From the introduction: The year is 199X, and the world is very much like the one which you came from. If you examine historical records, however, you begin to spot differences over the last twenty years or so. Gorbachev was assassinated, putting a premature end to glasnost and leaving the Soviet Union still lurching along. Technological advances came out of nowhere, providing capabilities like active camouflage and battle mechs known as Arm Slaves. While these technologies were (and are) revolutionary, they’ve been around long enough that the world has grown used to them. Soon, the opposing forces of Mithril, a group of mercenaries fighting to uphold justice, and Amalgam, amoral mercenaries and terrorists, will clash in a shadow war to control the Whispered, people with a mysterious connection to this Black Technology.