Shadowrun DataKore: Character History

<<<<AAP, Cairns, Tir Miribalis>>>> 

The tropical rainforests of Cape York in north-east Australia were today the scene for
the brutal deaths of an entire community. Indigenous paranormals overan the Ginnerup
commune just before dawn this morning, killing 120 of the 126 residents, including 
Natashia Lughland, niece to the Prince Consort. The Tir government has declared a 
state of emergency in the shire and has despatched a team of Courts own Self-Defence 
Forces.

This attack is the most violent of its type in the 12 year history of Tir Miribalis, 
and one of the worst since the early days of the awakening of wild magic in Australia. 
Such attacks are common along much of the 'Fence' that separates urban, east coast 
Australia from the manaburnt interior. The Tir however has always prided itself on its 
unique and harmonious relationship with the Land.

Even those in the commune at Ginnerup were not unprepared for the dangers inherent in 
tending the regenerating rainforest. A perimeter of plasteel ultrasound generators, in 
combination with dream-picture wards, provide evidence of the presence of such dangers, 
and the frailty of such preparations. Puzzled investigators look blank when asked why the 
perimeter failed, but have assured the thousands of other citizens living in similar communes 
that this was a "freak natural phenomenon".  Small comfort in a land where freaks of nature 
are a way of life............and death.

nghtchld reads the article for the aleph'th time and tries to connect the floating blocky letters with some kind of emotion, some kind of memory. All he finds is reality res rendering and the enless lists of hacked files that wallpaper the virtual office. A directed thought sends the article and most of the other files to their new home, his second Fairlight Lucifer. The old machine, an Excalibur complete with full-immersion Pong and Bubble-Bobble, must be destroyed. Its' modified shell contains the ghost of nghtchld past, enough personal memes for a dedicated decker to excavate and use to bury the equally ghostly nghtchld future. 
 
 

Transfer Completed Dude!! The happy letters phade slowly as he unhooks the second jack. Another directed thought directs a finger, real, to type a short code, wrongly, into the Exaliburs keyboard. A grim face is briefly underlit, the silvered eyes blinking to black in an instant. Liquefied optics run from cracks in the now blackened case, aftermath of a very small Hellblast. He leaves the case where it is, orkish smiley phace grinning into the sky, climbs from the excavated pit that will be MegaCorp Financial Building, all 203 floors of it. An act defining words unsaid "I'll be back.....:)
 
 

Synopsis
 
 

nghtchld, born Tirth Lughland 8-Feb-29, lived for his first six years with his mother in the rainforest commune of Ginnerup, Tir Miribalis, in what was then Cape York, Queensland, Australia. Following the destruction of his world by paranormal animals he was sent by his father, an exploratory geologist, to board with his uncle in the Cairns. There he schooled and soon excelled at computing. His first experience with the nascent matrix was like the meeting of twins separated at birth. Using school equipment to steal funds for the cyberdeck he had to have brought him to the attention of the Prince consort, who was amused to find he had paid for a very expensive computer. 

Matrix talent was scarce in the early days of the Tir so Tirth's punishment was commuted to boarding school where he was to be trained as a decker. The archetypical nerdy elf decker nghtchld, his chosen matrix name, had few friends and little contact with his remaining family. The exception was another young trainee at the school, the shaman Sinead. Kindred spirits they formed an unspoken alliance against the world. 

Graduating with honors in a closed ceremony the nghtchld was placed with a black ops decking corps, one of many employed by powers in the war torn but economically strong Asia-Pacific region. The more operations he did, the more he saw that the supposedly open Court of the Tir was rife with hidden agendas and conspiracies. nghtchld decided that his hard work should reap him some personal reward as well as serving his masters plans. Backdoors, dormant worms and rerouters were placed........the storm brewed. 

Carefully placed triggers alerted nghtchld that the hounds were close. Together he and Sinead fled taking only essential components of his deck and her shamanic thesis. That first flight landed them in Seattle, a city with enough intrigue and conspiracy to fill three Tir's, and great need for an unscrupulous and unknown decker. 

Created: 14 February 1998 | Last Updated: November 19, 2000
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