For this week's reading about science fiction sub genres cyberpunk and steam punk I read the short story Johnny Mnemonic by William Gibson. For an eleven page short story Gibson managed to pack a whole lot of world building into the story. The idea of trafficking important data encrypted in a storage system inside someones brain, the futuristic equivalent of cocaine balloons in the abdomen, is genius. In the future, and even now, data is knowledge and knowledge is power. Creating a high stakes transaction for all parties involved. Also, as a side note, though some may find it a bit heavy handed the fact that the main character, one such data trafficker, is named Mnemonic is a clever detail that makes me satisfied.
This short story is pretty classically cyberpunk, from the cybernetic body enhancements to the general seedy punk aesthetic, but perhaps the most stand out feature is the badass cyberpunk chick Molly who comes sweeping in out of nowhere with her scalpel nails and becomes Johnny's dynamic duo. She embodies the classic punk alpha female though on a personal level I found their first meeting a bit cliche. It is a bit hard for me to accept her decision to insert herself into the middle of this fight for no other reason than she "enjoys mystery." While the cryptic line is use many of the cyberpunk main ladies to make them seem mysterious, alluring, and in general an abnormal force of nature I still view it as a bit of a cop out to avoid having to write dynamic female characters.
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