Sem-par’s name is short for semi-colon / parenthesis, aka the symbol ;), the emoticon for a winking face. This is the symbol that Sem-par displays most often on their holohood when they choose not to be fully blended into the background with their ruthenium polymer coating.

Sem-par’s Answers to an Online “Do You Have What it Takes to be a Shadowrunner” Quiz

• We are shaped by our heritage. Facial features, skin tone, height, build, metatype, even aptitudes are influenced by the genes passed from parent to child. Attitude, too, is taught by parents, informed by their own lives and their cultural heritage. Where do you come from, what is your lineage, who were your parents, and what did you inherit from them?

—I remembers travelling a lot as a child with my mother. She was always busy, and always dragging me around. We would stay at hotels, and sometimes with mother’s boyfriends around the world. None of them really cared about me, so I invented friends to play with. Sometimes it was a bear, sometimes a cool street-sam, but most of the time it was a small cat. We would hide all around the house, and sometimes the cat had me steal little things. Mother never noticed.

• Parents can be proud of their children or regret ever bringing them into the world. Some are loving, and some are indifferent. All of them are only metahuman and have their own opinions of their children. Assuming they could speak, what would each of your parents say about you?

—Never knew father. Mother was too busy to really know me, and as such wouldn’t have much to say. She lost her identity while I was still very young, and I was forcibly removed from her care. The ladies at the orphanage were more parental than the biological parents ever were.

• Many people remember certain historical events for the rest of their lives. For those alive in the first decade of the 21st cen-tury, it could be the assassination of John F. Kennedy, or the Tiananmen Square protests, or the fall of the Berlin Wall, or the attacks of 11 September 2001. People remember where they were, and what they were doing when they first heard of these events. Recent history has significant events as well, such as the assassination of President Dunkelzahn, the Crash 2.0, and the emergence of technomancers and artificial intelligences. Pick a few events from recent history and ask where you were at the time, what do you remember about the event, and what were you doing at the time?

—I was too young to have vivid memories of most of these things. Some of the earliest reading material I had access to were to stories of the crash, and technomancers and AI. It all sounded super cool, which prompted me to start an internet presence.

_ • Life as a shadowrunner is by definition outside the bounds of “normal” life. Shadowrunners do not truly fit into the lives of ordinary people, whether they live in slums or mansions. What do you think of ordinary life, mainstream culture, and those who abide by it?_

—Popular culture is awesome. I, however, never really had a place in it. But the ordinary life was too boring and slow-paced. Day after day of being a wage-slave at some corp? LOL. If i wanted to grind i’d play some MMO. Prob get better l00t too. So, I get all I can from the blogs and tabloids. What I can’t find there, I get from their own accounts or homes. But more on that later.

• Everyone has nightmares. Sometimes, we forget the dream completely on waking. Sometimes, the nightmare haunts us or even recurs. If you had a lingering nightmare or a deep-rooted fear, what would it be, and why do you find it so terrifying?

—Having someone beat my high score on LaZeR D00M. Unless it was Fastjack. chills

• People tend to attach sentimental value to items in their possession or people they are close to. They make an effort to keep these close by and safe. What is your “sacred object” or “close one, ” and how did they come to be so important to you?

—My bFF, and the only person on the planet who could identify me when I die, Edmund “Ralf” Rafelnzo. He’s my hookup. The big cheese. The machoroonee. One of the only people to catch me (I was super young) stealing at an airport. The guy puts me in a locked room (lol) and tells me he’ll be back later. Well, that “lock” was a GATEmasterX model from two years ago, and they had the decency to leave it’s power source accessible right through a wall panel. After tagging the room, letting them knew what I thought of their security, I high-tailed it outta there onto the nearest flight. After that flight, another flight. All night, hopping flights. Right when I was about to settle in on some benches, I see this weirdo approach me wearing this trench coat. “Listen buddy, I’m not up for this game right now…” but who was it? Ralf himself. The dude had tracked my whole little escapade, and was waiting right here for me. I was impressed, but still no way I was going back in any rooms. Luckily, he offered me a job instead. Good guy. I’d say I helped out his career significantly from back then, being a lowly Renraku air-security guy, to running a lot of the multi-corp transportation internationally. Anyway, enough about Ralf.

• One of metahumanity’s greatest assets is its ability to look to-ward the future and imagine a better life. Even small children have dreams about what they want to be when they grow up. What did you want to become when you were a child, and what are your goals now?

—Small children? Grow up? What a geez.

• A person’s appearance can say volumes about him. From fashion sense, to the colors he prefers, to the way he walks and speaks. Sometimes, his personality determines his appearance, and, sometimes, the appearance he chooses to present the world effects his personality. What do you look like, and what inspired your choices?

—Well if you’d see me, I’d have to kill you.
Mwahahhahahahaha.
But for real. No looksies.

• Everyone has a name, but a runner’s street name is a representation of his connection to the shadows. Sometimes runners choose their own moniker, but more often it is given to them as a nickname or earned through some (mis)adventure. How did you come to be known by your street name?

—Must be my totally serious tone on the boards ;)

• Very few people choose to become shadowrunners. More likely, they are thrown into the life by a chaotic and uncaring world. Even if you made a conscious decision to enter the shadows, your decision was influenced by the world around you. How did you get into shadowrunning, and why did you take that path?

—Well it started with doing jobs for Ralf. The guy paid well. And he always gives me the hookup. Sure, there’s the money, but what I like is living like a richie. And if you’re not in a corp and not rich, runners have the best toys.

• People have control over their own living arrangements. From the child young enough to use crayons and tape all the way up to the elderly shut-in who plasters her walls with family photos and cat pictures, everyone makes their living spaces more personally pleasing. What is your living space like, and what have you added or changed to make it your own?

—Again, Ralf is the man. See, Ralf constantly sends me (totally on accident) flight plans of certain well-to-do citizens all around the world. Usually he’s not at a loss for names as long as i’m in a ‘civilized’ part of the world. Sooooo I just find their address on the matrix, and pay a little visit. Not home? Well that’s irresponsible. They probably need a house-sitter. I can score from a week to about a month in one place, as long as i leave it clean. All I gotta do for Ralf is leave some back-doors in their security, for totally innocent and responsible reasons…
<.><
>.>
;)

• Everyone has beliefs, and many have beliefs strong enough to be convictions. Some are religious, some are political, some are social, and some are just about why people are here. What do you believe in, what are your convictions (if any), and why does she hold them?

—Well that cat when I was younger? It still helps me out. Guess that means I’m loco.
Otherwise, it’s all about what you know that your opponent doesn’t know. Seems like the more you know, the more people like you. Also, more people try and kill you. Whatevs.

• Everyone has aspects of their personality that grate on someone. Even the best of friends annoy one another from time to time. The flaws in a person’s character are as important as the qualities. What do you dislike most about your personality?

—I don’t see how I could be a bother. Unless you don’t like soap-trids, or funny jokes, or cool games, or awesome people, or old sci-fi, or planes, or MOTORCYCLES, or good music, or motorcycles, or other stuff. I know a bunch of sweet stuff!

• The Sixth World is considered by many to be spinning out of control. If anyone could exert control over it, it would be the “Big Ten” triple-A megacorps. These transnationals exert a lot of influence on everyday life in the 2070s. Which of the Big Ten do you hold in the highest (or least low) regard, which do you like the least, and why?

—Eh, probably like Renraku best cause of Ralf and his connections there. I don’t want to get caught up in the big ten like some lvl 80 Leapord when the new expansion comes out and everybody is looking for the best pelt for their new Spotted Cloak of Rezistenz. Ares blows big Bonestar.

• People make acquaintances and friends; we’re hardwired for it. Humans are social animals. This is especially true in the shadows, where often it is not the power you have, but the power you can borrow, and not who you, are but who you know. There’s a story behind each and every one of these relationships. What is the story with you and your contacts?

—Talked about Ralf enough. Got ZIPit on the boards, who’s one of those techno-net-magicians! It’s pretty rad, he lets me play with his sprites sometimes. Zeke also lets me use his bike-shop every once in awhile. He’s pretty good for a geez.

• It’s Sunday morning, and you have no commitments until tomorrow afternoon. What do you do for the day?

—Run the matrix looking for A+ trids and runner stories. gossipgossipgossipgossip. TABLOIDS.

• You have a specific skill set, an assortment of skills that define what you know and your areas of expertise. How did you come to learn those skills, and how did you develop them to current levels?

—When you’re stealing shit all the time, you either get better or you’re talking to Bonestar. It helps that I’ve always had a thing for wires and networks and bits and bytes. Makes waayyyy more sense than people. Turns out (AFTER i had all this sweet ware put in me) that I got a little bit of that astral jive too. Didn’t really even realize it at first, just kinda sprang up on me.

• Everyone has their limits. People can be dark, but most people’s instinct is to draw the line at certain actions and thoughts, and they keep to their own moral convictions. Is there a moral limit that you enforce on the jobs you take, and in what shadow work would you refuse to engage?

—I’m all about big. Big splosions, big nyuen, big baddies. But 4 real, no need for needless killin. As much as I don’t want to be friends with these fools, they have lives too. Just trying to make it. Most of em anyway. Besides, it’s way more fun to watch em squirm ;)

• If you are Awakened or a technomancer, consider your tradition and streams. Even within the major established magical traditions and the recently emerged techno-mantic streams, there is room for personalization. Ask yourself what drew you to that particular paradigm, how does it effect the way you view the world and your magic, how does it translate into choice of mentor spirit or paragon, and how does it affect the appearance of the spirits or sprites you conjure or compile?

—Well I got that ghost cat, always teaching me new stuff. It helps to have all these formula all over the matrix too.

• While acceptance and bias vary from place to place, augmentations- be they bio-, cyber-, gene-, or nanoware—are increasingly common and available in the Sixth World. However, personal technological enhancement is rarely cheap, and many implants that runners possess are restricted. How did you come to have the enhancements you have, and how were they paid for?

—Hard work, lots of secret deals exposed, friendships ruined, businesses toppled, personal items stolen, and mad skillz. Paid for off the shelf.

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Although SP’s time in the shadows has thus far been mostly amazing (dragons! artifacts! airships! pirate attack! a UV node! an AI!), SP is having trouble with having killed someone, and how easy it is to do. The monofilament whip previously seemed like a tool, almost a cool toy, but now it also seems like a burden. SP has begun reducing their actual vision to an AR window when forced to attack with it, so that they can focus on something other than seeing the damage that the whip inflicts on fragile flesh and bone.

SP also had become fast friends with Rooster, each of them feeding off of the other in a possibly dangerous loop, and was saddened by his death (though, from a professional standpoint, it was probably for the best). Has a business in Hamburg, forging ID’s with Barnaby “Wombat” Rudd and SYD.