Writing Prompt Cyberpunk from a Russians perspective

[MafiaNoble]

I've seen some Cyberpunk fanfictions or just general Cyberpunk inspired stories and in almost all of those stories (if there are scavs) they're the typical bad guys. Russians that go around kidnapping innocent people and selling their cyberware and organs for easy money.

But what if reality isn't what it seems? What it these Russians are forced into it due to societies stigma?

What I mean is, if the Soviet Union is communistic and its companies state owned, then it wouldn't be weird for that country to be sanctioned and thus lack resources, tech or knowledge that isn't domestically available and harder to get from the International market.

So what if there was a wealth acquisition department within the KGB whose job it was to bring wealth, resources and technology/knowledge not domestically available to the country.
.
What if scavs in reality are people who have been promised the American Dream, moved to America and are now stuck in a corporate dystopia where no one wants to hire them. Companies think the risk of them being moles or spies for the Soviet Union is to high.

The normal people are afraid they're associated or part of a scav cel.

With the high employment rates people would prefer to hire Americans or other ethnic groups over the Russians.

Now they're in America and can either starve or take the work the KGB has made available to them.

Basically, a story that explores Russian live in America and how they look at scavs etc from a unique, more realistic yet grimdark reality.

---

This could be done in a variety of ways, from a slice of life focus, corporate lifestyle to a criminal focus. Maybe the MC is forced into joining a scav cel or starving, or maybe the MC choses to build his own Russian gang that's meant to be a alternative option for his people.

Maybe he makes a communist cel with the local hobos?. ?

Or maybe some corporate shenanigans, there are tons of unique ways to go about it while giving it a new flavour that isn't your standard Cyberpunk inspired story or fanfic with a MC that focussed on killing, leveling magically and beating missions while never dying cus it's the MC.

If anyone would like to pick this idea up, by themselves feel free to. I'm also happy to collaborate with someone on this as a hobby project.

 

[Deleted member 44974]

Are you taking about Cyberpunk the game?

Didn't the USA collapse in 2000s and there was the whole unification war? The New United States in 2077 was not doing so good there all the nomades.

And Night City is formally American but is a autonomous city-state. People born in night city are not part of the NUSA (New USA)



If you are talking about Cyberpunk the genre that different.

In that case carry on.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

I've seen some Cyberpunk fanfictions or just general Cyberpunk inspired stories and in almost all of those stories (if there are scavs) they're the typical bad guys. Russians that go around kidnapping innocent people and selling their cyberware and organs for easy money.

But what if reality isn't what it seems? What it these Russians are forced into it due to societies stigma?

What I mean is, if the Soviet Union is communistic and its companies state owned, then it wouldn't be weird for that country to be sanctioned and thus lack resources, tech or knowledge that isn't domestically available and harder to get from the International market.

So what if there was a wealth acquisition department within the KGB whose job it was to bring wealth, resources and technology/knowledge not domestically available to the country.
.
What if scavs in reality are people who have been promised the American Dream, moved to America and are now stuck in a corporate dystopia where no one wants to hire them. Companies think the risk of them being moles or spies for the Soviet Union is to high.

The normal people are afraid they're associated or part of a scav cel.

With the high employment rates people would prefer to hire Americans or other ethnic groups over the Russians.

Now they're in America and can either starve or take the work the KGB has made available to them.

Basically, a story that explores Russian live in America and how they look at scavs etc from a unique, more realistic yet grimdark reality.

---

This could be done in a variety of ways, from a slice of life focus, corporate lifestyle to a criminal focus. Maybe the MC is forced into joining a scav cel or starving, or maybe the MC choses to build his own Russian gang that's meant to be a alternative option for his people.

Maybe he makes a communist cel with the local hobos?. ?

Or maybe some corporate shenanigans, there are tons of unique ways to go about it while giving it a new flavour that isn't your standard Cyberpunk inspired story or fanfic with a MC that focussed on killing, leveling magically and beating missions while never dying cus it's the MC.

If anyone would like to pick this idea up, by themselves feel free to. I'm also happy to collaborate with someone on this as a hobby project.

Currently, real life provides ample examples of said reality.

 

[Placeholder]

> What I mean is, if the Soviet Union is communistic and its companies state owned, then it wouldn't be weird for that country to be sanctioned and thus lack resources, tech or knowledge that isn't domestically available and harder to get from the International market.

Pre-collapse, the Soviet Union was too big to sanction.

---

Separate from this, take a look at historical genocides committed by the Russian ethnic leadership pre SU, during SU, and post SU. Maybe just skim wikipedia's list. It's not cheerful.

---

> What it these Russians are forced into it due to societies stigma?

Do some reading or documentaries about Putin's Russia.

---

Also, I'm a fan of Sovietwave music and Soviet Realism oil painting. Just not, you know, all the pesky authoritarianism. *gestures vaguely*

 

[MafiaNoble]

> What I mean is, if the Soviet Union is communistic and its companies state owned, then it wouldn't be weird for that country to be sanctioned and thus lack resources, tech or knowledge that isn't domestically available and harder to get from the International market.

Pre-collapse, the Soviet Union was too big to sanction.

---

Separate from this, take a look at historical genocides committed by the Russian ethnic leadership pre SU, during SU, and post SU. Maybe just skim wikipedia's list. It's not cheerful.

---

> What it these Russians are forced into it due to societies stigma?

Do some reading or documentaries about Putin's Russia.

---

Also, I'm a fan of Sovietwave music and Soviet Realism oil painting. Just not, you know, all the pesky authoritarianism. *gestures vaguely*

I'm referencing to the Cyberpunk genre not IRL history.

 

[ThrillingHuman]

What I mean is, if the Soviet Union is communistic

The word is "communist".

and its companies state owned

...Which is not really the correct definition.

 

[MafiaNoble]

The word is "communist".

...Which is not really the correct definition.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

As far as I can tell, modern Russia may be as close to a true cyberpunk setting as anything in fiction. Yeah, the tech isn't as advanced but you had a socialist empire that collapsed into a semi-republican plutocracy of squabbling but theoretically aligned states, where the wealthy hold all the power, either by right of being strong criminals or government officials (and sometimes it's hard to tell them apart).
The ineffective but still frightening KGB has morphed into the slightly more effective FSB, and is playing power games on an international level, but with a subtlety they were incapable of previously.
Just have technology advance far faster than it did in reality and you have a near-perfect cyberpunk setting, but with oligarchs instead of mega corps.

I'm not quite familiar with the term "scavs" but I assume they are people who scavenge both organs for the meat wagons and hardware for resale from people who are no longer using said organs or hardware, with no questions asked about why those people are no longer using it (unless the authorities show up and ask themselves ... or just, ahem, volunteer to be additional donors).
It would be a mix of crime and espionage story with a high tech edge.