Was digging through stuff and found this. It was going to be my character background done in the style of an interview, but I never got the time to finish it. Since we're meeting up with Nori, it seemed apropos.
Mercer> Should I sit or stand?
Nori> Just make yourself comfortable.
M> Alright…
N> Are you ready?
M> I guess. I’ve been around a while, and this may be the oddest favor I’ve been asked.
N> You’ve seen a lot of things. It’d be good to have the details, but the backstory is also important. It’s all part of good research.
M> Can’t argue that. So, what now?
N> Let’s start with the basics. Where you were born, grew up, school, sports, that sort of thing.
M> It’s boring, I warn you, but here goes. I was born Magnus Henry Ford in Lubbock, Texas on July 3rd, 2033 to Henry and Juanita Ford. My whole childhood, starting with my name, made it abundantly clear that they wanted an Awakened child. “A good strong wizard’s name” as dad described it.
Dad. He was a character. His parents had a sense of ambition too, naming him after the industrialist from the early 20th. He was a Ranger for Texas when it was part the old United States of America before that was broken up, then when it was part of the UCAS, when it was part of the CAS the first time, when it was independent, and finally under the CAS again. He saw all sorts of stuff during his career and the war with Aztlan. He was as tough as they come, I tell you - one of the few survivors of the New Alamo. Joined Lone Star when the Rangers disbanded shortly after. Him and ma are still kickin’ around. I only see ‘em around Christmas, but we chat.
So where was I? Oh, yes. My parent’s shattered dreams aside, my childhood was pretty textbook - I did okay at school and sports, but I wasn’t winning any scholarships. I was popular though, on account of my charming personality.
N> *laughs*
M> When I graduated high school I went to the local community college, learned about all the stuff that the CAS felt was important. Then I followed pop into the law enforcement industry. For a few years anyway. Married my wife, had kids. The ol’ CAS dream. Until they were taken from me.
N> That’s when you became a Hunter?
M> Yeah.
N> Can you tell me more about that? What’s the story?
M> My story? Well, I guess my story's like anybody else that does this for a livin'. There are two types o' people that hunt the Infected, if'n you discount the crazies. There are those that been wronged, and there are those that are lookin' for a score. I'm a little bit o' both, truth be told.
In another life, I was happily married to a beautiful Hopi woman. She bore me two sons. And life was good - I was a law man in West Texas, tryin' to keep the peace between the CAS, the PCC, and Aztlan, where all three nations met. The oldest boy was four when my old life ended. Weren't no rhyme nor reason to it. Some zekes come through town one night lookin' for a meal and my place, sittin' on the outskirts like it was, was what rung the dinner bell for 'em.
N> Zekes?
M> Vampires. Something to do with the old Dracula novel and how he was a Székely descended from Attila the Hun. I never read the books myself, but that was what I was told the first time I asked.
Anyway, I came home to tragedy, won't say no more on the subject than that, and I swore revenge, and that was what started me on the road I'm on. It's been near twenty years now since then. Anymore, it's all I know to do. Pays the bills, I guess. Don't get me wrong, I still hate these soulless things the virus makes, but I dunno, it just ain't personal no more.
N> Did you get revenge? On the ones that - on those particular vampires?
M> Yeah, I did. We’d tracked ‘em down to another old house outside of town - they were smart enough to avoid high population density - and I took a couple deputies with me for a pre-dawn raid. Hard to believe I was ever that green as to attack a nest in the dark, but there you have it. Of course, we didn’t even know they were vamps, so we thought we were coming heavy. Ol’ Joe was a veteran and had some pretty impressive cyber, and was the size of an ork besides. Al was scrawnier, but knew his way around a shooting range. He was carrying an assault rifle, Joe had his revolver and a night stick, and I had Bessie, my shotgun. Tac gear, body armor, we were ready to dance.
As soon as we breached the doors things went south. Al was gutted in seconds and Joe was tossed across the room like a rag doll. Bessie spoke her mind and one of the beasts went down, but it had gotten close. Joe was moaning - if it weren’t for the augmentations he had, he would have been down and out. He was able to put a few rounds in the vicinity of the remaining bastard, but none of them hit their mark. It dropped Al and started toward me and even Bessie’s sweet nothings couldn’t strike true. It had me dead to rights until Al, all but dead, stitched it with the AR. It ran off deeper into the house, so I covered Joe as he dragged Al out as gently as he could.