Ward

Backstory
I've  always wanted to build and shape reality, my soft inner city life made it all look so easy, I took on loans and guidance into formal education. I even took the opportunity of implanting cybernetic implants that would protect from harm during construction work as I liked hands-on work. With a good education I'd get a good career and the loan would be paid before long.

The result never happened. It was a fanciful illusion, they never told me the other price I'd have to pay once I actually started work. They wanted me to submit my work to a barrage of regulations, controls and restrictions of what was acceptable to build that stifled innovation. It was only then that I discovered the world outside of the inner city.

I made it to the slums, but the only real work is for big corps that are just as corrupt as the state. I don't walk out on a deal so I'll clear my debts, but I wont work in the system any more.

Ward's interview
Cerberus - "Today we have our next exclusive Nightlancer interview."

Mongoose - "That's right, this time we have the Engineer - also known as Ward."

Ward - "Hello."

Mongoose - "Welcome! Great to have you here! So tell us, what got you into the Nightlancer life?"

Ward - "Fraud."

Cerberus - "How does that work?"

Ward - "Some people made a lot of promises, sold me education as an architect on them, then refused to take responsibility when they didn't follow through. That's fraud."

Mongoose - "So who were they?"

Ward - "That would be the ivory tower. They promised a reward for the education I went into debt for, then the reward never happened. So now I need to get my freedom back in my own way."

Cerberus - "So you took loans to pay for education and it didn't give you the opportunities you were told it would?"

Ward - "That's right. They broke their side of the deal."

Mongoose - "Never seen anyone come out of uni that had a clue what the real world was like."

Ward - "I can understand where you get that impression. The world you get told about in university doesn't come close to reality. They don't tell you about the slums. They don't tell you about roving shockpacks. The authorities don't want you worrying about any of that. They want good little pre-packaged obedient servants."

Cerberus - "Yeah, I've been on the inside of that deal. They're very selective about the news they let in or the people they let visit."

Mongoose - "How the hell do you not find out about that stuff? It's like, all around you, all the time."

Cerberus - "I'm pretty sure they filter the 'net and, well, if you don't know what to look for it's hard to come across it."

Ward - "Something like that, yes. So they got me deep in debt, broke their deal. Now they basically have me in indentured servitude."

Mongoose - "So you're a Nightlancer to pay your way out of it?"

Ward - "Exactly. It's my life to live, I'm not having anyone else signing it away."

Cerberus - "So how exactly do you cut it in the Nightlancer life if you're a wimpy architect?" Mongoose whispers - "For anyone who hasn't seen him, Ward is like 2 meters tall and fitted with an exoskeleton…"

Ward - "I like hands-on work. I create a building from the ground up, from planning to roofing. Beside the physical skill and fitness needed for construction work, the construction exoskeleton offers significant protection."

Cerberus - "Hah. You seem really impassive about all this, you didn't even blink when I taunted you."

Ward - "I only have contempt for things like cowardice, theft and stupidity. I stop it if it really affects me. Beyond that, caring about it is a waste of my time."

Mongoose - "I think he just called you stupid…"

Cerberus - "Well I did call him a wimp."

Ward - "You overestimate how much that mattered."

Cerberus - "…ok."

Mongoose - "Cool to meet you Ward, thanks for coming to talk to us."

Ward - "Alright."

Trivia

 * A Nightlancer with a background in the isolated inner city

Featured in

 * Nightlancer core game
 * Nightlancer limited edition