[melusine]

[attr="class","subtitle2"]The Plot

Los Angeles, California. The second largest metropolitan area in the United States with nearly four million residents within the city proper and over 18 million represented in the Greater Los Angeles Area. It's a bustling hub of international commerce, cutting edge technology, and the arts. Millions flock to the City of Angels in hopes of catching just a piece of the glitz and glamor romanticized in countless works. But just beneath the glossy veneer lies a truth far from the bright lights of Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Residents struggle to get by under the watchful eye of corrupt corporations allowed to grow out of control. Deadly gangs roam the streets looking for another victim. Tech-savvy hackers plug into a virtual reality network to play a deadly game of cat and mouse. Technology infused mercenaries await their next orders. And through it all, the over-matched, outgunned law enforcers desperately try and keep the peace.

Welcome to Pandora's Gambit, a world where nothing is at it seems. In a city engaged in a brutal power struggle between the corporations vying for power, the gangs looking for a name, and the syndicates demanding respect, the game has changed. New tools have been introduced to the wars being fought not only on the streets, but in board rooms and back alleys.

Thanks to a revolutionary discovery the melding of human tissue and robotic technology is commonplace. While once reserved for military use, cyber ware has steadily grown into the private sector for use in medical procedures, commercial applications, and personal security. Bodyguards with metal limbs, reporters with robotic eyes, and even regular folk with synthetic organs are no longer seen as fiction. With just a few medical procedures one can become stronger, faster, and more deadly than anything the world has seen before. But the price to be paid for such power goes beyond monetary.

The miraculous Pandora Chip brought the world of technology to life. By simply implanting the device into their brain, one can jack into a virtual reality world the likes of which had only thought to be the work of science fiction. Hackers invade this virtual world hoping to gain control of the networks and resources within. The technology is still new. Still in its developmental stages but a culture has already sprouted around it. Once jacked into the Net one can do anything, go anywhere. The only limits are their imaginations. And the hardware of their system.

So what will you be? A refined corporate raider looking for the next investment? A slick hacker riding the bleeding edge of technology? A metal-infused mercenary looking for their next payday? Or maybe a local cop trying to keep the innocent safe. Or even simply someone who's just trying to make sense of it all while struggling to make it through the next day. The choice is yours.

[attr="class","subtitle2"]Virtual Reality Space

Existing in mind, often as a product of the imagination, Virtual Reality has turned from Science Fiction to science fact. When chatting in a chatroom on the internet you are partaking in “virtual conversation”. Virtual Reality is when a computer generates visual effects, sound effects and other human senses to the user of a world within a computer. The user is able to interact in this world and manipulate or move objects within it.

Pandora's Gambit use is a type of total immersion into the virtual world. These types of virtual reality is used with a Pandora Chip that presents the visual and sound effects to the user through a computer or a mobile device. All Pandora's Gambit do is type in a few commands into the computer and they can create anything they want. A coliseum for fighting, a garden for walking and a beach for sea for swimming. They have developed a whole networked system across the city for everyone to watch.

Imagine someone having a disability that holds them back from doing some things (s)he wants to do. The virtual world doesn't have any of these limitations. A disabled person can walk, talk and act in any way a "normal" person would. It has been created with beauty in mind and nothing has been left out. There are beautiful gardens, beaches and people. Anything you can set your mind to.

Pandora's Gambit had built and developed Reality Space Cafes that allow anyone to enter the Virtual Reality Space. Here, people can rent a computer and/or device and enter the Virtual Reality Space themselves and participate in any event, world or situation they set their mind to.

[attr="class","subtitle2"]Cybernetics

Cybernetics are a deadly and powerful tool of the trade for many who call the streets their home. Thanks to the revolutionary breakthroughs of CyberTitan, the world's leading medical technology corporation, cybernetic enhancements are no longer the tools of the most secretive military operations and has grown into the private sector. Base models are available for those needing medical procedures involving limbs or organs lost through disease or accident while superior, 'security' focused technology is available for those looking to enhance their physical properties.

But all power comes at a price. With loss of flesh and bone a person becomes more disconnected from their humanity. The integration of robotic technology with living tissue can carry remarkable psychological effects. The alien information of the replaced tissue has been found to cause a number of side effects which include migraines, nervous ticks, and a loss of empathy. Relatively small procedures, such as an internal organ or a hand don't usually come with much in terms of side-effects. However, more involved procedures such as and entire limb or an eye can come with complications. The effects are more certain and stronger the more procedures an individual has. Eventually the person becomes a cold, unfeeling individual with little in terms of compassion and empathy. Extreme cases have resulted in violent outbursts, causing a type of psychosis that results in deadly rampages that only cease when the individual is forcefully put down. The power that can be gained from cybernetic implants is immeasurable. But it's a deadly game to play with one's humanity.

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