Category Archives: Setting

Posts regarding the Setting of Glass Shadows

World Building: Cybernetics

Cyberpunk and Cybernetics have been a mated pair from the beginning.  I had a number of goals when it came to cybernetics and Glass Shadows. In addition to the traditional chrome and steel, I wanted to offer an alternative to implanting hardware.  We call it Genegineering, more on that next week. We originally covered cybernetics […]

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World Building: The ECILAL

We introduced the ECILAL back in this post, and it has since become the expected default play area. The Easel, as residents tend to refer to it, grew out of my research into Megacities, megaregions, and feral cities. For those of you unfamiliar with these terms: Megacity: An urban area that exceeds 10 million residents. […]

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Setting: The Datasea

The Datasea is an outgrowth of the Internet of the 20th and 21st century.  As computer technology progressed, wireless access and storage became ubiquitous and inexpensive.  With the advent of Angel technology, the majority of the population had a computer in their brains and Augmented Reality overlays on everything they saw.  These technologies combined to […]

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Setting: The East Coast Sprawl

Since the late 20th Century, the East Coast of the United States has been becoming more and more urbanized, as cities push their boundaries ever outward.  Eventually, a tipping point was reached and the East Coast became one massive urban sprawl, an unbroken cityscape stretching from Illinois to  Massachusetts, and all the way down to […]

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Technology: Nanotech

Nanites are produced and controlled by nano-hives, small items the size of modern cellphones.  The nano-hive is a macro-scale builder unit, it produces the desired nanite swarm and acts as a central brain, providing orders to the swarm via an encrypted link.  A nanite swarm is produced with enough internal power to function for a […]

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Technology: Cybernetics and Kits

Other than the Angel implant, the most common cybernetic enhancements are prosthetic limbs and headware upgrades.  These implants are installed on an out-patient basis; the patient is sent home with a dedicated nano-hive that anesthetizes the target area and gradually replaces it with the desired implant overnight.  The patient goes to sleep and wakes up […]

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Technology: Cloning and Genetic Engineering

“Tired of sagging, wrinkled skin, repetitive medical visits, and unpredictable bodily functions? It’s time to trade in that old sack of skin for a new one. Choose from any number of our stock Kevin™ or Kate™ models, or have a new body Flash Cloned from your own cells. It’s like being 25 again but knowing […]

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Setting: Headcases and Zeroes

The human body is not fully equipped to deal with having pieces of it excised and replaced with cybernetics.  There is always a period of adjustment while the mind comes to grips with the neural interface pathways required to use the new implant.  This often causes a feeling of dysphasia, where the user’s mind does […]

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Technology: Angels, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Reality

All but the poorest of people have headware modifications that house a semi-autonomous program called an Angel. This headware is installed via a nanite injection shortly after birth and the Angel grows with its user, learning what interests them and helping them through their daily lives. The Angel implants also come with a standard wireless […]

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Technology: Vehicles and Frames

Civilian ground vehicles are sleek and streamlined futuristic wheeled machines, with very little wasted space.  Cargo compartments are much smaller than modern vehicles, the average consumer has little need for cargo, almost everything can be fabbed at home.  All civilian vehicles are electric, drawing supplemental power from a citywide grid embedded in the road surface. […]

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