The novella began as a story treatment for a proposed film adaptation of Alan E. Nourse's novel The Bladerunner. A later edition published in the 1980s changed the formatting of the title to Blade Runner, a movie. Burroughs' treatment is set in the early 21st century and involves mutated viruses and 'a medical-care apocalypse'. The term 'blade runner' referred to a smuggler of medical supplies, e.g. scalpels.