Sleep. What sleep? I haven't slept in three years. Jaq pinches her eyes closed as memories of the explosion mushroom in her mind. She punches her pillow and rolls out of bed. Every night this week she has been awakened by dreams. Once outside, the stench of the streets mixes with the guilt and anger of the memories she refuses to let go of and her stomach rolls with nausea and dread. The squelch of her boots hitting the filthy pavement quickens as she picks up speed, wishing she could run forever out of this place. She would leave New Seattle; leave the endless horizon of buildings and corruption. Hell, she would leave the planet if that were what it took to get her away from these nightmares. Nightmare. She almost laughed. Which was the nightmare? This world? Or the one saw when she slept. It was no different. Five years ago she had been so innocent, so na�ve so�. Happy? What is that? Happiness� stupid girl! A single explosion changed it all.
Her father was a fixer. He was the guy you went to when you wanted something done and wanted it done right. He was good, damn good. It would take a lifetime to create the business he created; a long lifetime. He was one of those "new" races, an elf. One of the original freaks. He spent his life on the streets, learning the ins and outs, cultivating relationships; enemies and allies. He spent some time being married, some time being a widower, but to Jaq he was always Dad. As she got older he let her help in some odd jobs, mainly as a runner. She had seen enough weird shit to know what she did and did not want to become. A bot. Android. Mindless metal junkie. She had seen enough people sell their souls and anything else that wasn't bolted down for biotech enhancements. Better, faster, stronger, tougher, and each time less and less human. Is that what we fight for every day on the streets? The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and everyone in between slowly becomes a toaster oven.
Since the explosion, Jaq lived her life as a Shadowrunner. She worked for the different corporations sabotaging, killing, stealing; ultimately she didn't care as long as she was doing some damage to Corporate scum. The only trouble was like vermin, they only kept building, growing, expanding, and stacking their buildings higher and higher trying to leave the planet just like everyone else, one story at a time. For every building blown up, another was built better, more secure, more policed. For every murder, another Corporate VP was there to rise to the occasion and take his place in the hierarchy of power and corruption. Only the hope of one day seeing the whole damn society collapse upon itself was what kept her going, fueled by hate and hurt, Jaq fought on.
