Mel's Scratchpad

Scene/Arc ideas

Increased attacks against augments, new grey-market taser-like weapon that specifically damages them.
Filler: Mocha manages to book the race track she goes on track-days to and The Technosexual staff go for a corporate-getaway.
Melissa and Zee learn about Thumper's history over a few drinks.
Filler: The Technosexual calendar is produced.
Leon's medical implant fails
Lost enlists Melissa to help him investigate a black market cyborg parts trade... It's Zee. She gets in trouble and a firefight ensues
Some asshole totally tweaked out on something tries to hold-up the Technosexual, it does not go well... for him.

Character Sidearms

Melissa: FN Five-seveN in 5.7x28mm
Zee: Custom Revolver in .500SW (Likes unconventional rounds)
Rachel: Glock 17 (Full Auto Mod) in 10mm
Leon: 1911 in .45ACP (AP)
Vera: Walther PPK/E in 10mm
mavica: Internal ~~Taser~~Stun Implants for Personal Protection (Dislikes Firearms)
Mocha: H&K USP Match in 10mm
Max: Glock 29 in 10mm

Society and Culture

Timeline

A Twitter analogue, and just about as bad as the service it represents

Long lived, encrpyted messaging service. Funded and operated by an exiled NEEB Oligarch. This doesn't appear to bother its billion or so users...

Discourse

A large and popular net based communications platform, originally targeted at online gaming. Expanded into the realm of business quickly, acquiring competitors along the way. Now the single largest VoIP, conferencing and group chat platform on the planet.

IRC

An approximately 150 year old chat protocol it has been kept up to date by a near fanatic community of developers for it's entire lifetime. It still sees moderate usage amongst nerds, hackers and enthusiasts of all walks. Also pulls double duty as an easy-to-implement communications protocol for software and other services.

NeoChat

A large network of virtual reality hubs and chatrooms, mainly targeted at people with neural interfaces.
However the in-house "NC-VR Suite" is a more traditional HMD and Body Tracking system for non-augments and has proven incredibly popular, and incredibly immersive.

Corporate Entities

Horizon Enterprises

Analogue to Amazon, Global Ultracorp.
Global Logistics, Net services, global warehouse networks.

Conrad Delivery Systems

Analogue to UK delivery contractor "Hermes", EU Corp.
Package delivery and logistics, not very good at it.
Train their workers poorly, pay them even worse.

Audiini

Analogue to Audi and other high-end car manufacturers.
Been around a long time, known for high-performance vehicles.

Tsuyoda

Analogue to Toyota.
Known for reliable and performant consumer vehicles.
Active in Rallying and other Racing events.

Factions

Drugs

Five-Leaf

Analogue for weed, legal across the EU, WR and NWD.
Frowned upon in the Sunrise Empire and NEEB.
Produces a calming and painkilling effect in it's users, consumed through vaporisation of oils or burning of plant matter.

Headrush

Analogue for speed, illegal globally.
Usually Distributed as a pressed pill or disolvable tab.

Crash

Analogue for cocaine, illegal globally.
Distributed as a white powder with a consistency somewhere between salt and flour.

Boost

Analogue for meth, illegal globally (except the NEEB for unknown reasons).
Distributed as a blue crystaline compound.

Chroma

Analogue for LSD.
Legal globally in small doses, but generally frowned upon.
Taken orally as a dissolvable stamp, absorbed into the tongue.
Causes visual hallucinations, and is named for its notable effect of creating colourful hallucinations, and synethesia where other senses are perceived as colour.

Tobacco

Tobacco, distributed in oil form for use in vaporisation devices.
Occasionally distributed as dried plant matter and burned in pipes or other devices.
Cigarettes phased out entierly, although sometimes seen in museums.

Alcohol

Drink, Beer, Spirits, Wine, etc.
Alcohol has been around since before the beginnings of society, and will likely outlast it.
Legal everywhere, sold freely on licenced premesis, produces variety of intoxicating effects in organics and most cyborgs with excessive consumption.
Pure examples of alcohol are highly toxic and make very good cleaning and disinfecting solutions.

Overload

A nanosynthetic compound distributed in neural interface injectors, gives cyborgs a distinctive "high".
Excessive usage can cause system malfunctions, dependancy, and damage to organic systems.
Pure organics attempting to use this compound usually die, painfully, within 24 hours of consumption.
Frowned upon in all nations, but not specifically illegal, the law hasn't caught up yet.

"Clocking"

Not specifically a drug, but has a drug-like effect in sufficiently augmented cyborgs.
The act of overclocking augmented components to boost performance at the cost of increased energy consumption and heat output.
Can also be actioned on the bio-neural links connecting organic and cybernetic systems resulting in increased performance of those links at the risk of damaging said organic systems.
Running "Clocked" for too long can cause permanent, irreversible damage to cybernetic and organic systems. Can also cause restlessness, paranoia, erratic and unpredictable behaviour, and brain damage. It can also void component warranties.

"Going Turbo"

Again, not specifically a drug. This oxymoronic process earned it's name from early desktop computers that came equipped with a "Turbo Button" which, ironically, slowed the machine down when activated.
Effectively the opposite of "Clocking", "Going Turbo" dulls the senses, slows reaction times and reduces apparent intelligence. Placing the cyborg in question into a dulled "drunken" stupor.
Incorrectly applied settings can cause damage to cybernetic and organic systems or damage the linkages between them. It can also void component warranties.

Illness

As a society we've not exactly managed to "Cure" much, even in the time between now and the goings on of the comic.
Yes, medicine has got much better, and people struck down by serious ailments are more likely to survive than they ever used to be.
Medical progress is generally controlled by a series of privately and government operated facilities.
Incredibly, one thing we have got, is global universal healthcare.
Having private healthcare does still improve your standards of care though... Of course, with new advances in biotechnology come new issues, some are listed below.

(Sudden onset) Implant Rejection Syndrome [S/IRS]

Class: Autoimmune
Frequency: Rare
Treatment: Pharmaceuticals/Cybernetics
S/IRS is a condition that can befall anyone that has recieved any form of cybernetic augmentation.
It's considered a form of autoimmune disease as it is caused by the host immune system violently and uncontrollably attacking the new cybernetic implants.
The "Sudden" variant is particularly nasty in that it can strike unexpectedly, even if the individual has been augmented for years.
Less common than it used to be, it's still something that has to be considered before augmentation takes place and is monitored for during maintainance checks.
Ironically one of the treatment methods is further cybernetic augmentation to attempt to override the host immune system. Otherwise frequent injections of immuneosuppressing drugs or other chemicals may be required to reduce the impact of the condition.

VirtualReality Lockin Syndrome [VRLS]

Class: Mental Health
Frequency: Rare
Treatment: Psychiatry/Pharmaceuticals/Cybernetics
VRLS is a strange and poorly understood condition where an individual (often with some form of neural interface) either actively or passively refuses to leave a virtual world, be it a game world or The Net itself.
Disconnecting the individual forcefully can result in psychotic episodes, depressive fits, seizures or brain damage depending on the severity of the case.
Treatment varies depending on the nature of the case with two cases rarely being the same. Right now, medical professionals have just been throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.
Sufferers can sometimes break free on their own with no intervention, but that is more rare than the condition itself.

VirtualReality Dysmorphia [VRD]

Class: Mental Health
Frequency: Infrequent
Treatment: Usually wears off on its own, otherwise psychiatric help required
VRD is a phenomena caused when a user spends a large amount of time in VR spaces occupying a different form from their "in reality" form.
It manifests similarly to "Alice In Wonderland Syndrome", where the sufferer temporarily loses their sense of self and can feel like they have body parts missing, in wrong places or even additional body parts.
It is unpleasant, but generally not harmful. Frequent or heavy users of VR will experience this condition at least once in their lives, often after spending an extended period in a new or exotic "avatar" whilst in a virtual space.
The phenomina will wear off on it's own after a few minutes. Not unlike being dizzy, a sufferer can close their eyes and remain prone for a moment as their brain re-adjusts.
Extreme cases can see the symptoms persist, if this occurs psychiatric help must be enlisted to prevent VRD from turning into VRLS as the brain attempts to cope.

Brands

Snack Foods

"Runners Brand Crisps"

Popular EU potato chip brand, comes in a wide gamut of flavours.

"Chisps"

Generic potato chip brand, comes in a wide gamut of flavours. Not quite as good as Runners, still popular because they are cheap.

"PopIts"

A popular potato chip brand that ships in tall cardboard tubes.

"Toasty Tarts"

Icing coated sweet pastry with a sugary filling. Usually heated in a toaster before consumption.

"Chocolate Crispy Rolls"

A chocolate coated wafer with a milk-chocolate cream filling. Sold as small double-bar snack packs.

Fast Food

Taco Gong

Low cost, moderate quality, pseudo [South American] food-stuffs.

Burger Monarch

Mid cost, decent quality, specialises in flame grilled burgers.

Pizza Shack

Mid cost, quality varies, pizza and pasta specialist.
Quality varies wildly by franchise and location. With some serving near inedible garbage and others being the best Pizza you've ever had. It's practically a crapshoot.

Mindy's

Mid cost, decent quality, known for using very fresh meat produce.
Also known for having a very sassy social media presence.

Clownburger

Low (but rising) cost, poor-mid quality, better in the EU than WR but that's not saying much. "Cheap and cheerful"

S.T.E.A.K

High cost, high quality, known for their spectacular roast beef.

Tom Borton's

Low cost, high quality, a very popular NWD chain of coffee shops known for their tiny donut balls.

Sol Coffee

High cost, low-mid quality, an absurdly popular multinational megacorp known for their obscure coffee concoctions and extreme store density in city centres.