Redband
135 PL
Created by
It's been 6 generations since the H.O.P.E landed back on the surface of Earth. After nearly 2000 years away, Humanity returned to the bombed out husk of what used to be its vibrant greenhouse home. Now all thats left is some deserts, a few rivers, and a never ending stream of mutants from the wastes.
Lila lit up a cigarette, and wiped sweat from her forehead.
Damn summer heat. Why's the sahara gotta be so hot this time of year.
She leaned over the railing of her apartments balcony and looked out onto the cityscape. A vibrant, metallic biosphere gazed back at her. Traffic wove in raised streets like they were performing an intricate dance. Holographic billboards lit up the night, with various bands, brands and celebrities gazing back at her, asking for her to buy whatever they were selling.
But she couldn't complain. She had a job, a good apartment. Hell, her boss even bought her a cybernetic arm for her birthday.
Still getting used to this thing. They say the coolant helps with the heat, but it feels like burning metal to me.
Her boss, Michelo, was a good man. Michelo payed for alot of her health-care after her accident, and let her keep her job even when she couldn't come to work due to health issues. Good man, he was.
Thats how it was nowadays. Nothing like those old "Cyberpunk" stories that you could read on ARKNET. Stories of old about street samurai who hated their lives, fought against corporate tyranny to help the "little guy". Hell, if all you read were those stories, you would think that living in a world with robotic enhancements, sci-fi tech and a blasted out hellscape as your city park would be worse than death, a kind of slavery fit for the worst of souls.
They are just stories, though.
It's really not that bad. As long as you can stand the heat.
Redband is the story of loss. Humanity recovering after losing nearly all that made us who we are. Everything from before the great voyage is gone, and now those who survived are left to pick up the pieces. Blasted wastes cover the surface of the earth, irradiated from a war long past. Vast swathes of Earth are left covered in mutants, self-replicating drones, strange societies that follow obscure gods and weird philosophies, or all of the above. Humanity is not the top dog anymore, and the fight to get back on top will be a grueling one, filled with sacrifice and hardship.
But that's the fun part, right?
More important than the story of loss is the story of hope. Or rather,
Hope, the dismantled then reassembled remains of the Human Obstinance Prepatory Evactuation ship formed into a bustling and gargantuan city resting right smack dab in the middle of what used to be Africa. The story of Hope follows many people from all walks of life. 2nd generation spacers who still remember the times when the H.O.P.E was being dismantled to 4th generation Funk-kids who live their life to the fullest in the bustling markets and alleys. All of these people work to the bone to bring humanity back to the peak it was before the great voyage.
Which is not to say there isn't a world outside of Hope. Colonists who after landing decided that city life wasn't for them migrated from the city around a generation or two after landing. Hundreds of communities now exist up and down the African and European continents, all bustling with a techno-medieval vibe and brimming confidence that the world
will, eventually, be the way the old data-chits told them it was.
Even beyond that lies what was left of the world from before the great voyage. Strange bug-like creatures formed monarchies in the Eurasian/Australian areas, creating thousands of years of culture that is yet to be fully understood by humanity. The wastes left by humanity have created mutated hellspawn, and some humans have even mutated alongside the wasteland into strange and colorful forms. To the south, across the antarctic continent, lies a vast Dronescape which exists as a living tombstone marking the technological hubris of pre-voyage humanity. Thousands of semi-autonomous and self-replicating drones permeate the continent, and every so often drone kill-squads terrorize southern human settlements for reasons currently unknown. To the west, the Americas remain unexplored by current humanity, however, strange rumors float of a remaining contingent of humanity existing out of the bombed out remains of the United States that worship strange, alien gods and dress in strange black cloth.
Left with futuristic technology, an inbuilt will to survive, and a vibrant culture of hope, confidence, and perseverance humanity will push on into the near future. Humanity will reclaim its spot, and bring a kind of peace and harmony to the Earth that their ancestors could only dream of.
