The human brain is the most advanced computer available. Some of the inputs and outputs have been figured out but most of the inner workings of the organ still remain a mystery…

The City

Technopolis is a vertical city. Everything is painted an oppressive shade of red. Bridges and platforms poke out everywhere, making the city look almost organic, like the veins and arteries of a giant. The sky is overcast with a milky haze. The tall buildings slowly fade to pink and then disappear inside the mist.

After Life

The Grey Tax, is due to be paid after death. For a life of relative ease, without scarcity, one has to give up their brain to the city. The brain of a dead individual is quickly taken out and is put into a silicone tomb that provides it with nutrients and with data to process.

These undead brain-slaves are not as bright as living humans but they are perfect for the repetitive everyday tasks that keep the city running. These brains would probably degrade after 10-20 years.

The Residents

Frail, pale creatures, tall and lean. Their attention-deficit eyes constantly craving for augmented reality. Their atrophied bodies are tucked in restrictive clothes with exoskeletal inlays. Lots of unwieldy headpieces, fused with cranial implants. Tattoos of QR-codes stand in for complex designs that only come to life in Augmented Reality.

Tecnomancers

Technomancers are the masters of melding machines and life together. They form the upper class of Technopolis.

At the top is the Glitch Council. Glitches are what remain of the founders of the city, powerful technomancers, who willingly abandoned life in order to oversee Technopolis. Their nervous systems are completely fused with the vital systems of the city.

Reality

Reality in Technopolis is either augmented or fully virtual. Augmented Reality is reality digested by the brain-slaves and fed back to the brains of the residents. The soothing blue-green of the AR overlay sharply contrasts the bold red of the cityscape.

Virtual Reality is like an addictive spiritworld, generated from the dreams of the deceased. Many spend all their lives in this alternate world, far from the tyranny of the Glitch Council.