Fantasy Flight Games

Available Now – February 7

Published 7 February 2019 | The Lord of the Rings LCG

Available Now – February 7

New Products from the Android Universe and The Lord of the Rings Are Available Now

Take a look at the latest products from Fantasy Flight Games, now available at your local retailer or online through our webstore!

Shadow of the Beanstalk

In the not so-distant future, humanity has spread out across the solar system, unlocked the frontiers of cyberspace, and created millions of intelligent androids in its own image. At the heart of this progress stands a ladder leading to the riches of the stars—the massive space elevator called the Beanstalk. And at its base sprawls the biggest, meanest, and most exciting city on Earth: New Angeles.

You can explore this world with Shadow of the Beanstalk, an Android sourcebook for the Genesys Roleplaying System!

Take on the roles of cops, con artists, roughnecks, and escaped androids trapped between greedy corporations, corrupt officials, and vicious street gangs. Outwit your foes, uncover their conspiracies, flee their retribution, and maybe you’ll survive. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even get rich...

Shadow of the Beanstalk is a 256-page sourcebook for use with the Genesys Roleplaying System. In this book, you’ll find new rules for character creation, new weapons, equipment, and adversaries, new rules for running the Net, information on the Android universe, and advice for Game Masters running a campaign in the cyberpunk future of Android. All of this is accompanied by beautiful art and elegant mechanics that can be used in any setting for Genesys Roleplaying!

Pick up your copy of Shadow of the Beanstalk (GNS04) at your local retailer or online through our website here!

Citizens of New Angeles Adversary Deck

Enter the greatest city on Earth with the Citizens of New Angeles Adversary Deck for Shadow of the Beanstalk!

The Citizens of New Angeles Adversary Deck features twenty cards representing powerful adversaries from the Android universe for use in the Genesys Roleplaying System. These cards feature vital stats for these adversaries, giving Game Masters all the tools they need to keep the game running while introducing new NPCs into your adventure!

The Citizens of New Angeles Adversary Deck features characters from all walks of life in the city of New Angeles, from seedy club owners to corporate sysops to grizzled detectives. These characters all call New Angeles their home, and with the Citizens of New Angeles Adversary Deck, they can be right at your fingertips!

Pick up your copy of the Citizens of New Angeles Adversary Deck (uGNS08) from your local retailer or online through our website here!

Androids, Drones, and Synthetics Adversary Deck

Access a world beyond humanity with the Androids, Drones, and Synthetics Adversary Deck for Shadow of the Beanstalk!

The Androids, Drones, and Synthetics Adversary Deck features twenty cards representing powerful adversaries from the Android universe for use in the Genesys Roleplaying System. These cards feature vital stats for these adversaries, giving Game Masters all the tools they need to keep the game running while introducing new NPCs into your adventure!

The Androids, Drones, and Synthetics Adversary Deck explores new life in the world of Android. From the bioroids of Haas-Bioroid to the clones of Jinteki, populating your world with these characters will make it feel like the not-so-distant future, and this adversary deck keeps them right at your fingertips!

Pick up your copy of the Androids, Drones, and Synthetics Adversary Deck (uGNS07) from your local retailer or our website here!

Runners, Mercs, and Criminals Adversary Deck

Dive into the underworld with the Runners, Mercs, and Criminals Adversary Deck for Shadow of the Beanstalk!

The Runners, Mercs, and Criminals Adversary Deck features twenty cards representing powerful adversaries from the Android universe for use in the Genesys Roleplaying System. These cards feature vital stats for these adversaries, giving Game Masters all the tools they need to keep the game running while introducing new NPCs into your adventure!

The Runners, Mercs, and Criminals Adversary Deck features some of the most famous faces in the Android universe. From clone detective Caprice Nisei, to NBN executive Jackson Howard, to rogue runner Reina Roja, if you want to include individuals who have made their mark in the Android universe in your games, this is the Adversary Deck for you. While some of these adversaries are featured in Shadow of the Beanstalk, others are profiled for the very first time in this deck!

Pick up your copy of the Runners, Mercs, and Criminals Adversary Deck (uGNS09) from your local retailer or our website here!

Undercity

Javier Zamora used to be a real journalist, with all the perks of working for NBN. Now, he vids scandalous, fringe, and downright disgusting content for a less mainstream corner of the Net. His stories draw an audience, at least enough of one to fund his life in the undercity. Or they used to, anyway.

When Zamora stumbles on evidence of a serial killer stalking the undercity, he thinks it might be his ticket back to journalistic respect—or at least a steady revenue stream. But as the investigation draws him into a sordid world of underground cage fights and blackmail scams, the notorious Los Scorpiones gang warns him to drop the story.

Faced with the choice between abandoning the story of his career or antagonizing a dangerous criminal cartel, Zamora must tread carefully if he wants to keep his creds, his life, and maybe even his integrity.

Walk into the deepest parts of New Angeles with Undercity: A Javier Zamora Novella by Richard Lee Byers! This page-turning adventure explores the dark center of the Android universe, as Javier Zamora risks life and limb to find the perfect story!

Pick up your copy of Undercity (NAD10) from your local retailer or online through our website here!

The Ghost of Framsburg

The Ghost of Framsburg is the fourth Adventure Pack in the Ered Mithrin cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game.

In an attempt to slay the Dragon Dagnir, you have set off for the cursed city of Framsburg in search of a weapon capable of felling the beast. It is said that the legendary blade Wormsbane, sword of Fram son of Frumgar, lies here entombed with its master. But the city will not offer up its treasures easily. Foul beasts prowl the city's ancient keep and disturbing those long past is sure to draw their ire. You would do well to discover Fram's sword and escape quickly, lest you lose yourself in the darkness of this place forever.

Among The Ghost of Framsburg's sixty cards, you'll find a new Spirit hero, as well as a new Song and Weapon that will boost any of your Warrior characters.

Pick up your copy of The Ghost of Frambsburg (MEC69) from your local retailer or our website here!

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The Lord of the Rings and the characters, events, items and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Middle-earth Enterprises, LLC and are used under license by Fantasy Flight Games.

Enter the Undercity

Published 2 October 2018 | Android Fiction

Enter the Undercity

Announcing a New Novella Set in the Android Universe

"My sources say the police have found corpses in back streets and alleys cut up Jack the Ripper-style. If that’s true the press has a right—make that a duty—to inform the people.”
–Javier Zamora, Undercity

Order your own copy of Undercity at your local retailer or online through our website today!

The world changed. Crime did not. While humanity has achieved amazing feats in the distant future of the Android universe, like an elevator stretching to the moon itself, there’s still a dark undercurrent to the world’s soul. Gangs run rampant, megacorporations skirt the law for a profit, and deep in the heart of the New Angeles undercity, evidence of a serial killer starts to mount. It will take the right kind of reporter to expose the dark corners of this city and shine a light on these mysterious killings.

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce Undercity by Richard Lee Byers, a new novella set in the Android universe!

Undercity features a full 96-page story centered on Javier Zamora, a 16-page color insert detailing the treacherous Los Scorpiones gang, and exclusive content for Shadow of the Beanstalk, an Android sourcebook for the Genesys roleplaying system!

A Labyrinth of Lies

Undercity is the newest novella set in the Android universe and explores the dangerous New Angeles undercity through the eyes of reporter Javier Zamora.

Javier Zamora used to be a real journalist, with all the perks of working for NBN. Now, he vids scandalous, fringe, and downright disgusting content for a less mainstream corner of the Net. His stories draw an audience, enough to fund his life in the undercity. Or they used to, anyway.

When Zamora stumbles on evidence of a serial killer stalking the undercity, he thinks it might be his ticket back to journalistic respect, or at least a steady revenue stream. But as the investigation draws him into a sordid world of underground cage fights and blackmail scams, the notorious Los Scorpiones gang warns him to drop the story.

Launching alongside Undercity is Shadow of the Beanstalk, an Android sourcebook for the Genesys roleplaying system. After you've finished the story, Undercity's full-color insert invites you to sprinkle elements of the novella into your Shadow of the Beanstalk campaigns with two new adversaries, two new weapons, and two new pieces of gear related to the deadly Los Scorpiones gang. These elements are fully compatible with any campaign using the Genesys roleplaying system, but slot perfectly into an Android focused adventure.

A New World

The Android universe invites you to view a dystopian future, where megacorporations run the world and everyone else just tries to scrape by in an ever-expanding urban sprawl. The undercity is the perfect hunting ground for a serial killer; can Javier expose the story with his life intact? Find out in this page-turning neo-noir adventure!

Return to the Android universe with Undercity (NAD10), available now for pre-order from your local retailer or our website!

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Jinteki's Dirty Secrets Exposed?

Published 12 January 2017 | Android Fiction

Jinteki's Dirty Secrets Exposed?

Lisa Farrell's Exodus Is Now Available in Digital Format

…the door at the far end of the walkway opened again, and a Tenma clone dressed in a blue courier jumpsuit and carrying a large package stepped out. Miranda eyed the package. If it was a gift for her, the presentation was inexcusable.
“There’s been a change of plan,” the Tenma said loudly, addressing the other clones. “Ms. Rhapsody is coming with me.”

Brace yourself for an adrenaline-laced, high-speed chase through the streets, skyways, and underways of New Angeles. Exodus is now available in digital format.

Written by Lisa Farrell, Exodus follows the story of Ken "Express" Tenma as he races toward the Colombian border, trying to stay one step ahead of the NAPD, in order to deliver a stolen package.

However, this job isn't your standard snatch and deliver. This is high-stakes clone smuggling, and it all starts to fall apart when Express realizes his package is the worlds-famous sensie star Miranda Rhapsody. And she doesn't even know she's a clone.

Filled with riveting action and closer looks at such popular characters as Express, Miranda Rhapsody, and Caprice Nisei, Exodus is a fast-paced page-turner that's sure to delight with its unique take on clones, cybercrime, black-market trade, and mysterious assassins. It will particularly delight (or frustrate) fans of the megacorp Jinteki Biotech as it explores some of the dirtiest secrets of the clone trade, including large-scale deception and the clone black market.

Take a peek at the not-too-distant future. Pick up your copy of Exodus today!

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Go Off Grid

Published 14 December 2016 | Android Fiction

Go Off Grid

The Limited Edition of Exodus Is Now Available

…Every camdrone would be tracking him now, all cops alerted to a rogue Tenma, and Jinteki too, most likely. This sort of attention could get him killed, never mind what would happen to Randi.

It's time to go off grid with Ken "Express" Tenma and Miranda Rhapsody. The limited edition hardcover version of Exodus is now available from our webstore!

He was growing beyond the Tenma specs, as Li11ith had always said he would. He couldn’t afford to get caught now.
He looked over to the sleeping celeb. The sooner he got rid of her the better, but she wasn’t ready. He would have to be thorough and employ the doctor’s services, and fast.

Written by Lisa Farrell, Exodus puts the pedal to the metal as it follows Express and Miranda along high-speed chases, through the darkest corners of New Angeles, among encounters with shadowy assassins, and into the seedy underbelly of the clone black market.

Of course, disappearing with the world's most recognizable celebrity isn't an easy task, so how does a runner like Express even attempt it? Is it even possible, or is he just buying time to work on his back-up plan? What's more, who wants to pay him for getting Miranda out of New Angeles, and why?

Hop aboard your Qianju 7000 and feel your engine roar. You'll race from one point of intrigue to another, swerving around plot turns, and past scenes that follow the NAPD and Caprice Nisei's pursuit of the fugitives. Throughout the entirety of the story, you'll get a better sense of street-level New Angeles, the runner's lifestyle, how the world views clones, and how the clones view themselves.

After you've finished the novella and caught your breath, there's still more to the limited edition hardbound version of Exodus.

A sixteen-page, full-color insert, written in the style of The Worlds of Android, introduces a wealth of new setting details to expand your appreciation of the Android universe, its games, and its stories:

He blasted under the building and through the old, unused parking lots, gaining speed. Debris littered the ground, but the Qianju sailed over it all, sending the trash spinning. They shot out into the open and climbed to reach daylight. The sky was clear, sunlight cutting through the smog.

Miranda Rhapsody
Riding the Skylanes
The Qianju 7000
Black-Market Clones
The Invisible Clone Trade

Until our media catch up to the sensies of the Android universe, there's no better way to immerse yourself in the Android universe than with one of our Android novellas. So head to our webstore now to order your copy of Exodus. Then hold on tight… You're about to hit the ground running!

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What Is Human?

Published 12 December 2016 | Android Fiction

What Is Human?

An Interview with Exodus Author Lisa Farrell

The third Android novella, Exodus, is a rocket-fueled sprint through the darkest streets of New Angeles. Its 96 pages race after rogue clone-turned-runner Ken "Express" Tenma as he attempts to complete the delivery of a top-secret "package." The problem is that this "package" isn't easily tucked into a box and smuggled out of the city; it's actually Miranda Rhapsody, the world's most recognizable celebrity—and she doesn't exactly want to disappear.

…the door at the far end of the walkway opened again, and a Tenma clone dressed in a blue courier jumpsuit and carrying a large package stepped out. Miranda eyed the package. If it was a gift for her, the presentation was inexcusable.
“There’s been a change of plan,” the Tenma said loudly, addressing the other clones. “Ms. Rhapsody is coming with me.”

Of course, there are surprises in store for Miranda Rhapsody as well, and they quickly turn her world upside down. Toppled from her lofty perch atop the world—rich, beautiful, talented, famous, adored, envied, and worshipped—Miranda finds herself abducted, yanked off the grid, and pursued by both the NAPD and a nameless assassin.

Worst of all, her best hope for survival may be to cooperate with her abductor and his plan to smuggle her out of New Angeles and away from everything she has ever known and loved. This is because she's not even human—at least not as Express sees it. She's a clone, he tells her, and Jinteki wants her "recycled."

Even as it zooms from action to action—and from page to page—Exodus deals prominently with Jinteki and its clones, asking us just precisely what it means to be human. Are we prisoners to our internal hardwiring? How vital are our aspirations? Are we only people if society sees us as people? Who are we if our memories are false?

How do we get to questions such as these in a slender volume of just 96 pages that is simultaneously loaded with drugs, thugs, and escape plans? To find out, we decided to ask Exodus author Lisa Farrell.

//Interview with Lisa Farrell

FFG: Exodus centers around Ken “Express” Tenma, Miranda Rhapsody, and their attempt to escape New Angeles. Can you tell us what it was that drew you to these characters?

LF: I have always been drawn to the clones in the Android universe. Caprice Nisei is a great character, Jinteki designed her to be different. Express drew me because he’s a clone who decided to make himself different. So how did a clone designed to be subservient and excel at just one thing become this slick-looking runner with a red jacket and crazy hair? I felt like we’d only been given a glimpse into his life, and I wanted to know what it was like for him in-between being a slave and an expert runner.

How did he recreate himself? I figured it would have been a lot easier for him to change his appearance than overcome the nature Jinteki created—the personality they gave him. That got me thinking about the connection between the two: does donning that jacket remind him of how he stands apart from other Tenma clones? Does he need that reminder?

…She threw her arms up to the sky. The sun rose behind her as she sang the final verse atop the pyramid of clone backup dancers, her body shone gold, and she was goddess of the dawn. The Rutherford District stretched out beneath her—the most important place in the solar system, and she was at its center…

Miranda… well, that's a different story. She was a character I chose as a foil for Express, but she is so strong—and her troubles are so unique among the Android clones—that she soon demanded a fair portion of the novella for herself. She takes "manufactured celebrity" to a whole new level.

FFG: Clones feature prominently in the story. In fact, they’re represented on all the different sides of your plot, with Express, Caprice Nisei, and Jinteki all getting involved. You mentioned in our earlier conversations that you wanted to look at what it meant to be human, so I’m curious if exploring that question through the use of clones led you anywhere that you might not have gone—in terms of any insights you gained—had you just been writing about humans or even genetically modified humans or cyborgs?

LF: I hate to say it, but I can see a not-so-distant future where the powers that be would prescribe certain qualities in any new citizen. Why not? If you could isolate a gene that predisposes someone toward criminal behavior—and you could eradicate it without killing anyone—would you do it?

The clones in the Android universe are designer humanoids, individuals made to fill particular roles and places in society that no one else wants to fill. This takes things to a whole new level, beyond that of genetically-modified humans. The very existence of clones raises so many questions. There's the practical features and the emotional draws, and it's up to the reader to decide what is right and wrong.

“What would an android manufacturer want with me?”
“Jinteki…” the Tenma began, then paused. He sat forward, turned to her, still looking into her eyes, as though searching for something. “What do you remember about your parents?” he asked.

In Exodus, I was able to explore this from the point of view of the clones themselves—which is quite different, I think, than dealing with the humans who made them.

One thing that did occur to me while working to make these clones feel like people, rather than just characters on a page, was how difficult their positions are. As humans, we are defined by our memories. Our childhoods shape us. But the clones are denied real childhoods and memories. The designers might give a clone a personality of sorts, but that’s not the same as having memories to draw on.

Ultimately, I’d end up supporting the Liberty Society and say that people are people however they’re made.

FFG: You also told me earlier that you worked on The Worlds of Android. What did you contribute to that book, and how did it help you as you were writing Exodus?

LF: Working on The Worlds of Android was amazing. I completely immersed myself in the setting while working on that, and I guess that's what qualified me to write Exodus in the first place. I wrote a bit about bioroids, but bioroids are tackled so well in The Identity Trilogy—which you should absolutely read if you haven't already—that I wasn't tempted to write a novella about them.

I also contributed some of the fiction in The Worlds of Android, did some work on the Nisei line, and contributed to some stuff about the NAPD that was great fun to write. That book was such a collaboration, though, that I'm not entirely sure where my sections began and ended. So many writers were involved, and all had such enthusiasm for the Android universe. By the time I came to work on Exodus, I felt like I’d already done the research and could just get on with the story.

FFG: You also wrote the insert for the limited edition hardbound copy of Exodus. How do you see that tying into your work with the novella? How do you see it tying in with your work on The Worlds of Android?

LF: The insert is in The Worlds of Android style, and Exodus themed!

I had great fun writing that insert, and doing so reminded me how the novellas aren't just stories; they're adding to the canon, illustrating the themes and details of the Android universe. I particularly enjoyed writing the ad for the new Qianju model.

FFG: A lot of people may come to this book with expectations that Express is going to spend a bunch of his time jacked into the Network hacking, but that wasn’t the path you took. There are signs of virtual activity, but in the periphery—as things that have already happened. Instead, you’re focusing on the consequences of his runs, rather than the process of them. Was this an intentional direction, or was it a decision that evolved as you wrote? What would you say to the members of your potential audience who equate running more or less with being jacked-in?

LF: It might come as a surprise to some, since people know Express primarily as a runner—and especially after all the exciting cyberspace action of Monster Slayer.

It wasn’t intentional, but the cyberspace runs just weren't important enough for Express at this stage. Imagine an early Express, who has started to run, but still finds himself doing most of his work in meatspace, compelled to fulfill jobs that are very similar to those Tenmas are normally assigned. Basically, this is an Express who hasn't finished forging his new, "runner" identity.

There was some cyberspace running in early drafts that had to be cut.

FFG: They didn't fit?

LF: A novella only gives you so much room, and the focus of the drama was in meatspace. Maybe Express will have another story down the line, with more cyberspace action. Who knows? I hope so. He's certainly a character worth seeing again.

Caprice had never visited a recycling facility, and even with the knowledge of the break-in, a part of her wondered if Toshiyuki was luring her there under false pretenses. Most clones ended up in such a facility eventually, some sooner than others, but she had not expected her time to come so soon.

FFG: Exodus also prominently features another fan-favorite character, Caprice Nisei.

LF: Until I wrote Exodus, Caprice was my favorite Android character. She's a psychic clone with conflicting loyalties, and she's a prototype for an entire genotype. She's fascinating, but she had already been well-developed, not least in Strange Flesh. Still, I wanted to write about her, and she has her part to play in Exodus, even if the story doesn’t center on her.

FFG: You’ve mentioned that you're a fan of the Android board game, and that's where you got your first taste of Caprice Nisei. What do you see in the game and character that feel like they belong in the Android setting and only in the Android setting?

LF: Android is an amazing board game because of the way it allows players to live the story, and its fluid narrative certainly pulls me in. As with the whole Android universe, Android seems to have been designed to explore cyberpunk, sci-fi, and noir settings, allowing players to experience these settings on a psychological level—thinking about the world we live in and where we are going.

Similarly, Caprice has that isolated, outsider vibe that I think everyone feels when they really start to look at society as a whole—from the outside. It immediately sets you apart.

FFG: I think it’s fair to say that after having written a novella, sections of the setting book, and more setting details in the Exodus insert, you are a certifiable expert on the Android setting. What would you say is your speciality of expertise?

LF: At the time, I felt like an expert. When I was working on The Worlds of Android, I read everything that had been published, played all the games, and was working with Dan Clark, among others—true Android gurus.

The trouble is that I've gone on to work on other projects since, and the setting has moved on. There's been more trouble on Mars and in New Angeles, and if I was to write for this universe again, I would have a lot of catching up to do! I think it's fantastic, though, that the setting is evolving—that it isn't static.

Speciality-wise? I guess I've focused on the clones rather than the technology, the mysteries in meatspace rather than the cyberspace running, the struggles of individuals rather than society as a whole… These are the aspects of the setting that interest me the most.

The Run Begins

Exodus kicks into high gear as soon as Express and Miranda cross paths, and the blistering speed of the action rarely relents. Still, for all the drugs, combats, high-speed chase scenes, and black market operations we discover in Exodus, there's even more awaiting you when you pick up your limited edition, hardbound version of the book.

Available this Wednesday, the limited edition of Exodus includes a full-color insert of sixteen pages of setting details. As Lisa Farrell mentions in her interview, these pages are written in the same style as The Worlds of Android and themed to supplement your enjoyment of Exodus. You'll find a bio of Miranda Rhapsody alongside information about the skylines of New Angeles, the gearheads who can strip the CFC regulations from their hoppers, and the invisible black market clone trade.

The result is that the limited edition of Exodus isn't just a thrilling read; it's also a wealth of information to help you better enjoy your favorite games in the Android universe.

Look for the limited edition of Exodus to be made available through our website on Wednesday, December 14th!

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Available This Week

Published 17 November 2016 | Android Fiction

Available This Week

New Android Products Available Now!

The products listed below are now available at your local United States retailer and online through our webstore. Pick up your copies today!

Monster Slayer

A veteran of the War, Reina can’t stop fighting. Only now, she’s no longer on Mars, and she’s no longer a soldier. Scarred by her time as an Electronic Warfare Service drone operator, Reina has transformed herself into a notorious cybercriminal, and she’s turned her hatred of the Weyland Consortium into a personal crusade. Her goal? Expose the corp’s machinations and exact vigilante justice.

Written by Android universe co-creator Daniel Lovat Clark, Monster Slayer follows the network deeper into the life and struggles of La Reina Roja, a runner shaped by the War and her desire to expose the Weyland Consortium's darkest activities. The book's multidimensional approach guides readers through the virtual world and the meatspace of New Angeles, offering the most comprehensive exploration of the runner's lifestyle to date.

What good are a console, a couple of contacts, and some military-honed skills against the might of the Weyland Consortium? In addition to its 96 pages of fiction, the hardcover edition of Monster Slayer comes with a sixteen-page full color insert full of setting details pertinent to the story, including backstory on GRNDL, the First Mars Expeditionary Brigade, and the New Angeles underground.

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Checkmate

Published 24 October 2016 | Android Fiction

Checkmate

The Limited Edition Hardcover Version of Monster Slayer Is Now Available

__The chessboard rushed in from nowhere and the darkness of the black zone fell away…

Clear your mind of all preconceptions. Focus on the light ahead of you. The limited edition hardcover version of Monster Slayer is now available, and author Daniel Lovat Clark is going to take you deep into the Network.

"…She advanced a pawn. It was destroyed almost immediately, and a white knight flickered into existence where it had been. Another pawn, another white piece…"

A must-have story for all fans of Reina Roja and the Weyland Consortium, Monster Slayer is a riveting and action-packed take on the classic hero's journey, and it's written by the co-creator of the Android universe. This means that even as it follows Reina's encounters with deadly ice, armed prisec, and other dangers, the 96-page novella offers vivid and authoritative representations of the streets of New Angeles and of Reina's time jacked into the Network.

In addition to its story, the special hardcover version of Monster Slayer offers sixteen exclusive, full-color pages of setting details and background information. These enhance your understanding of the Android universe and supplement your appreciation of Reina's conflicts by taking you deeper inside GRNDL, the First Mars Expeditionary Brigade, and the tensions in New Angeles surrounding the Quito Accord.

//THE WAR CONTINUES

"…In full-immersion, the real world moved slower. The sec team approached as if through tar. The hopper above floated stock-still, a piece of newsrag drifting in its backwash."

When Reina’s efforts lead her deep into some of Weyland’s most heavily secured servers, she discovers that its geothermal fracking initiative, Project Vulcan, is far more dangerous than the public realizes. But then again, so is the Weyland Consortium. As Reina digs deeper and contacts old allies, she learns firsthand just how far the megacorp will go to protect its secrets.

As the stakes grow higher, the body count rises. Can Reina expose the threat posed by Project Vulcan? And, in the end, will her crusade be worth the cost?

Your Brain-Machine Interface

No one knows the Android universe better than Monster Slayer author and Android co-creator Daniel Lovat Clark. And it shows.

Reina spent an entire day finding and fortifying a new base of operations. She settled on a place not far from the Rio Daule, one that overlooked a canal so choked with trash the neighborhood cats walked across it.

Even as Monster Slayer follows Reina's desperate efforts to undermine the Weyland Consortium, it serves as your brain-machine interface, allowing you to plug your consciousness directly into a world of artificially intelligent bioroids, military grade drones, widespread security networks, powerful cybernetics, and virtual realities.

You'll see, hear, and even smell the streets of New Angeles. You'll better understand what it's like to live in the shadows of the megacorps. And you'll gain a new appreciation for Reina Roja's remarkably stylish (and functional) skinsuit.

If you've ever wanted an entry to the Android setting's not-too-distant future, there's no more direct route than Monster Slayer. It's written by the setting's co-creator. It offers a ground-level look at the struggles between runners and corps. And it's available now through our webstore. Order your copy today!

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The War Continues

Published 18 October 2016 | Android Fiction

The War Continues

An Interview with Monster Slayer Author Dan Clark

Fans of the Android universe and its runners, megacorps, and cybercrime are in for a treat next week when the limited edition hardcover version of Monster Slayer becomes available. The second of our Android novellas, Monster Slayer was written by Dan Clark, the setting's co-creator, and it follows the life of one of the Android universe's most popular criminals, the runner who calls herself Reina Roja, the "Red Queen."

As was the case with Leigh Alexander's novella, Monitor, Monster Slayer offers readers a rich and detailed trip into the not-too-distant future. It's a place where a handful of megacorporations control the vast majority of the world's wealth and resources. Clones and artificially intelligent bioroids look and think like humans. And just about everything that happens is recorded somewhere and transferred to the Network of data that spans the solar system.

"…It became harder and harder to identify the enemy as time went on."

The ubiquity of this Network means that, for the megacorps, it is simultaneously a tremendous asset and a unique vulnerability. The corps invest tremendous time and energy into the defense of their information, and they are wary, above all, of those criminals who are capable of jacking into the Network, ripping through their defenses, and stealing their data. Reina Roja is one of these criminals, and in Monster Slayer, we see how she exploits the Network and uses the data she gains to continue her ongoing, personal war with the Weyland Consortium.

Why is Reina at war with the Weyland Consortium? How do you visualize the runner's experience on the Net? And how do you hack into the headspace of an Ecuadorian Martian War veteran who refuses to admit the War has ended? To get these answers—and others—we sat down for an interview with Monster Slayer author Dan Clark.

//Interview with Dan Clark

Fantasy Flight Games: You're the co-creator of the Android universe and, presumably, could have chosen any of its characters to serve as your protagonist. So why did you choose Reina Roja? What drew you to her?

Reina Roja as depicted by Matt Zeilinger.

Dan Clark: I’ve always thought she was cool. She has a great look, she has a dedication and a drive that I admire, and—like her—I’m kind of an Anarch at heart.

But there's a more prosaic side to the story, as well. I literally went around and did a highly-scientific poll of everyone I could find in the FFG offices, asking them which characters from Android they wanted to know more about. Reina tied for first with Noise, so I sat down and wrote pitches for both of them. My editor chose the one that became Monster Slayer.

FFG: Interesting. Other than Reina and Noise, were there other characters who rated highly?

DC: Geist hadn't been introduced yet, but he polled highly. People didn't even know his name, but his art had been featured on the office monitors. People just knew that he looked totally sweet.

I guess what I'm saying is that Matt Zeilinger deserves a lot of the credit for Reina getting her own novella. His character art was so strong that people love her.

FFG: Her chess-themed breaker suite is pretty cool, too. That was Damon Stone's touch, wasn't it?

DC: Yes, I believe so. My pitch was for an Ecuadorian freedom fighter, and Damon added just about everything else that made her who she is.

FFG: The whole idea that Reina sees running as a chess game leads us to our next question. Monster Slayer goes much deeper into the virtual world and the runner's experience of it than either Monitor or Exodus. Why is this the case, and what should readers understand about the nature of the Network when experienced via brain machine interface (BMI)?

The chessboard rushed in from nowhere and the darkness of the black zone fell away. Her red pieces surrounded her, knights and rooks and bishops and pawns. There were no white pieces.
She advanced a pawn. It was destroyed almost immediately, and a white knight flickered into existence where it had been. Another pawn, another white piece. She probed carefully but with an eye on the clock…

DC: At the time we were—and here I have to reach back into my notoriously dusty memory banks, so I might have the sequence a little out of order—in the early stages of the Android world books. We were spending a lot of time internally talking about what the Net looks like and feels like from the point of view of a runner.

So part of what I was doing in Monster Slayer was trying to make running—and the interface with the Network—both make sense and link up with how we'd shown it in the art. What we didn't want was either a 90's movie-hacker "lines of code" look nor an MMO or Matrix-style copy of the real world.

It seemed to me that we'd shown the Net look a lot of different ways in our art, but we also had some "suites" of programs that looked similar. So I riffed on this idea that the Network looks different based on who is looking at it. And what makes runners special is that they can find a way to see the Network that is useful, either on a subconscious or unconscious level, due to their specialized hardware, software, and training.

The "chess piece" suite of programs became Reina's personal "style sheet" that she overlays on the Network when she runs. There's some scenes about this in the book that I had a lot of fun envisioning and writing.

FFG: So, if I entered the Network completely untrained and unprepared, what would I be likely to see? A swirling chaos of lights and colors? Or something more subconscious and menacing or tempting?

DC: Probably the default view that the architect of that piece of the Net wanted you to see. Something tame and consumer-friendly in most cases—and also pretty useless from the point of view of a runner. (Unless your BMI isn't calibrated right, in which case all bets are off!)

FFG: The idea that Damon was responsible for much of Reina's invention is interesting. People always talk about writing what you know. So when you're handed a character devised primarily by someone else—and whose existence differs so much from your own—how did you go about getting yourself into her headspace?

DC: Writing an Android novella is different from writing fiction that is mine alone, even though I'm a co-creator of the setting, because it's a shared universe. I was always going to be touching on things that other people made or did. Most of what has been created for Android has been collaborative, either with or without my input.

So I already had some idea of who Reina was when I sat down to write the pitch, and the more I wrote, the more I explored. Part of that exploration was research. Part was talking to the various collaborators.

…The next file was labeled simply “Project Vulcan Threat Assessment, Feasibility, and Casualty Analysis.”

Ultimately, the fact that the character was co-created and had so much of her concept defined by someone else was less of a challenge than the fact that she's a character who is totally unlike me. I mean, I'm male, I'm white, I speak no Spanish, and I'm terrible at chess.

I don't have any simple answers for how to approach a challenge like writing a character like Reina. It's something writers, actors, and others have been struggling with for as long as we've had literature. I hope I did a decent job.

FFG: As co-creator of the Android universe, what was the most exciting part of getting to continue developing the setting in novella form?

“I heard a story that we used to believe the stars were the souls of the dead. People died and went up into the heavens to be a star.”
“Do you see ten million new stars up there?” she asked.

DC: For me, it's getting to drill down and explore stuff that you never see in a game. I love the normal, boring, slice-of-life stuff in fantastic settings. I want to see what people eat, figure out how they commute to work, how the average person just does average things.

But our games are by definition about exceptional people in exceptional circumstances, so we never point the camera at the ordinary. And in our games, we probably shouldn't; that's not what people are there for, after all.

On the other hand, in the novella, a little bit of ordinary makes the story feel more grounded and the setting more believable, so I get to go there.

FFG: What were some of the things you discovered about Reina Roja as you searched for her "slice of normal?" She is a person, after all, whose life is pretty far from what we'd consider "normal."

DC: Right? She's definitely exceptional. But it turns out that even exceptional people come from something real. She has a dad who loves her, and he's a normal guy. Her relationship is flawed and human. She has a very human tendency toward self-deception. I almost used the word "normal," but I think her personal demons in that arena are all tied up with what makes her exceptional.

FFG: Let's talk about the Weyland Consortium for a moment. You and the other members of the Android story team have gone on record numerous times to point out that the Android universe isn't one where megacorps are evil and runners are heroic, yet Weyland gets a pretty bad rap in the book. Monster Slayer definitely focuses more on the aspects of Weyland that fans might associate with terms like "coverup," "cleaners," "punitive counterstrike," and "scorched earth" than it does on the sort of ingenuity that Jack Weyland demonstrated in developing the Beanstalk and in his pursuit of continued space exploration.

How does this decision line up with what we know about the moral ambiguity of the Android universe?

She returned to her body in pieces, as she’d been trained. First, sound. The buzz and rush of hoppers outside, dulled by the thick concrete of the walls. She heard her own breathing. The drip of water from her makeshift plumbing. Then smell, the echoing damp cave-scent of her temporary home. She smelled a bitter tang of coffee and knew that she’d spent longer than she’d planned on this run. Then touch, her fingers running along the contours of her skinsuit and up to the port at the back of her neck…

DC: Monster Slayer is Reina's story, and it's told from Reina's perspective. To her, GRNDL and Weyland in general are villains. If I'd been writing this story from the point of view of Jack Weyland, it would have looked pretty different. But I wasn't likely to do that because I was raised by hippies in the granola-littered forests of Vermont.

Jack is actually pretty disillusioned with the Consortium right now, too. A Jack Weyland-focused novella might still have the Consortium as villains—it would just be more of a courtroom or boardroom drama with less murder and explosions… Well, there's actually plenty of room for murder and explosions in that story, too.

FFG: What books, authors, and other materials inspired you while you were working on the story?

DC: I pull from all over. Neuromancer and Snow Crash are obvious inspirations, but I also dug back to Beowulf, Camus, and The Stranger. My own life, too, of course—shout out to my dad's boat, which makes a cameo, and Chimborazo on Central Avenue in Minneapolis.

I'd also like to say that Android fans are the best fans—we can't get anything past them. And look for the Princess Space Kitten cameo!

Dig Deeper and Get the Full Story

A little preparation can get you a long way, so it's time to start weighing all the variables. The limited edition hardbound version of Monster Slayer goes on sale next Monday, and if you're serious about rooting through Weyland's servers to get the full story, you'll want to be sure to peruse its sixteen pages of bonus, full-color setting details and backstory.

Although Monster Slayer will be made available as a digital download at a later date, fans who order the limited edition hardbound version will not only receive their copies before the download becomes available but will uncover pieces of information about GRNDL, the First Mars Expeditionary Brigade, and military-grade drones that exist only in analog form.

Care to join Reina Roja on her anti-Weyland crusade? Want to learn more about her time in the Electronic Warfare Service? Curious about the activist groups looking for an early end to the Quito Accord? These things—and more—become available to you when you order your limited edition hardcover copy of Monster Slayer.

Supplies are limited, so mark your calendar. Monster Slayer becomes available through our webstore next Monday!

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Exodus

Published 24 August 2016 | Android Fiction

Exodus

An Android Novella by Lisa Farrell

…the door at the far end of the walkway opened again, and a Tenma clone dressed in a blue courier jumpsuit and carrying a large package stepped out. Miranda eyed the package. If it was a gift for her, the presentation was inexcusable.
“There’s been a change of plan,” the Tenma said loudly, addressing the other clones. “Ms. Rhapsody is coming with me.”

Take the world's most recognizable celebrity. Add a rogue Tenma clone. Season to taste with black market clones, a psi detective, and mysterious assassins… What have you got? A recipe for Exodus, the Android novella by Lisa Farrell that is coming soon to hardcover and digital formats.

…two million credits in escrow was worth the risk. He would do this one last job, and then he could afford to replace any outdated programs in his arsenal, update his console, and take more jobs that could be done solely on the Net.
He was growing beyond the Tenma specs, as Li11ith had always said he would. He couldn’t afford to get caught now.

Set in the not-too-distant future described by The Worlds of Android, Exodus follows the story of Ken "Express" Tenma for 112 pages as he races through New Angeles on the back of his Qianju to deliver a stolen package to the Colombian border.

You might ask yourself, "Isn't it illegal for Jinteki to pass a clone for human?" But you'd want to be careful how far you pursue that question…

Even as Express looks to smuggle Miranda Rhapsody out of New Angeles, others are looking for him. The NAPD wants to question him about the murder of the runner known as Li11ith. And Jinteki can't afford to let Express reveal his discovery; they want to make him—and their problems—disappear forever.

And Miranda? She has to deal with the realiziation that she might not be the woman she thinks she is.

…The world streaked past and Miranda wished she hadn’t taken that stim after all. The Tenma’s driving was illegally fast and incredibly dangerous. Why didn’t he take to the sky?

Written from multiple points of view, Exodus asks us how we define our humanity, even as it carries us along high-speed chases through the skylanes and down into the Colombian underground and its black-market clone trade. We follow detective Caprice Nisei and her pursuit of Li11ith's murderer. We learn more about Jinteki and NBN. And we learn more about the nature of clones, even as we're prompted to ask ourselves what makes clones like Express, Caprice Nisei, and Miranda Rhapsody stand apart from the masses.

__All celebrities are manufactured. Some more than others.

In addition to its high-speed pursuit of Ken "Express" Tenma and his story, the limited edition hardcover version of Exodus features a 15-page full-color insert, full of rich backstory and Android setting details.

How does someone rise above the ceasless media chatter to become a ubiquitous celebrity presence? Just how good is the Qianju PT 7000? What guarantees does Jinteki offer its clone buyers, and how do clones deal with the mental strain of freedom?

By answering these questions and more, the bonus material in the hardcover edition of Exodus adds greater depth and detail to the ever-evolving Android universe, making the book a must-have for every serious fan of The Worlds of Android, the Android universe, and the games set within it.

Exodus is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2016!

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Enjoy the Broadcast

Published 8 August 2016 | Android Fiction

Enjoy the Broadcast

See More of Monitor, Now Available in Limited Edition Hardcover

//PROLOGUE:

It wasn’t that Lana Rael did not know she was always being watched. Even when she could not see the machinelike eyes that nested insidiously inside almost everything she touched, she could feel them watching, and it made the hair stand up on her arms like a chill…

Prepare yourself for the sort of media circus that only the world's largest media megacorp can deliver… The hardcover limited edition of Monitor is now available for early purchase through our webstore!

What does NBN do with the data it collects? How does a person avoid the many camera lenses and other "eyes" scattered about a city like New Angeles? In Monitor, author Leigh Alexander explores these and other questions about culture and technology in the not-too-distant future of the Android universe.

These are topics she has frequently addressed in her work for The Guardian, The Atlantic, Vice, and other journals. In fact, Monitor is in many ways an off-shoot of her interests in the intersections of culture and technology, paired with her love for NBN, the brightly clad Jackson Howard, and the Android universe.

Monitor follows the lives—all too closely—of Lana Rael and two other young, wannabe activists from the moment that they first recover an NBN executive's PAD at a protest, through the pressures thrust upon them as the megacorp learns about their involvement and then follows, records, and broadcasts their every move.

How will these wannabe activists respond? What sacrifices are they willing to make in pursuit of the truth? These are the questions presented to us in the novella that Terminal 7 podcaster Jesse Turner says is full of "great characters and a frightening future that seems barely a brick's throw away from our own."

__Why Go Analog?

While the novella will eventually be made available for digital download, the limited edition hardcover version now available through our webstore also grants you access to fifteen pages of illustrated backstory and setting details—also written by Leigh Alexander.

"Leigh perfectly captures the intersection of surveillance, social media and entertainment that is the dark heart of NBN."
–Nels Anderson, Terminal 7

These offer valuable, exclusive insights into the Android universe that can enhance your appreciation of the novella, as well as the whole of the Android universe and the games set within it. Who is Jackson Howard, and what does he want? What do we know about the disaffected dreamers and dissidents of New Angeles? Where does individual creativity factor into a world driven by endless data? And what happens when the world's greatest marketing agency approaches omniscience?

This fifteen-page insert features vibrant, full-color art and five riveting info-sections:

Dreamers and Dissidents
Content, Consumers, and Credits
The Megabuy Family
Global Adaptive Entertainment Netcasting Solutions
Edutainment and Child Programming

This information is only available in the early release, limited-edition hardcover version of Monitor, which is currently only available through our webstore and won't be available in retail stores until September 8th. Don't miss out on the greatest reveal in the history of NBN. Head to our webstore, and order your copy today!

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Someone Is Always Watching

Published 8 July 2016 | Android Fiction

Someone Is Always Watching

An Interview with Monitor Author Leigh Alexander

Monitor is the first of our new Android novellas, and it follows the lives (oh so very closely) of three wannabe activists who discover an NBN executive's PAD during a protest in Broadcast Square. But their efforts to use the PAD's contents to expose the truth behind NBN's saccharine children's program, Sunshine Junction, leads them squarely into the corporation's all-seeing eye. As camdrones begin to follow them and broadcast their every move, the friends have to ask themselves just how much they’re willing to sacrifice to fight the corps…

Set in the not-too-distant future of the Android setting, Monitor is a gripping tale about the changes that the loss of privacy forces upon its three young protagonists, and it offers fans of the Android universe a unique, deeper look inside the machinery of the information megacorp, NBN. You will witness the machinations of Victoria Jenkins and Jackson Howard and the ways the corp uses its information to influence public perception. And you will find a good number of questions about surveillance, activism, privacy, and the contrivance of intimacy that concern us even now.

“Hi, my friend,” Howard began warmly, tenting his fingers on the projection table as Bex sat down across from him. His grin was like the taste of synthetic sugar.

Of course, this is little surprise to anyone familiar with the writing of author Leigh Alexander whose previous work has appeared in Variety, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Vice, and Time. Her columns regularly explore the intersections of culture and technology, and she has mined the Android universe for such themes during guest appearances on the Terminal 7 podcast.

So how does a veteran journalist like Leigh get interested in the Android universe in the first place? And what aspects of it did she find the most exciting to pursue within her fiction? We ask her these questions and more in today's interview about Monitor and NBN and what happens when there are camdrones following your every move.

//Interview with Leigh Alexander

FFG: What made you want to contribute to the Android universe?

LA: I really worked hard to learn how to play Android: Netrunner. My partner taught me, and it's not the kind of thing I'm naturally good at (some fans of the game might have read our article about learning)—but one of the big things that helped me push past my comfort zone was how engaging the world and the characters are. I'd never seen a take on cyberpunk that had so many diverse, nontraditional elements.

Moreover I was really attracted to the way that everything I did when I played had a narrative analogue that I could imagine. The art is so evocative that I'd get really excited about imagining what the story was behind the moves I was making, and before long I was imagining my own narratives behind the people and places on the cards.

FFG: Monitor offers readers a much more personalized look at NBN's culture and role. What about NBN was most exciting to you?

…Bex saw a girl in a green cotton jacket, probably just about college age, pinned between the transplas and the asphalt as the Sunshine Junction presenters fled for the security vehicle. She paused the frame, summoned it closer to her. There was something vulnerable about the girl’s face, the costume jewelry of earrings and lip rings, the awful, short hairstyle with its bleached ends. Performative coolness; the fear in the girl’s eyes was very real. It was a familiar kind of humanity.

LA: As a writer and journalist I work on the internet—right now I'm writing a regular column in The Guardian about some of the great ethical and social conundrums created by social media—and to me, it always seemed like there was little question of NBN being the most frightening, most powerful corporation.

Of the four big corps, NBN does the best job of smoothly masquerading as something that every person wants, needs, and loves. And that masquerade really manifests itself in the corp's sunny, friendly entertainment-industry aesthetics. I wanted to explore that in particular—the subtle evil of a company that makes kids' toys that know everything about you.

We usually associate cyberpunk settings with a technological "dystopia," full of sinister machine overlords, but I find the hearts, the stars, and the overly-personal "human" tones that some software platforms attempt to take to be a lot creepier. This is happening in our world already; one of my most successful articles from last year was about this!

FFG: You got to put your own spin on some of the major characters inside of NBN. What was that like?

LA: Well, it was totally amazing.

I've been really crazy about Jackson Howard for some time, so the opportunity to build on the lore around him was one of the huge draws of this project for me. Like, who is the smiling guy in the bright suit with the big toy collection who loves to do "Child Programming?" I saw the opportunity to explore some ambiguity there, maybe help the readers and players love the character and wonder about him as much as I do, given how crucial he still is to a lot of decks in Android: Netrunner. I don't really know how to play without him, honestly.

"To me, it always seemed like there was little question of NBN being the most frightening, most powerful corporation."

I'm even more excited about one of the original characters I've created for Monitor. Bex Gleeson is a complicated, ruthless broadcaster, and she's the direct antagonist of the story.

FFG: If you view NBN and Bex Gleeson as antogonists, then who are the protagonists?

LA: Well, of course I came to this from Android: Netrunner, where we think about games as squaring hackers off against corporations, but because I was doing a book about the media and the corporation that controls it, I was more interested in looking at the kinds of people who would be influenced by hacker culture rather than the elite hero-types we'd expect to find at the center.

The main character of the story, Lana, isn't a hacker—she aspires, but she doesn't have the skill. I thought that might create an interesting opportunity to explore what it really takes to go against a corp, what it really costs, and why people are drawn to these types of risks. And I thought it might be more relatable for people. Maybe it's just because I'm not very good at actually playing the game...!

FFG: Was there any aspect of the story that most excited you?

LA: I liked that I had two main characters who were women—yet who were not necessarily heroic, universally admirable women.

I'm really passionate about the conversations we have about bringing more women, people of color, et cetera into game and fantasy spaces, but I sometimes worry about the pressure on characters (or creators) to be a "good representation" of their entire gender or race. People mostly want to write women who are "strong" or "inspiring" or "in charge," but honestly very few people regardless of gender get to feel that way in their lives.

"Of course surveillance is an issue, given that it's an NBN book."

I'm really attracted to the idea that women in fiction should get a chance to be kind of selfish, complicated, and occasionally crummy people. I wrote characters that people might not necessarily "admire," who have some of the same kinds of flaws that I do.

FFG: What can you tell us about the novella's themes?

LA: I think the big one is activism in the media age. There's a difference between being passionate and personal about things (like I often am) and actually being equipped to advance the causes of people in need.

…Don’t leave this room. You can watch the PAD but don’t touch it, don’t touch anything else, for any fragging reason. And stay away from the windows. There are camdrones that come here sometimes.

Somehow, I found that a lot of the economic anxiety faced by the present generation of young adults crept in as well.

Of course surveillance is an issue, given that it's an NBN book. But the way this manifests in Monitor isn't just "being watched by a massive network of cameras," but also in seeing the way other users online can steal your privacy and sense of safety. I think a lot of what is billed as "engagement" online takes the terms of how we interact with others away from us. A lot of public figures and women writers I know would agree with the idea that it can be maybe more scary to be targeted by a mass of random users than by a faceless corporate entity.

But Wait!… There's More!

Act now and you can find an even greater wealth of NBN information in the limited edition hardbound version of Monitor!

Although Monitor will be made available as a digital download, Android fans who order the hardbound copy will not only receive their copies before the download becomes available, but they will also find sixteen pages of bonus, full-color setting details and backstory.

Want to learn more about anarchy and consumerism in New Angeles? Want a more detailed exploration of Jackson Howard's Child Programming? Do you need to know the Android setting's Top 5 Children's Content Streams by Ratings? This information—and more—becomes available to you only when you pick up your hardbound copy of Monitor.

And supplies are limited so you'll want to be sure to mark your calendars. Your can tap NBN's network at Gen Con Indy. Just stop by our booth to pick up your copy. Or if you can't make it to Gen Con, you can order your copy from our webstore, starting on Monday, August 8th!

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Android: Archived Memories

Published 31 May 2016 | Android

Android: Archived Memories

Insights from the Developers of the Android Universe

…Frontal lobe activity at 99.8% accuracy. Temporal lobe activity at 99.9% accuracy. Occipital lobe activity at 99.784% accuracy. Brainmapping complete…

In our Archived Memories series of articles, the developers of the Android universe take us behind the scenes of the not-too-distant future. We may learn how different artists work to bring the Android setting to life, or we may learn how the different games set within the worlds of Android are influenced by its setting.

The influence that the Android universe has upon the games set within it was the subject of our last article, in which we interviewed Lukas Litzsinger, the game designer responsible for updating Richard Garfield's classic Netrunner design to fit the Android universe and Living Card Game® model. It is also the subject again today as we present another closely related interview—this time with the new lead developer on Android: Netrunner, Damon Stone.

Damon Stone

LCG® developer Damon Stone

Damon Stone stepped into the lead developer role with his work on the Flashpoint Cycle, but his roots in Android: Netrunner go much deeper. He has contributed to the development of multiple cycles and draft sets, as well as the stories behind several of the game's most recognizable runners. Moreover, his work in the Android universe extends beyond Android: Netrunner, as he was the lead developer on Android: Mainframe, the free-for-all contest between rival runners.

FFG: You recently took over the role of lead developer on Android: Netrunner from Lukas Litzsinger. Since that time, what percentage of your time on the game would you say is devoted to exploring its themes and stories, rather than focusing on the introduction of new mechanics?

DS: I'd say that it is roughly fifty-fifty. I really try to immerse myself into the setting and spin out ideas of what the Android version of different places or concepts might be and how they would impact society. The specific mechanics for cards frequently suggest themselves from that point.

FFG: Can you share an example?

DS: One example is Palana Foods (Business First, 30). Whenever I explore a new location, or ponder a new question, the research I do starts to inspire cards that fit into what we know a faction needs and may even help suggest new effects that can fit within that faction's domain. As I was doing research for the Mumbad Cycle, I was looking into factory farms, genetically modified food stuffs, and what it would take to feed a world that is struggling with overpopulation. The idea that Jinteki would step in was only natural, and was explored earlier in the novel Strange Flesh.

Also, the idea that not all divisions and subsidies of the corporations are “out to get the small” was something that Lukas and I were very clear on early in the creation of the game and its expansions.

So a Jinteki division that was essentially creating super foods to feed not just the Indian Union, but significant portions of Asia and the Middle East was exactly what was needed, especially when that division was doing the work cleanly and humanely, and without it, untold millions would starve. The question, then, was how to explore that in an identity. And then the answer presented itself: gain a credit the first time each turn that the runner gained a card. It symbolized Palana's ability to make a profit whenever Runners fed their hands to keep themselves healthy.

That idea then led to a few other cards where Palana “fed” the Runner… and, in many cases, overfed the Runner.

FFG: It sounds like Palana Foods started with the theme, but you mentioned that there are plenty of cards that start with a faction's mechanical needs. When a card design starts with such a mechanical need, how do you end up deciding how it should be themed?

DS: Usually it is a case of the mechanics themselves suggesting something. A piece of ice with a specific subtype, belonging to a specific corp, definitely recalls themes that were established early on. Something that provides money or cards or some form of information the Runnner may gain is frequently going to end up as a job or connection resource. But even there, the different Runner factions have certain card types they tend to favor over others, so Shapers may get a program that does something while Anarchs get hardware with a similar type of effect, each distinguished and themed in their own ways.

And, of course, that is where researching into the subject comes in handy. If the cycle takes place in New Angeles, things will be presented differently than if its cards were set in SanSan.

FFG: To that end, how important is the overarching story or setting of a set in terms of the design of an individual card?

DS: I wouldn’t say that any individual card relies on the setting, but it is more like Pointillism: each card helps create an image, donating a bit of color, which when viewed in context with all the other cards gives you the feel of a piece of the Android universe.

FFG: What would you say are the Android stories and themes that interest you the most?

DS: The themes that interest me most are the ones which explore the question of what is human. Is it being made of flesh and blood? Do clones qualify, despite Jinteki’s insistence that they are merely biological machines, consisting of proprietary chains of DNA? Is it our brains? Would that mean that bioroids whose minds are modeled on imprints of human minds then count? Is it how we treat each other? Our instincts for social organization and group defense and labor?

These are the stories that I find compelling, and you can find some thread of those questions at the heart of most of the stories I tell through my Android: Netrunner designs.

FFG: You talk about telling stories through Android: Netrunner. How do you feel you “tell stories” through a card game that’s a collection of different cards that players can use?

DS: Well, obviously, there are the fiction inserts, but there's also the flavor text. Even the art briefs I create for the artists help to create a world which has repeating characters and lots of situations that give small glimpses of a bigger tale.

FFG: Do you have any favorite Android characters?

DS: Victoria Jenkins, Reina Roja, and Nero Severn.

I love the idea that Victoria rose from a small local news program to the heights of running NBN. I love that she is engaged in an internal power struggle with the president of the board, and she runs the multi-planet conglomerate with such style and grace that no one knows that one slip could mean the death of her career… and—because this is Android—it could potentially mean her literal death.

Reina Roja is an elite special ops warrior who realized that the government she pledged herself to defend wasn’t calling the shots, that the Corps were. Now she fights the Corps with the skinsuit and skills the U.S. government gave her—the very same skills the Corps had tried to exploit for their own profit.

And Nero? His story is complicated and hidden in the shadows. That the Indian Union's premiere info-broker has a hidden past, with deep secrets few would ever guess at, just creates such a fascinating character.

All three are layered, flawed characters, struggling to define themselves in a world where you can rewrite your genetic code, but where the human "ties that bind" are every bit as tight as ever. That which does not act as expected, cannot be controlled, and cannot be quantified is seen as a threat. And these three fight against that… while at the same time profiting from it. So much gray…

FFG: Okay, last question. With Android: Mainframe and the Flashpoint Cycle, you’ve taken an interesting step toward unifying the Android universe, using the defining event of one game to spark a revolution in another. Can you offer any hints about how we may see Android: Netrunner drawing from other Android materials in the future?

DS: The Android games really do all take place in the same world. Noise and Caprice first appeared as playable characters in the Android boardgame, and making them both important characters in Android: Netrunner was a great way to show the link between the games. We have both Reina and Victoria appearing in the novellas. You can definitely expect to see other characters from Android: Netrunner make appearances in other Android properties, and those other appearances will help you gain greater insight into their personalities.

The Android universe is an amazingly rich setting, and if you are a fan of it, there are more exciting things just over the horizon, including a new take on the "murder mystery" that was one of the original conceits of the Android boardgame.

FFG: Thanks, Damon! We look forward to it.

What Stories Will You Discover?

Noise, Caprice Nisei, Victoria Jenkins, Reina Roja, Nero Severn, and more—Android: Netrunner and the Android universe are full of rich characters with sophisticated backgrounds and concerns. Do you believe, like Damon, that by bringing them together in your games, you are discovering the untold chapters of their stories? Is part of your appreciation of the game's cyberstruggles rooted in your appreciation of the depth of the setting's themes and moral complexities?

With its new trashable ice and operations, plus its terminal operations and desperate Corps, the upcoming Flashpoint Cycle offers plenty to raise the stakes for all sorts of players, but for those invested in the Android universe and the fates of its characters, you'll find an even richer experience. You'll find yourself back in New Angeles with a chance to lend critical aid to the people you love and support.

When the New Angeles economy plunges into chaos, what will you do?

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Treasures from the Net

Published 27 May 2016 | Android Fiction

Treasures from the Net

Decorate Your Device with Any of Nine Free Android Wallpapers

"PSK’s avatar was a small pink house cat with a ridiculous fish-bowl-like space helmet."
–from Monster Slayer

Catch a glimpse of the future and decorate your desktop with nine free downloadable Android wallpapers.

Sized for your iPad, iPhone, or monitor, these wallpapers feature some of the best and most colorful depictions of the not-too-distant future available anywhere. And there are images to suit nearly every taste.

You'll find a menacing Haas-Bioroid-themed artpiece alongside a colorful rendition of the popular Princess Space Kitten. You can align yourself with the interests of Jinteki, Weyland, or NBN with gorgeous artwork of their most notable work—clones, the Beanstalk, and the satellites that coordinate the Network. And you'll find skulljacks and vibrant renditions of characters interfacing with the virtual world.

Click on the wallpaper above to view it at full size.

The future of the Android universe isn't coming; it's already here. Start your download, and bring the Network to your desktop.

Android Wallpapers

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Android: Archived Memories

Published 23 May 2016 | Android

Android: Archived Memories

Insights from the Developers of the Android Universe

Lately, the Android universe has been enjoying a healthy growth spurt, and over the past several months, fans have been able to see larger and clearer pictures of the setting that first debuted as part of the innovative Android board game:

Android: Netrunner continues to lure players into its Network and adds new richness to SanSan, Mumbad, and the virtual realm as it pits countless Runners and Corps against each other in a never-ending quest for cyber-dominance.
The Worlds of Android lends color your table or bookshelf and serves as your definitive guide to the not-too-distant future.
Our upcoming Android novellas offer a deeper look at several fan-favorite characters and corporations.
And the recent release of Android: Mainframe permits runners with the rare opportunity to ignore the threats posed by sentries, code gates, and other cybersecurity, and instead focus on outmaneuvering each other in a twenty-three-second, no-holds-barred race for cash and glory within the defenseless servers of Titan Transnational Bank.

Through all these books and games, we have streams of data, flowing and pooling together, filling servers upon servers with more information about the Android universe. Accordingly, we like to check in with the developers from time to time to update our feeds and our brainmaps, and to get a better sense of how everything Android all fits together.

These are our Archived Memories articles, and today we get another look at the Android universe from one of the people most responsible for the setting's continued growth and development. Android: Netrunner developer Lukas Litzsinger discusses what the setting and its themes add to your cat-and-mouse cyberstruggles between Corp and Runner.

Lukas Litzsinger

Lukas Litzsinger is the designer and developer responsible for taking the original Netrunner collectible card game and updating it for the Living Card Game® format as Android: Netrunner. He was also the lead developer on the game for its early expansions and, as such, has had a tremendous impact on both the shape of Android: Netrunner and the ongoing evolution of the Android universe.

FFG: Hi Lukas, let’s talk about how the people, companies, and themes of the Android universe have impacted the design of Android: Netrunner. For starters, when you were working on the Core Set and the first cycles of expansions, what sort of adjustments did you have to make to fit the original game and its cards into the Android universe?

LL: The main difference between the original release and the LCG is the introduction of factions. Once we had established factions, I found it relatively straight-forward to assign cards to those factions without making too many changes to them. But the Corp factions, in particular, are integral to the LCG and the direct result of the Android universe. It is impossible to imagine the setting without the rivalry between Haas-Bioroid and Jinteki.

FFG: When did you start exploring more new card designs, and at that point, how much did you draw inspiration for your new designs from the established elements of the Android universe?

LL: I started designing new cards immediately with the Core Set. All of the identities, obviously, were new. But the Core Set and the first cycle had many more “reprints” from the original Netrunner than the later sets. One of the first things I would do in each set was review the original cards that we had not yet reprinted and figure out if we could use them or a revised version of them. As time went on, I would find fewer and fewer, and I think it was around the Lunar Cycle that I stopped looking at the original cards altogether.

It was also around the time of the Lunar Cycle that I began to think of each cycle as more of a physical entity that could represent a time and place in the Android universe. Previously, the game's cycles had identities driven by mechanical goals for the game and for each faction, but I found the complete sets to be much more compelling when we paired the cycle with a theme from the Android source material.

FFG: Can you elaborate a bit on the idea that each cycle was a physical entity that could represent a time and place in the Android universe?

LL: Sure. To a lot of our players, the Android universe is a vehicle for the game. And if you present it to those players piecemeal, on a card-by-card basis, that is all it will ever be. Without playing the board game, or reading the novels, it is hard to get a sense of what is really going on behind the cards other than snippets. By focusing on a specific place, like the Moon, SanSan, or Mumbad, we are able to give players more context about what they are seeing. These places begin to feel more real, because you talk about them more.

In the SanSan Cycle, each district has its own unique identity, and you can explore it one district at a time. The Data Packs become little portals into the universe, almost like different levels in an open-world video game.

FFG: Okay, since you mentioned SanSan, the SanSan Cycle was the first that themed each Data Pack individually, even as it focused on a number of different locations in “meat space.” How was the experience of working on that cycle different than working on the previous cycles?

LL: Very different. Up until that point, cards were not assigned to their individual packs until the end of testing. Basically, we created a 120-card set, then broke it down into six packs of twenty cards each. We would look for balance of theme, mechanics, and power level in each pack. Starting with SanSan, each pack was assigned cards at the very beginning of the design process. This meant that the theme of each pack had to be considered from the very beginning, and that it was harder to adjust the order of a card’s release at the end of the process. But the overall benefits of having a clear theme and sticking to it through a single pack was worth this loss of flexibility.

If we had created the SanSan Cycle as a 120 card block, I guarantee you that it would be incredibly different. Working with our own intellectual property is a double-edged sword. You have incredible creative freedom. This can lead to amazing ideas, but it can just as easily lead to lazy ideas. By focusing on specific districts in SanSan, it required us to get more creative when we wanted to create an effect for a card. The temporary “check-out” policy on London Library (Breaker Bay, 29), for instance, was a direct result of the name of the card.

FFG: How has the growth of Android: Netrunner impacted the development of the Android universe?

LL: The growth of Android: Netrunner has definitely led us to explore the universe in more detail than we ever could have before. Among other things, it led to the formation of the Android story group. The group originally consisted of myself, our fiction editor, the game's art director, and Dan Clark, creative content guru and co-creator of the universe. Our Vice President of Product Development presided over the group. The group’s responsibility was to generate ideas to flesh out more of the Android universe and make sure that we remained internally consistent. Much of the story group's work can be seen in the recently released The Worlds of Android, which is a beautiful 272-page book that goes into great detail about the universe.

FFG: What have you enjoyed the most about working in the Android universe?

LL: We are fast approaching a world where our cars drive themselves, and the things we buy are dropped into our laps via drones. With the advent of an automated workforce, robots and AIs will be a real threat to our economy and livelihoods. But the technology that takes us there will drastically improve the lives of millions at the same time. This dichotomy is really at the heart of the corps in Android: Netrunner, and exploring the moral ambiguity of such a post-human society is fascinating. While it might seem like the future as depicted in the Android universe is far-off, I think it is much closer than many of us realize.

Game designer Lukas Litzsinger

FFG: You’ve recently stepped down from the lead developer role on Android: Netrunner, handing the reins to Damon Stone. Are you still playing any part in the Android universe?

LL: I am still a member of the story team, but after helping out with the Flashpoint Cycle that Damon led, I am now hands-off on the design side. I will always feel a strong connection to the IP and the game, but it is important to make sure that the game evolves.

FFG: Okay, to close... do you have a favorite character from the Android setting, and what makes that character stand out?

LL: I definitely love the enigmatic g00ru. He or she or it is the legendary hacker that is revered almost as a prophet among other runners. How can you separate the human from the myth? One of the conceits of the game is that a single individual can have a large impact on the world around them, and we see the impact of g00ru in all of the runner factions.

FFG: All right, we're done, then. Thanks, Lukas!

Where Do We Go from Here?

Where do Android: Netrunner and the Android universe go from here?

As Lukas steps down from lead development on Android: Netrunner, he passes the opportunity to use the game to explore the Android universe to fellow LCG developer Damon Stone. With his previous work on A Game of Thrones: The Card Game and Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game, Damon has amply demonstrated his ability to blend themes and mechanics, and he's already had a hand in developing a good number of cards for Android: Netrunner, as well as the runner-versus-runner struggles of Android: Mainfame.

In our next Android: Archived Memories, we'll present our interview with Damon Stone and discuss some of what he has in store for Android: Netrunner and the Android universe.

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Tap the Network

Published 16 December 2015 | Android Fiction

Tap the Network

New Fiction Set in the Worlds of Android

Plug into the future. Delve new datamines. Discover countless stories spread across the populated worlds… Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming releases of Monster Slayer and Monitor, the newest additions to its Android Fiction line!

A scarred Mars veteran seeks revenge against the corp she feels exploited her and her fellow soldiers. Three friends take a stand against corporate privacy abuses only to find their every move monitored and broadcast… Both Monster Slayer and Monitor blend fast-paced science-fiction with old-school attention to bookmaking. Set in the not-too-distant future described by The Worlds of Android, each of these highly collectible hardcover books adds to the setting with a sixteen-page, full-color insert that features detailed backstory on its story’s characters, locations, and events.

Both novellas will also be available as digital downloads, but the sixteen bonus pages of setting details and backstory will be exclusive to the hardcover editions.

In the future of the Android setting, the world has changed. We have colonized Luna and Mars. Androids walk among us, looking and thinking like human beings. Human beings wear cybernetics that make them more and more machine. Everything is genetically modified (or so it seems). The saying goes, "If you're not g-modded, your parents weren't trying."

_Do our techological advances actually make life better?

Yet even in this brave new age, as humanity continues to tame the impossible, extending its influence further into space and the future, human behavior remains unchanged. Only the stakes have changed—amplified by our access to the solar system and the network.

After all, everything is on the Network. The latest gossip. Your taste in music. Your consumer profile. Your political tendencies. Dirty corporate secrets. Hidden events, hidden lives, all the things you wondered if they were out there… They're on the Network.

Now, with Monster Slayer and Monitor, you can sift through the Network and access the full scoop on some of the Android setting's most compelling people, corps, and stories.

…With a gesture she brought up the holo-interface and spun through a forest of icons to the GRNDL file.

As the stakes grow higher, the body count rises. Can Reina expose the threat posed by Project Vulcan? And, in the end, will her crusade be worth the cost?

//Written by Android universe co-creator Daniel Lovat Clark, Monster Slayer delves deep into the life and struggles of La Reina Roja, a runner shaped by the War and dedicated to exposing the truth about the Weyland Consortium. The book's multidimensional approach guides readers through the virtual world and the meatspace of New Angeles, offering the most comprehensive exploration of the runner's lifestyle to date.

         “If you’re playing chess with the enemy, what’s the best move?”
                                               “No idea,” he said. “Clearly.”
                           “Draw your sidearm and shoot him in the head.”

Three young Breaker Bay grads dream of making a difference in the world—and becoming Network celebrities—away from the desks of their dreary MegaBuy call center jobs. After they recover an NBN executive’s PAD at a protest in Broadcast Square, it seems Lana Rael and her friends, Johnny and Tim, might finally have their chance to discover the truth behind NBN’s saccharine and explosively popular franchise, Sunshine Junction.

But when the aspiring activists stumble into the corporation’s all seeing eye, they find themselves in the limelight—and not in the way they hoped.

…A good neighbor has nothing to hide.

As camdrones begin to follow them through the megacity and broadcast their every move on live threedee, Lana and her friends will have to ask themselves just how much they’re willing to sacrifice to fight the corps. Is making a difference worth risking their privacy, their lifestyle, or their lives?

//Can three young grads and a stolen PAD subvert the public's acceptance of NBN's popular children's program, Sunshine Junction?

Fans of media giant NBN, its colorful programs, and its high-profile characters gain unparalleled access to the megacorp's HQ in Leigh Alexander's Monitor. As the media-focused megacorp responds to the threat posed by a trio of wannabe activists, we learn more about such popular characters as Jackson Howard, Victoria Jenkins, and Dinosaurus.

Meanwhile, as the protagonists have their privacy stripped away, they lose control of their lives. Their actions become increasingly desperate and surprising. As they look for ways to retaliate, will their lives spiral into total anarchy? Will they regain control of the context that defines them? And who is responsible for their suffering? In Monitor, the truth is malleable, and learning how to shape it is paramount.

In addition to its 96 pages of fiction, the hardcover edition of Monitor comes with a sixteen-page full color insert with setting information on activism in the Android future, NBN's Global Adaptive Entertainment, MegaBuy, and the future of marketing.

According to the program description, he was slated to help the Sunshine Junction Friends teach Dinosaurus about cyberbullying.

More Than Fiction

In addition to their stories, the hardcover versions of Monster Slayer and Monitor both contain sixteen pages of bonus, full-color setting details and backstory.

Set in the same style as The Worlds of Android, these bonus inserts introduce new artwork and in-depth looks at issues that provide context for both the associated story and your future adventures in the Android setting.

Worlds of Infinite Possibilities

The Android universe already stretches from Earth to Mars, and it's growing. The possibilities for Android fiction are infinite, and you can soon take your first steps toward full immersion with Monster Slayer and Monitor. Both novellas are scheduled for release late in the first quarter of 2016!

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Rebel is Now Available

Published 2 January 2014 | Android Fiction

Rebel is Now Available

The Final Installment of the Identity Trilogy is Now On Sale

Rebel is now on sale on our webstore and at your local retailer!

The third novel in The Identity Trilogy , Rebel was written by Mel Odom and is set in the dystopian future universe of Android and Android: Netrunner The Card Game!

What Does It Mean To Be Human?

Rebel is the third and final installment of The Identity Trilogy. In it, Mel Odom concludes his tale of murder, intrigue, and what it means to be human.

Mel Odom is the author of over 140 science fiction and fantasy works, and the bestselling author of Stalker Analog and Lethal Interface. He also penned the Alex Award-winning series The Rover, and has written for numerous tie-in lines such as Forgotten Realms, Hellgate: London, and Shadowrun.

Preview the first chapter of Rebel, then purchase your copy today!

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Strange Memories

Published 4 December 2013 | Android Fiction

Strange Memories

Preview the First Chapter of Android: Rebel

Recently, we announced the upcoming release of Rebel. Rebel is the third and final installment of The Identity Trilogy, a series based in the near-future dystopian world of Android and Android: Netrunner. In it, Mel Odom concludes his tale of murder, intrigue, and what it means to be human. Mel Odom is the author of over 140 science fiction and fantasy works, and the bestselling author of Stalker Analog and Lethal Interface. He also penned the Alex Award-winning series The Rover, and has written for numerous tie-in lines such as Forgotten Realms, Hellgate: London, and Shadowrun. Preview Chapter One

Drake 3GI2RC is wanted for a murder he didn’t commit. Haunted by another man’s memories, the NAPD’s most infamous android cop must quickly uncover the truth of his own past. Unfortunately, his search has taken him from the familiar New Angeles streets to the politically volatile planet Mars. Will Drake find answers before he’s caught in the midst of an interplanetary civil war? Preview the first chapter of Rebel, wherein we find Drake 3GI2RC inside another man's memories. Download the first chapter (pdf, 167 KB). Then, keep checking back for more news about Rebel.

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The Search for Identity Concludes

Published 13 November 2013 | Android Fiction

The Search for Identity Concludes

Announcing the Final Installment in The Identity Trilogy

The Jinteki gel-grenade launcher was designed for mining.

That was how it was going to be implemented in Gullivar colony. At just over a meter in length, the launcher was fourteen centimeters in diameter. The muzzle was square. Ammunition for the launcher resided in two reservoirs at the back of the weapon.

The explosives were a binary formula, not capable of detonation until combined. I took off the safety and the keypad and trigger flipped out for use.

I dialed in a delivery load that would provide maximum concussion without breaching the shuttle’s wall integrity, aligned the sighting mechanism, and squeezed the trigger.

A bright blue amorphous blob of gel-explosive shot from the launcher and streaked across the distance separating Khloe from the advancing craft. Upon impact, the blob spread quickly as I had intended, covering 2.19 nearly square meters with a thin membrane.

I punched the detonator button and the pool of gel-explosive detonated with a harsh flash and no noise. Immediately, the shuttlecraft altered its direction, knocked off-course by the explosion. It slid under Khloe like a rectangular shark.

. . .

Fantasy Flight Games is pleased to announce the upcoming release of Rebel, the third novel in The Identity Trilogy written by Mel Odom and set in the Android universe!

What Does It Mean To Be Human?

Rebel is the third and final installment of The Identity Trilogy, a series based in the near-future dystopian world of Android. In it, Mel Odom concludes his tale of murder, intrigue, and what it means to be human.

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Mimic, Book Two of The Identity Trilogy, Is Now Available

Published 28 December 2012 | Android Fiction

Mimic, Book Two of The Identity Trilogy, Is Now Available

Investigate the World of Android with Detective Drake 3GI2RC

I couldn’t permanently harm the men I was after.

I also couldn’t communicate with them because access to their comm was blocked. I held my left hand high and broadcast an image of my badge with scrolling ID under it, leaving it in place in the air before me and controlled by my onboard PAD as I reached for my airbelt controls.

The men stopped working and pointed at me as I pressed the controls of the airbelt.

The airbelt lifted me from the ground and shot me toward the wreckage. Two of the suspects nearest me pulled laser pistols and took aim. They didn’t use slug-throwers because the resulting recoil would wreak havoc on them in the microgravity. Laser pistols didn’t have a recoil issue.

Mimic, written by Mel Odom and the second novel in The Identity Trilogy, is now on sale at your local bookseller, our webstore, and digitally for your Nook, Kindle, and iOS device!

Detective Drake’s Investigation Continues

In the future, the world has changed, but crime has not. Mimic is set in the gritty, cyber-noir world of Android. The story of New Angeles Detective Drake 3GI2RC continues as he navigates the tangled web of lies and corruption that lie in wait around every corner. Set in the Android universe and following the events of Golem, Mimic continues the story of New Angeles Detective Drake 3GI2RC after he has been reassigned to the moon with a new partner.

Drake is not your average Bioroid. First, he’s one of the New Angeles Police Department’s few android cops, and second, he’s haunted by the memories of another man, Simon Blake. Still struggling with questions about his identity, Drake continues to seek answers about his identity: where does his programming end, and his own personality begin?

For more information on this tale of cyberpunk noir, visit our website for The Identity Trilogy and check out our previews of the first and second chapters. Then head to your local retailer or visit our webstore to pick up or download your copy today!

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Evade Capture with Detective Drake 3GI2RC in Mimic

Published 14 December 2012 | Android Fiction

Evade Capture with Detective Drake 3GI2RC in Mimic

A Second Preview of Book Two of the Identity Trilogy Set in the World of Android

It is the future, and while the world has changed, crime has not. Mimic is the second novel in The Identity Trilogy written by Mel Odom and set in the gritty, cyber-noir world of Android. The story of New Angeles Detective Drake 3GI2RC continues as he navigates the tangled web of lies and corruption that lie in wait around every corner.

Drake is not your average Bioroid. First, he’s one of the New Angeles Police Department’s few android cops, and second, he’s haunted by the memories of another man, Simon Blake. As Drake investigates a very public crime, he must also look inward for answers to questions about his identity. After all, where does his programming end, and his own personality begin?

Escaping a Past Pursuit

When we last left Drake, he was vividly and actively exploring the memories of Simon Blake. While reliving Simon Blake’s memory, Drake found himself on vacation in a tropical locale on a beach with Blake’s wife, Mara. The idyllic vacation quickly took a turn for the worse when a team of kidnappers appeared out of the ocean.

The story unfolds as Drake and Mara try to escape their pursuers and Drake continues to struggle to make sense of his actions within the context of events that have already happened. Download the second chapter (pdf, 266 KB) of Mimic today to begin to unravel the mystery surrounding Simon, Mara, and the Bioroid Drake!

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Fantasy Flight Games

Available Now – February 7

Available Now – February 7

Shadow of the Beanstalk

Citizens of New Angeles Adversary Deck

Androids, Drones, and Synthetics Adversary Deck

Runners, Mercs, and Criminals Adversary Deck

Undercity

The Ghost of Framsburg

Enter the Undercity

Enter the Undercity

A Labyrinth of Lies

A New World

Jinteki's Dirty Secrets Exposed?

Jinteki's Dirty Secrets Exposed?

Go Off Grid

Go Off Grid

…Every camdrone would be tracking him now, all cops alerted to a rogue Tenma, and Jinteki too, most likely. This sort of attention could get him killed, never mind what would happen to Randi.

He was growing beyond the Tenma specs, as Li11ith had always said he would. He couldn’t afford to get caught now. He looked over to the sleeping celeb. The sooner he got rid of her the better, but she wasn’t ready. He would have to be thorough and employ the doctor’s services, and fast.

$(document).ready(function() { var opts = { iframe: true, innerHeight: 570, innerWidth: 550 }; $('#10B94').colorbox(opts); });

He blasted under the building and through the old, unused parking lots, gaining speed. Debris littered the ground, but the Qianju sailed over it all, sending the trash spinning. They shot out into the open and climbed to reach daylight. The sky was clear, sunlight cutting through the smog.

What Is Human?

What Is Human?

//Interview with Lisa Farrell

“What would an android manufacturer want with me?” “Jinteki…” the Tenma began, then paused. He sat forward, turned to her, still looking into her eyes, as though searching for something. “What do you remember about your parents?” he asked.

The Run Begins

Available This Week

Available This Week

Checkmate

Checkmate

__The chessboard rushed in from nowhere and the darkness of the black zone fell away…

"…She advanced a pawn. It was destroyed almost immediately, and a white knight flickered into existence where it had been. Another pawn, another white piece…"

//THE WAR CONTINUES

"…In full-immersion, the real world moved slower. The sec team approached as if through tar. The hopper above floated stock-still, a piece of newsrag drifting in its backwash."

Your Brain-Machine Interface

Reina spent an entire day finding and fortifying a new base of operations. She settled on a place not far from the Rio Daule, one that overlooked a canal so choked with trash the neighborhood cats walked across it.

The War Continues

The War Continues

"…It became harder and harder to identify the enemy as time went on."

//Interview with Dan Clark

…The next file was labeled simply “Project Vulcan Threat Assessment, Feasibility, and Casualty Analysis.”

“I heard a story that we used to believe the stars were the souls of the dead. People died and went up into the heavens to be a star.” “Do you see ten million new stars up there?” she asked.

Dig Deeper and Get the Full Story

Exodus

Exodus

…The world streaked past and Miranda wished she hadn’t taken that stim after all. The Tenma’s driving was illegally fast and incredibly dangerous. Why didn’t he take to the sky?

__All celebrities are manufactured. Some more than others.

Enjoy the Broadcast

Enjoy the Broadcast

//PROLOGUE:

It wasn’t that Lana Rael did not know she was always being watched. Even when she could not see the machinelike eyes that nested insidiously inside almost everything she touched, she could feel them watching, and it made the hair stand up on her arms like a chill…

__Why Go Analog?

"Leigh perfectly captures the intersection of surveillance, social media and entertainment that is the dark heart of NBN." –Nels Anderson, Terminal 7

Someone Is Always Watching

Someone Is Always Watching

“Hi, my friend,” Howard began warmly, tenting his fingers on the projection table as Bex sat down across from him. His grin was like the taste of synthetic sugar.

//Interview with Leigh Alexander

"To me, it always seemed like there was little question of NBN being the most frightening, most powerful corporation."

"Of course surveillance is an issue, given that it's an NBN book."

…Don’t leave this room. You can watch the PAD but don’t touch it, don’t touch anything else, for any fragging reason. And stay away from the windows. There are camdrones that come here sometimes.

But Wait!… There's More!

Android: Archived Memories

Android: Archived Memories

Damon Stone

What Stories Will You Discover?

Treasures from the Net

Treasures from the Net

Android Wallpapers

Android: Archived Memories

Android: Archived Memories

Lukas Litzsinger

Where Do We Go from Here?

Tap the Network

Tap the Network

_Do our techological advances actually make life better?

…With a gesture she brought up the holo-interface and spun through a forest of icons to the GRNDL file.

“If you’re playing chess with the enemy, what’s the best move?” “No idea,” he said. “Clearly.” “Draw your sidearm and shoot him in the head.”

…A good neighbor has nothing to hide.

According to the program description, he was slated to help the Sunshine Junction Friends teach Dinosaurus about cyberbullying.

More Than Fiction

He was growing beyond the Tenma specs, as Li11ith had always said he would. He couldn’t afford to get caught now.
He looked over to the sleeping celeb. The sooner he got rid of her the better, but she wasn’t ready. He would have to be thorough and employ the doctor’s services, and fast.

“What would an android manufacturer want with me?”
“Jinteki…” the Tenma began, then paused. He sat forward, turned to her, still looking into her eyes, as though searching for something. “What do you remember about your parents?” he asked.

“I heard a story that we used to believe the stars were the souls of the dead. People died and went up into the heavens to be a star.”
“Do you see ten million new stars up there?” she asked.

"Leigh perfectly captures the intersection of surveillance, social media and entertainment that is the dark heart of NBN."
–Nels Anderson, Terminal 7

“If you’re playing chess with the enemy, what’s the best move?”
“No idea,” he said. “Clearly.”
“Draw your sidearm and shoot him in the head.”