Background [Spoilers / Work In Progress]

The world is recovering from the Relinquish war, which at one point hovered on the brink of nuclear apocalypse. Rumour has it that the legendary 'Ghost Hacker' named 'FrostWalker' hacked and decrypted the Relinquish Database to end the war. Others claim that it was an AI known as 'XIII' that 'dances amongst the satellites'. Others claim it was the elite hacking group known as 'Nexus', or a military operation.

Central is the largest city on the planet, with Detritus being the undercity. Central is recovering from the war, and the balance of power is all shifting towards the 'Corporates'. Children are disappearing, being abused, tested on, or forcefully made addicted to a sickening new drug called 'Leash'.

The 'Corporates' are the real power and control the "Cyber-Tech" companies that create neural interfaces, replace limbs, and offer life-extending technology. The 'Corps' buy out or kill anyone who stands in their way, and own the government and military.

Leash is a new drug, fast becoming widespread. It has been custom-designed to make it highly addictive and control the addicts. Leash was originally tested on prostitutes and then on children. Whoever owns the supply of Leash owns the addicts.

However, Leash is more than just a drug, and there are wider and more horrific implications. Leash is only one facet of something much more sickening, and in the future, drugs might not actually be required. Conditioning, targeted advertising, association through colours, sounds and frequencies, experimentation on children, and rumours of something even more disturbing called 'The Maze'. 

The Maze was originally a testing ground for their experiments. A simple test to see if they could force people down certain routes through conditioning, then later with Leash. The idea appealed to the corporates, so now they're pushing the Leash addicts and manipulating them. They want to see just how far they can push people. It has turned into something much more horrifying, where they set teams of Leash addicts against each other, awarding them Leash for brutal acts of violence. There's no purpose behind the Maze now, other than that they seem to find it amusing!

Marcy previously led a special ops infiltration team during the Relinquish war. After being injured several times and brutally tortured, she has severe PTSD. Her infiltration team was so good that the military would never let her leave, and yet for some reason, they allowed her to. Nobody could work out why Kel wasn't tried for being found half-dead on the battlefield, given that  he shouldn't have been there in the first place. He was found beneath a collapsed enemy building next to Marcy, with a bottle of whisky in his hand, 99.8% pure Octameth in his pockets, and so much of the drug in his systemthat  they also couldn't work out how he was still alive.

And yet he now works for Marcy, who runs a cocktail bar called Firefly in Central. All of her old unit work security for various pubs and clubs around the city. Marcy is trying to leave her old life behind, but that isn't proving easy. She has a dark history with the Ghost Hacker, 'FrostWalker ', who is rumoured to have worked with the military, hacking the Relinquish database. FrostWalker has gone from Ghost Hacker to celebrity, which Marcy is none too happy about. After splitting up with Kel, her and FrostWalker became lovers, and if anyone finds that out, she'll be kidnapped or executed. Marcy can't work out why FrostWalker hasn't killed Kel yet.

But most frightening is the tax man! Nobody messes with the tax man, who is trying to take Firefly from Marcy and wondering where all her funds came from. Marcy is losing her mind trying to explain where her funds came from. She's losing her mind for a lot of reasons.

FrostWalker was a 'Ghost Hacker' until he started to enjoy his fame and went public. His name comes from the fact they had to use dozens of bags of ice to prevent FrostWalker's brain from overheating as he 'walked' the Relinquish database and stopped the war. FrostWalker has somehow managed to charm one of the toughest, cleverest and most dangerous women known. Marcy is in love with FrostWalker and doubts the truth of what was blatantly evidenced.

FrostWalker is making a power play to control Leash distribution and was caught on camera kidnapping two young girls. The third girl was found with a bullet in her head because 'FrostWalker could only carry one over each shoulder'. A Ghost Hacker is a hacker so good that nobody even knows they exist, and yet FrostWalker is arrogant. He's taunting the government, military and the hacking group Nexus! But he might have gone too far and left too many loose ends. Several hackers out there might be almost as good as he is, and might actually track him down.

Kel is an alcoholic, drug addict, criminal hacker, scammer, and womaniser, with serious mental health issues. He parties constantly while running promotions for Marcy's cocktail bar, Firefly (when he's not too wasted). Marcy frequently threatens to fire Kel and stop paying his rent for failing to do his job. He's not turning up for work, and when he does, he's totally wasted. He disappears for three days every week, and sometimes for months on end, without a word, as he goes on drug-fuelled benders. However, Kel is starting to unravel, and might be a lot more than he pretends to be! As Marcy starts to uncover the true extent of Kel's lies, she is horrified by his web of deception and his potential involvement with FrostWalker, Leash distribution, the Sarcophagi, child kidnapping, a girls' orphanage, and child abuse. And why is Yamaura, the most feared gang lord on the planet, so intent on killing Kel? After Yamaura makes Kel watch as he [CENSORED] his family and friends, he plans to set fire to Kel and piss on his ashes? And why is FrostWalker also so intent on killing Yamaura, closely followed by Kel! All of them are involved in child kidnapping and Leash distribution.

But it doesn't all add up. Kel is a mess, and yet how is it that he's rippling with muscle, and without any combat training, can take out six attackers whilst being so drunk and wasted on drugs that he could barely stand up? Is he really going on drug-fuelled benders? What is his relationship to 'The Sarcophagi'? Nobody even knows what 'The Sarcophagi' actually is, other than vague rumours of a hacking rig so advanced that it's not just better than anything the military or Nexus have; it is on another level! And rumours that it has needle streams to the satellites where a mysterious AI known as XIII dances amongst the very same satellites.

Kel is one of the best hackers and statisticians on the planet, with skills that FrostWalker doesn't even understand. He reputedly even worked with FrostWalker for a while, before they decided they would be better off killing each other. Why does Kel bribe the owner of a girls' orphanage every week, paying in platinum coins? Kel has the run of the place and visits the girls late at night. And some of the girls just disappear. However, there are two girls in particular that he favours. Two girls so broken from the abuse they've received that one of them stabbed Kel in the stomach for it.

Two insane girls, aptly named Sinister & Violent! They are regularly put in 'solitary confinement' to prevent them from killing the entire orphanage, and then anyone else who gets in their way. They'll happily kill anyone, other than Kel, who they call 'Daddy' and both plan to marry!

And Kel has another problem. He laughed at the concept of 'love at first sight ' and yet was proven wrong when he met Frey. But why does Kel push Frey away? Why does he refuse to have any friends or lovers? Is it because she might find out about his orphanage and his 'girls'? That she might find out about Sinister and Violent? Or because Yamaura will kill Frey if he finds out about her? It seems that Kel has a lot of girlfriends. His biggest secret is a girl named Parisia. A child prodigy locked away in an underground bunker working on something? One of many girls that Kel seduced and trapped. And she's none too happy about being locked up. She can join the queue of those lining up to kill Kel!

XIII is an enigma? Nobody knows for sure if XIII exists, or what it is, if so. Rumours of an AI from another planet? An AI living in an ancient med-bot? An AI that dances amongst the satellites? Rumours that XIII is the leader of the Sarcophagi? An AI that plays games online and makes billions, then gives it all away? The tax man definitely believes in XIII, and they want a serious word. And as all know, that is frightening, because nobody messes with the tax man!

K

K is the most dangerous and hated woman on the planet, currently in prison for her links to Leash and 'The Merizuki Massacre', where 21 children were murdered, several of whom were Leash test subjects. K also killed her twin sister, Emily, by stabbing her in the back. K was the gang leader for Breach, an elite gang focused on extortion, drug running, robbery, hacking and assassination. After being released early from prison, K has a 4,500,000 credit bounty on her head, and she has one single goal. To kill every single last [EXPLETIVES REMOVED] one of them.

K is on a killing spree. She's blowing things up, robbing, stealing, killing people, and taking over a brothel on a random whim. K's mood swings are becoming as extreme as the death count as the entire world tries to kill her. But what are the triggers for her mood swings? Certain colours? Sounds? Frequencies? Why does she always live in either penthouse apartments or deep basements? What is the association between music and her deceased twin sister's fiancé, DJ Manifold, who is an expert not only in music but in cyber implants, and is almost as dangerous as she is?

Each time K blows her cover, she has 'The Seamstress' remake her. But every time she's given a new disguise, her latest persona becomes a little bit crazier than the previous one. And K was already seriously crazy!

The drug war is tearing the city apart, and where FrostWalker is pure subtlety, K is a sledgehammer! However, FrostWalker seems more intent on becoming famous, marrying Marcy, and killing Kel? The only reason he hasn't killed Kel up until now is that they have a shared goal - to kill the crime boss Yamaura. K seems keen to help them out with that, however, getting in the middle of that feud sounds like madness, even to her! Only one of the three will survive. Kel, FrostWalker or Yamaura. K doesn't really want to make it one out of four!

FrostWalker, Kel, K and Breach all seem to be making a power play to control Leash distribution, and it is utter chaos in the streets. All four of them have individually caused a gang war. It's now approaching the point where they're just going to sit back and watch it all burn! But they're stepping on the toes of the Corporates, and the flames might consume them along with it...

And who exactly is Green Haired Ninja? A prostitute who can take out an ex-army special ops fifth dan Jen-Ki in her underwear? Or is she, as Kel suspects, an angel demon fairy vampire that hides in his fridge? Kel is so messed up he can't even remember meeting her, other than vague flashbacks. But she is dangerous on another level, drives an insanely fast bike, likes rocket launchers, lollipops, vodka, and samurai swords. And, according to Kel, her earlobes taste of candy...