<center>http://i.giphy.com/l0HlQOeKjCSYTpcha.gif</center>

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The strip of neon-lit district was a washed-out parody of a world gone mad. It was raining with contempt. The wet cobblestones were the distorted reflections of cold hard reality. The whirring of distant sky-cars, the muffled hissing of pressured steam, and the subtle echoes from vibrations of remote machines lent themselves to the lullaby of rain crashing on all verticals in the great industrialised world.

The Mercaton complex thrived on its own dog-eat-dog ecology. Sex, drugs, and money. Isn't that always the case? The classic, vicious tricycle that was the hook, line, and sinker for megacorporations. The sprawl was the perfect display of social darwinism - like a sick and twisted experiment, held on fast forward by ferocious capitalists.

Freedom and free-will are the lifeblood of its machinations. Nothing is impossible. Everything is permitted. And that was the mighty district's heart and soul. Black market liver? Sold. Need someone jumped? Hired. Money is king. It is the ley line, the commander of life and death.

A blind beggar on one of the busy streets of St Lucia had been preaching that the answer lies not in improvement, but in destruction. Vices were the lure of the complex, and its victims never looked far from it. 

Asher loved the scent of rain and stale, wet cigarette. He was drenched in the dismal shower, only to be comforted by his coat of velvet leather. It was a sombre night, and it was a walk down memory lane. Asher saw no one on the streets. No drug pushers, no cheap whores, no slimy confidence artists. He was all alone, and the dazzling displays of neonlight and hazy particles were getting too heavy for his eyes.

He dropped a stalk of red rose onto the rain battered pavement, walked into the darkness, and walked away from it all. So much for being sane in insane places.

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***Thanks for reading my first dystopian fiction on Steemit! With this on-going series that I will write from time-to-time, I wish to explore the interesting intersections of capitalism, anarchism, socialism, and all those big-isms, and what it means to be human in a world spinning out of control. What do you like about the dystopian/cyberpunk genre? Please tell me in the comments below!***

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*Update note: I wish to note that I always source images in my posts whenever possible. In this case, the original image is a modified image of another image, in which I've saved in my computer ages ago. I have further distorted this image and made it into a gritty GIF, effectively mashing it up like a music remix, like I do in many of the images I've used with missing links to the original. There has never been any intention to claim any images as part of my own, although I've been manipulating original images to better suit my written content. In such cases, how does one clarify without taking up too much screen space like this? Do you think it's alright not being able to point to the original source, if it's clear that no claims are made on visuals in which are not part of my work, or subject matter? Would appreciate your thoughts on this as well.*

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