In a decaying 23rd century, religion is big business and tech is the new salvation

With Faithcorp's spiritual simulations leading to widespread addiction and what's left of law enforcement being administered by contract killers, it seems the Earth's days are numbered. However, when three Faithcorp execs are found murdered, Licensed Operative Cynthia Hemlock makes it her mission to uncover the truth. Could this be the work of the mysterious Godhead and his underground Godly Resistance Army?

Unfortunately, as the Apocalypse approaches, Cynthia finds there is more at stake than money, and it's no longer clear who her friends are – or what she is investigating. Is Faithcorp's new religitech the work of the Devil or are its opponents spiritual Luddites hell-bent on destroying the world? And what has happened to its founder, the enigmatic Julia Greengage? With the End Times approaching, Cynthia discovers she is not the only one facing their own personal Armageddon.

Read Endgame, the cyberpunk novel that puts the physical into metaphysical....

Author Steve Shahbazian talks to Licensed Operative Cynthia Hemlock

Good morning, Miss Hemlock.

Well, hellooooooo there Mr Steve and all of you in the 21st century.

I understand you're a Licensed Operative. What does that entail?

We're contract killers. We work for the state and get paid to shoot the bad guys. We maintain law and order—or whatever passes for it.

What's been your most hair-raising moment?

"Hair-raising?" You make me laugh! Definitely, the moment I got caught up in a holy procession when it turned into a mob. Man, I didn't think I was gonna make it out alive. Even today, that one makes my flesh creep.

Sounds pretty dicey. Could you tell us a bit about your latest adventure?

Huh, you make it all sound so—what is it you guys call it?—"posh." I was investigating these three execs who'd gotten themselves whacked, only the Case Office didn't want me looking that way. They threw me some small-fry case, but I knew something big was up, so it kind of became a private investigation, if you know what I mean.

What do you mean?

I mean, Mr Steve, that these three execs had "Trads" written all over their corpses.

Trads? Could you elaborate?

Sure. The Trads are the combined forces of the world's religions. I heard that, way back in your day, these guys used to fight each other. Not today. No sir. Today, they're united and want to destroy the only power that counts.

Which is?

Hah! You haven't heard of Faithcorp? It's a megacorporation, produces the "godbox," a device that simulates religious experiences.

A kind of Virtual Reality?

Who knows? Some say there ain't nothing virtual about it—seems as real as the world around you. More real—you can't tell what's real and what's illusory. It gets so bad you don't know your face from your feet.

And how does it work?

Hey! I ain't no technician! And don't get me started on those two Faithcorp "Managers" who were supposed to explain it to me!

If you didn't know how it works, how did you tell apart reality from illusion?

Hah! You think I'm gonna tell you that and ruin it for your readers? Man, you're worse than the penpushers at City Hall! All I'm gonna say is that smarts ain't enough. Whatever it is you're investigating, you gotta look beyond the thing itself. You...