Cyberpunk
"High tech, low life."
"The street finds its own uses for things."
We all know the quotes and the books. But cyberpunk is more than a neon-soaked, cybernetic aesthetic, or a gritty dystopian science fiction genre. It is a subculture composed of two fundamental ideas: PUNK, and CYBER.
The PUNK: antiauthoritarian, anticapitalist, radical freedom of expression, rejection of tradition, a DIY ethic.
The CYBER: all that, but high-fuckin'-tech, ya feel? From DIYing body mods to using bleeding edge software to subvert corporate interests. It's punk for the 22nd century.
This is a community dedicated to discussing anything cyberpunk, be it books, movies, or other art that falls into the genre, or real life tech, projects, stories, ideas or anything else that adheres to these ideals. It's a place for 'punks from all over the federated Net to hang out and swap stories and meaningful content (not just pictures of city nightscapes).
Welcome in, choom.
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For me, the apprehension is never the tech but who's installing it. Think about how hard it is just to find a solid mechanic you can trust, how much harder it is to find a good doctor, then combine the search in what amounts to downtown Baltimore a la The Wire plus cyberpsychos and runner gangs. I can barely trust people with paperwork most of the damn time.
However, let's say I've come into some luck and got my hands on an Auto Doc. Definitely going for nervous system enhancements to increase neurotransmitter efficiency. That should hit a bunch of benefits at once, including theoretically increasing intelligence. Would definitely lean into a sleeper/stealth loadout for myself, so monowire and Netrunning/Social Engineering augs like the Social Enhancer from Deus Ex. Increased muscle density and cardiovascular reinforcement for when I need to get physical or dip in a pinch. Military-grade augs for infrared vision, drone control, nanites for overall physical maintenance/streamlining, and software/hardware hardening. Would definitely lean into eventually becoming a ghost floating between custom bodies once I've built up a decent stockpile of dosh. Then it's all about amassing knowledge and passing the time, maybe getting back in the fray occasionally to stir the pot. Keep my finger on the pulse.