EXILE
Written by: Null Kit
Never have I had to revise an article in this cache so many times, but considering the circumstances behind the individual known as EXILE I believe I can be forgiven in this context. EXILE (all-caps mandatory) is a metasapient AI, a self-aware digital construct residing entirely within the matrix. By all availible metrics they are considered metasapient - understandable, considering its purported origins - and operates under a set of ethics that can be understood by metahumanity, if not necesarilly shared. Their current goals and motivations however, remain as inscrutible as the origin of the synthetic inteligence themselves. EXILE considers themselves a Shadowrunner, and offers their talents to any group within the Raleigh area in exchange for most of the usual disburseements and favors expected from others of our ilk, as well as the occasional request for obscure and esoteric information without any obvious connection to EXILE themselves or even eachother. Analytical and unfettered by the trappings of biological impulse and sentiment, EXILE eschews the subtlety of other Deckers in favor for unrelenting force, obliterating any matrix-constructs that offend or no longer hold their interest with ruthless precision, and retaliating against percieved aggressors with a degree of cruelty seldom matched by their metahuman counterparts. I consider myself privileged to have met them.Physical Description
General Physical Condition
EXILE's current physical host is within the confines of a Shiawase-Kurabokko Hisho anthroform drone. The specifications of which are beyond my knowledge of drone-technology, and all I know as of yet is that it has been modified to an unknown degree.
Not as unknown as you think, dearie! I got called in as a favor to help install some of those mods, and while I've been told not to spill the beans over what exactly I've found in there, I can say that a lot of NuYen's been put into upgrades to structural upgrades and system redundancies. Can't blame the AI, really.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
EXILE claims to have emerged into the Matrix in early 2075, March 15th to be precise. On that day, a shadowrunning-group by the name of the 'Second Chancers' operating provisionally within Columbia SC, was lured into a sting-operation by Lone Star Security Services, and suffered a single casualty: a Decker known as Pariah, real name Sina Brandt, who was caught out of cover and shot multiple times in the abdomen. Owing to the ferocity of the police-raid, the remaining Second Chancers were forced to leave without their ally, who was considered KIA.
Who the hell leaves one of their own behind like that? Ride together, die together, that's how it should be.
Look, we all love the idea of 'no man left behind', but sometimes that's just not happening. I know I'd rather be left for dead than get all my friends flatlined running back for me.Why is this event relevant? When the then-nameless AI emerged, the first thing they claimed to have done was approach Auditor, the former leader of the then-disbanded group and claim that they were Sina Brandt. Auditor was understandably skeptical of the claim, but soon came to believe the AI when they rattled off a number of facts about Pariah that only a friend as close as Auditor would ever know. The AI claimed that before her death, Pariah connected to the Matrix through her damaged cyberdeck and dove deep into the so-called Foundations, the perilous frontiers of the digital world, and that because of that her consciousness somehow survived as an AI based on her own mind - a so-called 'E-Ghost' - when her physical body died. Auditor was convinced, and welcomed back his best friend. Only, there was a slight discrepancy with this story: Pariah wasn't dead. Pariah was reported dead, but had actually been recovered and resuscitated from the brink of death by Lone Star's in-house medical staff. In captivity, Pariah was given the opportunity to inform the private police on the identity of her former allies in exchange for a reduced sentence and witness protection. For at least a year, she had been living under the new name of Paige Erickson, having taken the deal. The shadows came to know of this treachery in the aftermath of Lone Star's informed retaliation on the remaining Second Chancers. Auditor and the AI calling themselves "Pariah" survived by virtue of unchecked paranoia, and came to know of the truth in a retaliatory datasteal to discover who had sold them out. The revelation was quite shocking for Auditor, who had grown comfortable with the thought of his companion surviving death through the Matrix, but it was even more of a shock for the AI themselves, who seemed fully convinced they really were Pariah, even under intense interrogation. For a great deal of time, the both of them were confused and despondent, and the AI grew increasingly distant and detached from metahumanity in the aftermath of the revelation that shattered their sense of self. Eventually, Auditor threw a substantial amount of his remaining money into locating 'Paige Erickson' and procuring a team of shadowrunners to deliver well-deserved retribution upon her. He was understandably skeptical when the AI formerly known as Pariah requested to participate, but he simply couldn't ignore the advantage of the AI, despite not being Pariah, still posessing her memories and skills, and so he agreed to bring them along, under the new self-chosen alias of EXILE. The run was an overwhelming success: Not only had they discovered Pariah's new abode - a suburb within Raleigh, North Carolina - but they had also acquired a means of entering the house without alerting nearby posted Lone Star agents.
Explain it like I'm five: Why were witness-protection still keeping her alive, let-alone protected?
Speaking from experience on the other end of things, if I were in Pariah's position I'd hold off on telling the authorities absolutely everything until I know for sure I'm no longer in danger. Soon as you're no longer useful as an informant you'll lose special protection and just get dumped into general witness protection, so you might as well milk it for all it's worth.'Paige' was in VR at the time, seeking new employment for her new identity, when Auditor and EXILE made themselves known. Predictably, the rat once known as Pariah first denied her involvement in the capture and death of their former comrades, then pleaded for her life when she discovered her virtual panic-button had been hacked and disabled. Surprisingly, it wasn't Auditor but EXILE who finally committed to executing Paige, by way of frying her synapses once it became apparent that despite everything, Auditor was hesitant to kill someone he'd considered to be his closest friend. Afterwards, EXILE decided to stay within Raleigh, having seemingly accepted that they were not Pariah and given a generous payout from Auditor to start over. Despite casting off the claims of being an E-ghost, they continued to live the life of a Shadowrunner, evidentally having found a new purpose for their existence. Your guess is as good as mine as to where this will lead.
Personality Characteristics
Savvies & Ineptitudes
To nobody's surprise, EXILE is a hacker of superlative competance, drawing both on its innate ability as an AI and what few memories and skills it chose to keep after shedding its former identity to both cataclysmic and profitable ends, and showing a growing ability in the operation of Drone platforms, both as a means of physical conveyance and towards achieving whatever goals they have been assigned.
Whilst EXILE is by no means incapable in combat however, it can't be ignored that their passion far outweighs their aptitude and patience. Coupled with their growing distance from metahuman sociality and subsequent atrophy of social-skills, it is certainly within the best interest of any employer to keep them focussed on their specialisation.
Wealth & Financial state
The exact measure of EXILE's wealth is unknown, but clearly sufficient to accomodate both the rental of a mid-end apartment residence, the necesarry upkeep of multiple drone-platforms and an ongoing subscription to the Oak City Local-Grid.
Not to mention making a pretty generous offer of Nuyen in exchange for administrator access to this here DataCache. Maybe some other day...
P̴l̴e̸a̴s̵e̶ inform me when ̶y̶o̵u̶ have decided what day that will be.
Well Null Kit swears up and down he hasn't told you how to access this cache and he doesn't lie when I've got a shotgun under his chin, so fuck me running.
Alignment
True Neutral
Current Location
Year of Birth
2075
5 Years old
Birthplace
Columbia, South Carolina
Children
Current Residence
Westron Apartments, Raleigh NC
Gender
N/A
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