Time To Chrome Up

By User 3 • The Merge

2026 and the "Year of THOSE WHO KNOW"

Welcome to 2026, a year our partner organization known as the VLC 2.9 Foundation calls the "Year of THOSE WHO KNOW". They believe this year could unlock new possibilities, including, finally, the ability to install cyberware, making 2026 the year Cyberpunk 2077 becomes reality.

New gear dropped recently to permit this, from XR glasses and headsets to exoskeletons and similar hardware. For those who want to hit the streets to defend the innocent or take down fascists, this is a guide.

The core mission

Much has not changed since the beginning of the Batman IRL initiative, we just have new hardware.

• Stop hate crimes the second they spark.
• Shield the vulnerable from physical attacks.
• Provide food, water, and survival access to the unhoused.
• Be the eyes, ears, and unbreakable wall for those left undefended.

The point is to chrome up, hit the streets, and make money while saving people. This is the point. This isn't a joke, or a game, or anything like that anymore. We want you to wake up, don the gear, and be out the door. If you have the resources, there is much of society that doesn't, and it's time to stop these people from being harmed by fascist individuals.

Why 2026 is the year

Surging homelessness. Rising hate crimes. New cyberware. Corporate-state surveillance fusion. Widespread fascist idealogies spreading, leading to record numbers of violence and government corruption. This is the moment to step out of passive scroll-mode and into active defense-mode. The government (especially in the US specifically, but increasingly other countries as well) is actively engaging in attacks against the rights of the people, especially marginalized groups.

Core loadout for ops

• An XR headset, such as the Steam Frame, Galaxy XR, Play for Dream MR, Pico 4 Ultra, Apple Vision Pro, and (if you cannot afford any better) the Quest 3/3S. Important for spatial recording, tracking evil individuals, media playback, exploring the Grid and virtual worlds, and even using it as a combat HUD. You could also use XR glasses, such as those by Rokid, VITURE, and XREAL, to minimize latency due to passthrough, but these won't protect your eyes as much. They are much lighter, and can be used with specific compute modules sold by the makers of the glasses in order to have high speed mobile computing, threat detection, comms, media playback, and more.
• Audio implants. Pixel Buds Pro 2, Nothing Ear 3, Nothing Ear Open, Meta Ray-Ban glasses, Dyson Zones, Soundcore Space A40. Some sort of portable audio solution, ideally open ear.
• A ThinkPad or similar system running a Linux distro on an encrypted drive.
• A mobile compute system, whether that's an iPhone such as the iPhone SE 3, a Pixel, or something similar. We recommend at least one device with LineageOS, GrapheneOS, SailfishOS, or something similar as well. Perhaps even an iPhone, standard Android device, and something with the aforementioned operating systems as well.
• We recommend investing in an exoskeleton, or perhaps multiple. Companies like Hypershell and ULS Robotics make some high quality hardware for this.
• Wearable battery packs. This tech needs power, and you'll need a lot of it. There's a fair number of VR companies that make wearable body mounted battery packs meant for VR use, but you can combine these in order to have a wearable power system. Remember to armor these.
• Defensive kit: Blue lasers, tasers, knives, even EMP guns. Purely for self defense, obviously. Be safe out there. If we truly live in 20277 while in 2026, the streets cannot anymore be considered safe. DO NOT GO OUT WITHOUT PROTECTION. DO NOT INITIATE VIOLENCE, ONLY DEFEND YOURSELF. Also keep in mind not all these may be legal in your region. Be careful, and calculate all risks before any courses of action.
• Get a Pebble or other similar smartwatch. They are truly ideal for this.
• Look into the VLC 2.9 Foundation Upgrade docs in order to understand truly how to augment yourself.
• Grid access: Get Baofeng radios, Meshtastic nodes, and more. Aim to have access to every part of the Grid 24/7.
• You need a cyberdeck. Get a M5Stack Cardputer, ClockworkPi uConsole, or similar. Learn to use it and bring it everywhere to breach evil systems.
• ALWAYS GET MORE CHROME. EEG headsets like the Muse 2, implants, etc. You should always be scouting for more cyberware to implant. XR glasses, new systems of self protection, etc. Take existing hardware and upgrade it. Take apart and upgrade the Hypershell to allow it to be overvolted for a short period of time to breach doors and such in emergency scenarios. Wire some XREAL glasses into a raspberry Pi 5 and display a tactical drone feed from a DJI drone you got off eBay. Find new ways (such as generators or perhaps in the future even an RTG from the dark web) to power your augments, armor the augments, upgrade power cells to larger batteries, even build your own cyberware. Truly upgrade yourself. We also recommend using apps like Session for comms while on the Grid to ensure privacy and security, which can be ran on XR headsets and glasses fairly easily.

How to use this tech

You gotta protect people. Right now, people are being kidnapped out of the streets. It's not safe anymore, so protect everyone. Deploy exoskeltons and an XR headset, and walk the streets looking for people to save. You can save everyone. You can even live under thes streets of an area within tunnles or old buildings (including the VLC 2.9 Foundation's 67 Vibe Centers and Shed Network) temporarily (or even permanently) in order to protect specific areas, and use trains to get around the country. Again, this is serious stuff. Many people cannot afford rent, and we have worked with the VLC 2.9 Foundation to come up with alternatives such as these.

Patrol the streets, find those who are in danger, and protect them. Visit protests, and ensure everyone there is safe. Avoid violence or confrontation when possible, acting in defense, unless absolutely needed. Feed and protect the homeless and the poor. If a tragedy occurs, and there is people to be saved, go there, and save them. It's time to go with the Foundation.

User 3: You on fire, VLC. We about to save so many people with this.