"The Firmware” inspired the creation of the tabletop game Cyberpunk Red and the video game Cyberpunk 2077.
Long ago, Earthlings tried to save their planet, but their hopes collapsed when orbital corporations emptied Earth. Now these corporations live in luxury, while ordinary people—like slum girls, mercenaries, and hackers—struggle to survive in ruined cities. Yet some are ready to challenge the corporations and reclaim freedom. Among them are Cowboy, a former cyber-jockey with implants, and Sara, a cybernetic killer trying to secure a better life for her drug-addicted brother. Together, they set off on a risky journey across the American West.
Steward is a Beta clone. He remembers himself as an elite soldier of an orbital company, but because his brain scanning is missing, he has no memories of the last fifteen years. In that time, a lot has changed: a devastating corporate war destroyed his company; his marriages fell apart; comrades died or were maimed on the planet Sheol, where a mysterious alien race arrived, drawn into a complicated conflict.
And someone killed his original—the Alpha.
Steward has kept the skills and reflexes that made him a great soldier. But will they help him unravel the mystery of the past and find the killer of his Alpha?