Janie loved the shadows. The dark places, where she could see and not be seen, where she could come and go undetected. The shadows were safe for her, despite the demons that lived within. For her, the only demon worth her fear was her father. The foul man had beaten her mother to death when she was only 8 and being a connected man bought him his freedom. It took only 2 years for his viciousness and sexual predations to turn towards her, and only one year after that before she cut open his throat with a steak knife.

She spent the next 4 years in a Juvenile correctional facility getting “therapy” and “help” for her problems. In actuality, she was attending the best school in Washington for learning street smarts. Stealing, fighting, lying…all the standard courses were taught. When she was released at the age of 15 to a foster home, she hoped for a brief moment that her life might become normal. Those dreams were shattered the first day she moved in. The home was a squalor and there were 8 other children living in the 4 bedroom house. Clothes were second hand, food was just the basic necessity for survival, personal possessions were only what you had with you when you arrived. It was a place devoid of love or hope.

It started small, hanging out with a group of street thugs, trying to find a place were she felt wanted, then a small push towards stealing a car. What a thrill! Next she knows, she’s breaking into homes, and offices stealing anything easily fence-able. She had lived her life as an invisible person. Someone few noticed in passing, and as a thief, she used that to her advantage. It gave her a sense of power, of being superior above the mindless corp drones living out meager existences.

Within a year she was listed as a runaway and her past forgotten under a pile of paperwork. She was able to steal enough to make a living, her greatest treasure being her own apartment; a place where she could lock the door and be left alone; a safe haven. Unfortunately, she had gotten a taste for the wild side of life and she had no intention of giving it up. She was young and talented, which was a recipe for trouble. At 17, she was working with a crew of (insert cool gang name here) on a break in at a warehouse supposed to be housing components for AR equipment.

She was confident in her abilities, but was running with untrustworthy people. One of the boys on the crew had been popped by the police for drugs and had turned belly up on his whole crew. They walked right into a trap.

Her second stint in the court system wasn’t nearly so forgiving. Even though she was not yet 18, combined with her past violent crime, she was tried as an adult and took a deal for a reduced sentence. Two years she lived as a guest of the government. In terms of learning opportunities, Juvenile Hall was high school compared to the University of King County Lockup. She wasted no time in using her stay to make contacts and learn all she could.

While she had no intention of reforming, her time there wasn’t all darkness and thief training. She developed a very close friendship with another young girl named Violet. Violet had experienced a similar childhood, molested by her father for years before her mother found out and kicked her out of the house for “seducing her father”. Luckily, she had an older brother, Vincent, who had fought his way up and out of that life, focusing on school as his savior from a life of pain, abuse and anger. He had been in college when it was discovered what had happened to his baby sister and desperately tried tracking her down. Unfortunately, he didn’t find her until she was already in jail for assault on a police officer who tried to arrest her for BTL use. She had broken the officers arm and split his lip open almost to the chin.

Throughout their time in lockup, Vi never stopped talking about how her brother was going to take care of her she she got out. He visited 3 times a week and while Janie was happy for her friend, she felt a pang of jealousy that no one cared about her the same.

Things changed drastically as Vi became more confident. She had been the pushover with the other inmates and never stood up for herself, but the closer she got to being released, and the more her friendship with Janie and her relationship with her brother grew, the more bold she got. She angered the wrong woman when she refused to give up her dinner roll one night. A fragging dinner roll. The next thing you know, Vi has a shiv sticking out of her head and Janie is being dragged off an orc bitch by 3 guards.

She wasn’t killed, but it might have been better if she had. She was in a coma for 4 months and once she woke up, the brain damage was evident. Janie was out by then, and spent every day in the hospital trying to help her friend learn how to talk and eat by herself again. During this time, Janie got to know Vincent well. In many ways, they helped each other cope with the loss of the Vi they had known. To Vincent, she was his only family and to Janie, she was the only true friend, the only one who wasn’t a contact or source to be used.

He was never thrilled with Janie’s choice of career, but admired her iron will and the determination she had when it came to making a life for herself. Their relationship deepened into romance, but despite his wishes to make an honest woman of her, he accepted that she was already what she wanted to be and domesticating her would change her from what she was.

In fact, he decided that if he couldn’t help her to get out of the life, he could at least help her with the life she chose. Using his education, he worked himself into a position at the City Planners office, gaining access to restricted blueprints and other building data. If Janie wasn’t going to stop breaking into places, at least he could give her an accurate map.

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