85 - Rick Deckard vs. Major Kusanagi

In the first of many matches conceived by one of our supporters on Patreon, Smash Fiction dives into the smoke-filled, neon-lit world of cybernoir! A Cylon has crash-landed in the futuristic city of San Fransokyo, and though it looks human, it seeks only to murder, destroy, and fuck with people's heads using big, scary words. Two detectives specializing in this manner of target, retired blade runner Rick Deckard and Section 9's Major Motoko Kusanagi -- or at least her "ghost", housed in a sort of "shell" -- are called in to track the Cylon down and show it what grim dystopian justice looks like. But of course, the two can't get along and demand to work individually, making it an investigative race to both track their quarry and take it down. Will Deckard use his old-fashioned clue-seeking skills, weird eyeball tests, and questionable proficiency with steel piping to make Kusanagi want to throw herself in front of a tank? Or will the Major's computer brain, superhuman fighting skills, and deep questions about the nature of reality ensure that Deckard's chances of victory are lost like tears in rain? Also, Kit asks the tough questions, Dan drops some inhumanity bombs on his unsuspecting co-hosts, Colin pulls out a Wayne Gretsky quote, Miles apparently thinks Blade Runner and Game of Thrones exist in the same universe, and MeganBob invents a butt-related alternative to the Turing test. As for how the episode ends...well, it's left deliberately ambiguous. OR IS IT? Support Smash Fiction by becoming a Patron at www.patreon.com/smashfictionpodcast