The only playable character in the game is a runner named Faith. Faith was not the intended lead character. The developers ultimately “fell in love with her” among a number of originally planned characters in a multiplayer mode. Art Director Johannes Söderqvist explains that she has “grown a lot through the two years since she was ‘found’” and that her shoes come from a “concept artist having some fun”, “the tattoo on her arm…from her being a tech girl,” as the developers “didn’t want something like the yakuza…I wanted something more unique that would key into who she is as a person. If she was into electronics, she’d have a tattoo that looks like a circuit board.”
The story follows Faith and her struggle to free her sister from a corrupt government. Her parents were killed while protesting against the government and she was forced to grow up on the street. One day, when she was still a young girl, she broke into an office belonging to a man named Mercury, who caught her but was impressed with her skills. Mercury then trained Faith as a runner. Faith was taught not to rely on modern forms of communication, partially because they are monitored by the police state. As Faith attempts to rescue her sister while running messages for the criminal underworld, she gets caught up in a series of events which lead to her being pursued by the totalitarian government. Acting as Faith's guide is Mercury, who will help Faith in her attempt to outwit and overcome the many government agents that are out to eliminate her.
