That’s not true, network carriers can also run RCS backends independently of Google. Graphene OS is currently working on a new messaging app that supports RCS without Google services. Both the app and the carrier have to support RCS which is why Google made their own backend.
It was never ‘Google locked’, its an open standard developed by the GSM Association that IOS has supported since 2024.
I think it’s worth exploring; the culture is more important than the tech. What are the societal systems that are driving resistance, how is access to STEAM distributed, how does this affect the lives of ‘normal’ people.
The main reason the the ‘punk’ subgenres coexist is that their technologies form a feedback loop with their cultures which makes them different and allows for different stories. What are the impacts of STEAM on society and how is this different to Cyberpunk with modern tech?
Aesthetic is also important because it captures the imagination and gives the genre staying power. There’s a reason that Cyberpunk and Steampunk are the most popular, while Biopunk hasn’t had the same impact.
Unfortunately for Bethesda these are narrative subgenres as well as aesthetic ones, and modern Bethesda can’t write.
What would be punk about it?
Steampunk is Steam (victorian inspired tech) + Punk (victorian inspired inequality)
Cyberpunk is Cyber (80s inspired tech) + Punk (80s inspired inequality)
Vantablack is quite fragile and would quickly disintegrate at high speeds