QSFer April McCloud has a new queer cyberpunk book out (Bi, Trans FTM & MTF): The Switch.
A hundred years in the future, in a world where technologically enhanced bodies are valued above organic ones, Complete Life Management (CLM) is selling perfection in the form of the latest and greatest bionic model, the Apogee.
As an elite runner and inadvertent spokesperson for the humanism movement, NYPD Detective Naomi Gate has eschewed vanity upgrades. However, if she hopes to survive in New York City’s fierce criminal Underground and find her brother, she can’t show up in her organic cop body. When Jax Raelyn—CLM’s playboy CEO and Naomi’s boyfriend—offers her an unauthorized body transfer, she accepts in order to save the only family she has left.
Plunging into the Underground’s den of illegal body modifications and bionic hit squads, it turns out to be the first of several body transfers. And as the stakes rise, Naomi fears the price for saving her brother may be the thing she values most—her own humanity.
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Excerpt
The video began playing again but halfway through computer code overlaid the image. Inari must have been scrolling through the code because it began to move, pieces of it jumping in and out of magnification. To keep herself from asking anything Naomi began pacing. The little rabbit was still sitting atop the flag, star- ing at her blankly.
“Okay, so this message is encoded really well but the syntax is un- usual, and I may have to build a cipher in order to—”
“English.”
“Right. So, it’s complicated and I’m not a hundo percent sure but it looks like a real video, not spliced or anything weird.” Naomi closed her eyes and Inari continued. “But that doesn’t mean this is Tyler! Just that all the back-end stuff looks legit.”
Naomi let out a long breath before opening her eyes. The rock rabbit’s unseeing eyes seemed to pierce her soul and she closed her own again, taking in another deep breath. Could she live with it if something happened to him and she had done nothing to try and save him? She knew she’d already decided and hated herself for it. But what else could she possibly do? He was her brother. For better and for worse, he was the only family she had left. She hadn’t been able to do anything for her mother. She wouldn’t lose her brother, too. “I need you to send a message to the bounty hunter Dane Thayer. Tell him to meet me at CLM Tow—”
“CLM TOWER?! ARE YOU INSANE!!”
Naomi cringed. She hadn’t meant for Inari to figure out her plan. “I’m just going to see if Jax has any leads—”
“And also conveniently a body for you? Naomi, I’m not an idiot.”
No, she certainly wasn’t. Naomi’s voice softened. “Inari, I have to do this. He’s my brother.” She whispered. “Please understand.”
There was a moment of silence before Inari let out a frustrated groan. “Urgh, you’re so much trouble! FINE, I’ll help you.” She sighed heavily. “What were you asking me before you gave me a figu- rative heart attack?”
Naomi was able to smile despite the circumstance. She was lucky to have as good a friend as Inari. “Tell Dane to meet me at CLM Tower. I’m heading there shortly.”
“You know bounty hunters have encryption systems in place so not just anyone can send them messages, right?”
“What, so it will take you ten seconds instead of five? Just send it.” She paused. “And Inari?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
There was a catch in the girl’s voice and Naomi knew her well
enough to know Inari was trying to cheer them both up. “Probably suffer endlessly from boredom and a lack of late night Chinese takeout. Oh, and-and cookies! Let’s not forget the mountains and mountains of cookies that would go uneaten.”
She headed to her closet. “True, that would be a tragedy.” “Speaking of which, for waking me up at this ungodly hour and putting me under this much stress—not to mention I need to be on my game in case you need me to code— you owe me a cookie cake from that bakery down on fifth and probably a case of energy drinks—better make it two, actually, just to be on the safe side.”
She yanked off her tank top and shorts, tossing them into the hamper. “Fine, I’ll call and—”
“Oh, I’ve already sent in an order on your behalf. I just didn’t want you to be surprised when the notification comes about the deduction from your bank account.”
Naomi’s leg was hovering above her pants, the other already having made its way inside. “You hacked into my bank account?”
There was a pause. “Wait, are you really surprised?”
Naomi tucked her shirt into her pants before zipping them up. “No, actually. But could you put up some extra blockades in apology?”
“Oh please. I added encryptions to everything about you right after we first met. I have to keep you safe from baddies. You’re my partner!”
She shook her head slowly as she headed out her door. “I suppose I should be grateful you’ll only break the law for cookies, now.”
“Hey, cookies are life.”
Incoming call from Restricted User.
“Inari, I’ve got another ca—”
“It’s the bounty hunter. I’ll patch him through.”
Author Bio
April McCloud [she/her] is a 1% bionic human who worships her cat and hopes to be reincarnated as a red panda. A librarian, educator, and opinionated black belt, she hails from Rochester, NY and enjoys plotting, be it a book, vacation, or a heist at a GF bakery. She identifies as disabled, LGBTQIA+, neurospicy, and as a struggling practitioner of Zen Buddhism.