The Dystopia Game

[This work contains the three The Dystopia Game parts, originally released in serialized form.] Distant future. Max Lautaro is a teenage actor in the Emperial Metropolis. It might seem that his life has played out perfectly; he signed a movie contract and has a girlfriend. And that would be true if it weren't for the fact that he is starring in movies where everything happens for real, broadcast live on TV. Like other actors, he is sedated before every scene so that the showrunners can activate an artificial consciousness inside a nanochip implanted in his head. The actors call this consciousness the Movie Character. Once Max is sedated and the role begins, coordinators send orders and impulses to the nanochip, forcing the Character to act out everything that the script demands. Max becomes a puppet on set, never knowing whether the next scene will end with his death, or with him killing someone else. Things take a dark turn when Max and his girlfriend, Lara, are drawn by the ruthless autarch into a dangerous cinematic experiment called the Seven Players series, which will be filmed in the outer mutant-infested wilderness and broadcast live on TV. Death may be lurking at every turn out there. Anyone can die. Even the leading actor... Genres/themes >Previously published as Seven Players.