What to Wear in the Sprawl

You’ve got preferences. Ono-Sendai on the desk. Hosaka in the field. A Freeside holiday you keep putting off until the next job clears.

We make shirts for all of that.

Here at ElvenRanger, we understand that getting dressed is usually the least complicated part of your day. You need something clean enough to meet a client in, comfortable enough to sleep in, and recognizable enough that the right person might buy you a drink.

A good shirt can tell people what you work with, where you’ve been, or where you intend to go once somebody finally pays you.

We also carry a few designs people seem reluctant to explain.

We’ll get to those.

Wear what you work with

There are customers who will talk about their decks for forty minutes without once telling us their names. We like those customers. They know what they want, and they generally have strong opinions about print placement.

For the Ono-Sendai faithful, our Ono-Sendai Cybernetics shirt keeps things straightforward. The name does most of the work. Wear it under a jacket, across the counter at your usual place, or while explaining why you’re still using that particular piece of hardware.

We’ve heard the explanation. We have it in several sizes.

If you prefer something more explicit, there’s Ono-Sendai — Direct Interface. Suitable for the working cowboy, the enthusiastic amateur, and anyone whose idea of a quiet evening involves leaving their body somewhere reasonably secure.

Hosaka users tend to be a little less talkative about their equipment. They come in, look over the stock, and ask whether we have their size.

Our Hosaka — Field Terminal Systems design is for that sort of customer. Built for Console Cowboys is available if you’d like to give the person standing behind you in the food queue a little more information.

Neither shirt requires you to demonstrate your abilities. Please keep that in mind. We need the terminal at the counter.

Something for your next holiday

Every so often, a customer tells us they’re leaving the Sprawl.

Usually they mean for another part of the Sprawl. Sometimes they mean Chiba. Occasionally they point upward.

For that last group, we carry Come Visit Freeside — The Resort on the Edge of Space.

You’ve seen the advertisements. You’ve considered the accommodations. You’ve calculated the fare, closed the figures, and opened them again later to see whether anything had improved.

There’s no harm in getting the shirt first.

It looks equally good on someone with confirmed reservations and someone who has been saying “after this next contract” for three years. We don’t ask to see your booking.

For travelers who enjoy the journey as much as the destination, there’s the JAL Orly to Freeside Shuttle design. A useful souvenir of your departure from Earth, even if your departure is still awaiting funds.

If you do make the trip, stop by when you get back. We’d like to hear about it. Most of our information comes from brochures and a customer who spent the entire visit complaining about the cost of drinks.

He bought two shirts.

A familiar name on your chest

Some people collect corporate apparel. Others acquire it gradually, until they discover that every clean shirt they own advertises somebody else’s business.

We can help with the first situation. We may be contributing to the second.

Our corporate collection includes names you’ll recognize from screens, equipment, and places where your visitor credentials only get you as far as reception.

Maybe you work for one of them. Maybe you used to. Maybe you like the logo and would prefer that people stop asking about your employment history.

That’s between you and whoever notices the shirt.

For most customers, choosing a design is easy enough. A brand they trust. A destination they want to visit. Something familiar.

Then there are the customers who ask for Wintermute.

You’ve seen it somewhere

The first time I noticed the words, they were scrawled beside a service door.

WINTERMUTE LIVES.

I assumed it was somebody’s handle. A band, maybe. There was a sticker over part of it, and I had a delivery to collect.

Then I saw it again, somewhere else. Different handwriting.

When we started carrying the Wintermute Lives shirts, I mentioned that to a customer. He asked where I’d seen it. I told him. He stood there for a while, then bought one.

I still don’t know whether I gave him good news.

Some of the older cowboys talk about “when it changed.” They’ll be discussing a job or a piece of equipment, and suddenly that phrase comes up. Everyone at the table seems to know what it means, so you wait for somebody to explain.

Usually somebody orders another drink.

I’ve heard enough versions to know I’m not the person to ask. There’s something out there, according to one customer. There always was, according to another. A third told me the name wasn’t right anymore, but he wanted the shirt anyway.

We carry three versions. People choose carefully. Sometimes they bring a friend over to look before deciding.

I used to ask what the difference meant to them.

Now I let them browse.

And if you know or what Wintermute is - tell us, who is Neuromancer?

Find something that suits you

Have a look through our Neuromancer designs, the corporate stock, or the shirts at the stranger end of the rack.

Get something for your next job. Get something for that holiday. Get a replacement for the shirt you left somewhere you’re unlikely to visit again.

And if you recognize the Wintermute design, we have your size.

You don’t have to tell us where you’ve seen it.