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Credits
W hat is this?
Wha t i s t h i s wha t i s t h i s
This is Cyberpunk RED Easy Mode! It’s
power-armored assassins, and comput-
er-wired Netrunners. Your weapons are
nerve, street smarts, bravado, and the
Minami 10 smartgun on your hip.
an introduction to the world and system of
Writing and
Cyberpunk RED, the roleplaying game Are you ready now? Of course you are.
Design by
of the Dark Future. To play this, you’ll You can't wait.
e
Mike Pondsmith, need: One Gamemaster, up to 5 players,
James Hutt, Cody You're a Cyberpunk, and you live by
a ten sided die for each player, and lots
Pondsmith, J Gray, and of six sided dice. three rules:
David Ackerman
#1 Style Over Substance
B
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Editing by eing Cyberpunk
Lisa Pondsmith and b eingcyb e rpunkb eingcyb e rpunk It doesn't matter how well you do some-
Aron Tarbuck The Cyberpunk world is a violent, dan- thing, as long as you look good doing
gerous place filled with people who'd it. If you're going to blow it, make sure
Art Direction by you look like you planned it that way.
Jaye Kovach love to rip your arms off and eat them.
Even after a massive war between Normally, clothes and looks don't matter
Business Megacorporations followed by an atomic in an adventure—in this world, having a
Management by bombing, the world of Cyberpunk is a leather armor jacket and mirrorshades is
Lisa Pondsmith
Layout by
J Gray
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combination of savage, sophisticated,
modern, and retrograde. Fashion-model
beautiful Rockerboys rub shoulders with
battle-armored road warriors on the
a serious consideration.
#2 Attitude Is Everything
It's truth. Think dangerous; be dangerous.
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Cover Art by mean streets of the worst town this side of Think weak; be weak. Remember, every-
Anselm Zielonka the post-holocaust, the oil-slicked neon one in the 2000s carries lots of lethal
Interior Art by giant, Night City. hardware. Each Character in this world is
Neil Branquinho, As a Cyberpunk, you grab technology playing a Role—a face that person proj-
J Gray, Maskym by the throat and hang on. You're not ects to the outside world as the real thing.
Harahulin, Adrian afraid to "0 out" the newest in "enhance- They won't be impressed by your new
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Marc, and Eddie ments," cybertech and bioengineering. Militech smartgun unless you swagger
Mendoza You've got interface plugs in your wrists, into the club looking like you know how
weapons in your arms, lasers in your eyes, to use it...and are just itching for an excuse.
Maps by
and biochip programs in your brain. You Never walk into a room when you can
Matt Henderson at
Loke Battle Mats become the car you drive, the aerodyne stride in. Never look at someone unless
you fly, the guns you shoot. You dive you can make it your best "killer" look. Use
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headfirst into computer systems, using your best "I'm bad and you aren't" smile.
your mind to hurtle at lightspeed down Don't sit around the flat or cube waiting for
Copyright © 2022 by R.
Talsorian Games, Inc., Cyberpunk the rabbit holes of NET Architectures. the next job. Get on out and hit the clubs
is a registered trademark of With cyborg fingers you pick computer and hangouts. Make sure you're where
CD Projekt Red S.A. All rights
reserved under the Universal locks; with enhanced senses, you see into the party starts.
Copyrights Convention. the Future.
All situations, governments, and #3 Live on the Edge
people herein are fictional. Any Cyberpunk is also an attitude. You
similarities portrayed herein
without satiric intent are strictly wear the most "in" clothes, know the right The Edge is that nebulous zone where
coincidental. people, and follow the right crowds. risk-takers and high rollers go. On the
You plan your crimes in the most select Edge, you'll risk your cash, your rep, even
clubs and bars; your enemies are your life on something as vague as a
Corporate armies, cyborg biker gangs, principle or a big score. As a Cyberpunk,
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you want to be the action, start the rebellion, light the Vice President), American government descended
fire. Join great causes and fight for big issues. Never into the realm of mobster rule. Ruthlessly pursuing its
drive slow when you can drive fast. Throw yourself up agenda of illicit profit above all, the Gang hollowed
against danger and take it head on. Never play it too out Social Security and Medicare, eliminated Welfare There’s much
safe. Stay committed to the Edge. (unless tied to one of their Corporate clients), and more lore to
explore in the
plundered the resources of the United States like a Cyberpunk RED
W
Core Book.
elcome to the Dark Future giant personal piggybank. The only untouched area
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w e l c o m e t o t h e d a r k f u t u r e of the government was the military, which the Gang
lavished money upon to maintain service loyalty and
Cyberpunk RED takes place in an alternate future
to finance the Gang's expansive policy of war-based
where the world is recovering from a devastating
imperialism.
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global war fought between two Megacorporations.
Here’s a brief rundown on the history, so you know By the time the Gang was ousted, the U.S. Senate
how it got this bad. was no longer functional (having been suborned or
intimidated by the Gang over years), the Supreme
The Fall of America Court was no longer the law of the land for the
increasing number of self-declared "Free States," and
By the end of the 1980s, it was evident that the United
most of the federal bureaucracy was in shambles,
States was in trouble. Most social norms had dissolved
leaving the country unable to cope with the waves of
under an all-engulfing wave of competing special
crises devastating the population.
interest groups, media-fueled fads, and an overall
"me first" worldview.
By 1994, the number of homeless on the streets had
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skyrocketed to 21 million. The technical revolution had
▶ The Rise of the Free States ◀
Individual states, fed up with the ineffectual and dicta-
torial actions of the bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.
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further torn the economy apart, creating two radically (and the recently exposed machinations of the Gang
divergent classes—a wealthy, technically oriented, of Four), began to break away from the main body
materially acquisitive group of Corporate profession- of the country; first California, north and later south,
als; and a down-class of homeless, unskilled, blue-col- then Texas, Oregon, Washington and the Dakotas.
lar workers. The middle class was nearly eradicated. These new "Free States" set their own laws (although
It was this dismal beginning that led to the American most were remarkably similar), trade arrangements,
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landscape of the 2000s. and most importantly, no longer sent their collected
Here are just a few of the major trends leading to taxes back to Washington, D.C. This only hurried the
the collapse of the American Nation. collapse of the unified nation.
showcases, free of crime and poverty, controlled by global warming, vast areas of the northern hemi-
powerful Corporations. Ringing the central areas were sphere began to suffer unending years of back-to-
the Combat Zones—decrepit, squalid suburbs, and back drought. Throughout the Midwestern states,
burned-out ghettos teeming with boostergangs and many small towns were abandoned, as local farms,
other violent sociopaths. The outer suburbs were also businesses, and banks collapsed in the wake of this
Corporate-controlled zones; safe, well-guarded tracts drought, famine, and economic chaos.
where executives raised their families in relative security. What farms that survived were eventually bought
up by huge Agricorporations, and were maintained
▶ Corrupt and Ineffective Government ◀ with Corporate-controlled wells, hired workers,
Under the corrupt rule of the Gang of Four (a cabal of machine labor, and well-equipped guards. Midwest
four government agencies: the NSA, the CIA, the DEA, urban zones also suffered during this time; not from
and the FBI, all led by the brilliant and psychopathic drought, but a collapse of manufacturing jobs and
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industries fleeing the country for cheaper labor in period to ignore or downplay the effects of medical
Asia and Africa. Unchecked Corporate mergers and emergencies, the "hot zones" spread like fusion-fed
acquisitions destabilized entire areas of production, explosions, devastating entire continents. For example,
especially as well-heeled investors bought successful the Wasting Plague of 1999, a horrible infection that
companies, then pillaged their assets and sold the attacked the intestines of its victims and made them
dried husks at pennies on the dollar to finance their starve to death no matter how much food they ate,
debts. tore across Europe and landed in the United States,
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where, ignored in the chaos of the Gang of Four's
But the hollowing out of the center of the country rule, it killed an estimated 14 million people before a
had an unexpected series of costs; millions became vaccine was finally developed in Japan. The Wasting
homeless, and were forced to travel the open roads to Plague was only one of a series of epidemiological
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seek shelter in the urban zones in a latter-day version disasters that hammered the planet, some natural,
of the Dust Bowl period of the American 1930s. The some bioengineered as part of various national pro-
open freeways soon became battlegrounds, as armed grams. Each one was just another nail in the coffin of
packs of booster gangs also traveled from city to city, a society already out of control.
looting and pillaging the homeless travelers like mech-
anized Visigoths. ▶ The Rise of Cybernetics ◀
Humanity has always pushed back against its limits.
▶ The Plagues ◀
Poor eyesight? Get glasses. Hearing failing or poor?
BY EDDIE MENDOZA
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Replace those meat eyes with cyberoptics that can see communications method there. Information systems
for miles, in the dark, and maybe even shoot lasers like that allow governments and Megacorps to watch
a superhero. Hearing failing or poor? Time to level and track you with surveillance or targeted advertis-
up to an enhanced audio suite that can hear sounds ing that delivers what you want when you don't even
that only dogs—or whales—can hear. Hip going know you want it...for your own good. Machines that
out? Replace your entire skeleton with unbreakable, adjust your sense of time and place to fit their needs.
never-wearing-out steel. It's a new age, and you can And all of it happening faster and faster, so that your
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become part of it by endlessly improving yourself. mind is unable to process the changes and how it's
affected. The younger you are, the easier it is for you
But this brave new world backfired. Corporations
to deal with the accelerating change; you're used to
and governments began to employ cybernetically
it because you were born to it. But sooner or later,
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enhanced warriors to patrol the streets and fight their
wars. People with cybernetic enhancements found even the kids can't keep up. Suddenly, people freak
themselves becoming impatient with the unenhanced out. They get irrational, violent. Families shatter; rela-
and their (to the cybered-up) painfully slow pace. tionships tear apart. People feel helpless in the face of
Cybernetic speed also allowed the rate of change— the Universe. Eventually, the whole society grinds to a
or engagement with the rush of a shifting world of halt, the victim of a mass psychosis. The vast majority
endless information—to move still faster, leading of people, their lives uprooted and changed by the
to greater levels of technoshock (below) in society. advancements, sat passively waiting for their leaders
to tell them what to do next. Megacorporations
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• CHOOH2 developed by Biotechnica. • The remainder of the Gang of Four is swept away
on a wave of reform. Elections resume, although
• First TRC biologic interface chips developed in
heavily influenced by the Megacorporations.
Munich, United Germany.
• World Stock Market Crash of '94. The U.S. is ▶ 2004 ◀
caught manipulating European and American • First Corporate War (2004 to 2006). Commando
stock markets; a worldwide financial meltdown raids and cyberspace attacks between EBM and
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results from the news being made public. Orbital Air introduce the world to the age of direct
Corporate warfare.
▶ 1996 ◀
• The Collapse of the United States. Weakened by ▶ 2005 to 2007 ◀
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losses in the World Stock Crash, overwhelmed • Cybermodem invented.
by unemployment, homelessness, and corruption,
many local governments collapse or go bankrupt. • Braindance developed at UC Santa Cruz.
The U.S. government, snarled in a staggering
deficit and the machinations of the Gang of Four, ▶ 2008 ◀
is totally ineffective. • Second Corporate War (2008 to 2010). SovOil
• Nomad Riots. By now, 1 in 4 Americans are and Petrochem fail to negotiate with each other
homeless. Hundreds of thousands riot for living over newly discovered oil fields in the South China
space throughout the United States, Nomad
packs spring up on the west coast and spread
rapidly through the nation.
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Even cynical observers are shocked at the level
of violence.
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• U.S. Constitution suspended. Martial law established. ▶ 2013 ◀
▶ 1997 to 1999 ◀ • April 13, 2013. Johnny Silverhand concert spirals
into a riot in Night City. The rioters kill 18, wound
• 'Rockerboy' Manson killed in England. A leg- 51. Old Arasaka complex gutted.
endary force in the "populist rock" movement,
his stage name was adopted as the term for any • Soulkiller virus developed. Originally designed by
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musician or other artist who took up the gauntlet programmer Altiera Cunningham of ITS as a way to
for political change. implant recorded personalities into cloned bodies.
The transfer technology is a failure, but Arasaka
▶ 2000 ◀ spies learn of its existence and kidnap Cunningham
• First "extended family" poser gangs established. in order to have her develop it into a weapon.
• Wasting Plague hits United States & Europe, • First true Artificial Intelligence developed at
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▶ 2001 ◀ ▶ 2014 ◀
• The framework of the NET put firmly in place with • Ihara-Grubb (I-G) transformations redesign the
construction of the WorldSat network. NET. During this time, renegade Netrunner Rache
Bartmoss plants the DataKrash virus into the archi-
▶ 2003 ◀ tecture of the NET.
• Second Central American War. U.S. invades
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela. The War
▶ 2016 ◀
is a disaster that costs many American lives and • Third Corporate War (2016). Unknown cyber
leaves thousands of troops to struggle home on terrorists attack the networks of Corporations
their own. worldwide, causing billions of eb worth of losses.
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▶ 2021 ◀ ▶ 2025 ◀
• Euro Aquacorp CINO attempts to acquire bank- • End of the 4th Corp War. This includes a three-
rupt Aquacorp IHAG. Rival Aquacorp OTEC year wrap-up as pockets of fighting are quelled
attempts to act as "white knight" in the hostile by Militech and national armies. While there is
takeover. As both Corps line up allies, a danger- only one nuke dropped during the war, the world's
ous war both on and below the sea begins. infrastructure is severely impacted, although not
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destroyed.
▶ 2022 ◀
• NET is officially down. Alt Cunningham estab-
• Covert operations expand as Arasaka Security
lishes the Ghost World in the ruins of a bio-de-
and Militech spar to see who will control the
stroyed city.
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outcome of the CINO/OTEC War.
• Japanese government almost breaks down. By
• Rache Bartmoss, Netrunner supreme, is killed in
repudiating Arasaka, national face is saved.
a Corporate raid. Two weeks later, the dead man
switch for his DataKrash virus activates.
▶ 2026 to 2030 ◀
• 4th Corporate War. Covert operations explode • The Diaspora begins. Groups displaced from
into a shooting war as Arasaka and Militech move wrecked cities now set out to Reclaim nearby
front line troops into battle. The ensuing conflict cities abandoned since the Collapse of the 1990s.
involves operations all over the globe, with heavy
combat in major cities worldwide.
• DataKrash virus now infests 78.2% of the NET.
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Saburo Arasaka sets out to create a secure data-
• There is massive looting of old tech and aban-
doned storehouses. Only scattered Corps are still
functioning.
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base of uninfected knowledge in the new Arasaka • The remaining United States is now a functional
Towers facility in Night City. dictatorship under President Elizabeth Kress' State
of Emergency.
▶ 2023 ◀
• Total breakdown of international trade. Container ▶ 2030 to 2035 ◀
ship and air travel have been totally disrupted. • Resettlement of Suburban Night City. In time,
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Supplies and food sit on the docks worldwide, Night City Central will be rebuilt, but for now, the
unable to reach stores, factories, or suppliers. foothills and the small cities around Night City are
Many Megacorps totally collapse. overpacked with refugees fleeing the radioactive
ruins of the Corporate Zone.
• August 20th, 2023: Night City holocaust. An
incursion team led by Solo Morgan Blackhand • Reestablishing of Nomad High Roads. Nomads
and Rockerboy Johnny Silverhand attempt to now operate ports, container ships. Corporations
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steal/destroy the Arasaka Secure Database in are now mostly local, but as Nomads establish
the Arasaka Towers facility. During the assault, trade routes, Corps branch out regionally.
an area denial nuclear device is detonated, which
destroys most of central Night City. Over half a • Start of CitiNets, local VPNs established in some
million people are killed. Militech is nationalized of the Reclaimed Cities.
by U.S. President Elizabeth Kress. • Start of Night City Reconstruction. Gigatons of fill
• Beginning of the Time of the Red. Atmospheric are shifted from the radioactive ruins of the central
particles from the nuclear blast in Night City, City. Much of the old Bay is filled in.
as well as debris from orbital rock strikes, con-
ventional explosives, and the wartime burning ▶ 2035 to 2045 ◀
and annihilation of cities and agricultural areas • First Wave Cities start Reclamation under
creates an eerie red pall over skies worldwide. support from local governments and remaining
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Megacorps. These First Wave Cities are ones Night City is still an armed society under a blanket
that require only a limited amount of resources of appalling poverty, violence, and inequity. It's not
to rebuild. uncommon to see as many guns as briefcases on
the crowded City streets; and while the worst days
• Rebuilding of old factories by Corporations and
of chaos may be over, the danger still remains—soci-
other individuals begins to replace lost tech. New
ety's rule collapsed before and may yet do so again.
Corps start to rise from the wreckage of the 4th
History can repeat itself, and there's always another
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Corp War.
gang just around the corner, waiting for its chance to
• Netwatch attempts to clear out the R.A.B.I.D.S. come out on top, no matter what the cost. This was the
and reestablish the Old NET. After a losing three- bitter lesson America was learning at the end of the
year battle, they give up. 20th century.
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• Establishment of first Data Pools, information Today, services are spotty, the law is chancy, and
servers and exchange systems designed for open you can't run the NET to the edge of space anymore,
use within the limits of a city. much less grab an Orbital Air luxury flight up to the
• Rise of the first Mega Buildings to handle home- Crystal Palace. But in general, things still work in Night
less population. These are "all-in-one" arcologies City. You may not be able to get the latest digital
designed to rapidly create safe, habitable zones. Agent or the best weapons on the market (there's still a
major problem with supply chains that were disrupted
• The Present.
N ight City
▶ 2045 ◀
e by the War), but thanks to the explosion of rooftop
and green-wall gardens, bandit solar collectors, and
refabbed hardware from your friendly neighborhood
Tech, you're actually eating better (when you eat),
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n i g h t c i t y n i g h t c i t y have access to more reliable power and gear, and
can even count on the local Fixer setting you up with
Night City is located near the junction of Northern new drugs and new cyberware right off the Streets.
and Southern California and serves as the default
setting for Cyberpunk RED. It's not the Golden Age of the 2020s, choomba. But
The Street still works.
Night City was founded rather recently as cities go.
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Before 1994, the area was just a clutter of small towns Night City Breakdown
and unincorporated sprawl. During the Collapse, an
enterprising land developer named Richard Night In the process of rebuilding, Night City in 2045 is a
bought up much of the land and began work on what constantly changing labyrinth of ruins and construc-
he envisioned as a new, safe, and clean corporate tion. In general, the city can be broken down into the
city free of crime and urban blight. Unfortunately, following districts.
Richard Night was shortly thereafter assassinated and
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The Glen: A burgeoning new district which contains Heywood: A truly overpacked sector of the City,
most of the important governmental buildings of housing a large percentage of the City's population
Night City. and already starting to divide based on wealth and
power—The rich in the north, the poor in the south
Little Europe: A divided district composed of tightly
(who call the area Santo Domingo instead).
knit neighborhoods made up of old brick buildings
and tall skyscrapers alike. Heywood Industrial Zone: The largest industrial
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zone in the City, overflowing with warehouses,
NorCal Military Base: A heavily fortified military
construction equipment, factories, and even some
base north of Night City, staffed primarily by Militech
derelict cargo ships.
soldiers. Mostly shut off from the rest of the City.
New Westbrook: An urban sprawl built in the
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Pacifica Playground: A largely Corporate spon-
remains of the original Executive Zone, still gleam-
sored district built around the Playland by the Sea
ing with glitz and glam, but now packed with home-
amusement park, which is in the midst of massive
less citizens who either fled other areas of Night
development.
City because of the War or who were pushed out
Upper Marina: A bustling urban district with a mix of more recently by the ongoing gentrification of the
old industrial zones and gentrified "International" style Rebuilding Urban Center.
neighborhoods built around a well-maintained marina.
Rancho Coronado: A vast stretch of old Beaverville
University District: A slim district on the edge of style housing, taken over by tent cities and industrial
functioning university.
Watson Development: A developing district
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the Combat Zones which houses the city's only still zones that have grown out of the corpses of previ-
ous mini-malls.
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where megabuildings and arcologies are being
built to house the thousands of homeless from the
War. Much of Night City's Asian population has
moved to the Watson neighborhood colloquially
known as Kabuki.
The Executive Zone: A new Zone with only one
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engineering.
Ziggurat: The backbone of modern communications
Continental Brands: A food production company
and data.
and owner of The Oasis chain of markets. They
violently oppose any competition. Gangs of Night City
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Danger Gal: A private investigation service with a Night City is home to a number of different gangs, all
J-Pop flair. vying for power and territory. Here’s just a few.
Militech: An American Megacorp specializing in 6th Street: A vigilante gang born from veterans of
These aren’t
even all the arms, military equipment, and mercenaries. The the 4th Corporate War.
gangs of Night
City. Find
Corporate arm of the American military.
more in the The Bozos: A pack of lethal and sadistic pranksters
Cyberpunk RED Network 54: The largest media Corp in the world. who have biosculpted themselves to look like
Core Book.
BY MAKSYM HARAHULIN
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