From: JBrandt@AAA.UOregon.EDU (Jason)
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: Re: One quick question
Followup-To: alt.callahans
Date: 23 Jan 1993 17:43:11 GMT
Organization: the Polyhedron Group
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: aaa.uoregon.edu

In article <8891.24507@stratus.SWDC.Stratus.COM>,
jane@soave.swdc.stratus.com (Jane Beckman) wrote:
> As far as aging well---um, yes, it really IS twenty minutes
> into the future, and the present is looking more like a Max
> Headroom plot all the time.  Every time I watch it, I get a
> little weirded out, because it's all seeming a little too
> close to being reality.  Especially when reality is getting
> far too close to a cyberpunk nightmare, as time goes on,
> anyway.  Every time I turn on network TV, Max Headroom comes
> back...  The technology is only about five minutes into the
> future, now, and I suppose that soon Max and Edison and their
> lot will still be topical, but their network will be sort of 
> like an old newspaper office, using elder technology while the 
> rest of the world moves on.  That, however, can be picturesque in 
> itself, like a detective novel sort of thing...  
> 
> By the way, has anyone noticed how all the cyberpunk universes
> seem to be converging, and starting to be the *same* cyberpunk
> universe?  And how close reality is obligingly following suit?

Jason, as a resident cyberpunk author, just -has- to respond to that.
(Pardon the net.lag, I'm catching up on a weeks worth of posts that all got
dumped on my site in one day).

"Well Jilara, Cyberpunk doesn't -have- to be an all-out nightmare, but I'll
agree that our time stream does seem to be converging with the one
cyberpunk predicts. One of the things that makes the cyberpunk genre
attractive to modern day readers is that it shows we can -still- find ways
to survive even -if- the current trends toward gang violence and corporate
intrusiveness continue."

"In my observation, there seem to be -two- flavors of cyberpunk universes
emerging as 'standards'. There is the 'Gibsonian' universe, influenced by
W. Gibson's 'Neuromancer' trilogy, and there is the 'Magepunk' universe,
influenced by the 'Shadowrun' books and Role-playing games. Those are not
likely to converge, as Magepunk allows for magick and metahuman races
(elves, trolls, etc.), while Gibsonian cyberpunk has no magic or non-human
intelligent races (unless they are aliens from other worlds in space)."

The holotank over Jason's cyberdeck splits into two side-by-side cubes,
each displaying an animated sequence from the two cyberpunk universes. On
the left, a human woman is engaged in a shootout in a parking garage,
against three Yakuza ninja. On the right, a human woman with mismatched
eyes gestures at an approaching biker gang consisting of mixed humans and
trolls, and the trash in the alley rises up to become a monster, the spirit
of the city called up by the lady shaman to defend her.

"On the left is a scene from my 'Silk and Steel' cyberpunk series. It's in
a gibsonian universe. Shadowcat must use her martial arts and combat skills
to survive the encounter, and if she is injured or dies, only medical
science and cyberware implants stand between her and a permanent end."

"On the right is a scene loosely adapted from one of Liralen Li's 'White
Crystal' magepunk tales. Saraquel, as a shaman, can call upon magick as a
weapon, or to heal/resurect a fallen comrade. She can and has brought
others back from the dead with her magick."

"Both are cyberpunk, and share a lot in common. Powerful corporations that
run things, gangs, open violence in the streets, urban areas with large
sections devistated and never rebuilt. Hmmmmm. Does sound a lot like South
Los Angelas, doesn't it?"

He disolves the display and takes a sip of his drink. As he turns to set it
back down, you can see the surgicaly implanted cyberlink on the back of his
head. A 5mm cable connects the cyberlink to the computer on the table.

"Gives you a lot to think about, doesn't it?"

Hugs,
Jason