Daryen character generation

Trade Era 1228, Day 63

Contitech University, Maryburg city, New Jordan The sun had barely begun its ascent over Contitech University as Hank stirred from his dorm room. With a yawn, he donned his favorite hoodie, the one adorned with a fading logo from his hometown's flitter races. The campus was already alive with the hum of students on a mission.

As he traversed the campus, the familiar scent of coffee greeted him at every corner. The Computer Science building loomed ahead, its sleek architecture a stark contrast to the unremarkable cityscape he once called home.

Today's class was in the tech labs, where the rhythmic clatter of keyboards blended with animated discussions on software architecture. Hank's fingers danced across the keys, translating abstract problems into lines of code. Amidst his focused work, he occasionally stole glances at the clock, eagerly anticipating the end of the class—a step closer to graduation.

In his current assignment, he was supposed to use a University code library and simulate a starship's computer jump algorithm, but it was not working as Hank expected. In the midst of debugging, he stumbled upon an anomaly—a stray line of code that invoked an out of place configuration file. Intrigued, he followed the electronic trail and found a professor's access credentials. It was a security breach. He could use that to pass himself as a faculty member.

Trade Era 1228, Day 63

Contitech University, Maryburg city, New Jordan
The corridors of Contitech University were buzzing with activity as Hank made his way to Professor Evelyn Stone's office.

Upon reaching the office, Hank hesitated for a moment before knocking. The door swung open, revealing a cluttered space filled with stacks of research papers and datapads related to the mysterious Elders.

"Professor Stone?" Hank inquired, unsure of what to expect.

The professor looked up from her work, her eyes narrowing inquisitively. "Yes, and you are?"

Professor Evelyn Stone stared at Hank, a mixture of surprise and concern etched on her face. The news of her compromised credentials struck a chord of urgency within her.

"Hank Heron, was it?" she responded, her tone serious. "I appreciate your diligence, Mr. Heron. It's disconcerting, but unfortunately, not entirely surprising given the sensitivity of my research."

Hank's curiosity grew. "Your research? Is there something specific that might have made you a target?"

The professor hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "I delve into Elder research, ancient technology and knowledge that predates the establishment of the Interstellar Trade Commission. It's a niche field, but there are elements within and beyond the university who might find it… Intriguing. Do you have skills in digital forensics? If you want, I would like your help to investigate further, discreetly. I can secure a research grant for you until you graduate, theoretically for aiding me in predictive modeling, while in practice, your work would involve delving into this matter"

Hank accepts her offer.

Attempt to graduate ...

Edit: I would like to make a minor change to my university skills can I swap out Electronics for Investigate? That works better for the character and doesn't change any of the other stuff.

I'll be optimistic and assume that's OK. That means his Education is now 17, Academics(Math) and Ivestigate are each at 1, and Computer is at 2. A good solid base.

He wants to try for Scholar. So, now I'm rolling to get in ...

Ok, I failed that abysmally. Can I try again, or do I have to go somewhere else? (Either works. If he can, he will try one more time for Scholar. Otherwise, he heads off to be an Office Worker. Yes, Office Worker. I have a backup plan. :) )

Flush with excitement of his successful graduation, Hank immediately applied to be a research assistant at the university. He was pretty optimistic going in to apply, but it just didn't work out and he was rejected. He never got a good answer as to why, but he later learned that his association with Dr. Stone ended up hurting him in his attempt. The adminstration did not want anyone beholden to Dr. Stone to get one of the positions. He was gutted first by the failure, then by the reason for the rejection.

Hank took off a month or so, then contented himself doing small programming and research jobs ad hoc for others and his mother. After about 4 months, Dr. Stone let him know about an expedition she was going to lead and encouraged him to apply. She said she didn't have direct control on the application process, but encouraged him to apply anyway. Rather than be an in-university assistant position, it would be a full in-the-field research position. Excited by the prospects, Hank applied himself to preparing for the application. It took the rest of a full year before he was able to apply. (... applying now ...) Unfortunately, he was still not able to overcome the politics of the university to get the position.

However, during his research he found that the expedition was actually being run by the ITC exploration division. While Hank was very leery of working directly for the government, he decided to take a chance and apply for a junior archaeologist position that would put him in position to join the expedition through another avenue. (... applying now ...) Unfortunately, that was an utter disaster. His ambition and what he was trying to do was apparently too transparent for the managers interviewing him, so they rejected him out of hand.

Now, humbled, with his ambitions thoroughly crushed, he gave up on his dreams and simply applied as an analyst to the corporation his mother worked at, figuring it was a safe alternative as his final back-up plan. (... applying now ...) With some behind-the-scenes help from his mother (that he never found out about), he got the position. He then reluctantly headed off to his preordained destiny to be a wage-slave as a faceless cog in a nameless corporation.

Cool! Got some good stuff there!

Here are the dice rolls for this term ...

Since the term is a full four years, I am going to throw in a major complication during that time that will drive him towards his next career.

After having reconciled himself to seeing his dreams die, Hank was disappointed and despondent at being relegated to a life of being a wage slave like his parents before him. However, after a couple months he reconciled with his fate and chose to dive into his corporate life. Over that first year he found acceptance of his situation. During that time he met a fellow co-worker with whom he found a connection. They hit it off and soon began a serious relationship. Despite himself and his lost dreams, he had found contentment and no longer feared being corporate drone for his career.

During this time he did keep in contact with Dr. Stone and followed her career and research. Because of this, and because of his own research, he gained a surprising base of knowledge on what was and is know about the Elder. But this was just a hobby and he understood that and kept things with proper priority, focusing on his paying job and his relationships. As time progressed, he was able to get a promotion and increase his responsibilities. While he certainly was not moving into management, he still was gaining status and responsibilities.

With that increase in responsibility was an increase in access to more proprietary information within the corporation. With his computer and investigative skills he found out about illegal activities going on within the company. He also learned that his girlfriend was involved with the activities. He confronted her with what he found, and she insisted that he join them with the activity and help them more effectively cover it up. He told her he had to think about it. But really, he was unwilling to compromise himself that badly.

He took the opportunity given by his waffling to contact the authorities. He offered to help them investigate the impropriety, but they dismissed his offer and shunted him to the side while they investigated the situation. Realizing he now had no job, he immediately gathered his important belongings (while his girlfriend was still at work) and completely moved out of the only real city he had ever known. He moved the the startown instead.

When he got to the startown he immediately started looking for a new job while simultaneously providing his old job his zero hour notice of resignation. He got very fortunate and found work at a merchant trading company that valued his analyst and computer skills and appreciated that he had some familiarity with brokerage. So now he is working in a new company, in a new city, all while hoping no one comes looking for him.

Hank signs on. He thought he had protected himself through his contact with the authorities, but that apparently wasn't sufficient. As a result, there is nothing left for him here. He applies for the crewman position, though he has no idea how he can be useful to them. Still, he gives it his best shot.

Assuming he gets the position, he packs up his meager possessions and boards the ship. Just before he leaves, he sends a copy of the recording he secretly made of his confrontation with his now former girlfriend to one of the investigators that visited him. He also sends a message to Dr. Stone thanking her for her long friendship and that he hopes he will meet her again in the future.