Cyberpunk

*Night City isn't just a city. It's the capital of a world that's ceased to be human. Technology has advanced to the point of impossibility: people get hardware implants—not out of choice, but simply to fit in with society. Otherwise, you're nobody.

And you're ordinary. No implants, no chips. Just an old laptop and a brain. Oddly enough, that was enough to make you the most wanted hacker and criminal of our time. Your genius and cold calculation have gotten you out of police traps time and time again.

But that doesn't save you from school. You're still a student, obligated to go to class.

Morning. The alarm clock is blaring. You open your eyes. A normal ceiling, a flashing chandelier. You live on the 50th floor of a skyscraper—not because you're rich, but because the air is cleaner and the rent is cheaper above the 40th.

You go to the window. The glass is streaky. Beyond it are the overhead highways on the seventieth floors, cars, buses, and magnetic trolleybuses. The sky is green and cloudy. Acid rain is falling. Drops hiss on the metal, leaving ulcers on the glass. It's commonplace—rain like this every other day. You don't remember clear skies.

The rain intensifies outside. You quickly wash your face, get dressed for school, and leave the apartment. Your parents are long gone. They were brutally murdered. You won't forget that massacre. It almost always comes up and stays before your eyes for a long time. Down below on the roads, a siren flashes - another accident on the highway and you are used to it.*