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Mac

Attributes

Equipment / Gear Combat / Skills
  • Reaction = 5
  • Initiative = 1
  • CombatPool = 7
  • Karmapool = 1
  • Goodkarma = 1
  • Cyberware = None
  • Nickname = Mac
  • Race/Occupation = Human/Freelance goodguy
  • Weapons = brain
  • Armor = Leather Jacket
  • Gender = Male Character-skills   
  • Car B/R 4   
  • Computer 4   
  • ComputerB/R 6   
  • Demolitions/Improvised 5/7   
  • Electronics 6   
  • Electronics B/R 6   
  • Laser Weapons B/R 4   
  • Unarmed Combat 3   
  • Athletics 4   
  • Negotiation 4   
  • Car 3
    Knowledge-skills

      

  • Chemistry 5   
  • Enginering 5   
  • Physics 5   
  • Jury Rig 6   
  • Westerns 5   
  • Hockey 4   
  • English 6         R/W 3  
  • Manderin Chinese 3         R/W 1
    • Background/Description         January 15, 2031... What a date to remember huh? It's pretty bland really, at least to most people. To me, well the two most important things happened on that day in history. First, I was born. Yep chummers, that right there is my birthday so next time I'll be expecting a present, maybe a new Hockey stick, or if you can find some old John Wayne memorabilia (He was a western star in the 20th). Anyway, the second thing is that my mom died on that day. I guess I miss her, but then I never really met her except in memories my dad would relate to me. I do feel like I'm to blame sometimes, that if I had never been born then my mom would have survived, but there isn't to much use dwelling on a subject like that is there? I guess your wondering how in this day and age someone can die from childbirth. Well when you live Fifty miles outside Seattle in a little town called Collins where the only medical attention you can get is a half-drunk doctor, well, maybe you'll see it can still happen. I was christened (and I can't believe I'm telling you this) 'Francis Arnold MacKay'... Pretty bad huh? That's why I've stuck with just being called MacKay, or Mac sometimes. I don't know what my parents where thinking with that name, I guess they just wanted me to stand out... well I guess if you stick me in a group of Trolls and Orks and Elves and Dwarves, and people who have Cyber-arms and limbs and every other thing other the sun... The most average looking guy kinda stands out (And with a name like Francis it's a sure thing). And yeah I'm average, 5'10", 155, blond hair, white skin, if I had blue eyes instead of brown I would be the all American boy (Read some of the old paper books and you'll get that one).                 But I don't mind being average, it's served me well most of the time, and in what I do now a days I don't really want to stand out. But back at Collins I was a stand out, "smartest kid in the world" they used to call me, or "the human sponge". You see I like to learn stuff, I used to take things apart to see how they worked and put them back together... occasionally I would put them back together better then when I had taken them apart. Sometimes I would take parts from different things and put them together to make something new. I was always curious as to how things worked... I remember the day me and a bunch of my friends got a hold of Bobbie's' fathers' gun... some generic brand low quality pistol. I couldn't wait to take it apart and see what makes it tick... or go bang as it was. See I got introduced to westerns when I was young and I swore to myself I would be a cowboy when I grew up, and now I got to play with a real pistol just like John Wayne and Will Rogers (Once again, old flat screen movies, you gotta look back to the classics to find the good stuff). So me, Bobbie, and a few of the other guys all crowded around and old Oak tree out near Jesup creek and Bobbie gave me the gun... I was only holding it for a second when... I mean just for a second I didn't put my finger on the trigger or anything... it just went off... and when the smoke cleared and I stopped being in shock... I looked down and there was Bobbie, with a bullet in his head... I blacked out after that, and not a little black out, three months worth of time lost. My father said I was like and autistic boy, I would move and act, but I wouldn't speak or live. When I finally came around Bobbie had already been in the ground for those three months. As much as I loved John Wayne, I realized I love my friends and family more, I vowed never to use another gun, and in 16 years I haven't.                 After the whole incident with Bobbie I became a bit of a loner in my hometown, I spent more time in the flatlands and the tree's then I did at home, and I grew very attached to the outdoors. My father didn't seem to mind, after my mom died he had retracted in on himself, and even though I knew he loved me more then anything else, he could never show it, he just threw himself into his work is all. I loved Nature like it was a second mother to me, I took care of it and it would take care of me. All you have to do is be observant and nature will provide food and water. It was around those times that I was spend more time camping by myself that my dad gave me my most valued possession to date: My certified 1995 Limited edition Swiss Army knife with 12 functions. I still have and use it to this day, really it's one of the most constant reminders of my father and where I come from... my most cherished possession.                 Even with all the camping I did high school was a breeze. I was prepared to find a job in town, maybe start my own fix-it shop or something when my dad told me I should pursue an education and go on to a college. When he told me this he gave me my first present, a SIN, well a fake one he had bought on a trip up to Seattle. You see I don't actually have a SIN, having been born in a rural town and having my mother killed by my birth, I was never registered. Then, living in such a small town it never really came up, it turns out most of the people in Collins don't have SIN's, I was just like everyone else in town when it came to that respect. I sent scholarship applications into the colleges I wanted to go to, using the forged SIN, and thanks to high scores on the GSIT (General Scholastic Intelligence Test) I was not only accepted into every college I tried for, I was also given enough scholarship money to virtually retire. I finally settled on going to SSTS (The Seattle School of Technical Studies) it was the premiere place to learn the type of stuff I had been doing all along. Physics, Chemistry, Electronics, and the applications of them in general use. I mean, did you know that rubbing alcohol, turpentine, and dry ice would make a combination smoke screen and knockout gas? Really, go ahead and try, I'll wait for you to wake up. It was one of the best times of my life those first three years, I discovered so much I never knew and even things I didn't know about nature... also learning how our valuable wildlife preserves are still being destroyed, I'm really going to have to put a stop to that some day... But like I said, they were a good three years, then on the forth year my life came crumbling around me. On April 27, 2051, I received word from the coroner at Collins that my dad had been struck by Nissan Jackrabbit, his spine had been crushed, but he had still been alive when they got him to the hospital... but seeing as how it was to far away from nearest facilities that could handle that type of injury he died before a cyber spine, or a vat grown one could be acquired and properly installed. It's just as well really, not that my dad died, I hate that he was my last living relative other then some drunk down in Denver who is my Mother's father. No it's good because my dad hated the thought of having a piece of metal inside him, or something grown in a vat connected to his body, it disgusts him as much as it disgusts me. So it's better that he died, then live with contempt for what he was.                 My father's death threw me into a dark depression, my grades plummeted and I lost my scholarships, I sulked and felt sorry for myself for a few months. I spent all my time cursing life and I lost my faith in church and the gods. I was about to give up on life and live on the streets when I was hit by a Taxicab. Yeah I know it sounds bad, but it was probably the best thing to ever happen to me, because in that Taxi cab was an Orc named Jack Dalton, the schemer, the dreamer, and the all-around good guy who will get you into more trouble then you thought possible. I think Jack was dropped on his head as a child and it knocked the common since right out of him, every two-bit plot, every story of buried treasure or lost shipments of tech, every crazy idea that ever passed by this guy sounded like a gold to Jack. As soon as he hit me with his cab, (the one he not only won in a card game, but lost to a random Bazooka mishap) he hopped out and realized the best way to get out of a lawsuit would be to become best friends with me (or at least I think that's what went through his head). Well Jack took me in and sat me down and gave me a good talking to about how I should stop feeling sorry for myself and stop disappointing my father, That I should get back up on that horse and try again. He also mentioned the fact that I could drive his cab at night to make some Nuyen and he would only take 20% off the top, and as stupid as it sounds now, it was a great deal back then.                 I spent most of my nights driving people around Seattle, or at least that's what I did when Jack didn't drag me off on another hair-brained scheme. Jack tried every get rich quick plan in the book, from opening his own airline to finding that lost magical artifact in the jungles of Peru. And Jack always wanted to use magic when we were implementing one of his cracked ideas. Personally I don't understand magic and in a way it scares me, no one should have that much power unless they will use it for good, and it never seems that they will. Anyway, Jack always wanted to use magic although he didn't have a magic working bone in his body. He would study books, go to sages, even drink every two-bit potion promised by a snake-oil salesman and still he couldn't get a spark. I can't tell you how many times we have nearly gotten killed because my buddy Jack wanted to use a new spell he had just "Learned".                 It was three months later, Jack was holed up in the hospital with two broken legs (don't ask), and I was doing the duties in the cab. I had just taken a fare when a madman pulled a gun and was about to shoot the woman I had just picked up. I hit the pedal and slotted out of there faster then a go-ganger gets implants, after we swerved around in traffic for a while the woman thanked me and asked me to drop her off at a warehouse on the eastside. I drop her off and before I can even count how much she gave me for a tip I see the same madman who had pulled the gun on her back when I picked her up. He's sneaking up to where she entered the building, well I couldn't let something like that happen so I leaped out of the cab and took the madman down in a flying tackle. After he punched me in the jaw, pinned me to the ground, and put his pistol to my face, he asked me what in the hell I thought I was doing interfering with his investigation. It turns out this Dwarf who took me down in less time it take most people to spit was a primary investigator for the "Unicorn Foundation" a privately funded research and investigation corporation (Think CIA, meets A-Team). It also turns out the young lady I had just saved was an international terrorist with a psychotic streak. For the next two hours I had to drive this Pete Thornside guy around in a massive chase for this terrorist just to make amends enough not to get lock-up myself. The whole thing finally ended with a mishap with a bazooka... poor Jack.                 After Jack got out of the hospital for stress, Pete showed up again saying the terrorist, Violet-Red, was on the loose and that I should watch my back because she had a vindictive streak (the amount of known attempts on my life from Violet stands at 6 and since she is still at large it will probably grow). Pete also said he was impressed with the way I handled myself before and with the jury-rigged automatic accelerator I had hooked up (it has to do with the Bazooka mishap). He said that the Unicorn Foundation could use a guy like me and that it could be my chance to save the world... or at least a little chunk of it. Since I was sure Jack needed a few more months to simmer over what happened I took the job. Pete turned out to be one of the founders of the Unicorn Foundation and we soon grew to be very close friends. I ended up doing more work akin to chasing terrorist around the world, or infiltrating slave rings, or... well you get the idea, it wasn't the work I had originally planned on but it was good none-the-less.                 I spent eight years with the Unicorn foundation, over the course of those years I think I've done good in the world. I've saved lives and had my own life saved countless times. I've helped to preserve forest and jungle land that the big corps were trying the strip for lumber and minerals, I've even fallen in love with a government prisoner. Ok that last one doesn't really have anything to do with me being in the Unicorn foundation, but if I hadn't been I wouldn't have met Phoung Li. The instituted government of the Tai Lan district of China for holding a protest rally was holding her. I was sent there by the Unicorn Foundation to help negotiate a land preserve treaty with the instituted government when I was taken hostage by the revolutionary group Phoung was actually a part of. But they were like me, Pacifist who wouldn't hurt the innocent or those not involved (Heck they wouldn't hurt those who were involved, it was a peaceful protest). One of there members spoke English and he explained their cause and why they had thought it necessary to hold me hostage (He also explained that I was in no real danger and that they where only bluffing the government). I was sympathetic to their cause but I knew the government wouldn't give in just because they took me hostage. I told them I would free Phoung Li if they allowed me to. I guess they never really wanted me as a hostage because they agreed and I was set free. I don't know why I didn't just go back to the Unicorn Foundation, or to the local government, I guess I just can't do something I know is wrong. Using information Phoung's group had given me I developed a complicated plan to free her as well as get the treaty signed... Like all complicated plans if fell flat. I was actually able to survive the encounter, get the treaty signed and rescue Phoung by thinking on my feet like I always end up doing (I don't even know why I bother making plans anymore).                 I took Phoung Li back to Seattle with me, not only was it the only place I could think of at the time where she would be safe from her government, but I also thought she was very attractive. Phoung Li stayed with me for three years, we became lovers and through her I became an active person in many, many charities. Of course through me she came to love westerns and a good hockey game. On September 12, 2055 I came home from an assignment to find Phoung Li gone with her stuff and a note telling me that I was a wonderer who wasn't ready to settle down yet and so it would only hurt me to find out what was happening to her (I never did find out what that meant). I have never been in love with someone like that since. A couple of years ago I tried to find out what happened to her, see if maybe she would come back to me yet. She had been shot by the same government that had imprisoned her six months before I had gone looking for her, the only other info I could find was that she had a child, so she must have continued with her life and gotten married... I still miss her sometimes.                 I worked at the Unicorn Foundation until only recently. You see, Pete is growing old now, and two of the other five founders have passed away, The foundation could find less and less causes to fight for, and less and less funding from it's members. On October 6, 2059, the Unicorn Foundation was broken up.                 Now being jobless, I called up Jack to see if he had any ideas on what I should do, he told me that he new a guy, who new a guy, who could set me up with a job that was perfect for me. I finally agreed to this meeting and the next day I was introduced to Mr. Johnson and the world of Shadow running. I have no clue as to how Jack's friend of a friend knew this guy, but he set me up with my first mission, and it was one that had a purpose, it was like being back at the Unicorn Foundation... So I'm still doing it... Sure I would like to stop sooner or later and start a family, but there are so many people out there that need help, and while I can't do everything, maybe I can make a lasting mark for good.