For decades of science fiction and horror media, we have dreamt up what the future might be like as a form of escapism from the stress of current life. A common storyline is that of cybernetic enhancements being available to the public, and what happens to a human that augments their body and/or DNA.
But all actions have consequences and more often than not in dystopian media, consequences are explored and fleshed out to serve as a cautionary tale to society.
The key message is this:
At what point do you stop being human?
The Ship of Theseus is the philosophical idea that if you take a ship and replace every single piece one by one, is that ship still the same? That’s the moral of cybernetic enhancement storylines – if you replace every organ in your body with that of robotics, are you still the same person you once were?
Humanity is a key theme of many different genres of media, ranging from horror to war. It can be said that those that survive to the end of horror media are trauma survivors, just like that of soldiers, and that’s where the concept of this collection derives from.
Soldiers must be cold and unfeeling to live through the things they must do in combat situations. But what would it be like if the soldiers were genetically enhanced to be partially technology, eliminating the problems with PTSD and trauma from witnessing the horrors of the battlefield?