CHARACTER: Alfonse Camus / Hex
Apr 26, 2018 14:51:58 GMT -8
Post by Bill Roper on Apr 26, 2018 14:51:58 GMT -8
BACKSTORY
Alfonse Camus grew up in the rough part of town. His parents and older brother Del were among the desperate citizenry just trying to make it to the next day and hold on to what little they had. They lived in the REAL real world where the daily struggle for food, water, any kind of valuable resource quickly devolved into survival of the fittest. Alfonse was at an additional disadvantage since he was confined to a wheelchair thanks to the congenital disease that his family didn't have the resources to pay for even the lowest grade cyber enhancements, much less restorative actual gene therapy. Del did his best to protect his younger brother from the predator gangs, and Alfonse dedicated himself to long hours of study so that he could get a good enough job to move his family out of the slums.
Alfonse received a "lottery scholarship" from the Macromedia Conglomerate. He was admitted into their corporate university after being randomly chosen from a pool of "underprivileged achievers" that passed a series of requirement tests. These programs were basically tax shelters for megacorps, but it represented a chance he wouldn't otherwise have. During his second year in the program, he received word that Del was killed in a drive-by shooting. With no one to help his aging parents keep their heads above water financially, Alfonse had to abandon his scholastic pursuits and return home to contribute in any way he could.
The years passed, and Alfonse slowly kept trying to better himself through devouring any information to which he could gain free or cheap access via The Zone. He spent every possible moment there that the could, and when his parents died, he retreated into the digital world. It was more than escape or a thirst for knowledge. In the Zone, even though he couldn't afford anything more than the standard Avatar, he could walk. And that sense of freedom - of being unbound - was everything.
Alfonse also never stopped tinkering with the concepts he studied at university. He wasn't one of the geniuses there, but he was a dogged worker that simply didn't give up. After close to two decades of researching, experimenting, and using scrounged and questionably procured components, Alfonse built a prototype NetJack that would allow him to enter the Zone anonymously from just about anywhere. And it worked. And with this success came the realization that he could access areas and expand his sense of freedom as he could assume a persona that was untraceable both in the Zone and meat space.
Alfonse fell in with the less savory element in the Zone, spending more and more time within the Darknet. He was running messages and digital goods that required a high degree of discretion, making his untraceability a valuable asset. He met a contractor in the guise of a small, silvery spider, that got better paying jobs in exchange for a finders fee. And that was fine with Alfonse since he didn't have those contacts on his own. His agent, known as Mr. Arachnos, offered to get him solo work and also chances to go for even bigger scores by working with a team. He also encouraged him to take on a persona - something that would attract better paying clientele - and Hex was born.
The courier missions turned into intelligence gathering, body guarding, and eventually Hex was offered a "shut down" contract. Basically, take out an avatar so that it can never log back into the Zone.
This was a turning point in his life, but by now the money was getting too good and Alfonse was applying his dogged wok ethic to making the money he needed to pay his not insubstantial medical expenses and one day replace his useless meat space legs with top-of-the-line cybernetic replacements. He needed a better avatar with exceptional gear. So he took the job. And then another. And another.
At first it was surreal. Watching that first target slowly dissolve into component data was almost like playing a video game. Sure, everyone warned you that if your avatar died in the Zone, you died in meat space - but they used to say the same thing about dying in your dreams. Deep down Alfonse knows exactly what he's doing, but he's successfully lived in the grey areas of denial and doubt. Besides, if it isn't him doing it, it's gong to be someone else - and he needs the money for a real reason, not just luxury or the thrill of it all. And Alfonse follows a code that ensures a quick, respectful shut down that is precise in its targeting. Its the professional way to do this. Its not called a work ethic for nothing...