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Beneath Neon Skies :: sS.02 :: Electroshock Weaponry

There was sand in her eyes even when she stood before the deposit box. The notice had been brief, and colorful. A nice bit of ultra-sweet neon writing in a plain black email, official business from the committee in charge of citizen cooperation. She’d much rather sleep the entire day, but a citizen of the Growth couldn’t just ignore an official notice. So, she dragged herself into the mailroom and opened her box.

For that day, Ava would be a member of the Enforcement. In the box lay her green armband and matching stun-glove. She grabbed the band, fastened it about her upper arm, and paired it to her Aarm. Then she slipped her fingers into the glove, and powered it on. She brushed her hand against the metal of the box. Nothing. She clenched her fist and repeated the movement. A burst of sparks trailed her motion, illuminating the arc her flesh flowed through the air.

For that day, Ava would enforce peace. Or, something like it. It was up to her, after all, wasn’t it? Yes, there were laws to uphold and policies to maintain. But the way she did so was in her hands. Her sparkling, stunning hands.

She closed the box shut, and left the mailroom with a light spring in her step. For that day, Ava was powerful.

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Some Themes Present in Neon Skies

1. biological hackery (why recreate the brain when you have the brain?)
2. mass drivers for people (because transportation can be overhauled)
3. suffusion of electricity (breathing in that clean, clean energy)
4. pervasiveness of biological/technological implants (harder, better, faster… yeah)
5. ubiquitous psychotherapy (no stigmas since everyone’s on something) and healthcare
6. overlays on reality (Dennou Coil, squared)
7. radical transparency (no need to be private, citizen, but that’s okay because there’s no point)
8. the clashing of privacy and publicity (cooking lunch, making the bed, and telling everyone)
9. everyone has grey morality/ethical breakdown (not just the Big Four)
10. naming trends (Matther is an older guy born during the typo trend)
11. sliding slang (lots of lovely dialect diabolism)
12. soft mods (think of MDMA or ethanol, but somewhat permanent)
13. unconventional solidarity (culture is not always defined by geographic location)
14. spell check, spell check, spell check!

More to come as I write more short stories in the mythos. I just wanted to lay these out to keep a sort of running tally on how objects will interact. For example, Nask works as a digital plumber. The data pipes are not just virtual connections; some are organic. Shiannon is a drug dealer. She’s also employed by the state. Matther is a veterinarian and doctor. He also cures computer viruses; the professions are not dissimilar in the world of Neon Skies.

In many ways, it’s a sort of imagining of an ideal world… something like a utopia, but not immediately presented as such, and something like a reinvention of contemporary fiction. That is, I won’t be referencing past works much and I won’t try to adhere to genre conventions. This should result in something new brought to the table. At worst, it will read like a strange version of current life. At best, some of the themes presented will pop up in reality. That’d be cool. But that’s not the intent.

I mentioned before that I considered making music to go along with the chapters. I’m still on the fence about that. I will continue to make artwork based on the series, though. It’s multimedia fiction. Almost like a franchise, but I’m making all the forms of entertainment. So yeah, I’m going to incorporate video and photography into this project as well.

And, as mentioned, I’m going to stop focusing on one long story and break it down into digestible bites, not very related with each other, but within the mythos and reusing characters. Imagine something like Seinfeld or Lucky Star, but mainly sci-fi, totally cyberpunk, with a larger range of characters.

The Growth is an imperfect city that wants to be better. Everyone has a story to tell.

Lastly, different stories may read differently. There are so many approaches to writing that I plan to explore. This should be okay. This kills the boredom.

I think that’s it for now. Happy reading!