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Melody (Renamed)

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Mathan

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« on: <08-13-17/0625:37> »
Melody:

History:

    Tanis is a textbook music lover. She grew up over a small shop at the better end of the Halifax slums alongside her parents in a small apartment set over a bakery. The family were SINless, but part of a small community which operated on the periphery of the shadows, though supposedly her father had been a SINner at one point. She also had an older half-brother who would come to visit on weekends and summers. Drez, a rather upbeat and musically minded troll, was the very model of a perfect big brother to her and was always eager to share his passion and love of music with young Tanis even going back to embarrassing pictures and Trid recordings of a three year old girl with brown hair wearing an impossibly large band Tee over her church dress and jumping up and down on his bed to some Messserkamfhp.

    Unfortunately, living in a hard neighborhood and having no SIN means it’s hard to spend much time with friends and remain safe. So whenever she got bored and lonely Tanis would sneak into her big brothers room and dig through his collection of chip-stored music. This meant metal. Tons of metal. By the time she was ten Tanis was already starting to learn the ins and outs of real music theory. She’d gush to anyone who would listen about how good metal is and especially old bands like Nightwish. It got particularly bad the night her community decided to try trick-or-treating and she went dressed as Tarja Turunen.

     The second she’d gotten through a GED equivalent program the community had set up Tanis quickly began packing and set out to go find her way on to whatever stage she could. Not because she wanted to be a star, but simply because she wished to be a metal singer.

    She lived with her brother at this time while he worked to finish sobering. He was getting jobs for local bands and building up his reputation as a bassist. Meanwhile young Tanis was busy bussing tables in dive bars and taking whatever odd jobs she could to survive. This continued on for about a year before she met the person who would change everything.

    Mrs. Billings. A sharp dressed woman of mixed ethnic background who would frequent the shows in the bar. The two got to talking now and then and eventually Tanis mentioned how she wanted to end up on stage one day as well. The pair struck up a conversation and after the first three drinks Tanis had ever tried the woman made her new friend an offer. It seemed that Billings was a talent manager. She made hints and allusions to having ties with one of the Megas though never mentioned which one. She offered Tanis a contract on the spot. Fifty thousand Nuyen up front plus seventy percent of the royalties for any content produced. It took less than a minute to get the girl on board. A cred stick in hand and assurances from her new manager that her SINless status would only be a ‘temporary inconvenience’.

    Needless to say none of her family were happy to hear this news. With both parents and Drez all chewing her out for different reasons and pointing out just how badly she’d handled the situation. This led to a fight and Tanis walked out, staying away from all of them and sending little more than a few ‘I’m ok’ voice notes for the next four months, after which point she returned.

    In hindsight it was a long delayed act of youthful rebellion. Back when she was a child Tanis had always felt the punk teens running around with various mods were quite wiz. She especially liked the rare few who had gone as far as to get some kind of tail or other faux animal look added to them. A particular band of Razor girls having favored cat ears and tails quite a bit. Blissfully unaware of modern fashion trends and furious at her parents Tanis had run off to her manager and came out of it with a three month long set of Transgenic treatments. Of course the would be signer had never really liked cats. But she did have another favorite animal. After three months of absence and worry Tanis showed up at home on her Nineteenth birthday to show off the Chipmunk sculpted modifications she’d gotten done.

    The meager party was an awkward one. Tensions winding tighter with every awkward attempt to converse in either direction. By the time Drez and his mom gave Tanis their gift, A chimeric chipmunk pet, it all broke apart. The screaming fight that erupted after this was so brutal it caused Tanis to black out. Or to be more accurate, it triggered her late awakening.

    After this the young woman was quick to move into a small single room apartment. Guilt and a hint of regret over her decision along with the realization that she had to first produce some kind of album before she’d get anything more pushed Tanis back into her more reserved and rational mindset. She started to work with Mrs. Billings on refining some kind of style and putting together an act to go with her. For her part Tanis tried to explain that she was a metal signer and give whatever input she was allowed. The end result was the addition of some old style metal trappings on whatever new trend her manager saw fit to chase.

    About a month into her work with Mrs. Billings Tanis was almost ready to quit. She was sure her skills were never going to get up to snuff and that the album she was promised along with her advance would all evaporate leaving her heavily in debt to her employer. She was about to leave her latest waiting room sit for recording time when her manager came in panicked.

    She told Tanis she needed help, offering to absolve some her debt and even pay her a nice little bonus if only she’d do one thing for her. Considering the fifty grand she was looking to owe otherwise tanis had no real choice to say yes. A few hours later Tanis Yates found herself standing beside three other strange people in dark coats as they negotiated with a man in a nice orange suit flanked by bodyguards.

    As Mrs. Billigns had said the job really was just a quick ten minutes of work. About four of those consisted of a heated exchange between some heavily chromed man with a cyberdeck as he tried to negotiate with the increasingly hostile orange suited man. She just did her best to look ‘cute yet intimidating’ while fumbling with a massive M202. The rest was spent ducked behind a box where her chromed up ork ‘teammate’ had thrown her after the guards opened fire. Struggling to keep hold of the gun and spewing out every bullet from the belt down range without any real aiming or preparedness. It was the most traumatic thing that she had ever gone through up to that point. It was also one of the biggest rushes she’d felt outside of her big bro letting her sing ‘dead to the world’ on stage at his concerts.

    True to her word Billings shaved five grand off of her initial ‘signing bonus’ and even gave her a few grand paid as compensation. It seemed that Billings was a Fixer, and the crew she was standing with had been Billings’ most reliable up until that point. Now two of them were dead and she was interested in Tanis to fill that role as a way to quickly pay off her ‘advance’.

    Since that night Tanis has been doing quite a few runs, always as the team heavy. She’s a bit of an odd fit for the role. Having long since graduated from the borrowed M202 to a hard earned Ares Thunderstruck She’s renamed Marco (after feeling Bon Scott was too obvious) and kitted out to suit her unique combat style. Frequently these runs will see her join up with Drez who generally tends to be very protective of his little sister. It’s the closest she’s come to ever resenting the troll and even then she often returns that protectiveness quite a bit. More than one ganger has gotten a mono-sawblade in the back after getting the upper hand on her bro.

Personality:

    Outside of a studio or off stage It’s safe to say that Tanis isn’t exactly going to turn any heads. Whenever she’s by herself or around people she trusts such as Drez, she’s a smart, funny, amiable woman with just a hint of self depreciation and an over-eagerness to contribute any time someone has a project that needs doing. She’s always been a trusting sort even having lived as a SINless for so long. The fact that her good nature is constantly preyed upon does little to shake that resolve and good faith to the point where she could almost be seen as a bit of an enabler.

    Tanis tries her damnedest to be the frontwoman she always dreamed of. Her love of music has been a defining trait ever since she was a child and she has worked hard to refine a clear checklist of what makes a modern signer. Lessons, fittings, guest spots just randomly out in the street. Mrs. Billings takes many of her cues from the time honored processes used to forge Japanese Idols. A fact that results in much of Tanis’ current workload being unpaid. Thankfully as her fixer it’s not hard to work the little ‘side job’ of Running in with her hectic day to day schedule. Sure it means occasionally having to pop a long haul or drink a large bottle of something caffeinated in order to keep going. But then most rock stars did far heavier just for fun. Rarely the ones she admired, but still….

    On stage she’s able to stick to a persona well. Billings will frequently devise some new costume scheme and give her an outline of her attitude based on it which means Tanis has actually developed her acting skills somewhat. It’s an unpleasant reality that the woman accepts in part because she does not feel that the real her would be taken too seriously as some force of personality. The sacrifice of self is more than worth it if it means feeling the rush of elation and bliss she can only find standing on some small shoddy dive stage belting out the few old classics she’s able to sneak into her act. Her brother has tried to convince her that she’s fine the way she is and even written a few songs with her in mind to sing. Thus far Billing has rejected the idea outright and Tanis has simply accepted this as a part of the job.

    Running has made some lasting changes on her. One of the most notable being that Tanis, or ‘Melody’ as she began calling herself in the shadows, has started to lose a bit of her eager and agreeable naivete. She’s still willing to put in long days for no pay if it helps get her to the top. Yet the short time spent running and having to kill within live and die situations added a sharp edge to it all. She’s no longer as ready to accept others at their word and while she does not particularly like killing the act of combat is probably the second biggest high right behind performing.

    Currently she is considering less generic shadow name like 'Amaranth'. Spending time as a runner has shown her the importance of street cred and her first choice was, as it always seems to be, less than ideal.

Appearance:

    Outside of the Chipmunk look, Melody looks rather plain. She’s a bit on the tall side and quite thin which earned her no end of beanpole jokes from her classmates growing up. No piercings, no hair dye. Brown hair and blue eyes with little to really distinguish her from anyone else in the crowd. With the Transgenic treatment that all changed. She’s still plain outside of whatever costume her manager shoves her into for shows. Now, though, Tanis has a darker V-stripe in her hair, a more chipmunkish nose and perked fuzzy ears that require slight adjustments to both her glasses and combat ‘scouter’.

    Likewise her wardrobe is fairly bland as well. Retro leg warmers generally in some shade of indigo along with a matching skirt and blue hoodie. On occasion she may get dolled up when Mrs. Billings drags her out for a performance or to headline some new act she’s cooked up from her stable of talent. They aren’t really Tanis’ style, which is probably fortunate since she isn't’ allowed to take such things home.

    In combat situations Melody will cover normal street clothes with an old military style armored vest and PPP kit from the Army Surplus. These items aren’t really modified very heavily themselves. In fact the only real way anyone could tell Tanis from another face in the crowd is her modifications and how badly her cloths clash with the bog standard military gear. Her weapon is another story. Convinced she could never hide it Tanis has instead opted to paint and recolor any panels she could. This has resulted in raw carbon fiber or metal sitting alongside scratched up starscapes with detailed hints of birds such as owls, crows and doves.

Attributes:

Body: 4
Agility: 5
Reaction: 4 (6)
Strength: 3
Willpower: 2
Logic: 5
Intuition: 3
Charisma: 6

Edge: 4
Magic: 5 (4)

Remaining Nuyen: 949

Qualities:

Fame: Local
Inspired
Restricted Gear

In Debt 2
Loss of Confidence (Leadership)
Day Job (10 hours): Session Singer
Attention Seeker
Social Appearance Anxiety

Skills:

Acting Group: 5
Athletics Group: 2
Influence Group: 5

Heavy Weapons: 5
Exotic Weapons (Chainsaw): 3
Pilot Ground Craft: 1

Knoweldge Skills:

Metal (Interest): 6
Shadow Culture (Street): 4
Sociology (Academic): 4
Popular Culture (Street): 2

Magic:

Adept

Path: Hermetic

Powers:

Voice Control 1
Improved Reflexes 2
Enthralling Preformance
Enhanced Accuracy (Heavy Weapons)
Improved Sense (pitch)

Augmentation:

Transgenic Alteration (Animal Features):

    Tanis went all in even before her awakening. Spending the advance from her first, short lived contract on a Transgenic treatment to help reshape her features into something she felt would be more cute and fitting. It was the first genuinely vain thing she’d ever done for herself. It was also the last.

    The shift wasn’t that severe. Her nose is now more animal-like though not really a muzzle. She has chipmunk ears and a small furry tail that requires her to mod her clothing. It wasn’t quite a decision made out of dysphoria but the end results have left her feeling a bit better about herself. Others, meanwhile, tend to take notice of who she is and her relatively unique mods.

Essence: 0.3
Cost: 30,000

Weapons:

Ares Thunderstruck

Custom Look
Easy Breakdown (Powered)
Underbarrel Chainsaw
Sling
Gecko Grip
Melee Hardening
Extended Clip 2

20 X Ammo
3X Functional Counterfeit peak discharge packs (8 shots max each)

Ash Arms Mono Chainsaw (underbarrel):

Ares Anticoh 2:

4X frag grenades

Armor:

Armroed Vest:

Drag Handle
Attachable Gear Access

PPP Arms
PPP Legs
PPP Vitals

Matrix:

Novatech Netninja
Cheap prepaid commlink

Programs:

Music Collection (100 Albums worth)
P2.1

Gear:

AR Nails
Holo Bracelet
Subvocal Mic
Trodes
Flute
Portable Music Player (Shiawasa Tunes-2)
Heapdhones 1
Earbuds 2 W/Selective Hearing and sound link
Glasses 1 W/Image Link
Fake Lisence 3 (Adept)
Fake Lisence 3 (Driver)
Monocle 3 W/Vision Link and Vision Enhancement 2

Vehicle:

Renalt-Fiat Funone:

Smuggling Compartment

Social:

Almost-real SINner!:

Her brother and manager set this up for her to get legit work. Technically it’s all true… mostly. True enough to make it seem that her SIN was just erased in some hacker attack and then recovered. She has a small simple place a few blocks from her brother and even a nice little car to haul around in. To play it safe-ish she also has an Adept license. Thus far her few fans haven’t minded that she’s got more than talent going.

Name: Tanis Yates

Low Lifestyle 2 months
Docwagon Gold 2 Months
Fake SIN 4

Bam-maN:
Arms Dealer 3/3

Mrs. Billings:
Manager/Fixer 5/1

Pet: Agamemnon (Chipmunk)

Attribute Enhancement (int)
Longevity treatment
« Last Edit: <08-13-17/1846:09> by Mathan »

ShadowcatX

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« Reply #1 on: <08-13-17/0851:51> »
A rating 2 fake SIN is lucky to get your gender and Metatype correct. If you want it mostly true you need to bump it up to 4.

Mathan

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« Reply #2 on: <08-13-17/0924:02> »
Honestly would consdier it. Part of the reason was lack of funds

Much of it was that it's one more way she's less prepared than she thinks for what she's getting into. Plan to use her as a for-hire NPC mainly in a low player game. I figured her possible arc would include realizing her manager MAYYY not be on the level....

But yeah may drop a skill point somewhere and at least hit a 3.

Sterling

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« Reply #3 on: <08-13-17/0959:37> »
You've really got to change that runner name.

"Weeping Thrush" sounds like a severe yeast infection (have you considered natural yoghurt on that?)

Honestly, my wife took one look at the title of the thread and burst out laughing.
"His name is Sterling. He’s an ex-pat Brit making a living as a fixer and a hacker in Metropole. He’s a rare blend of upstanding and fun...(so) listen to his experience."
>>Data Trails, p.82

UnLimiTeD

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« Reply #4 on: <08-13-17/1513:47> »
I didn't count, but if you have a karma left open for negative qualities, you could get a single level of "in Debt"; It's not too hard to pay off, doesn't need too much fluff, and it would afford you a much better SIN, easily.
Depending on where you lounge around, a Rating 3 might be sufficient, but SIN pricing just discourages going low.
The Difference between nearly foolproof and practically worthless is around 10k Nuyen, and you still have to pay something for the bad ones, anyways.
Still waiting on a Vector-Thrust Liminal Body.

Mathan

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« Reply #5 on: <08-13-17/1842:32> »
You've really got to change that runner name.

"Weeping Thrush" sounds like a severe yeast infection (have you considered natural yoghurt on that?)

Honestly, my wife took one look at the title of the thread and burst out laughing.

Why would someone use a poor little bird to describe... THAT?

Well ok now I have to pick a new name and rewrite. Thanks for letting me knwo I guess... I have to assume this is either some regional thing or I"m just flat out sheltered. Admittedly every woman I've been in a relationship with in the past has been brutally blunt about... everything. Maybe it's just me. Probably just me.

Anyways gonna fix and gonna see about maybe bumping up SIN. I think I know what name to settle on now having slept on it.

Also gonna take the advice to shift her qualities, get in debt and get her a better SIN.

UnLimiTeD

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« Reply #6 on: <08-13-17/2052:58> »
Well, I certainly didn't know the name of the meaning.
I recommend not looking it up on google image.
Still, the bird name wasn't unfitting.
You should consider it if you ever have a musically minded runner that's also a poisoner or mad chemist, to combine those themes. ^^
Still waiting on a Vector-Thrust Liminal Body.