Background for Gregory Bellanger, from his point of view:
I never wanted to be this way, you know. Cybernetic arm, implants, in debt up to my eyeballs. I just wanted to have a good time, and maybe get my friends to look a little silly. Just a harmless prank between friends is all it was supposed to be.
We met at a bar one night after work was done, ready to drink and live it up. My buddies showed up - Eric, Weak, Frammen - and they were all in a good mood. We sat down and ordered some shots, and we pulled our commlinks out, ready to cause each other some hell in a VR version of some game that right now escapes me. Being a novice hacker, I decided I was gonna mess with Frammen and make it appear that his real-life account was empty. I waltzed in through the node and emptied his account into that of some nameless douche at school. We then proceeded to play and drink and have a good time.
I hacked the wrong account.
A few days later, shortly after waking up, there was a ringing of the doorbell. I answered it, and the door was shoved inwards, knocking me backwards through the living room and into the glass coffee table. I thought I was ok, until I saw blood dripping from my left arm. I looked up, and there were 3 of the largest trolls I've ever seen staring at me. One of them lifted me up by my left arm, and I realized it had to be broken due to the amount of pain I was now in. Excruciating. They dragged me with them out the door, into a car, and downtown to some old building.
Once at the building, I was dragged by my arm up 4 flights of stairs and tossed into a room like I was garbage. I got to my knees, and ended up being face to face with Anthony "The Nose" Rosano. Turns out the account I hacked was one he used to pay rent for one of his mistresses, and when she tried to pay rent that morning and found out it was empty, she accused Anthony of shining her on. This caused him to hire the best hackers to find out who did this, and when they found out who the trolls came looking for me.
"Not bad," he said. "Some college kid is able to hack into one of my accounts and make off with $10,000. Tell me kid - what gives? Who you working for?"
I told him everything I knew - the bar, playing a joke on Frammen, thought I had the right account.
"No shit? A practical joke? Well, I ain't fucking laughing. And the way I see it, you owe me 10 grand now. Plus interest. And you are gonna pay."
I almost shit myself. I'm some shitty-looking college kid with no prospects, and now I'm in deep to the sharks. What the fuck?
"But I'm gonna make you a deal, kid. I don't wanna kill you, cuz then I ain't ever gonna get my money back, see? You're a decent hacker, but you lack....flair. And style. And the ability to read the right fucking nodes. So I'm gonna help you get better. And then you're gonna pay me back out of the money you make running in the shadows. And I'm only gonna charge you 5% interest a month. But first, let's fix that arm..."
What choice did I have? They took my arm and left me with this. They cleaned me up, giving me a new look. And they taught me how to be a real hacker. That was 7 years ago, and I've been cutting Anthony a piece of every run I've done since. I only owe him 20 grand now, which is double what I originally took from him. 7 years, and I still owe him double. Fuck me, I'm never gonna get out from under his thumb...