TV– Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2: Episode One
The new season of Cyberpunk 2077 animated series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 has been released. The new series is available to stream now, on Netflix. This week, we took a look at Episode One.
Synopsis –
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 pulls you back into Night City, where lives become entangled to the extreme. Weak, a washed-up cyberpunk legend, is now forced to live without chrome as he searches for a sense of purpose in a world that’s passed him by. Meanwhile, the deadly nomad D sets out on a path to revenge that brings him close to corpo secrets never meant to be found. Across this ten-episode standalone series, uncover a story of family, obsession, legacy — and how your lens reflects the stories of the people around you.
The first season of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners debuted on Netflix in September of 2022, to rave reviews, instantly building a devoted fanbase. It has been a long wait for those fans since the finale of the ten episode season aired nearly four years ago. That wait, however, is over. Season 2 is not a continuation of the story from the first season (and the few surviving characters), but instead focuses on a new cast of characters.
The full 10 episode season was dropped in one go onto Netflix. It would be madness (or perhaps cyberpsychosis) to try to encompass the full 10 episode season in one post, so much as we did with The Ghost in the Shell series, we are going to cover one episode per week as if it were on a weekly release schedule – after all, it’s not like everyone is gonna binge it all in one day? Right?!
The episode opens with a brief introduction to Roman, and his proclivity for the medium of film, both shooting (or scrolling) it and watching it, at the expense of being present in the world. Is there a significance to opening with the character of Roman, or setting out his character ‘thing’ straight from the off?
After the opening credits, we join a heist in process. King, a heavily chromed edgerunner, is working a job with Miguel and Emily, and it becomes clear pretty quickly that we’re in an Arasaka facility, and they are making off with a very specific biochip case. Almost straight away, we notice there is something going on with King, as he is distracted by a hallucination of sorts, of a lady named Avida. When you’re knocking off Arasaka, you get out quickly, but they’re not fast enough. The job goes south, and the gang need to blast their way out, with such vigour that Roman can see the smoke from out in the street.
King continues to see visions, resulting in their getaway car crashing, ultimately causing Emily life ending injuries. King goes cyberpsycho, causing a bloodbath of epic proportions, showing us just how dangerous a character he is. Whilst he is all business on the surface, his distraction with Avida tells us he does indeed have a heart, and following capture, we do see his vulnerabilities. His recuperation has drained his cash reserves, and his cyberware has been removed. He was indeed experiencing cyberpsychosis, and is advised any more use would be lethal, so has been fitted with very low-tech alternative bio-ware.
Roman sells the footage he shot of the heist, and is advised that if he wants to make big money, he needs to scroll a heavy gang like Maelstrom. A lot is made at this point that braindance is where the interest and the money is, but it is reiterated that Roman is passionate about film. This clearly will have some greater meaning by the end of the series.
Back with King, Miguel blames King for the death of Emily, and King at this point feels generally pretty lost. King looks to be a complicated character – he has no qualms about killing in the name of a heist, but clearly has a past life where he has chromed up to overcome a reputation for weakness, and he still pines for Avida, who we can assume is a past love.
In the process of trying to scroll Maelstrom, Roman comes to the attention of one of its members, a heavily augmented character named Talia seemingly putting on an acrobatic display. She toys with Roman, and then Maelstrom, seeing he is a full organic, decide to do some surgery. This is clearly a sadistic, remorseless gang with no respect for human life. Luckily for Roman, someone just happens to be in the process of observing the gang. He takes them out, looking for info on a former member named Helio, and he sets Roman free. In response, Roman takes him home with him, and supplies him with beer. Later, the mysterious man is struck with emotion when he awakes to find Roman watching an old timey movie.
King, at his lowest ebb, tries to kill himself, but a call comes in from Avida at the last moment. He then goes to meet her. But is it really happening? We cut away before any words are exchanged between them, so we have no way to tell. At the end of the episode, the Maelstrom gang and Talia are besieged by a team of agents, and taken away. Roll credits.
There are a few questions left with us at the end of the episode. Who is the mysterious figure who rescued Roman? What is the backstory between King and Avida, and how will it affect his actions going forward? And what exactly is the deal with that biochip case? Someone took it in the aftermath of the failed heist, but it isn’t mentioned again – this surely will play a major part later on?
The episode does a lot of heavy lifting, efficiently introducing us to the cast of characters at the heart of the show, and giving us a good idea of who they are, but with plenty of mystery left for the rest of the season. People still talk about season one, and the characters they loved from that season. It’s going to be interesting to see if that will be the case with this season, considering it does not have a central character like David. Everything in season one revolved around David, and the relationships he forged, whereas season two has a number of different strands going on, and it is difficult to see at this early stage just how these disparate characters might come together.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is directed by Kai Ikarashi, with character designs by Ichigo Kanno and a story written by Bartosz Sztybor of CD PROJEKT RED and Masahiko Otsuka. There are 10 episodes in total, and they were released all at once on Netflix on Tuesday 20th October.
You can watch a trailer for the series below –
Videogame – Cyberpunk 2077 Edgerunners 2 Update
To coincide with the release of the new season, CD PROJEKT RED announced a new update for Cyberpunk 2077. Titled the Edgerunners 2 Update, it features content inspired by the anime, and was released on October 22. More details can be found in the trailer, which you can see below.
Videogame – Gridhack DEMO Version
The demo version of sci-fi hacker puzzle game Gridhack was released this week. Available now on PC via Steam, the game sees you fighting an enemy programme by way of a simple puzzle game.
From the publisher –
GRIDHACK is a sci-fi puzzle RPG where hacking = fighting nonogram battles. Chase a rogue program and chip away at the galaxy’s strongest firewall to uncover the conspiracy about what happened to Earth!
The main mechanic of the game is solving logic puzzles to attack the enemy firewall. You can use different abilities in order to defend or attack, or to manipulate the grid itself. You have a choice of different loadouts to enable you to explore different playing styles.
There is a narrative to the game, as you work to uncover a conspiracy. You are travelling the galaxy, meeting a collection of unusual characters, trying to discover what happened to planet Earth.
Gridhack is developed and published by Threshold Anomaly Games. The demo version is available now on Steam for PC, and you can download from the steampage here – https://store.steampowered.com/app/5351100/GRIDHACK_Demo/
The full game does not yet have a release date. You can check out the trailer below.
Podcast – The High Tech Low Life Podcast Episode 137: Total Recall (2012)
The latest episode of The High Tech Low Life Podcast is available now. This week, hosts Eric and Josh take a look at Total Recall. No, not that one…
The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Every episode, Eric and Josh start by talking about the real world dystopia in which we find ourselves, offer some cyberpunk related or adjacent recommendos, and then discuss a piece of cyberpunk media, sometimes joined by a guest. They have nearly 150 episodes available, and you can find The High Tech Low Life Podcast at the link below, and all good podcast platforms.
Also have another completed podcast, Johnny Mnminute, where each episode they watched one minute of the movie Johnny Mnemonic, and stripped it bare. It’s a great listen, and you can check it out below.
The High Tech Low Life Podcast also has a Patreon, which offers exclusive content and early access to episodes, which you can access below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/hightechlowlife
They also have a channel on the Astronomica Discord server.
Trailer – Ghostless
This past week, a new narrative trailer was released for side-scrolling action adventure videogame Ghostless. The game sees you rebelling against AI forces across a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Synopsis –
Lead an uprising against AI in a post-apocalyptic world where you’re never sure who is human and who is machine. Scavenge for resources, find survivors to grow your base, root out android infiltrators and lead the resistance in a unique hybrid of 2.5D action-adventure and colony building.
This alternate history adventure game is set 15 years after a super-intelligent AI has risen to power. You are sent on an intelligence gathering mission to search for an AI research facility. Shot down, you must scavenge whatever you can find, and build a resistance movement amongst locals in order to survive, and hit back against enemy forces.
You must build a camp, and use your recruits to develop weapons and technology with which to strike against your AI enemy. You must be cautious, however, as some recruits may turn out to be undercover androids. The game requires you to root out these imposters, and utilise your genuine comrades to attack at enemy strongholds, and progress across the map.
Ghostless is developed and published by Coffeenauts, and will release on PC via Steam, Playstation 5, and XBOX Series. You can check out the trailer below.
Comic – 21-10-26 Releases
We take a look at this week’s cyberpunk and dystopian comic releases.
REBELLION
2000 AD #2505
From the publisher –
Call me The Mighty Tharg, for I am the being from Betelgeuse, who brings you cosmic Thrills!
Open the pulse-pounding pages, Terrans, and let the zarjazness wash through you as your primitive human brains absorb the circuitshattering stories within. We’ve got more highoctane action this prog in the latest instalments of Judge Dredd, Durham Red, Herne & Shuck and Ghosted, and Azimuth’s current arc How to Train Your Dagon reaches its scrotnig finale, but fear not, the Abnett & Bettin droids are hard at work on the next batch of tales!
In case this issue alone isn’t enough to sate your Thrill-receptors, also out now is Judge Dredd Megazine 497, featuring the scrotnig likes of Storm Warning, Rogue Trooper, Mega- City 2099, Lawless, and of course Ol’ Stoney- Face himself, plus the start of a reprint of Starlord classic Timequake as well as chats with script-bot Garth Ennis about his upcoming projects and the creators behind the new Scream! special, out on 28 October, and much more.
2000 AD is a British science fiction comic book, which has been publishing for nearly 50 years 1977, famed for its dark British humour, and satirical and subversive stories. The jewel in the crown is Judge Dredd, a dystopian cyberpunk icon, whilst The Fall of Deadworld is a kind of an alternative history prequel series about Judge Dredd enemy Judge Death. Meanwhile Mega-City 2099 stories serve as a more traditional prequel.
JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #497
From the publisher –
As we’re fully immersed in the spooky month of October, it means it’s time for Scream! to emerge once more from the crypt, this time as another 48-page seasonal special, and some of the creators behind its stories reveal all in the feature within this issue.
Elsewhere, Garth Ennis chats about his upcoming projects for both Rebellion and US publishers, as well as contributing to the piece celebrating Johnny Red, which gets its first collection of the classic material from the Treasury of British Comics next month, and a spotlight is cast on humour strip The Cloak, which has also been assembled into an omnibus volume.
Meanwhile, there’s further retro-Thrills to be had in Starlord’s Timequake by Chris Lowder (writing under his usual Jack Adrian pseudonym) and Ian Kennedy, John Cooper & Alberto Salinas, which starts this issue, plus there’s more Mega-City 2099, the penultimate parts of the current runs of Rogue Trooper, Lawless and Storm Warning, and the finale to the current Dredd story Rojimbo. Be here in thirty as we start to wrap everything up in time for January’s milestone Meg 500!
Sister publication to 2000 AD, offering more Judge Dredd, more Mega-City 2099, as well as Rogue Trooper, a military scifi making its way to cinema screens soon with Duncan Jones’ movie adaptation (release date not yet determined).
DARK HORSE COMICS
CYBERPUNK 2077: JAYK’S CASE #1
From the publisher –
A private investigator is hired to find the killer of a high-ranking executive, but the objective isn’t for justice — it’s for an escape. Embroiled in a network of Militech agents, he’ll need to find the killer before they do, but what truth are they trying to silence? And with ties to one of Night City’s most dangerous gangs, the death of one corpo may be just the beginning.
Published in collaboration with CD Projekt Red, this is a new murder mystery comic series in the Cyberpunk 2077 IP, which is continuing to thrive with the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 series also starting today. This will be a 4 issue series, with issue 2 schedule for release on December 9th.
IMAGE COMICS
IF DESTRUCTION BE OUR LOT #5
From the publisher –
NEW STORY ARC As Abe begins his journey into the great big world beyond the wall, he learns that it might not be so great after all. In the wasteland you must remember to always look before you leap. But an even more important rule is don’t fall asleep!
If Destruction Be Our Lot is a series set in a world where humanity has died out, and all that remains are the robots that we built continuing on with their programmed tasks. The series follows an Abraham Lincoln animatronic that is experiencing loneliness, and goes out in search of any remaining humanity.
THE LAST DRIVER #3
From the publisher –
OLD ENEMIES, NEW ALLIES, AND THE BRUTAL PAIN OF SACRIFICE! The sins of Clutch’s fiery past are revealed, as the net draws tighter around the high-speed hero. Is his car faster than a speeding bullet? Or will he be left burnt out and leaking by the side of the road?
The Last Driver is a brand new comic series, created by Sean Murphy. It’s a gritty love letter to the classic American road stories, a Mad Max for the cyberpunk genre. High octane, 100 mph, playing like a last hurrah for driving without care before the process is completely sanitised by automation.
YUMI 00-EX #3
From the publisher –
Yumi found Richard. Then she lost everything. A battle through Dubai leaves the city burning. Then Ms. V steals her car, shatters her world, and delivers a betrayal so devastating that even Yumi never saw it coming. Trust is lethal.
When Yumi’s boyfriend, an MI6 operative, disappears, Yumi storms the agency, hacks their network, and generally makes a bit of a mess. In the process, she meets up with an Artificial Intelligence Lamborghini, more tank than car, with more than a few hidden tricks. That’s the basis for this anti-spy miniseries comic.
MAD CAVE STUDIOS
TERRORBYTES HALLOWEEN ANNUAL #1
From the publisher –
Halloween arrives with a fresh dose of futuristic horror in this terrifying special issue of TERRORBYTES! Featuring two all-new tales from the winners of Mad Cave’s 2025 Talent Search—along with a chilling bonus story by Mark London—this oversized one-shot delivers unforgettable nightmares where technology, humanity, and fear collide. Three visions of tomorrow prove the scariest monsters aren’t hiding in the dark… they’re already here.
Terrorbytes is a scifi/horror anthology series looking at the dark side of modern technology, and how it interacts and interferes with us on a psychological level. Basically a series of cautionary tales that mix horror and satire, written by a rotating series of writers.
INDEPENDENT
THE PATROLMAN BOOK ONE
From the publisher –
In a London fallen to gang control, sealed off from the rest of the world, retired super criminal Theo Deviant is bored.
Corrupt corporations run the city, trading with the rest of the world, offending his anarchist instincts.
Theo realises the only person able to restore London and bring down the Lord Mayor, the enigmatic figure controlling the gangs, is the Patrolman.
But the vigilante nemesis is dead, killed by Theo’s own hand.
So it’s now up to him to train a new Patrolman and take the city back…
Having reached its Kickstarter goal, but with plenty of time left to get on board, The Patrolman has been created as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of Time Bomb Comics. The story is set in an alternate London ruled by a corrupt Lord Mayor, and the corporations under his influence. After his greatest nemesis, The Patrolman, is killed, a replacement is handpicked to be trained, in order to carry on the ongoing fight. The issue will contain 52 full colour pages, and you can see the available reward tiers on the Kickstarter page – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/timebomb/the-patrolman-book-one
BREEZE #2
From the publisher –
Welcome to Babylon, where megacorporations own your soul and tyrannical super-soldiers keep you in line. Fortunately, firepower is affordable.
In Breeze Issue #2, hacker Galli and cybernetic gunslinger Synth are on the run after pulling off the score of a lifetime. Unfortunately, escaping with their lives proves considerably harder than stealing whatever it was they stole.
With corporate troopers closing in and a particularly persistent bounty hunter on their trail, Galli and Synth have to figure out what they actually stole; and why everyone suddenly wants them dead.
Oh, and somewhere along the way, there’s a cybernetic cat.
Still open for late pledges on Kickstarter, Breeze #2 is a full colour, 35 page comic set in Babylon, a sprawling corporate megacity in the Dawnward Universe, amid a neon-drenched future dominated by megacorporations. In issue #1, hacker Galli joined up with a group of freelancers, who then embarked on the heist of a lifetime—robbing a megacorp. But when you rip off a corporation who have their own squad of super soldiers, getting away with it is not going to be easy. Especially when you also have a bounty hunter on your tails. Breeze is currently funding on Kickstarter, and you can check out all the details, and pledge to the campaign, on the Kickstarter page here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/breezecomic/breeze-a-cyberpunk-inspired-comic-issue-2
AVALON #1
From the publisher –
Set in the year 3164, AVALON takes place in a megacity-state built from what was once the United States and all of Europe, a vertical sprawl of neon, rain, and body modification. Humanity has entered a transhumanist age run by consumerism, and the key to immortality lies in cloning Consciousness.
Nico is a Runner, a mercenary who moves small, precious cargo through Avalon’s underworld without asking questions. Her partner Epsy, a brilliant hacker, guides her through the city’s alleys and bridges from the chair. When a routine run descends into chaos, the pair uncover secrets that could change the trajectory of humanity and put them in the sights of Hale Atlan, the CEO of the centuries-old Atlan Industries and a woman who will stop at nothing for immortality.
Already fully funded on Kickstarter, the Avalon of the title is a vast, vertical megacity-state, and is a combination of the former United States and Europe. POV character Epsy, a pragmatic altruist, is a hacker, and is effectively the support agent for her girlfriend, loudmouth Nico. Nico is a runner, specialising in transporting illicit packages through the vast megacity, whilst avoiding the attention of the large corporations that rule Avalon.
Film – Facade
Andrea Howard’s horror thriller, Facade, was released on Amazon Prime Video and Fandango this week. The movie follows a group of old friends who find their lives threatened when they are pulled into a deadly escape room controlled by artificial intelligence.
Synopsis –
Ten years after an AI experiment destroyed their friendship, former college friends reunite and are trapped in an AI-controlled escape room where every puzzle reveals a secret and every round could kill them.
When a group of former college friends reunites, they are unexpectedly locked inside a high-stakes escape room controlled by an unseen force. As they struggle to uncover the truth, the game forces them to relive the consequences of a past AI experiment that destroyed their lives. With reality unraveling and paranoia setting in, they must fight to escape-before their own secrets consume them.
With the rise in popularity of escape rooms, there have been several movies around the subject, taking the concept to the inevitable extreme of horror and death. Similarly, the ascent of artificial intelligence has triggered a glut of AI-focused thrillers and horror movies, often in an enclosed environment. So this marriage of the two was surely inevitable.
The trailer doesn’t give a lot away in terms of the artificial intelligence, or what happens in the escape room itself. It is mostly focused on the characters, which suggests it will be the interpersonal relationships, and the conflicts that arise form them, that will be the driving force of the movie. The synopsis talks about an AI experiment that destroyed their friendship, which begs the question why they are participating in the escape room together in the first place. Have they been invited independently? If so, it seems likely someone is toying with them. So is it the AI that is the villain of the piece? Or is a member of the group responsible for what’s happening?
Facade is written and directed by Andrea Howard, her first feature film. The movie stars Julian Mattei, Tanecia Scott, Kristel Estephania, and Jelani Aurelus, among others. It is distributed by Buffalo 8, and is available on Amazon Prime Video and Fandango. You can check out the trailer below.
Videogame – ReBlade: The Death Spiral DEMO Version
The demo version for upcoming cyberpunk action-combat videogame ReBlade: The Death Spiral is available now on Steam, for PC. Inspired by Chinese mythology, it features parry-focused combat inspired by games like Sekiro.
Synopsis –
You are a condemned Synthetic, marked for destruction and trapped in endless resets. In a cyberpunk world inspired by Chinese mythology, harness weapons, chips, and augments to cut through mechanical creatures. Each run brings you closer to breaking the cycle and unravelling the truth.
You must master your control and timing in ReBlade, as you take on organic monsters augmented with machinery. In order to triumph against the variety of enemies, you’ll need to balance both defence and offense, paying attention to how each enemy moves and fights. Using different combinations of weapons, chips, and augmentations, you can adapt your fighting style to each new enemy you face. Along the way, you can make allies, trading resources, whilst puzzling out the nature of the futuristic, neon-lit city.
ReBlade: The Death Spiral is being developed for PC, via Steam, and the demo version has been released as part of Steam Next Fest. You can check out the demo on the Steam page at https://store.steampowered.com/app/3489340/ReBlade_The_Death_Spiral/
You can watch a trailer below –
Film – Drone Games
French drone-based crime movie Drone Games was released digitally this week in the US. Directed by Olivier Abbou, it follows a group of drone enthusiasts who use their skills to pull off an escalating series of robberies.
Synopsis –
Tom, a lonely teenager passionate about drones, falls in with a free-spirited anarchist gang that pulls him into high-stakes drone races and stealthy, ambitious heists over the course of one dangerous summer.
Drone Games was originally released in France in 2023, and has now been released for digital streaming in the US and international regions through distributor Buffalo 8. The movie is written by Thibault Lang-Willar, Olivier Abbou, and Mathilde Cadrot. It stars Orlando Vauthier, Axel Granberger, and Angéle Metzger, among others.
Buffalo 8 chose to release the trailer in French, without subtitles, which is an interesting choice for an upcoming English language release. There isn’t a great deal of dialogue in the trailer, though, and it’s easy to discern what’s going on. It looks like a coming of age drama that begins as a fun romp, but as the stakes increase and Tom gets involved with more serious, violent encounters, he’ll need to decide if he wants to continue down the criminal path, or break away from his new comrades.
Drone Games is available now to buy or rent digitally on selected platforms, in the US only. You can watch the trailer below.
Trailer – Quatiica Motorsports
This past week, the official cinematic teaser trailer for futuristic racer Quatiica Motorsports was unveiled. Set 70 years in the future, the game sees you suit up in a rocket-powered mech suit, and race across a variety of terrain.
From the publisher –
An anti-gravity racing game set in 2096. Gear up and take flight across multiple race types: soar over mountain ranges on Fore Thrusters, rush through narrow canyons in an Endurance Prototype, or dive underwater in a Pulse Sprinter. We are racing in the new 90s!
The breathtaking trailer is pre-rendered, and so unfortunately does not represent actual gameplay footage. The screenshots, however, are captured in-engine, from a game build that is currently a work in progress. Since the 90s, we have been waiting for a spiritual successor to Wipeout, and early signs are that Quatiica Motorsports might be just that. IT looks the part, and that music track on the trailer evokes the memorable soundtrack of the original Wipeout series entries.
The game features racers utilizing cyborg bodies and high-tech thrusters to compete in antigravity racing. Set on Earth in the year 2096, the game sees teams competing in multiple formats, without the traditional limitations of mechanical steering and ground-contact friction. It’s early days for the game, but it definitely has the potential to be a classic racer.
You can check out the trailer below.
Film – Klara and the Sun
Taika Waititi’s new movie, Klara and the Sun, was released this week. An adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, Klara and the Sun, the story is a meditation on love and humanity through the eyes of Klara, an ‘Artificial Friend’, set in an isolated dystopian future.
Synopsis –
Based on the bestselling novel from Nobel Prize-winner Kazuo Ishiguro and written and directed by Academy-Award® winner Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit), Klara and the Sun introduces audiences to Klara (Jenna Ortega), an Artificial Friend who wants nothing more than to find the perfect home. When Klara meets Josie (Mia Tharia), each immediately senses a kindred spirit in the other. Josie has a fraught relationship with her mother (Amy Adams) and they’ve suffered great loss, but Klara’s innocent wonder and unwavering loyalty begin to heal the family and bring light to Josie’s complicated world.
The dystopian setting of the novel is not readily apparent in the trailer, and we were a bit dubious about how Waititi’s particular brand of whimsy will mesh with the source material. He did a great job of combining humour and pathos in 2019’s Jojo Rabbit, but his last major project was the much maligned Thor: Love and Thunder, which was categorised much more by its puerile humour, and was guilty of minimising the involvement of its most interesting character, Gorr the God Butcher.
Unfortunately, critical reaction to Klara and the Sun has not been very good, with the movie currently sitting at a 23% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have said that any chance to say something insightful or profound is undercut at every turn by Waititi’s propensity for wacky, off-beat humour. Only time will tell if audiences will feel the same way, and if you’re not a fan of the introspection of the oriignal novel, maybe you’ll find the change in tone of Waititi’s adaptation refreshing.
Klara and the Sun was released in theatres globally today, by Sony Pictures Releasing. You can check out the trailer below.
Short Film – Traitor
A new Japanese anime short film, Traitor, has debuted on YouTube. The one shot episode, with Japanese audio and a choice of other subtitled languages, is a fully independent production.
Synopsis –
“To avenge her stolen family, she became a weapon.”
Deep within the classified governmental organization “ELPITAB,” a clandestine human experimentation project known as “Project TERRACE” was underway. By administering the “Gensei Factor,” young girls were engineered into living biological weapons—possessing superhuman physical prowess and reality-bending abilities.
Following a mass facility breakout, the project was frozen. The fugitives were branded as rebels under the operational code: 『Traitor』.
Agent Teras-06, Yu Matsukado, throws herself into the battlefield fueled solely by vengeance. Her target: Teras-03, Renka Suou, who defected to protect a newly found family.
Orders, betrayal, and hidden truths collide in the concrete ruins of Former District 46. A relentless, hand-animated CQB battle for survival begins.
When a group of rogue TERAS, engineered biological weapons with superhuman abilities. break out of an experimental government facility, the remaining TERAS units are tasked with pursuing the escapees, and eliminating them. Traitor is a solo project by Amioka, made entirely by hand using Blender, MMD, and video editing tools (no generative AI was used).
Check out the film, for free, on YouTube below, and support independent creators.
Podcast – Neuronet
Toothsucker author Kaden Love has started a new cyberpunk podcast, and the first introductory episode is available now on Spotify and YouTube. In the first episode, Kaden talks a bit about himself as podcast host, and what we can expect from the new podcast.
Book – Horizon Fault
Horizon Fault, book two of the Transition Age Trilogy, was released this week. Written by Tyler Corriveau, the novel continues the story of Iris Vale following her escape from a lower level covert research facility in Transition Age.
Synopsis –
Years before the events of Transition Age, a single city exposed the cracks beneath a carefully engineered future. In the aftermath of a catastrophic failure known as the Great Horizon Fault, the megaregion of Seattle became a test case the world would rather forget.
Following her harrowing escape from a subterranean lab, Iris Vale is thrust into the center of a global conspiracy. Guided by the chilling firsthand account of a surviving mother and son, Iris learns the historic disaster may not have been what everyone was told to believe.
To stop a new and escalating threat from dismantling the world, Iris must venture into Seattle’s irradiated ruins to search for answers in a void of quantum entanglement. What she may uncover in the shadows of the fallen city could challenge the future of the Transition Age, forcing everyone to question the mystery of the children who vanished that dark winter.
The first book in the Transition Age Trilogy, Transition Age, saw protagonist Iris Vale, with no memory of how she got there, waking up in a laboratory experiencing some kind of meltdown. She escaped, but was forced to evade capture by the forces that had held her captive, whilst trying to solve the puzzle of her own identity.
The first book functioned very much as an introduction to the character, and the new world she found herself in. This second book, Horizon Fault, feels like the beginning of the story proper. Iris has regained some of her memory, but now she longs to find out the truth about what happened to her, and the others who were taken and experimented on. She is pressed to assist in an investigation into what caused the historic disaster of the Great Horizon Fault, but there are some that do not wish the details to be discovered, and Iris finds herself in danger from more than one interested party.
The world of the Transition Age, in the year 2159, is very well thought out and meticulously planned by author Tyler Corriveau. As a result, he is able to slowly reveal more and more about both the present, and the past, world in which the protagonist finds herself in. A lot of the history of the setting was laid out at the beginning of the first book, but it was far too much information to take in and remember. That isn’t an issue though, as the most salient details are explained as the story progresses, and it may actually be more enjoyable to read the book without reading those summary passages first.
Horizon Fault moves quickly, in the best of ways. The story is fast moving, the characters in constant forward motion, and the plot develops at an exciting pace. The world that has been created is fascinating, and because Iris has been away from the world, and not fully regained her memories, we get to enjoy learning about it just as she does.
The description is well written, conjuring images of the vertical city, a mixture of modern technology and crumbling detritus, without getting bogged down in flowery prose, or being too self-satisfied with the atmospheric setting that has been created. Iris is an interesting character, haunted by her past incarceration, and the enduring horror of the experiments that were done on her. As she starts to learn more about her enhanced abilities, and how to access them, she is able to become a lot more proactive, without suddenly becoming a superhuman superheroine. It must have been tempting for author Corriveau to really unleash her and show what she is capable of, but that’s not who Iris is. She is a character with morals, and guilt, and regret.
The supporting cast of characters are all three dimensional interesting too, with believable motivations and obligations that they are beholden too. As the story progresses, we along with Iris get more of a feel for who can be trusted, who her strongest allies are, and who the hidden threats might be. And there are many, it seems. Horizon Fault develops the story, and offers satisfying plot developments, whilst leaving plenty of threads to be explored in the third book. This means when you reach the end, you have enjoyed a satisfying read, but are also hungry for more.
Horizon Fault is available now in digital and paperback formats. Book Three, The Uncounted, does not yet have a publication date.
Podcast – Hosts in the Shell Episode 74: Synthwave Duo New Arcades
The latest episode of Hosts in the Shell is available now. This week, hosts Jon Richter and Matt Adcock talk to synthwave duo New Arcades.
The Hosts in the Shell podcast is a cyberpunk podcast where Jon and Matt discuss the genre’s greatest work, often alongside a notable guest, and they have over 50 episodes available. You can find the Hosts in the Shell podcast at the link below, and all good podcast platforms.
As well as being podcasters, Jon and Matt are also authors with cyberpunk related titles amongst their novels.
You can find out more about Jon’s work here –
You can find out more about Matt’s work here –
www.completedarknessnovel.com/
CYBERSTOPIA – Discord
Cyberstopia now has a Discord server! Please join us and build a community for cyberpunk and dystopia discussion. We have sections for all the latest news, channels for discussion of The Ghost in the Shell series, as well as upcoming shows like Edgrerunners 2, Blade Runner 2099, and Neuromancer, as well as an author section with a number of cyberpunk authors talking about their work, giving updates on your current projects, etc… It’s a great place to hang out.
https://discord.gg/purcXCnXzE
For more of the latest news on cyberpunk and dystopia media, stay tuned to Cyberstopia here on the website, and across social media. If you have a Cyberstopian project or release, or there’s something you think we should be covering, please let us know here in the comments, on your social media platform of choice, or on the Contact page at www.cyberstopia.com
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