Aurora Obscura

Since the mid-21st century, humanity has descended into a spiral of violence and despair. Following the Third World War, the soil has been tainted with toxic substances, and violent storms constantly ravage the skies. Most people are forced to live in sprawling conurbations ruled by ruthless transnational megacorporations, where they are exploited as disposable labor. For the average person, the only alternatives to hazardous, soul-crushing factory work are serving as cannon fodder in the various conflicts instigated by the megacorporations, which profit by selling arms to private military companies.

Consequently, humanity has largely given in to nihilistic hopelessness. The average person seeks solace in the mind-numbing pleasures readily marketed by the megacorporations. Others escape into mouth-frothing zealotry for some impossible, insane cause, in the hope that it will lend their lives some meaning. Birth rates have fallen dramatically, the global population has been decimated by war, disease, and famine - forcing individuals and corporations to fiercely compete for their share of dwindling resources.

Enter the Contractor, a euphemism for the street mercenaries employed by megacorporations for corporate espionage, sabotage, and any other discreet activities requiring plausible deniability. Enhanced with cybernetic augments and armed with the most powerful weaponry cryptocurrency can buy, the life of a contractor is typically short and violent. However, for those lucky enough to survive, it offers a chance to rise above the sea of human suffering they were born into.