Kei

Kei

Chicago State Hospital Head of Matrix Security
"If this bores me again…"
"Back to Dragonball Season One, English Dub, you owe me."
"A binge night of Parasyte. With your whole family. In costume."
Contact Owner	EnigmaticOxygen
Owner's Discord Name	Keeper M#0043
Connection	5
Public Contact?	Yes
Archetype	Legwork
Location	Chicago State Hospital, Chicago
Metatype	Elf
Gender	Male
Awakened/Emerged	Emerged
Age	36
Preferred Payment Method	Barter (Hobby/Vice Items)
Hobbies/Vice	Resonance Information, Anime
Personal Life	None of Your Damn Business
Faction	ShadowHaven
Aspects	Pro-Techno Crusader Deep-Entrenched Grudge At Arm's Length Rambling Study Iterative Collaboration Sourcerer Delphi Follower We Are Legion Way of the Weeb Technotribesman Evils of EVO Resonant Discordance Hack the Planet Matrix Crime Tinfoil Helm Indie Dev

Overview

A retired runner and numerously submerged sourcerer, the follower of Delphi, this elf wears his tinfoil hat as a badge of honour. Kei had his loving middle-class parents working for EVO Boston murdered so that he could easily be kidnapped at six years of age, stuffed into a small EVO-run orphanage, in reality a technomancer experimentation black project classified "White House". As a teenager, he and his "siblings" used their abilities to start a fire and escape - although not without own casualties. Traumatised, Alan managed to hitchhike to Seattle and save up by small-time hacking to whoever paid a SINless elf to do so, afford a solid SIN for one Keith Barlow, enrol at the Department of Journalism, Seattle University, and get an education, writing for anti-corporate magazines. He's more than aware of the prejudices Emerged face first-hand as a teen, he embraces the Resonance fully. He spent some time running in Seattle, but decided to retire after his final run in Chicago. Working as Head of Matrix Security for Chicago State Hospital for his erstwhile fixer now, he values his time for sure and avoids straining any muscles. Typically, when he's not diving into the Deep Resonance Realms, he's content fending off two-bit hacker gangs, unsuccessfully trying to tame technovermin, programming oddly artistic indie games or glamming it up on his favourite conspiracy boards. This changes if technomancers are at risk or there's a juicy theory to follow.

Aspects Description

Aspect	Description
Pro-Techno Crusader	Kei will not move against any technomancers or even technocritters knowingly. Ghost help you if you manipulate him into it and he finds out. (Let's face it: sooner rather than later, he will.) Better prepare for living in a Faraday cage, because he's a man on a crusade and cares more than enough to troll you forevermore.
Deep-Entrenched Grudge	A survivor of an EVO technomancer experimentation black project "White House", he doesn't forgive those who would take advantage of "his people" (the Emerged). Treat his Loyalty as two lower if you have a positive rep with EVO (one if it's with a Japanocorp - Renraku, MCT or Shiawase - or with Wuxing). If this would drop Loyalty below 1, you cannot take him as a contact. If you develop a positive rep with those circles after buying him, he isn't lost, but clams up and ignores you until you change your bedfellows.
At Arm's Length	Of the opinion paranoia means survival, he prefers to cover his tracks on the Matrix and in meatspace. Only those with a Loyalty 5+ can physically visit him. Technomancers are an exception and can do so with Loyalty 4+. Use the Matrix, chummer.
Rambling Study	"Not all those who wander are lost." Kei shamelessly abuses this Tolkien quote to wander off the topic you want him to talk to you about in favor of what interests him (conspiracy theories, all things technomancer, indie game design, anime and manga). He will talk your ear off at any opportunity and be offended if you don't share his proclivities. When contacting him, the GM secretly rolls a D6. If they roll a 1, he gets lost in the weeds and will ramble for hours if not stopped with a Negotiation (3) or Intimidation (3) test.
Iterative Collaboration	It's not that he knows what's best for you: him believing he does is enough. He tends to view interactions less as straightforward requests and more as a group collaboration. If not carefully checked, the task or idea asked of him might "evolve" in a direction that he feels is either more effective, interesting or profound (almost always with some tinfoil hat theory, bonus points for involving technomancers against all good reason). Prepare for a great deal of long-winded updates, whether the contents are actually useful to you or not.
Sourcerer	Kei is a sourcerer with numerous submersions under his belt (RES 8, SG5: Resonance Resistance, FFF, Mathemagics, MMRI, Skinlink; LOG 6, WIL 5, INT 6, CHA 7). He loves Matrix legwork, regularly uncovering deep-hidden secrets, and programs oddly artistic indie games, which he may even let you playtest. The stream grants him -2 to Fading value of all complex forms he threads (within the usual 2S to be resisted minimum) and makes it possible to sustain half his SG, rounded down, at no penalty.
Delphi Follower	He follows the paragon known as Delphi (KC p. 104), enjoying +1 to threading complex forms as well as the limit at the cost of reacting more slowly (-2 to initiative). He mustn't disrupt established data patterns for no good reason.
We Are Legion	A social recluse, he does have friends. They're not really metahumans though. The data sprites Tsundere and Yandere, the machine one Moe, Oliver the courier, Auguste the crack and Mina the fault are registered at all times. He talks to them, believing they answer, so you'd better be polite to his posse.
Way of the Weeb	It's unclear if most would count it as a positive aspect of Kei, but anime and manga are his subjects of fascination. If it's related to either and he doesn't know it, it's simply not worth knowing. Tests related to his hobbies as well as social tests with fellow enthusiasts are at +2.
Technotribesman	While an abrasive pessimist in the real world, Kei changes when it comes to his people: technomancers. Something of a mentor to many Emerged, he's confident, knows who's who and will happily work with them. Because he's something of a known quantity in the correct reaches of the Matrix and will go on a limb to help them if in danger, it can sometimes radically change the parameters of a job. All Networking tests with technomancers and knowledge tests like Matrix about them specifically are at +2. Emerged pure PCs (without any ware other than cosmetic or therapeutic - he's a jerk, not a monster, and just believes technos who willingly burn out are cheating posers) whose status he's aware of enjoy this aspect as well.
Evils of EVO	Know your enemy: he's very keen on understanding EVO. Better: he did his homework. No, he does his homework, keeping close tabs on them and preparing for assistance to be rendered to any technomancers they capture. Knowledge tests as well as Matrix legwork specifically about this Big Ten are at +2.
Resonant Discordance	Kei has fought enough Dissonant technomancers to pick up on a few things to use their own tools against them. He can enter cold-sim, although he vastly prefers hot-sim, receiving +2 to Compiling and Decompiling sprites as well as threading complex forms as long as he's in hot-sim. He benefits from +2 to Matrix Threats tests if they target Dissonant technomancers, but not rogue AIs etc.
Hack the Planet	He believes hackers should be artists. He looks down on the sloppy ones who get caught and fail to slip away. It's what he lives for, however. If he needs to hack as part of Matrix legwork, this aspect applies to sleaze in, gather the data and disappear in the data streams as if never there.
Matrix Crime	He's too good to be oblivious about the shady dealings on hosts and the Deep Matrix. He looks down on black hats selling paydata to the highest bidder on online auctions, but don't think they slip past him. He keeps tabs on all this stuff. Underworld (Matrix Crime), Shadow Community (Personalities - for deckers, riggers and technomancers only) and similar tests are at +2.
Tinfoil Helm	Delphi really makes Kei trawl the data streams for information he finds a fascinating secret. Conspiracy theories, urban legends and the-like are his jam. It's not a tinfoil hat anymore, but a helm at this point. Tests related to these topics are at +2.
Indie Dev	In his free time not wasted on anime, Kei programs oddly artistic indie games. They would never sell, but he bribes some people with them. On occasion, they will offer much to curry favor with the finicky designer. He can tell you a great deal about games you can get - yes, most is trashtalking in some fashion, but if you want to learn what DhakaSoft is up to, he's your man. Software, Artisan (Games) and Matrix Games have a +2 bonus.

Dicepools

Dicepools
Knowledge Checks	13 + Loyalty + Aspects - Notoriety
Active Checks	9 + Loyalty + Aspects - Notoriety
Gear Acquisition Checks	3 + Loyalty + Aspects - Notoriety
Networking Checks	5 + Loyalty + Aspects - Notoriety

Network

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• Lisa Cutty

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