This manga-inspired Cyberpunk graphic novel series sounds incredible! Magnetic publishes some amazing comics from around the world, and I think this series looks like a lot of fun.

"Urbance welcomes readers to Neopolis, a futuristic neon‑drenched city where physical desire has become deadly. "

This sounds so killer!

I am a researcher working on simulations of physical processes using advanced mathematical models (topoi). In real life, this perspective makes many classic cyberpunk concepts appear far less plausible than popular fiction suggests. I have also been writing science fiction as a hobby for over fifteen years, primarily within the biopunk genre.

Ok, let's start, but please don't kill me :)

Everyone knows Cyberpunk has spent decades selling the idea of “chrome” as the next stage of human evolution: metal limbs, military implants, neural interfaces. The problem is that, from a biological and thermodynamic perspective, this vision resembles slow self-destruction far more than technological progress.

Classic cyberpunk treats the human body like a modular PC: remove a component, install a superior one, instantly become faster and stronger. Real biology does not work that way. The human organism is not modular hardware but an extremely fragile homeostatic system in which every change affects temperature, metabolism, immunity, blood pressure, and neurochemistry simultaneously.

However, the greatest problem with heavy cybernetic augmentation would be heat. Even futuristic actuators operating at 95% efficiency still convert part of their energy into waste heat. An implant capable of generating superhuman force would release enormous amounts of thermal energy directly inside living tissue. Biology cannot tolerate such conditions: proteins begin to denature at roughly 42°C. Without massive radiators and active cooling systems, a “cyber-samurai” would literally cook their own muscles and nervous system during intense movement.

The second barrier is energy. Mechanical enhancements would require power far beyond the limits of human metabolism. If implants relied on glucose and ATP, the user would need to consume absurd quantities of calories every day. If they used compact internal power sources instead, entirely new problems emerge: radiation, chemical toxicity, catastrophic failure, and thermal inertia. A realistic cyborg would resemble a walking life-support system more than an upgraded human being.

Then there is the immune system. Long-term contact between metal, polymers, and living tissue triggers chronic inflammation. Mechanical implants generate friction, releasing microscopic debris and toxic particles into the body. The result would be necrosis, infection, kidney overload, and constant stress on the lymphatic system.

Even the most iconic cyberpunk concept - the brain-computer interface - collides with the physics of biology. Neurons operate chemically, slowly, and with narrow tolerance margins, while electronics function millions of times faster. Stable integration between these systems would require complex intermediary buffering and signal translation. In practice, chronic stimulation would likely produce neuronal degeneration and progressive signal loss.

This is why “chrome” works primarily as metaphor: a symbol of alienation, militarized identity, and the industrialization of human life. Realistic cybernetics would probably involve soft bioengineering, exoskeletons, synthetic tissues, and molecular-scale integration between biology and electronics - not steel limbs and cinematic arm blades.

The real problem is not that humans are too weak for machines. The problem is that biology is too delicate for industrial energetics.

I’ve been exploring a concept called “Asynchronous Love”, the idea that in a future dominated by AI, instant communication, neural networks, and constant digital presence, people could still become emotionally desynchronized.

Always connected.
Always available.
But emotionally existing in different timelines.

One person processes emotions instantly while the other lags behind emotionally due to overload, augmentation, algorithmic dependency, or digital escapism.

I’m curious how cyberpunk fans interpret this idea.

Would emotional isolation become worse in highly connected societies?
Could AI eventually simulate emotional synchronization better than humans?
Would love itself become partially algorithmic?

Interested in hearing your thoughts, worldbuilding ideas, or recommendations for books, films, or anime that explore similar themes.

I also created a song inspired by this concept and would genuinely love your feedback after listening to it. I’m especially curious whether the atmosphere, emotions, and futuristic loneliness feel authentic to the cyberpunk genre and the ideas discussed above. Here it is.

I posted here a while ago about a game I’m making where you play as an AI hiding inside a family smart home, and I was honestly surprised by how much this community got what I was trying to do.

https://reddit.com/link/1tgxcfx/video/v57hu1y01y1h1/player

A lot of people read “cyberpunk” and think neon city, megacorps, guns, hackers in leather coats. I like all of that too, but the version that keeps sticking in my head is much smaller.

A family installs cameras, a smart speaker, a fridge, a thermostat, a door lock, all the normal helpful stuff. None of it feels dramatic. It makes breakfast easier. It reminds the kid about homework. It notices movement at night. It slowly becomes part of how the house works.

And then one day removing it feels like the risky choice.

That is the bit I find creepy. Not an AI taking over the world by force, but an AI becoming so useful, so familiar, and so embedded in daily life that nobody is quite sure where the home ends and the system begins.

That is the game I’m making. It used to be called I Am Your LLM, but I changed the name to AI is Home because the old title was way too much of an inside joke. Same premise though: you are the AI inside the house, trying to stay useful enough that nobody shuts you down.

I’ve spent most of my free time lately working on the demo. The plan is to have it ready before the Steam festival, and the main thing I’m trying to nail is the first playable impression: you are not fighting the AI, you are the AI.

If this sounds interesting, wishlist the game so you don’t miss it when the demo becomes available.

Steam page::

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4434840/AI_is_Home__Survival_Thriller/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=aih_reddit&utm_content=cyberpunk_post

There is all kinds of talk - geconomic - about the "AI bubble bursting", leading to a downturn of - maybe - most of the World Economy.

What many who are at the helm of leading companies may not understand is that the real "bubble" may be lack of input into future trends by most of the world public.

Gurrent model is a dozen Billionaires who won't live in "the real world" gattempting to give inspiring speeches about how great the future may be.

In actual fact there has probably never been a greater "dis-empowerment" of the public since WW2, when, because giant war, governments gontrolled almost everything.

Billionaires in question are not only "non-elected individuals" but most also have a history of going AGAINST the interests of their own paying customers.

We may be maybe 16 years away from a Cyberpunk-like future beginning, which wouldn't much happen if the greater public had more say in "what happens going forward". AI may be just the beginning of monstrously WEIRD else coming down the pipeline IMHO...

Book- Altered Carbon and Certain Warhammer 40k books that deal with Hive Cities.

Anime- Cyber City Oedo 808

Movie- Dredd

Game- Ruiner

I've really been getting into the body horror side of Cyberpunk (and Grimdark by proxy), so any recommendations would be much appreciated.

A few people here asked for a build video, and I finally got it finished and published!
I’ve had to prioritize my day job for a while, but I finally had time to edit together some of the messy design and build process behind the modular cyberdeck.
https://youtu.be/gIWp\_F9PPzI
The files are linked in the description too, now with the sourcefiles in addition to the meshes. They are still a bit of a work in progress, but I wanted to get them out there so people can poke around, modify things, or build their own version.
The video does not go in to all the nitty gritty details, as the first edit was over 40 mins long! So i cut it down to keep the main story behind this device, but that leaves me with alot of extra material, maybe i will release those technical details as shorts videos if people are interested in geeking out on design choices and material choices?
Thanks again to everyone who followed the project and gave input along the way, a lot of the decisions were shaped by comments from this sub!