Genderline

Genderline was a flash-based web animation series created by Garry Marsden in 2010. Released into the public domain by the author, it was initially posted on Archive.org before being removed as "inappropriate content" due to its depiction of homeless subcultures. The concepts and ideas were later retooled by The Cynosure Collective for the cyberpunk novellas Fireskate, Gender Virus and The Playhouse. The central plot device also has connections to the Tranziverse due to the 'Transsexual Plague' being a weaponized form of TISM (Toxically Induced Sexual Morphism).

Synopsis
By the middle of the 21st Century, Neo-Tokyo has become a sprawling maze of ruins covering most of the Eastern Seaboard. In a world devastated by environmental disasters, the city is facing imminent starvation, with 25 percent of the population effectively homeless and resources dwindling literally by the hour. Entire sections of the conurb have been cordoned off to house the "itinerants", along with the various freaks, mutants and borgz flooding in from the Suburbs. Survival rates in these "Red Zones" are extremely low due to violence, disease, and malnourishment; cannibalism is becoming rife in the ghettos and back alleys.

With the city facing total economic collapse, a new recreational drug is introduced to the streets of The Westside, spreading rapidly through the 'userbase.' Unknown to the general public, Fireskate is a weaponized virus designed to sterilize (and eventually kill) the excess population. Upon entering the system, the disease maybe be spread through sexual contact, raising infection levels to 78 percent. Of this number, roughly three quarters will eventually die, with the survivors being rendered both infertile and impotent.

However, as the virus escapes into the wider demographic and the death rate spirals out of control, an unexpected side-effect is noted: a small percentage of the male victims are developing feminine attributes, in some cases effectively morphing into potentially viable females. The virus is capable of re-writing human DNA, allowing for complete sexual transformation.

News Commentary

 * DATELINE: NEO-TOKYO, 24.84.525:


 * THE NATIONAL WATER SHORTAGE IS NOW IN ITS SEVENTY-THIRD DAY. GOVERNMENT SOURCES REPORT NO END IN SIGHT. RELIEF EFFORTS HAVE BEEN MINIMAL. OVER THREE THOUSAND PEOPLE ARE REPORTED TO HAVE PERISHED IN THE LAST WEEK ALONE.


 * FOOD SHORTAGES HAVE EXACERBATED THE PROBLEM. RIOTING HAS BROKEN OUT IN THE WESTSIDE. MILITARY FORCES ARE ON HIGH ALERT. MEANWHILE, THE HOMELESS RATE IS SAID TO HAVE REACHED TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT. EXPERTS WARN THAT THE ECONOMY CAN NO LONGER SUSTAIN ITSELF. ECONOMIC COLLAPSE IS NOW IMMINENT. A STATE OF EMERGENCY HAS BEEN DECLARED.


 * SENATOR JOHN MAKEPEACE HAS ORDERED A COMPLETE CORDON OF THE INNER CITY'S RED ZONE, DESCRIBING THE ENTIRE AREA AS TOO DANGEROUS FOR 'DECENT PEOPLE'.


 * QUOTE: "THE RED ZONE WILL NOW BE USED TO HOUSE NEO-TOKYO'S GROWING ITINERANT POPULATION. INTERNMENT WILL BE MANDATORY. OUR HIGHEST PRIORITY IS GETTING THE SCUM OFF OUR STREETS."


 * IN OTHER NEWS, MEDICAL RESEARCHERS HAVE MADE LITTLE PROGRESS HALTING THE SPREAD OF THE SO-CALLED 'TRANSGENDER VIRUS' CURRENTLY SWEEPING THE INNER CITY. STERILITY RATES AMONGST MALE PATIENTS ARE UP TO 78 PERCENT. SCIENTIST FEAR THAT RECENT MUTATIONS WILL RESULT IN A POTENTIALLY LETHAL STRAIN.


 * MEANWHILE, THE SERIAL KILLER KNOWN AS 'M' HAS STRUCK AGAIN. HIS LATEST KILLING SPREE CLAIMED FIVE LIVES IN CHAMBERLAIN PLAZA. VARIOUS INTERNAL ORGANS WERE MISSING FROM EACH VICTIM. POLICE STILL HAVE NO LEADS IN THE CASE.