The Next

A father still prefers the who recruited him. His adult daughter prefers the one who fought beyond Earf. They buy two cans of Quatro and go to the same screening. The new casting display can wait until they come out.

The FP has had roughly a century to a century and a half to make its heroes familiar. JTRO begins with the 248 in green Frazier Park, surrounded by Wastes. keeps Earf alive. Water is toxic. A beat-beat contest settles control over the supply. The later fights reach the Twinkies and the Uni-V. The threats grow. The family has more people to lose sight of.

That world is fictional. Its familiar faces can do real work in the Sprawl.

The candidate at the desk

FP Casting handles likeness arrangements for the recurring roles. AI supplies the acting. A suitor can pay to become the face of and carry the recognition into an election. Another arrangement can support a charity or a war effort.

Nels Taggart's portrayal helped fund and recruit for the struggle against and in the Aftershock Wars. A real war hero supplied the face. A fictional hero supplied generations of recognition. The poster could carry both without making their histories the same.

A suitor and handler face the casting clerk beneath recurring-role candidate displays.
The AI supplies the performance. A public figure supplies the face the audience will remember.

Fans know CHAI-T by what makes her turn back. Her Beatknucks can throw a crowd without touching it; meditation, yoga or a drink restore their force. She watches a fight before moving. When is hurt, she goes to him, and the danger beyond her gaze can reach CHAI-TRO. The next face inherits that protective habit.

A Triumph Creators handler offers a managed creator the next . She asks whether she must learn the fights. AI will do them. The handler keeps the audience curve on the desk. Her daughter asks to see the announcement with her. The handler finds another post for the schedule.

After the screening

Relief Stream carries the next installment into an evening that has already lasted several films. A subscriber can forget which battle he watched and remember the face that asked for his support between them.

A contributor sends Good News the story of supplies bought through a casting-linked charity campaign. The recipients get the supplies. The new appears beside them. The broadcast can give the beneficiary a good evening and the likeness provider a good deed people will remember.

A green Quatro can with an orange band and a silver boot emblem.
Life-sustaining booze on Earf, an ordinary licensed drink at a Sprawl cinema counter.

The AI Slop Cannon has made performances plentiful. A beloved recurring role remains a scarce place to be seen. Value Injection reaches the audience through affection it already has.

The father and daughter leave the film arguing about the same boots under a new sky. Her can is empty. His still has a little left. They know the drink cannot relife anyone. She asks what he thinks of the candidate outside. This time he reads the campaign appeal before answering.