>>>>>[The difference between a professional and a sociopath is that the professional represses the emotions until the job is done, while the sociopath doesn't have them. The risk is always there, then, that the professional will snap when a chummer takes a bullet to the face in a double cross, while the sociopath is just a couple steps away from becoming a serial killer. If you are a professional, you gotta balance personal attachments with professional detachment when you're on the job. This is difficult, and not everyone can manage it. Those who don't usually end up dead, or they get broken inside.
Murphy, glad to hear that it wasn't all Money doing that. When he's able to speak coherently, let us know what the ex-Ancients were chatting about with him. The fact that the corp sent response teams after the individual runners means this is bigger than a typical doublecross. Also, it wouldn't be the first time that another corp has stepped in to persuade the Knights to keep their retaliations quiet. As long as no one comes forward with trid footage of the strikes, and there isn't too much collateral damage, a couple bribes allows them to hit the runners and walk away. It helps that this is out in the Barrens, where things are already less well enforced. If it had happened downtown, there would have been no hiding it.
Which is another lesson for people. Yes, the Barrens are a great place to hide out, especially for certain metatypes, but if you have the coin, and a decent fake SIN, get yourself a place in the places with regular law enforcement patrols, and plenty of cameras. It takes more work to separate your 'runner' and 'civilian' lives that way, but there are benefits, as well. You just have to make up a believable cover story for your neighbors, that explains your odd hours. Most people do not know how to dig past the first layer of subterfuge. Many won't even bother looking past the second layer, unless you're giving them a reason to. The trick is to have a cover that is alluring enough that the neighbors don't mind you being there, and shady enough that they don't ask you over for tea every week. My own story is that I am a high end male escort. Someone does a bit of digging, I drop hints that I am from the Tir, but I'm an exile. That isn't enough for them, I lay hints that I'm a nobleman, and laying low because there are people who want to kill me, from the revolution. Some guess that I'm a runner, but the ones who get that far don't see a need to press further.
That's just one example, of course. A good cover story is simple enough that it is easy to remember, but complex enough that someone would have to devote a great deal of time and energy to unravel the true story. The Crash made this easier, because if there are records from that time forward that don't show up when you're digging, well, Jormungand probably ate them. But for records since then, you have to figure on a believable reason why someone would have no real records on file. For those of you who don't have the 'renegade noble' line available, you could always use the 'Witness Protection' angle. You witnessed an influential player commit murder, and either you reported it to the local LEOs and were put in a Witness Protection program in another sprawl, or you ran, knowing that the fact that they saw you would make you a target. This works especially well when you're out of the sprawl you were born in, since you aren't likely to run into your childhood friend Jack who might say in front of others that you have lived in that neighborhood across town your whole life. Even if you are working in your home sprawl, though, it makes a good way to insulate your friends and family from your work, since the less they know, the safer it is for them, usually.]<<<<<
--Iceblade (04:21:12/01-04-74)
