Welcome to the future

The World Changed. People Did Not.

Humanity has spread itself across the solar system. The Moon and Mars are colonized. A plan to terraform the Red Planet is well underway, hindered only by a bloody civil war. On Earth, a massive space elevator has been built near the equator in the sprawling megapolis of New Angeles, stretching up into low orbit. This elevator is the hub of trade in the solar system, and most people refer to it as the “Beanstalk.”

Enormous megacorps, called corps by most, influence every facet of daily life: food, threedee, music, career choices. Androids, robotic or organic synthetic life forms have entered the workforce, threatening to upend the social structure and replace cheap human labor.

Everyone relies on the Network, the all-seeing, all-hearing grid that surrounds Earth and reaches out into the solar system beyond. The Network connects everyone to more information than they could ever need. It is the backbone of modern civilization, and it has become a battlefield of corporate and criminal interests struggling to control the flow of that information.

Computers have continued to advance along with discoveries in the field of neurobiology. The physical mouse and keyboard are archaic relics; gestural interfaces and virt displays are commonplace. Elite users “jack in,” plugging the computer directly into their brains.

Rogue operators: Computer specialists with the hardware, software, and raw talent to challenge the system, use the sprawl of the net to their advantage. They are runners. This is their story.