I was hoping to hear from Evil Ujio before I posted a character, but he's burning a hole in my pocket...
Kluge
Real Name: Timothy Silstrom
Concept: Cybernetic Hacker
Known Relatives: Victor and Mary Silstrom, parents.
Birthplace: Belle Reve, California (suburb of then San Francisco).
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 165 lbs
Eyes: Green
Hair: Bald/Blond
Sex: Male
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Age: 28
Quote: “There’s two ways to do this: right and caught. Which do you prefer?”
Even before the war, The Burbs were a mind-numbing place. The pressures of conformity, of enormous exterior threat (whether real or perceived), and the demands of corporate life all led to intolerance for the exceptional.
Unfortunately, Timothy Silstrom was born exceptional. Possessed of genius I.Q. and an eidetic memory, he was eager and attentive as a small child, but quickly outgrew the school system. His boredom and frustration led to acting out, which led to misdiagnosis, which led to medication.
Timothy hated it. Even as a small child, he could feel the difference the drugs made, how they slowed him down. Everyone was happy with the “new” Tim. His teachers raved about how good he was, and how well he fit in. His parents were able to go back to their careers, secure in the knowledge that their son was “fixed.”
It didn’t take Tim long to figure out how to ditch the meds and fake it while in school. He delved deeper and deeper into electronics, computing, and cyberspace: the only environments left that could constantly expand to challenge his intellect. He let his aptitude show enough so that his parents and teachers encouraged his technological journey, all the while thinking they were encouraging a future engineer; a future employee, and a future cog.
Far from it, Timothy’s first criminal endeavor was selling the medication he wasn’t taking anymore. It allowed him to buy better equipment than the embarrassingly slow deck his parents gave him. His hardware engineering talents nearly kept pace with his computing skills.
Youth, boredom, and talent create a dangerous mix. A poke here, a prod there, and next thing you know, you’re up to your eyeballs in a restricted system. Ok, so it’s not the first, but this one is designed and administered by AI smarter than you and four times as experienced.
And it’s tracking back to you, despite all of your piggybacking, your connection bouncing, and your net-born anonymity.
By the time Tim severed the connection he knew he was hosed. The AI didn’t get any identifiers directly, but it got close enough that any real investigation would get them. There would be a real investigation, and even if he dumped everything but his dummy system (fat chance), they’d still know enough to watch him.
So Tim ran. Out of the Burbs (easy enough, Burb kids slum all the time), and into the Gray. He’d left a suicide note at home (boy those meds were so depressing, and the two-career parents weren’t around enough to credibly testify to his real mood), and tossed his backpack off the described bridge, somewhere he knew it would snag downstream.
So Tim’s been in the Gray ever since. He worked for whoever would pay, and protect him. He’s done jobs he’s not proud of, some in the Water Margin and especially during the war, but he knows two things keep him alive: not being where the bullet hits, and making himself indispensable. Most of the last dozen years have been spent in the Water Margin district, which (once he learned a language or two) he finds preferable to the Gray.
To increase his abilities, Tim been enhanced (illegally, but if you work for the right people…) with a cybernetic sub-processor which increases his mental abilities into the range of the AI he so often competes with. Included with the enhancement is a multiple protocol data-jack that allows him to plug directly into nearly any system.
Plugged into his hands-free cellular transceiver, Tim can surf the Citynet from virtually anywhere in the city without the need for clunky things like PDA’s or, god forbid, a laptop.
Frequently, his hands are fiddling with the numerous low-tech items that he keeps in a multi-pocket vest. His talent for making useful devices out of this seemingly useless collection of odds and ends has given him his alias, Kluge.
Description:
Kluge is in his late twenties, and although life in the Water Margin has toughened him up a little, and definitely keeps him spry, he’s still mostly just a kid from the Burbs. He is of average height and weight. He keeps his head clean-shaven, and wears mostly hard-toed boots, jeans, and t-shirts under a many-pocketed black vest. His eyebrows are light blond, and his eyes a bright green.
Personality:
Kluge, while friendly, is an eclectic individual like the devices he makes, and his immediate grasp of ideas and concepts (hence his wandering attention) can make him seem flighty or distracted, but his concentration is there when needed. He is hard of hearing due to the demands of his illegal enhancement. He is fine in conversation, but has learned to always keep one eye out because his ears aren’t so good at distance. Due to his experiences growing up, he has an extreme dislike for the Burbs and anyone who supports these pocket societies. He also has an extreme soft spot for any kids from the Burbs, and even though he’s been taken advantage of on more than one occasion, he’s still inclined to give Burb kids the benefit of the doubt in nearly any situation. While most of the city sees them as pampered brats, Kluge knows the truth: they are bred for slavery.
KLUGE
PL5; Init: +3 (dex); DEF: 16 (+2 base, +3 dex, +1 dodge feat), 12 flat-footed, Mental 17 (+2 base, +5 wis); SPD: 30ft; ATK: Melee +2 (unarmed +0S), +5 ranged; SV: DMG +1, FORT +1, REF +5, WILL +7; STR 10, DEX 16, CON 12, INT 20, WIS 20, CHA 10
HERO POINTS: 4 (3 pl, 1 feat)
SKILLS: Computers +18/8, Craft: Electronics +13/5, Disable Dev +13/1, Knowledge: Cyberspace +9/1, Century City +9/1, Open Lock +10/5, Profession: Hacker +10/5, Repair +13/1, Spot +10/5.
FEATS: Dodge [+1 def, or +2 def to one opponent], Evasion [Use Ref save instead of Dmg save], Iron Will, Hero's Luck [+1 Hero point], Lightning Reflexes, Photographic Memory [Recall anything seen/read/experienced]
POWERS: Cybernetic Sub-Processor [Super-Intelligence +3 , Source: Super-Science]; Extra: Multi-protocol Datajack [Datalink +2, Source: Super-Science] Cost: 3pp/rank, 8pp total
EQUIPMENT: "Tech-vest" [Gadgets +5, Source: Super-Science] Cost: 1pp/rank, 5pp total; Cellular Transceiver [Super Feats: Radio Hearing and Transmission, Flaw: Device, Source: Super Science] Cost: 1pp each, total 2pp.
WEAKNESSES: Quirk [moderate] - Burb anarchist, soft spot for burb kids. Disabled [minor] - Hard of hearing (double range penalties on listen checks). Total: -7pp
Abilities 28, Combat 10, Skills 10, Feats 12, Powers 8, Equipment 7, Weakness -7, Total 75pp