthless; she couldn't get a job even with her college degree.
Her current job consists of strip dancing and having sex with female clients (she's a lesbian). She needs to save as much money as she can before the novelty wears off, and might even have to resort to actual prostitution (with male customers) before her biological clock takes her youth away. But it's a huge decision and she is still reluctant.
Bethany
Beth is a contradiction. She's not poor (in fact she's a bit well off), but the way her career was cut off had a huge impact on her. She originally saw the poor as people in a situation she doesn't want to end up in, and yet she finds their company much more welcoming than anyone she ever met. Everyone in school and college were a bunch of snobs for whom poor people simply don't exist.
She's between two worlds, and doesn't fit in either.
Pearson
"Sucks to be them", but doesn't go beyond that. He has his own problems to worry about.
More and more I'm getting convinced that letting Bethany stay home as if nothing happened isn't going to cut it. If she just stays home and enjoys the company of her newly purchased sexbot, it's going to be boring AF.
No; she needs to run away from home but this needs to be plausibleI have to make her run away because she ACTUALLY needs to, and not because of a stupid kids cartoon plot where "teenage kid runs away at the worst moment and gets kidnapped." I absolutely hate this.
So this is what I'm gonna do: Lord Wakefield was secretly planning to pin the murder on Bethany, so Bethany needs to run away because everything's against her and she refuses to go to prison one second time. So she runs away.
Thing is, she's never gone away from home in her real body, only in her avatar. She needs to hide her wings and tail not to rise suspicions, but this opens the possibility of expanding the plot.
Bethany's not the kind of person who stands idly by while people keep accusing her of a murder she didn't commit. So she's going to start looking for the murderer and clear her name.
I think this is a much better development than moving her aside while detective Pearson tries to solve the case.
The hard part is making the running away scene plausible.
But what if... what if detective Pearson helps her escape? ๐ค
This opens more possibilities and further scenes. I still need to figure out a way of doing it, which is a huge improvement over figuring out what to do with the plot.
Wish me luck!