In a city where every step is owned, a broken soldier walks into a war for the soul of mankind.
A grounded "neon" cyber-noir thriller feature in the vein of Blade Runner and The Terminator, written and produced by Marco Alejandro Santiago and set in the post-apocalyptic red-light district of Tijuana in the year 2055.
In a war-torn 2055 Tijuana, a paraplegic ex-Marine, fitted with black-market cyber-legs by the arms dealer who owns his every step, tears through the ruins of the Second Mexican American War to steal a shape-shifting superweapon, free the kidnapped wife who built it, and keep it out of the hands of a fascist army that would use it to remake mankind.
Buckle up for a wild ride through the neon-soaked streets of post-apocalyptic Tijuana. It's 2055, and the fallout from a tactical nuke party between Mexico and the breakaway state of Texas still lingers like a bad hangover.
In this world, the neo-fascist Fighters of Conquest (FOC), backed by Texas, and the Guerrillas Unidos Arrasando Poderosos Opresores (GUAPO), a bunch of cartel gangs fighting for Mexico, wage a proxy war for control of the SCAM (Self-Cybernetic Actualized Biocentric Agile Mutation) technology. Controlled by the Hyperblock, an evolved form of blockchain technology, the SCAM allows soldiers to mutate in real-time, adapting to the battlefield like a chameleon on steroids.
Enter Alex Bravo, a battle-hardened ex-Marine, numbed by Fentamine, a mysterious Mayan destiny, and a past that haunts him like a bad trip. A double amputee with black-market bio-tech legs, Alex is on a mission to find his missing wife, Jessica, navigating the twisted streets of Zona Norte with the determination of a pit bull. Haunted by visions of ancient Mayan gods and the weight of his own demons, Alex will stop at nothing to uncover the truth behind Jessica's disappearance.
When Alex runs into Lana, a dame with a heart of gold and circuits to match, he's pulled into a mind-bending plot to steal the SCAM tech from under the noses of FOC and GUAPO. To pull it off, they'll need a crew of misfits and mercenaries, each bringing their unique brand of crazy. There's Tom, Chuck, and Jenna, a trio of hired guns who banter like old friends. And then there's Kukulkan, Alex's childhood friend turned GUAPO leader, with more tricks up his sleeve than a Mayan shaman.
As they navigate Zona Norte's underbelly, they're caught in a web of double-crosses and hidden agendas courtesy of Gustavo, the smooth-talking fixer with connections on both sides of the border; Pakal Palen, the enigmatic tech mogul with Machiavellian ambitions; and Alfred Blitz, the FOC's neo-fascist golden boy with dreams of ethnic cleansing and totalitarian control. Alex starts to question everything, including Jessica's role and the true nature of the SCAM tech.
With each twist and turn, Alex is drawn deeper into a labyrinth of secrets and lies, where the lines between friend and foe blur like the neon-lit streets of Zona Norte. As he unravels the mystery of Jessica's disappearance and the true power of the SCAM tech, Alex must confront the ghosts of his past and the looming specter of his Mayan destiny.
In the end, it all leads to a blood-soaked showdown in the heart of Zona Norte, where Alex must face his demons, the forces vying for the SCAM tech, and the unfolding of his Mayan destiny. With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Alex must decide whether to embrace his destiny or forge his own path in a world gone mad.
Zona Norte is a genre-bending thrill ride, a tale of love, loss, betrayal, and redemption set against a backdrop of neon decay and high-tech intrigue. In a world where the line between man and machine is razor-thin, sometimes the only thing you can trust is the fire in your heart, if it hasn't been replaced by a black-market power cell or worse, a SCAM-enhanced monstrosity.