ProfileName: Susanna Waters
Aliases: Silk, Sasha O’Connell
Archetype: Artisan Adept
Metatype: Changeling
Sex: Female
Age: 23
Nationality: UCAS
Matrix Icon: Girl in a silk dress
Reality Filter: Celtic Wilderness
Lifestyle: Low [student digs]
Karma Spent:
48Build: 400BPs
Game: 2072
Character Sketch
<<Silk v2>>Sheet[ Spoiler ]
Attributes[ Spoiler ]
Body 3 (3)
Agility 4 (6)
Reaction 3 (4)
Strength 2 (2)
Charisma 4 (4)
Intuition 4 (4)
Logic 5 (5)
Willpower 3 (4)
Edge 4
Magic 5 (4)
Essence 5.3
Initiative 7 (8)
Matrix Initiative 13
Passes 1 (2)
Phys CM 10
Stun CM 10
Qualities[ Spoiler ]
Surge I [Metahuman features, lowlight vision, extravagant eyes]
Adept
Way of the Artisan
Media junkie [mild]
Day job 1 [coffee shop 10hrs / wk], SINer & Records on File [NeoNet Corp - uni sponsor]
Enemy [1/4 – unknown foe] + Vendetta/Lost Loved One
Skills[ Spoiler ]
Active Skills
Athletics Group 3
Climbing 3 [LA: Strength T: 5]
Gymnastics 3 Tumbling [LA: Agility T: 9]
Running 3 [LA: Strength T: 5]
Swimming 3 [LA: Strength T: 5]
First Aid 1 [LA: Logic T:6 +1 PuSHed +4 kit]
Clubs 2 Staff [LA: Agility T: 8]
Cracking Group 1
Cyber Combat 1 [LA: Logic T:6 +1 PuSHed]
Electronic Warfare 1 [LA: Logic T:6 +1 PuSHed]
Hacking 1 Exploit [LA: Logic T: 6 +1 PuSHed]
Computer 1 Analyze [LA: Logic T:6 +1 PuSHed]
Hardware 4 Maglocks [LA: Logic T:9 +1 PuSHed +2 adept]
Automatics 4 SMGs[LA: Agility T:10]
Infiltration 6 [LA: Agility T: 12 +2 adept]
Shadowing 3 [LA: Intuition T: 7]
Escape Artist 0 [LA: Agility T:6 +1 adept]
Perception 4 Visual [LA: Intuition T: 8 +3 'ware +3 vis/aud]
Demolitions 1 [LA: Logic T: 6 +1 PuSHed]
Pilot ground vehicle 1 [LA: Reaction T: 5]
Knowledge Skills
English N
Combat Cant 1
Or'Zet 2
Computer Sciences 4 Matrix Architecture [LA: Logic T: 9 +1 PuSHed]
Electronic Engineering 3 Communications [LA: Logic T: 8 +1 PuSHed]
Information Systems 3 [LA: Logic T: 8 +1 PuSHed]
Small unit tactics 1 [LA: Logic T: 6 +1 PuSHed]
Security Systems 3 Exploits / weaknesses [LA: Logic T: 8 +1 PuSHed]
Icon Identification 2 IC [LA: Logic T: 7 +1 PuSHed]
Matrix Games 2 [LA: Intuition T: 6]
Shadow Nodes 1 [LA: Intuition T: 5]
Matrix Chat Forums 1 [LA: Intuition T: 5]
Key Skills
Primary Attack: 14D* Smartgun [Automatics+Agility+Spec+Smart][5P, AP-, BF/FA, R 3/4]
Secondary Attack: 11D* Staff [Clubs+Agility+Spec+Grip]
Ranged Defense: 4D* (+3D gymnastics FD) [Reaction (+Dodge/Gym FD)]
Melee Defense: 8D* (+3D gymnastics FD)[Reaction+Dodge/Skill (+Dodge/Gym FD)]
Primary Non Combat: 14D* Infiltration [Infiltration+Agility+adept]
Secondary Non Combat: 14D Maglocks [Hardware+Logic+Spec+PuSHed+adept]
Perception: 11D* +5 Visual +3 Audio [Perception+Intuition+'ware]
* TacNet applies. Attribute boost may apply
Adept Powers & Metamagics[ Spoiler ]
Eidetic Sense Memory *
Improved Reflexes * [1]
Analytics [1]
Improved Tech: Hardware [1]
Improved Physical: Infiltration [2]
Attribute Boost Agility [1]
Attribute Boost Strength [1]
Flexibility [1]
Great Leap [1]
Freefall [2]
* Way Power
Initiation [1] Adept Centering [Technical Skills]
Cyber & Bioware [ Spoiler ]
Attention Coprocessor [3]
Image Link Retinal Mod
Data Jack
Sleep Regulator
PuSHed
Muscle Toner [2] [Lvl 2 bought post character gen]
Gear[ Spoiler ]
Ingram Smartgun [5P, AP -, BF/FA, R 3/4, 32 ©] [4S AP +2I Gel]
+ Smartlink + Skinlink + Folding stock + Personalised grip + Sound suppressor + Ruthenium polymer coating
+90 Regular rnds + 90 Gel rnds
Ceska Black Scorpion [4P, AP-, SA/BF, R 2/3 35 ©]
+ Smartlink + Skinlink + Folding stock + Foregrip + Personalised grip + Sound suppressor + Ruthenium polymer coating
+35 Capsule rnds + DMSO + Narcojet
Telescoping Staff [(Str/2)+2P, AP -, R 2]
+ Personalised grip
Form-Fitting Body Armour [6/2]
+ Ruthenium polymer coating + Thermal masking [6] + Nonconductivity [3]
Helmet [+1/+2]
+ Ruthenium polymer coating + Visor [Flare compensation, thermographic, vision magnification, camera [4], smartlink] +Respirator [4]
Novatech Airware + Iris Orb OS [3/3/6/3]
+ Hot SIM module + Skinlink
+ Firewall [6] + FTL Matrixware Net Wizard [Analyze 3, Browse 3, Command 3, Edit 2, Purge 3] + Encrypt [3]
Transys Avalon + Custom OS [5,4,6,5]
+ Hot SIM module + Skinlink + Response Enhancer [3]
+Agent Program [5]
+Analyze [6] Ergonomic, Optimised
+Encrypt [5], Reality Filter [5] Ergonomic, Scan [5]
+Stealth [6] Optimised
+Exploit [5] Mute
+Pirated Programs: Browse [5], Command [5], Edit [5], Armour [5], Attack [5], Decrypt [5], Disarm [5], Spoof [5] Mute, Track [5]
+Autosofts: Covert Ops [3], Clearsight [3], Electronic Warfare [3]
+ Tacnet [2] + Facial Recognition [3] + Gait Analysis [3] + Visual Spotter [3]
Mirror Shades [4]
+ Visual enhancement [3]
Audio Buds [3]
+ Audio enhancement [3]
Area jammer [4]
Radio signal scanner [6]
+ Tag eraser
White noise generator [6]
Medkit [4]
Electronics toolkit + Autopicker [6] + Maglock Passkey [4] + Sequencer [4]
Wire cutters + Glass cutter
Flashlight
GPS
Climbing gear + Grapple gun + 200m stealth rope + catalyst stick + Gecko Tape Gloves
FakeSIN [4] Sasha O’Connell [Security Consultant] + Fake licence [4] Electronics gear
+ 2x Weapon licence [4]
Battered Yamaha Growler
2x Tacnet Buddy I
Shiawise Kanmushi (Gecko Tips, Improved Sensor Array Upgrade, Ruthenium Coating)
+Camera [6] Low Light, Thermo, Vision Mag, Ultrasound +Radio Signal Scanner [6] +Motion Sensor
Tacnet Buddy II
MCT Fly-Spy +Camera [6] Low Light, Thermo, Vision Mag, Ultrasound +Radio Signal Scanner [6] +Motion Sensor
Low lifestyle [Student digs, University district – Comforts, Necessities & Neighbourhood - Low, Entertainment & Security – Low + Quiet Neighbourhood - 2600¥/mnth]
Contacts[ Spoiler ]
Aria [L: 5 C: 5]
He-Who-Sees [L: 3 C: 1]
Dr Featherstone [L: 1 C: 3]
Canon [L: 1 C: 3]
Background[ Spoiler ]
Hi, you can call me Silk, although my real name is Susanna, or Ana for short. My life was great until a short time ago... sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself, so I guess I should start with what I look like?
I’m of moderate height, sleight build with dark hair and striking eyes. They tell me I’m a changeling and that I have inherited only some of my mother’s orcish traits. The physical signs are slightly pointed ears and lower canines that any real orc would be ashamed of. Like my Mum I had a late genetic expression and look and feel human (whatever that means these days?). I’ve been told that I pass for a fairly pretty human and I’ve put that to use on occasion when looks have been able to swing things my way. I also don’t appear to age in the same way that an orc would so although I’m in my early twenties I haven’t yet seen the unfortunate decline that some orcs go through about now… in fact I’m not sure where the genetic markers fall and I’m certainly not worrying about it given everything else that’s going on in my life.
And who or what am I? Well like everyone else I’m a product of my background and upbringing but in short I suppose I can say I’m a runner now, barely. They tell me I’m an Artisan Adept, I would say that I see tech in a different way to other people, intuitively and as an integral part of magic rather than something that mundanes have created to replace magic. Hopefully I can use that to keep myself alive long enough to find the truth...
I’m a third gen runner and have been around runners from birth, although Mum tried to ensure I had as normal a life as possible and wasn’t too influenced by the shadows early on. Despite what the trids might have you believe I think that I probably turned out more balanced than most of the other street drek that populate the shadows.
When I was born my Dad was a runner, like Granddad (who probably died in some corp zero zone!), and Mum was working as a surveillance operative for the Feds. I don’t know much of the background of how they met, and it’s too late to ask now, but whilst they supposedly loved each other, it was a Romeo and Juliet relationship doomed by the divide between the shadows and the light. I’ve still got a holo of my Dad, he was a handsome orc from Europe and now I don’t even know if he’s alive or dead, probably dead… I don’t remember him really, just fragments I’ve got from pictures. He left when I was five or so, mum said he wanted to protect us from his life...
The irony is that mum became a runner herself when I was ten after some disagreement with the Bureau that meant she felt she could no longer work for them. She wouldn’t talk about it with me but I overheard things (being a quiet child that nobody notices had its advantages) and I gather that it was something pretty horrendous...probably something that the FBI as the ’good guys’ shouldn’t have been involved in.
I was yanked out of school, we ditched our SINs and disappeared. I guess mum had been prepared for this as we had fake documents and some liberated kit to hand. Rather than settling into a new dull life elsewhere mum began to work the edges of the shadows to make ends meet and to dig the dirt on whatever it was that sent us into hiding in the first place.
For me I was young enough that this was a big adventure...although I missed my friends I was able to sneak contact with them through the matrix. I was tech savvy enough already to hide my back trail (I was more worried about mum finding out than the possible repercussions from darker sources) and so thankfully nothing came of my childish indiscretion. It was also about this time that I began to see the beauty of the code itself and my love affair with the matrix was born and has never left me. My education became what mum could get from pirated edusofts but more and more what I discovered for myself.
Running and hiding coupled with the glory of the net have shaped me and shaped my magic in fundamental ways, whether it would have developed this way if we’d stayed safe in Seattle is anyone’s guess! My awakening came with my expression and puberty and as everything was so confused I’ve never really distinguished between any of them.
I began to remember everything I saw and have an intuitive grasp of how things fitted together. I saw the intricate patterns in the matrix and how these reflected and enhanced what I saw in life. I loved the feel of electronics in my hands, and as I was continually surrounded by the various bits of technological debris that were Mum’s trade I had plenty of opportunity to tinker.
Anyway, back to my story: Mum took, or was given, the handle ‘Mother’ (although not because she was one), and teamed up with a number of people over the next few years. Never anyone for long, she was too principled to work with the majority of the dross that call themselves runners, and she was incapable of hiding her disgust which hardly made for good team mates. She worked as a rigger and in surveillance, counter surveillance.
We bounced around for three to four years, living in an RV to avoid having a permanent and traceable address. We relied on the fake documents and smuggler routes to cross borders, although we stayed in the UCAS for the most part. I remember that mum worked in Boston and some of the other East Coast cities but eventually we drifted back west and found ourselves in Seattle once more. Mum wanted me back in school in preparation for the future and she said that her issues with the Feds had blown over and were no longer relevant (I still don’t know if she managed to dig up sufficient leverage or if the people involved simply disappeared). With some judicious editing of the data trail I went back to being Susanna Waters and was enrolled in school after an extended period abroad.
It was a bit of a jolt to be immersed in normality after so long away but mum convinced me that the social skills were as necessary as the technical ones and that I needed a taste of high school (gods help us all!). I was different and I knew it, and they bloody well made sure I knew it, but it was a proving ground and looking back I was glad of the experience even if it was shitty at the time. Another effect was to isolate me from mum’s continuing shadow work...and this was probably the real intention as I know that she didn’t want me to follow in her footsteps.
Mum met Bale on a trip to the UK (I travelled on a separate commercial flight) and she had finally found a runner that lived up to her expectations. As a former special forces soldier and combat mage he exhibited a truly British display of honour, respect and good manners. A lot was put on for other people’s benefit, and he had a wicked sense of dry humour, but they clicked. They spend two years putting together a team that suited them and Balefire was born.
I gather that they were able to pick and choose their runs, because of both their professionalism and skill set. I would have given anything at the time to be more involved but mum was having none of it...she already felt that I knew too much about what they did. Escapade fulfilled the role that I used to fantasise about doing, covert op and B&E man, and Aria covered the matrix aspects of their work. Although mum disapproved I became friends with Aria and we frequently met up in the matrix... Funny to think that we’ve never met in the flesh despite her being the closest thing to a sister I could hope for. That’s a statement on the world if there ever was one!
My innate aptitude for tech meant that when the time came Mum insisted that I get a proper college education and as I had a valid SIN once more it was an opportunity to push myself and get an interview at Harvard to study applied matrix technologies and electrical engineering. There was just the small matter of paying for it all! Balefire may have been a team capable of pulling in the high end jobs but they were choosy enough that they weren’t exactly rolling in nuyen. At mum’s behest Aria approached NeoNet indirectly and I guess she shunted my name up the lists that the head hunters browse through (but avoiding any false modesty I expect it was probably in there somewhere anyway, my grades were good and I have a knack that my fellow students can’t touch). Their PULSE subsidiary eventually agreed to sponsor my course and although there were some reservations about taking a corps’ money so blatantly we figured in the end that it could serve our purposes in a ‘hide in plain sight’ kind of way (Although mum was always excruciatingly careful that nothing could link her shadowrunning back to me or our family unit paranoia was inevitably a way of life to a certain degree). I can honestly say that I excelled at my studies and I’m not ashamed to say that I intend to use what I’ve been taught to further my goals in the shadows.
It was hard being away from mum and missing out on the goings on in Seattle but this was another way of keeping me safe and giving me an opportunity to forge my own path without being influenced by the shadows.
I pushed myself harder than my contemporaries because I love it. I soaked up all the knowledge they could give me and asked for more. I’m not saying it was easy, far from it, whilst I remember everything I still need to be able to process all that information... I asked Aria to help me get some ‘ware (I knew mum would be unlikely to agree), something that wouldn’t damage my magic too much. She cautioned me that it might be considered an unfair advantage over my peers (my magic already set me apart) but I didn’t care. In the end I won her round and she brought me back to Seattle to an off grid supplier where the ‘ware wouldn’t need to be recorded. We went to this weird Stillwater place on the far side of Redmond and they hooked me up.
A month in a bed and suddenly I was smarter than before and needed less sleep...and I could finally see the ‘trix without the bloody trodes. Purists would probably say I could have achieved this with my natural magical talents but then I’ve never been afraid of tech and I felt better and stronger and even more in tune with my gift. Aria handled the payment side of things, although they were more interested in my coding than cash and I’ve been working to pay off the debt (since what happened that debt has changed somewhat...)
And so I was back at uni, living the student life of parties contrasted with excessively hard study...
…And then it all went bad when things seemed so perfect. August 2070… I don’t yet know the full story behind what happened, although I’m determined to find out, but someone targeted Balefire for something they had done or for some other reason lost in the shadows…and mum was killed…I found her in a pool of her own cold blood…I’m sorry, it’s still painful to think about…
…So here I am. The last few months have been rough, I’d slowly slipped into a despondent state and began getting more and more behind on my college work. Concerned emails began coming in from my sponsors and I wasn’t able to tell them anything...how could I tell them my mother was a runner and she was gunned down in her own home whilst browsing the matrix? In the end we found another shooting and attached my mum’s details to it...something more prosaic to hide what really happened...I hate it but there’s no choice... They offered me counselling but I’ve been afraid to go. I’m hanging on by my fingernails and some corp shrink judging whether I am profitable or not is likely to send me over the edge!
I needed to get back on track, but whenever I thought about doing anything about it things seemed to get on top of me. Aria has pulled me along and stopped me from sinking too low but I knew this was something I needed to deal with myself. The pain is less now and has being replaced with a burning desire to find out exactly what happened to my mum, to Balefire and most importantly why!
For the last few months I’ve been snooping around trying to find leads. So far to no avail, whoever it was has covered their tracks too well but I know that they were the same ones who hit Stillwater and that the events can’t be unconnected. I came back to Seattle at the beginning of the year and have been back and forth since. I’ve been hooking up with mum’s old contacts and anyone who can teach me the skills I’ll need to survive out here. I got a job in a coffee shop for the moment to give me a reason to stay over in Seattle and meanwhile I’ve even done a couple of solo shadow jobs to bolster my confidence and help pay for the information I’ll need. I will find them, whoever they are...
Contacts
*Indicates one of Mother’s past associates [Metatype & Archetype – likely meeting location]
Aria * [Information Broker/Hacker – matrix meets only] [L:5 C:5]
Aria is my sanity, which is ironic as she appears on the matrix as a glowing ten year old girl with a mischievous streak as wide as the Aztechnology pyramid! On the face of it she pretends to avoid responsibility but she looks after her friends and I’m very glad to be one of them. She was Balefire’s hacker and only just escaped the destruction that was rained down on us. She has withdrawn herself from the active shadows but keeps her ear to the ground and delights in dredging up obscure information and secrets. She acts as my agent in dealings with fixers and keeps an eye out over me. We’ve never actually met in the flesh but I only occasionally regret that – she is a creature of the matrix and that is her domain.
GM Info
A source of info or a go-between. Always interested in new bits of data. She has bailed out Silk in the past, running interference if she was in unforeseen trouble, similar to ‘Erased’
She is an elven technomancer of considerable power
Never meets in the flesh
She has set herself up as a spider in a web of contacts to gather and process info
Appearance: her icon is of a young child with very long flowing hair (refer to my character artwork)
Dr Featherstone [Human transhumanist doctor – Stillwater, Redmond] [L:1 C:3]
Doctor Featherstone is the one who implanted my ‘ware back in ’68. She’s a skilled biotechnologist and thankfully she survived the devastating attack on the community in ’70. Although much of their biolab was destroyed they are still able to provide access to some implants sourced from who knows where.
GM Info
Source of corporate info in the biotech/cyber fields and computer science. Also able to source and implant ‘ware.
Appearance: tired lady in her mid-forties, old but impeccably clean lab coat
He-Who-Sees-Within [Human shaman – edge of Redmond] [L:4 C:1]
He-Who-Sees is a snake shaman, part time runner and secrets gatherer and most importantly a gifted healer. Sadly the last one is reason I see most of him now. He helped me out when I first stepped in to the shadows and his skills have kept me out of the fire several times.
GM Info
A healer and someone to talk things through with. Very occasionally back up on a run. Street level information
Appearance: Tatty but clean street gear, greying goatee and tied back long hair
Cannon * [Human merc / tech dealer – back of his travelling tech haven] [L:1 C:3]
Uncle Canon was a teammate of mum’s when I was a kid and it was him that persuaded mum I should be able to shoot! We lost touch after mum started Balefire and I gather he stopped running and took over Bishop’s travelling tech emporium. He runs around in a semi with enough tech for sale in the back to land him in all sorts of strife if the wrong people caught up with him. He is justifiably paranoid about meeting and it is always on his terms but he was the one who fixed me up with most of my gear when I got back to Seattle.
GM Info
Source of technology and weapons, usually less than legal
Appearance: aged veteran fighter with military buzz cut and clipped way of speaking