The Magu Program

It’s long been fashionable to declare cyberpunk a defunct genre, but when an author of Hartle’s talents pumps this much juice into the tropes, they come alive as they did in the heady 1980s, when William Gibson’s Neuromancer debuted. The action is slick, the techno-veneer is seductive, even in its horrific aspects, and a retro, noirish flavor leavens the future-shock. --Kirkus Review

A hundred years into the future, megacities dominate the landscape. Buildings soar a mile into the sky, leaving dark canyons below. While the wealthy and powerful live amongst the clouds, those below choke on pollution, blinded by the neon glow of Base City.

Ashiro Taki has amnesia and can’t remember anything before a few months ago. Memories come to him, disconnected and unexplained. A view of a building, the face of a child, and the noodle stand where the proprietor, Eido, seems to know him.

What Ashiro does know is that he’s enhanced, very enhanced. Brain augmentation, data ports, and sensory upgrades give him extraordinary advantages when jacked in. On the street, muscle, bone, and tissue implants make him an elite soldier. But what is it all for?

One day, while wandering through the smog-filled half-light of Base City, Ashiro comes upon a boy and his mother. He recognizes the child, his smile, his voice, everything. Has he met him before? Is the boy his? What about the woman? She’s familiar, too.

When Ashiro is injured in a deadly fight following a botched hack, he awakens to find the woman, Chiya, caring for him. She doesn’t know who he is but has discovered a terrible secret, something she’s too afraid to tell him.

Ashiro is dying, melting from the inside out as his extraordinary enhancements degrade.

The Hakko Ichiu Corporation is one of the largest in the world, and its resources are vast. In control of it all is Yugi Orgata. He has lost something very precious, and he wants it back.

For Chiya, the child Wren is pure and innocent. He is her chance to be a mother again after losing her own son. For Yugi, the boy is something else--and he will do whatever it takes to get him back.

Ashiro, Chiya, and Wren find themselves united in a desperate struggle to survive. Together, they will fight to answer the greatest question of all-- What is The Magu Program?

Matt Hartle is an award-winning writer, director, designer, and VFX artist. He lives in northern Montana with his wife, two children, and their dogs Nana, and Jaques. For several decades, he has worked in theatrical advertising and visual effects, at first in Los Angeles and later remotely from Montana. As a partner in a successful visual effects company, he spends his days helping others to realize their dreams, but at night (or very early in the morning!), works to manifest his own! He has been fortunate to contribute to several of the Harry Potter films, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the Lionsgate logo, to name a few.

In Montana, he and his family ski, bike, swim, camp, hike--basically anything to be out of doors in the beautiful place they live! They also enjoy traveling, meeting new people, and seeing new places.

Matt has written a number of screenplays and directed several short films, including the award-winning short, Agent.