š» Syd the Skid
"I was always good at multitasking.
Donāt worry Iām not gonna get all feminist and rail against the stereotype that women can do it better than men, because the truth is: we can. And I am testament to that. Look at me, Iām balls deep into the mainframe of this Data Vault and perfectly able toā Shit. Okay scrap that last part, you didnāt hear me say itā¦
The point is, it actually helps me focus. Sounds counter-intuitive, I know. But code is just another language, and hacking is just a conversation - an argument, really - where there is one clear winner. Me. The Archives and I go way back, I remember being brought here by my older sister when I was a youngāun. I could barely read or write and yet something about Cyber Hacking just clicked. There was a logic to the scripts, a function to the sequence of symbols, a method to the madness.
I grew up in the Chimneys. The Eastern Quarter left to fester beneath the toxic fumes of the Refinery, they can call it the Industrial District all they like, we all know its the slums. Life was hard. Chaotic. Learning to code brought order to that chaos. Then it brought money; the ability to make a living instead of just āstaying aliveā.
My name is Syd the Skid - Cyber Hacker for hire. Youāve probably heard of me.
What I do, what my peers do, is not illegal, not really. We are a voice for the voiceless, we waltz brazenly up to the powers-that-be and we take what is ours. Metaphorically, of course, Iāve never waltzed a day in my life, and frankly the thought scares me. We dance with the devil everytime we attempt to hack into The Archives - there have been more failed hacking attempts than successful ones - and the result is always the same. Death. But not for me, Iām what they call an outlier. A dataset anomaly. Iāve been Cyber Hacking since I was a child and have never failed an Operation.
What can I say, I guess Iām just built different.
But enough about us Operators, or Skids if youāre in too much of a rush to stomach the extra syllables. Itās not a glamorous job but someoneās got to do it, so thatās that. Now, I know I mentioned my penchant for multitasking earlierā¦ and Iām well aware that I may have slightly talked up my abilities, butā¦ Ah, there we go. Iām in.
This is the fun part. Iāve managed to skirt the defenses of this fledgling fort of data; Iāve jumped the moat and scaled the walls, incapacitated the guards and stolen a skeleton key in the process. Now itās just me, the key, and a bunch of locked rooms full of money. All I need to do is find the right one for the client who hired me before the guards wake up again.
Iām not sweating, youāre sweating. This was a piece of cake. Now leave me alone, Iāve got work to do! The alarm systems may be down for now, but they wonāt be for longā¦
Another argument won, another step closer to freedom."