Erika the Shadowrun Character:

I am Pope Erika, Princess of Chaos, Bearer of the Golden Apple of Eris. Fear me.

I was born in May of 2034 in the megatropolis of Seattle to a rather wealthy family. My father is an Executive Director for one of the Computer Science organizations at Renraku, and my mother is a Director in a different organization under Consumer Goods. Not quite execs, but not wage slaves, either. Big bucks, though. With two semi-bigwig parents, I needed to watch my back. Prime kidnapping target, y'know. My "Uncle Tanaka" (not related in any way, but more of a combination of bodyguard and father figure since Papa-san was always working late) taught me all I know about unarmed self-defense. Well, let's just say I didn't practice a lot. But Tanaka-san also taught me how to shoot. Pretty well, really. I favor the semi-auto guns, personally.

I grew up spoiled, I'm sorry to say. But as a kid, I knew nothing but the high-powered lifestyle. It was all "The Corp is your friend. You can trust the Corp. Trust only shaikujin; trust nobody outside the Corp. Blah, blah, blah." Whatever. I didn't know any better. I had been planning to go to med school and become a Doc.

My education in the School of Reality came to me gradually over time. I always did well in my classes, without really trying. That left lots of unused study time to dedicate to looking through the open data networks. Extra-curricular research. I found some interesting things:

1. The megacorps really run everything. That was no secret. But the megacorps are all run by a secret organization called the Bavarian Illuminati! Some group called the Discordian Commandos has been investigating this situation for years, and I've read a lot of their files.
2. Wicca is empowering. I met many Wiccans online and they've taught me a lot. It turns out I have a lot of magical healing talent. Wiccan practices help me bring them out.
3. Discordians are fun. They fight the power. They oppose the Illuminati. Discordianism is a joke disguised as a religion. Or a religion disguised as a joke. Or both. Fnord.

So my parents found out everything I was researching online. They didn't like what "I was into." My "lifestyle choice" didn't fit in with the Corp lifestyle. So they threatened to yank my trust fund, blast libellous statements to all of my top-choice schools and kick me out onto the streets if I didn't "shape up" by the next sunset!

Blood may be thicker than water, but money is thicker than blood. (Um, if money were liquid or something. Whatever. My parents were willing to kick me out rather than stir up trouble with work.)

So that night I rounded up everything I could to bring with me to survive. A duffel bag of clothes. My armor-lined duster and my twin Heckler & Koch HK227's and all the ammo I had saved up from my lessons. My athame, my electronic Book of Shadows, and whatever ritual items I had squirreled away. A first-aid kit (because you never know....). A lunch cooler chock-full of my favorite gourmet goodies, including my last two packets of Tim Tams. And those bastards FROZE MY BANK ACCOUNT so I only had a few nuyen in a wallet to take with me (but I grabbed a fistful of nuyen from the cookie jar on the way out).

"Funny how the Arcology security guards never ask questions when you leave. They just make it really hard to get back in. No matter; I'm not coming back. Even though it's awfully dark out here. And those Orks in tattered leather jackets are looking at me kinda funny.... I'd better find a safe place to sleep for the night."

So now the year 2053 has just begun. I found a new job working for a small, independent "investigation" business in the outskirts of Redmond. That's far enough away from home to avoid notice, but well within "striking distance" of the megacorp targets. This company seems to have no direct ties to any megacorps. I hope I'm right. Anyhow, they hired me because they like my healing skills. I guess I'm a lot cheaper than a Docwagon contract. Plus I can shoot a gun.