Even the most die-hard optimist would have to concede that the opening stages of are rather bleak. You take the form of an emulated consciousness known as a ‘sleeper’, an artificial worker created and owned by a vast corporation. You were supposed to spend your days in indentured servitude: instead, you have escaped to a crumbling space station known as Erlin’s Eye. But the corporation won’t let you go that easily. Thanks to a tracker implanted in your body, the corporation is still hunting you – and your obsolescence has been planned for, ensuring your body decays over time. Living out
