From "Exposition:"
It’s like we’re living in the future.
Technology
Technology is evolving. Hardware is nearly invisible while software has become ubiquitous. Images and readouts—projected directly onto your eyes—overlay the streets, storefronts, and denizens. It’s called the Interface. Information at your fingertips, wherever you are. Articulate prosthetics and augmenting implants are spliced right into your nervous system. Cars drive themselves. They still don’t fly.
Environment
Environment is hurting. Pollution has taken a turn for the worse. Nothing is being done to reverse climate change. Fossil fuels are still being depleted. Inconsistent weather is something you can count on. Corporations, not nations, are at war with each other over natural resources.
Society
Society is failing. Corporations are thriving on weaker government. Automation tech has put the majority out of work and the free hand of the market doesn’t know what to do with them. The richer rich and poorer poor don’t leave much room for a middle class. The most reliable way people get paid these days is by enlisting in the corporate wars. Of course they send their paychecks back home to a family who spends it all on corporate crap. Or they lose it to the criminals who are running rampant.
Criminals like you.