The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Or maybe it's paved by a man with too many eddies. The entire worlds recourses at your fingertips and no one to stay your hand, You would do everything and anything to protect your child. Wouldn't you? Any lengths for their safety. For their survial.... You could have saved her. You could have saved her. yₒᵤ cₒᵤₗd ₕₐᵥₑ ₛₐᵥₑd ₕₑᵣ These things starts with two people falling in love. Creating new life. Death. The trifecta. A desperate paternal figure willing to give the world to protect his offspring from genetic compromises by any means necessary.
Cypher was born to what some may consider better circumstances than their own. A stable family structure, a warm bed, food, water, proper education, the latest tech, efficient protection from the outside world, security and a steady foundation for a stable life. A life set up to where their only debt was loyalty to a megacorporation.
The family was tied to Arasaka. Familial obligation passed down through generations. Her father inherited this responsibility. His own father had established the precedent. Carving the path for him to tread in the very same footsteps. Intwined in the inner workings of R&D. Responsible for development of super weapons and security of the Arasaka family. A promise of safety. ꜱᴇᴄᴜʀɪᴛʏ
As for Mother, a Medical Specialist. Highly intelligent and motivated. Clawed her way out of poverty, jumping at all and any opportunity to find a way out of the hell she was born into. She freed herself by winning the heart of a certain research and developer. He believed in her and persuaded his family to invest in this former street rat in the name of love. After some convincing his family took her in and set her on the path of becoming a cornerstone of the medical team. As fate or irony would have it, at the peak of her career, she fell ill after exposure from an unknown pathogen. Her health rapidly declined in ways that were unforeseeable. They proceeded extensive testing desperate to find what was happening. The only thing discovered was a prior undiagnosed autoimmune disorder.
How could this be? All of this time spent... Discovering cures and aliments for others only to over look your own health. Was I so hungry to live that I forgot that I am mortal? How could this happen? How could all of my hard work lead to my demise... I help people....ᵢ ₕₑₗₚ ₚₑₒₚₗₑ... ᵢ ₖᵢₗₗ ₚₑₒₚₗₑ
They couldn't save her. No amount of rage, desperation, bargaining could save her.. The helplessness of a loved one, the one, passing suddenly isn't something someone could just move on from. It's enough to drive a man... crazy. It's always been his job to protect and yet... he couldn't save her. He could save...them.
Cypher was 4 when they lost their mother. Cypher was 4 when they lost who they knew as her father. He became unrecognizable. Sole mission being protecting his daughter ʙʏ ᴀɴʏ ᴍᴇᴀɴꜱ ɴᴇᴄᴇꜱꜱᴀʀʏ.
Cypher suffered the consequences of their mother dying. Father put them through countless experimental surgeries, painful genetic modifications, ruthless cybernetic reconstructions in the name of health. He couldn't lose them the same way he lost his beloved. Anything he deemed imperative to Cypher's health, they were forced to proceed with. There was no resisting. They were given no option to refuse. Cypher lost themselves when they lost their mother. The person in the mirror was unrecognizable. Mutilated, stripped of their autonomy. Resentful. ᴵ ᴰᴵᴰᴺ'ᵀ ᴬˢᴷ ᶠᴼᴿ ᵀᴴᴵS.
Cypher suffered the consequences of their mother dying. Suffered and suffered and suffered. The only solace being sought in the net. The only place they felt free. A place that ultimately became a sanctuary. Spending most of their adolescence honing their craft until they became an unstoppable netrunner. Father thought this was an excellent way to prepare them to be an Arasaka agent eventually. A familial obligation. The tech branch was always looking for new, capable runners. Always sure to keep them fully chipped with the best Arasaka had to offer... These were the only upgrades Cypher was eager for. Ultimately they had other plans for these upgrades... Plans to be free.
A lifetime of suffering was soon to end. At least, for Cypher. Only to begin anew for Father. Years of torment. Years of scrutiny. The weight of grief placed on you by a loved one passing many years ago....never quite measuring up to fathers expectations is all enough to drive a person....crazy.
Some say they went full psycho. Some say maybe they were pushed over the edge. No one really knows what happened, truly. All we know is Father has been missing for a substantial amount of time. No one has heard a peep from him in nearly two years... There's a rumor that the child of these two esteemed employees may still be on the run for the murder of their father but who knows. Just gonks talking, right?
