Christophe “Gabe� Leblanc
Hacker / Con Artist
Christophe should have turned out "better" than what he is today. Born to a father working as an executive manager in the local CATCo division, and a grade school teacher mother, Christophe should have had it easy. But it wasn't the case. Very mature, and a bit to clever for his own age, it wasn't long before young Christophe was hanging with the rough crowds. Being a generally likable person it wasn't hard at all for him to fit in. Even if he was, technically, one of the rich kids, that didn't stop him from doing his share of petty crimes. Already part of a street gang at the age of 15, Christophe was running different scams with his friends, putting his abilities in computer work, as well as people skills, to good use. Acting so was for him a way to rebel against not only is parents, but the whole world. He hated the big corporations; the inhuman machines who were sucking the life force out of every single individuals. Society was polluted, disgusting. Everything to him seemed gray and dead. He had the usual outlook on life that your average teenager has. Running the streets with his friends, making fast money at such a young age gave him a purpose in life.
But that didn't last forever.

One of their little cons turned bad when the marked turned out to be the son of one of Montreal's leading biker gang. Although they got their pockets filled with more New Francs that they had ever counted in their whole life, the basically got the biggest crime syndicate in Quebec after them. When Christophe's friends started turning up face down in the St-Lawrence, he knew things finally had gotten very serious. He had, all his life, coned people out of their nuyens... which seemed to him like a harmless crime. He had also seen his share of brawls... but now, people weren't just getting hurt, they were getting murdered. Christophe packed his bags, said goodbye to the city he loved so much and left without looking back. Matter of fact is, he ran away.

Not knowing where to go, the now 16 year old teenager (traveling under a false 19 year old ID) decided he wanted to visit Asia. And so, he hitchhiked all the way to Vancouver, with the intention of sneaking aboard the first boat for mainland China. Instead, he spent some time in the SS Council city, making a few contacts here and there, and amassing enough cred to buy his way aboard a container… bound for Hong-Kong. It was also during his time spent in Vancouver that Christophe made one of his first “real� trip to the chopdock. Being born with a rather deficient sight, the young hacker’s eyes were replaced with cybernetics one at a rather young age.

Young Christophe arrived in China only with what he could carry in his backpack… and a commlink number for some seedy motel, given to him by the smuggler who had “shipped him�. Christophe, who was now going by the street name of Gabe, was just seventeen.

The few cheap knock off linguasoft chips he bought weren’t much help at the beginning, but Christophe’s warm smile and cute face was enough to make himself understood. Luckily enough for him, total immersion in a foreign country usually helps you pick up languages skills… especially when you have no other choice. Picking a few lively spots around town, the young hacker simply started hanging out, making his presence noticed. It wasn’t long before young Christophe made a few casual friends amongst the different “live fast� crowds, especially the local go-gangers.

By just hanging around so much, Christophe rapidly became known as the kid who knew a little bit of everything about everyone; a through and through data miner not only on the ‘trix, but also on the streets and alleys of meat body Hong-Kong. Now, for the past two years or so, Christophe has been keep a “high social profile� and a “low runner cred�. The jobs he has pulled so far have been rather low risk things: electronic surveillance, low key data mining, file cracking and software piracy. Having quite a few go-gangers buddies, Christophe has also “worked� with some of HK go-gangs. But he doesn’t see it as work… and matter of fact, he rarely asks for any sort of payments. To him, it’s just helping out a friend. Christophe has also been pulling numerous courier jobs lately, which has pushed him in getting not only a datalock to store precious files, but also a control rig, to gain an extra edge on anyone trying to track him through the plexe.

Recently, Christophe has started what he calls “a little side business�. He sees it as selling a way to escape daily routines. In fact, Christophe is pushing BTLs. Some he simply cracks, some he just resells, others he tweaks himself. At first, it was only a new venue of money; a new thrill. But slowly, Christophe has started to experiment slightly too much with the chips, and even though he’d never admit it, he has started to grow addicted to them. It wouldn’t be such an issue if it was Christophe’s only addiction. Unfortunately, the Hong-Kong nightclub scene is overflowing with every kind of party and designer drug one could imagine. Being the social type, the one who will try anything while having a good time, Christophe has grown accustomed to consuming novacoke on his outing. Because of those few vices, even with the rather large chunk of nuyen Christophe should have amassed, he’s still rather broke. Money never stays in his hands… there’s always something new to buy. A new program to get, a new gadget to bargain for, a new piece of ware. Christophe also got cybered up with a simrig recently, mainly to be able to experience the rush of Better Than Life chips at a whole new level.

Scope’s History:
Sarah Sneider was born to Jeremiah Sneider and Elena Luchiano in 2042. Jeremiah was an ex-CAS commando who had gone corporate and was working for Ares, and Elena was a retired runner. When Sarah was five, her mother left (Sarah never knew why), and her father arranged for his transfer to Knight Errant, New York. Jeremiah wasn’t very good at being a father – he ran his family like he ran his unit. Sarah excelled in the corporate school, and was working on becoming an excellent child gymnast. Her father taught her military discipline, philosophy, and firearms from a young age. Sadly, when she was 12 Sarah was diagnosed with a late-onset degenerative muscle disorder. By the time she was 14, she had become bound to a wheelchair since her father could not afford the cost of the surgery required to correct her disorder. Rather than face life in a wheelchair that would end due to the failure of her cardiovascular system, Sarah signed a lifetime service contract with Ares. Seeing her potential talents, Ares utilized cybernetic and bioware augmentation to not only correct her disorder, but make her better than human.
Sarah excelled in her combative, security, and hardware training, and she was assigned to a fast response team where she eventually became a top-notch sharpshooter. She was rotated through several divisions of Knight Errant – including the Organized Crime Division, Firewatch, and finally Covert Operations. She liked her job at Ares and began developing a romantic interest with a fellow team-member – Gryphon Kane. Sadly she had the misfortune of gaining the notice of an executive named Daniel Johnson (Ironically, Johnson was his real last name). Daniel used her as a pawn in an internal power struggle with another executive, and she began doing certain ‘off the clock’ missions for him – cumulating in the friendly assassination of her commanding officer as well as Gryphon Kane – who had been working ‘off the clock’ for one of Daniel’s rivals. Following that mission’s success, Sarah suffered a nervous breakdown. Instead of risk losing a significant financial investment or worse, having that investment spill the beans on those unofficial missions, Daniel had Sarah transferred to his division and subsequently implanted with a personafix to ensure her continued loyalty – to himself as well as the company.
Following this, her father was horrified at what had been done to his daughter, and was making preparations to aid a rival corporation. Jeremiah was caught, and in an ironic twist, Daniel had Sarah herself – or Gun-Dancer as her new personality went solely by her operational moniker – murder her father. After that, Gun-Dancer served Daniel and the corporation loyally until the crash 2.0. The crash wiped out Sarah’s SIN as well as most of the corporate records regarding her contract. Daniel chose to take advantage of this, since it meant that he could have a completely deniable asset off the corporate record. At his behest, Sarah left Ares officially – though she was still on Daniel’s payroll.
Over the next several years, she operated as a black operative. However, that changed when during a mission to recover an Ares surgeon being extracted by a team of runners, Gun-Dancer was thrown head-first into an electrified fence – shorting out the P-fix implant. The emerging personality was neither Sarah nor Gun-Dancer, as running a P-fix for seven years had destroyed almost all vestiges of her original self, but the instinct for self-preservation was reawakened in her. Mid-mission, she turned on her team just as they were about to capture the runners and instead helped them escape New York. She contacted Daniel one last time and threatened to inform his director of what he’d been doing behind the scenes if he didn’t let her go. Daniel agreed to let her go and wipe her record from the database on two conditions: first, she would never reveal what she knew, and second, she owed him a favor at some point in the future. His agreement came from three things – first, he wanted to save some sort of resource from the fiasco – no matter how tenuous. Second, he knew that any knowledge that she had that could harm him would also get her in just as much drek. Finally, he knew that the sort of expenditure it would require to have her silenced in a more permanent fashion would raise questions he didn’t want to have to answer – as would the discovery of a corpse full of Ares ware that with enough data recovery might be traceable back to his old project.
Now on her own, Sarah was on a quest to ‘reboot’ her life in an attempt to shake off the last of the mental reprogramming that she had gone through. She stayed with the runner team she’d helped escape New York for a while, eventually making it out to Seattle Seattle – putting as much distance between herself and Daniel’s New York office as she could (after all, she didn’t want to tempt fate that Daniel would change his mind about letting her go). They split up there, the rest of the team going with an ex-Ares corper and his daughter to Hong Kong following an extraction while Sarah stayed behind (the team knew her as alternatingly ‘Sarah’ or ‘Spooky’). Without a team, she had problems finding work without raising too many uncomfortable questions about her past… and all the bodies in it. Instead, she fell back on her talents. During her stint in Organized Crime Division in New York, she had read the dossiers on several members of the Mafia – including one who had a cousin serving as a lieutenant in the Gianelli family in Seattle. Sarah knew that the lieutenant – a man named Vinny Laretti – worked on the side as a fixer, so she approached his people in Puyallup City. Vinny – a hopeless classicalist – was surprised at the newcomer – especially a woman who spoke fluent Italian, so he decided to give this no-name a chance. She of course exceeded all his expectations.
On her first run for Vinny – a simple wetwork mission, one of Vinny’s people observed out loud that it was odd that her rifle didn’t have a scope on it. Sarah’s response was simply “I am the Scope� – thus unexpectedly giving herself her runner handle. She worked with Vinny and a series of Seattle fixers for a while, but she felt like she had lost all sense of purpose in her life – a life that seemed to grow more distant from who or what the company had made her with each passing day.
Ultimately, that purpose was reignited by a single anonymous message – “Another victory for Mom and Apple Pie – Hong Kong, Babe.� She knew that it couldn’t be Gryphon, but that saying had been the two’s inside joke – somebody was telling her that they knew. Scope had avoided Knight Errant and Ares for years, but this was something she had to do if she was ever going to be whole again. Besides, she hadn’t been in the official Ares database for six years, and thanks to a mob-land surgeon she had a new face – so long as she kept her head down she’d be fine – or at least no worse off than any other runner. After all, if a Sinless runner gets caught it doesn’t matter what their past is, they’re just as dead to rights.

Place in Hong Kong:
Hong Kong is new to Scope – she had to establish herself before she could continue her investigation into the mysterious message she had received back in Seattle. She had been forced to cut ties with her Seattle contacts just in case she brought all unholy hell down on herself in Hong Kong – more for their protection than for hers. Fortunately, a linguasoft wasn’t the only Chinese available to her, and she had managed to hook up with a fixer who went by the name of Opinicus. She’s never seen Opinicus – or spoken to him without a voice filter, but he’s earned her trust so far.

Personality
Scope is a soldier, through and through. She follows a strict regimen and code of conduct. To her, loyalty is everything. Loyalty to the mission, loyalty to her friends, and loyalty to her teammates. If her loyalty is betrayed or if that to which she is loyal is threatened, then there will be hell to pay. She has mostly adjusted to the less than orderly life of a runner, but she’ll always think of herself as a soldier. She expects a certain degree of professionalism from her teammates, and thus she treats them like fellow soldiers – having to remind herself that they aren’t soldiers sometimes when she says something like ‘LPC’ and they stare at her in bewilderment (LPC means Leather Personnel Carriers, IE: we’ve got to walk). She tries to suppress the military lingo, but all too often she slips back into it. She has a hard time feeling emotions – both due to advanced cyber-psychosis and the brainwashing she went through. She understands them on an academic level and tries to emulate the appropriate emotional responses to a situation; she just can’t really feel them. She will do whatever is required to complete her mission, even if that means doing things that would turn most people’s stomachs, but she won’t do them wantonly. Efficiency is key, after all. With the void that was left in her mind due to the absence of emotion, she has turned to philosophy and romantic literature in an attempt to reclaim her humanity from society. Still, she does her duty – humanity be damned.

An Shui is a half Caucasian, half Chinese ork who speaks fluently in both American English and Cantonese, though his Mandarin is a pretty weak. He began working with the team as the magical support, though the team has learned that he is very knowledgeable about the the street life in Hong Kong, especially around Kowloon City.
An Shui (which means "Calm Waters") is a bit of an oddity, in that he continually references 'her' and 'the lady' in conversation regarding his choices, decisions and plans. He also has a very strict code of honor and there is a potential (or probability, depending on your perspective) that it may put him at odds with one or more of his team mates.
He does not speak about his childhood, nor about his past, instead focusing on the present and the future. He is currently studying Sun Tzu's Art of War and takes a different passage to apply to each day.
He makes use of drones and cameras in addition to magic in his surveillance and legwork. Fairly reserved and aloof, he is lacking in very many contacts.

Look through this stuff - especially the New York stuff - and let me know if Scope's timeline of being at Knight Errant New York matches up with anything in John Wrought's past. I had an idea if you're interested in which they worked together in Counter-Terrorism for a while - maybe he was a hostage negotiator and she was one of the combat team there... could have even been an important event for one or both of them. Back then Scope was a much different person - she actually cared a little too much and had a well-developed conscience. Complete straight-shooter, anti-corruption, in-it-for-justice type.

Scope showed up in the Seattle shadows in 2066 working with an established team that had just lost some members on a run on the east coast. Nobody had ever heard of her before, and for the first year she went by the name "Spooky" - then her team left for Hong Kong and she stayed behind. After that, she worked with the Mafia Gianelli family for a while and gained a rep as a cleaner who would take any job no matter how unsettling the target. She returned to normal shadow-work later. Then she upped and left without saying a word to anyone. The last person to see her in Seattle was a priest at a catholic church in Puyallup City - she'd merely told him that she'd found her purpose again.

In early 2066, a runner team was doing an extraction job in New York - the target was a willing surgeon who had worked for Ares, and the escape was supposed to be via first a commandeered Doc-Wagon truck and then via ship. A black ops team ambushed the truck mid-transit - killing two of the runners. One of the black ops team - the apparent leader - was thrown into an electric fence. When she came to, she killed her remaining team-members and helped the runners escape New York on the condition they took her with them - she proved herself by warning them that the ship was a trap - its captain already in custody. She left with the team for Seattle and ran with them there for a while before they parted ways. They called her 'Spooky Sierra' since they only knew her call-sign, and later shortened it to 'Spooky.'

There was a Knight Errant officer named Gun-Dancer - real name Sarah Sneider. She was a straight-shooter, wouldn't take a bribe for anything. She worked in several divisions, but she was most worrisome while working in Fast-Response. Generally thought of as bad news with a badge.

Sarah Sneider was only about 15 out of training - the daughter of a KE Colonel, she showed a lot of promise. She bounced around several divisions including organized crime, fast-response, counter-terrorism, and finally special forces. She was one of the best sharpshooters on the force, and had a natural leadership ability that led to her rapid promotion to Captain. No matter how bad the job wore on, she always had a smile on her face and always knew just the right joke to cheer her friends up - and unlike most people, she made it a point to be friendly to everyone on the force. She and another officer - a fellow by the name of Gryphon - were going pretty steady. Then Gryphon was accused of corruption in 2059, and he died during arrest. Sarah disappeared after that - but it turned out she had just been transferred to an Ares special division. She was only seen a couple of times after that - she was like a different person altogether - a lot darker and a lot meaner; no more jokes or smiles, just business... nobody liked being around her like that. Then she disappeared altogether in 2064 after the crash, and the computers swore that she never existed.

Sarah Sneider was a talented little girl - the daughter of a CAS commando who had been hired by Knight Errant and promoted straight to Colonel. She was an excellent gymnast and did very well in her classes, but she was sickly and a lot of people suspected problems at home. She was hospitalized in 2054, and nobody heard from her again until she was a Knight Errant officer in 2056.

Amanda Wong
aka: Motorhead Mandy; Mandy the Maniac; Bubblegum Crisis (by her mage boyfriend Rhama); That Crazy Bitch (90% of all drivers on Hong Kong roads); Little Leadfoot

Amanda never stood a chance of being a girl, she was raised by her father and five brothers. All of them devoted racing fans, street racers or mechanics. Her mother left or died when she was five. So little Mandy grew up gapping spark plugs, grinding brakes and racing cars. By the time she was sixteen she could drive and fix anything with wheels. Now at the age of nineteen she has more driving skill than most people get in a lifetime. She is simply one of the best wheelmen out there. She has racked up more moving violations in three years than anyone can in twenty, she has now made it a point of pride to break every driving law in the book. Recently to expand her usefulness to her runner team she has taken up piloting drones.

Favorite Quote: "Oh goody, soy bacon, let's take em for a ride!"

Appearance:
Mandy stands five feet even and weighs aprox. one hundred and fifteen pounds (she refuses to tell anyone her exact weight). She has rich black hair and brown eyes. Her sense of style depends on her enviroment. If she's in her shop she wears oil soaked coveralls, if she's at a meet she wears a sensible gray business blazer and skirt, usually with a hot pink blouse. When she's on a run she wears an odd assortment of baby doll tees and a skirt or jeans. She always carries a Dunkie backpack when on a run. Her favorite tee is her I Love Dunkie shirt. Her hairstyle also varies but she prefers a neat ponytail when working in the shop, she tends to pigtails almost everywhere else. She almost always has a wad of bubblegum in her mouth.

What is the character’s name?
Amanda Pinkerton numerous akas, she uses Sally Chen as her current Fake ID

What is the characters race, nationality, age, sex, height, weight, hair color, eye color, and skin color/tone, and build?
Mandy is a human, UCAS citizen with a criminal record. She is nineteen, five feet tall around one hundred and fifteen pounds. She has ebony black hair, with rich brown eyes. She is a medium asiaiatic colouring. Pixie or elfin are most often the words used to describe her.

Where did your character learn his/her skills
Mandy grew up in a household of six men and learned her driving and and mechanic skills from them.

What did your character do before becoming a runner?
Mandy worked for a mid level high speed courier service before they discovered her past SIN was a fake. And the fact that she had more traffic tickets than the company was willing to pay.

Where was your character born? Feel free to include any other places he/she may have lived.
Mandy was born in a local Hong Kong mega hospital. She lived with her father and five brothers till she wasa eighteen

Does your character have any family? If not, why. (Do they know where you are? Do they care? Etc)
Mandy's father Shu and five brothers (Zhang, Jian, Hue, Zhu, Dao) are all still living and scattered around the Greater Hong Kong Area. They know Mandy works the shadows and wholeheartedly approve. (The Wongs have a deep distrust of the government)

What are your characters dreams/goals/aspirations?
Mandy dreams of becoming a race car driver or building the ultimate car.

What is the characters general appearance? (How do they stand? How do they dress? Are they attractive? Do they try to look intimidating or casual?)
Mandy is best discribed as "cute". She stands easily but is almost always in motion. She almost always has a wad of bubble gum in her mouth.

Why did they choose to be a shadowrunner?
Mandy found the challenge and adreneline high of run too much to resist.

What is the characters personality? (This is apart from just basic psyche. Are you an idealist, radical, pessimist, militant, aloof etc?)
Mandy is the eternal optimist, she is always cheerful (except for her period) She tends to be slightly fanatically opposed when the subject of Knight Errant comes up.

What skills does your character bring to this group? What makes them special?
Driving, wheelman, drone handling.

What are some things your character cannot do?
Mandy has very little combat skill and relys on skill wires and drones to fight for her.

What does your character hate and why?
Knight Errant and the rules of the road. Mostly because she feels these things resrict her freedom

What does your character love?
Driving, Rama, having fun

What does your character respect?
Polite people

How was your character educated?
Mandy was educated at A Hong Kong public school.

What is your characters moral code?
Drive fast, break every regulation in the book, don't hurt the team.

Does your character have any political beliefs? Religious?
Mandy echo's years of anti-government sentiment.

What item(s) does your character treasure?
Her tools, her Bulldog, her I Love Dunkie tee shirt