DR. WILCOX GRAHAM

• Metatype: Troll

• Appearance: Grey/White hair; 2.57m; curled horns; wire-rimmed spectacles (loaded with software); modest dress style

• Location: London, UK

Most runners haven’t heard of Graham before right now, because most runners don’t spend their time searching the darkest corners of the Matrix for well-formulated and supported scientific work on the biology of the ingentis and robustus subspecies.

Seems super boring, but Graham is producing science papers backed by proper studies that would destroy many of the modern perceptions of trolls and orks. That is exactly why we trogs need to know him and help him keep working so that he can get his work into the public arena.

Based out of the British Isles but a frequent world traveler, Graham has travelled the globe studying various populations of orks and trolls in order to disprove much of the mythos surrounding these subspecies that was created through biased science and cultural rhetoric in the earliest days of UGE and the subsequent years of cultural oppression and metatype hate-mongering. His studies are not just limited to first-world nations like the UCAS and the Black

Forest Troll Kingdom, but also to the growing African tribes in the Congo and Nigeria, the South American favela dwellers, the outcast oni of Asia, the horsemen of Central Asia, and orks and trolls living in and among all the metatypes of the world across the globe. His extensive travel and research are made possible by those of us in the shadows who support his cause, but his work is often hindered by “those who fear the light of science will destroy the dim shadows of ignorance.” Those were his exact words, and while they sound hokey, it is his belief that studying reality and learning truths instead of proliferating hate and unfounded opinions will bring the metahumans of the world together and improve their relationships.

While he doesn’t contract his own jobs (he’s far too introverted to be Mr. Johnson), he goes on almost every fact-finding mission he contracts.

There is the occasional bit of data stealing and megacorporate espionage that he leaves to the professionals, but when he needs to head out into the field and talk to the people, observe unobstructed behavior, or create situations to study reactions and biochemical interactions, he’s right there. For some teams, this is a deal breaker. They won’t take civilians or non-contracted members because of the risk of double-cross, additional need for security on them, or whatever other reason they generate. Most of the time Graham informs the contracting fixer or Mr. Johnson of this requirement to avoid the lost time, but some jobs are put together in new cities with unknown assets. Be warned—if Graham taps your team, you may need to take him with. The good news is, he’s been doing this awhile and has learned when to keep his head down. The bad news is, he’s got more curiosity than a bag of cats, and it sometimes gets the better of him. He also tends to ask any and all orks and trolls on the team to participate in his study, which involves a lengthy question-and-answer session filled with all sorts of topics that most runners would rather not address. Then he asks them to wear trodes and a biomonitor for the duration of the run.

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The teams were entirely composed of trolls and orks, and he takes notes on everything from whether or not they agreed to the offered contract terms to how the team conducted itself throughout the run, both in terms of inter-team dynamics and how they dealt with outsiders.

His work has both biological and social elements. I’ve read several of his studies and find his views go against the grain of common beliefs, but they are statistically accurate and match what I get when I perform similar studies.

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Graham’s biggest hurdle is the fact that he knows the world we live in is not controlled by intellect but by the bottom line. Whatever makes it easiest to keep the workers and average joes in line is what the powers of the world will push. A few corps have slightly different mindsets, but they still aren’t there for enlightenment. Horizon gives their people a sense of free will, but really they’re just all feeding into each other’s ignorance, fears, and desire for self-indulgence. As things currently stand, Graham has had the most success with Evo, but their recent troubles have caused them to circle the wagons and they aren’t in a place to go introducing new elements to their education, even if they are one of the main pools of corporate citizens that Graham used. For now he needs to keep doing his work, and in order to do that he needs the occasional support team, a bodyguard every once in a while when threats get too close to home, and a lot of subjects to increase the depth of his pool of knowledge.

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the controversial ideas (that are scientifically supported) being put forth by Graham, I offer you three wonderful bits that might just twist up your vision of the world. 1) Troll life spans are longer than originally estimated. Like way longer. Cultural and environmental factors have been the primary reason for previously incorrect data, but the short lifespan concept is deeply entrenched, making it hard to change. 2) Ork average lifespan is drastically affected by environmental living conditions and societal pressures.

The short lifespan that orks are reported to have is a direct result of increased stress hormone release and exposure to harmful environmental substances, including air and water pollution. The tribes of Central Asia, well distanced from standard pollutant-producing vehicles and facilities, are showing dramatically increased life spans. They are staying healthy and fit nearing sixty years of age, rather than the forty we see in urban environments. 3) The global ork population is rapidly approaching that of humans.

Based on growth patterns, orks could be the dominant metatype by the turn of the century.

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Even if all the orks of the world were to decide they wanted to live together as an ork nation, and they settled on living in a less-than-hospitable geographical location because it was given to them free, they still lack connections and infrastructure to develop as a nation.

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are trying to help that along. And we can get Gary Cline.

Horizon can be our megacorp. Evo probably wouldn’t shy away either.

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optimism in that post, then debunk yourself.

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ORXANNE

• Metatype: Ork

• Appearance: Black hair shoulder length;

1.79m; athletic build

• Location: Los Angeles, PCC; global (tour cities)

Rigger X talked about her back in ’73 with the Attitude drop, so I won’t rehash much of that here. Over the last half-decade her status as a hero of her people has only grown. What started as a few contracts here and there for runners to work security for her expanded gradually into more proactive operations as she worked to protect and build Wejoto Records, acquire new unsigned talent, and push back against a myriad of cultural and corporate enemies. The stage for her causes has grown, and so have her aims in developing more equitable laws for orks and trolls.

From behind the big desk at Wejoto she managed to develop a worldwide network of connections, and while ork and troll cultures vary around the world, a few unifying principles were always present. Respect is earned. Acceptance by the world is not expected. Everywhere she reached felt the same way. They earned respect, and not simply by brute force, but by a code that sometimes involved violence but the violence

was always controlled. They didn’t feel they needed the world to accept them as something special, they just needed to do what they do, again following a code of honor that sometimes involved violence.

But the desk wasn’t good enough. Too often jobs fell into hands that weren’t strong enough to bear the weight of ork honor or didn’t understand what was expected when the code was broken. Orxanne felt these things needed to be handled personally. She set up a world tour but set dates only two months out. Preparing cities and arenas for her arrival became a big event as she announced her schedule one week at a time, then worked in front of and behind the scenes to plan jobs for the cities she was heading to. When a problem arises, Orxanne has been known to do short-notice shows at small venues, helping her stay in touch with her people. Every one of these involves contracting shadow work while also hiring runners to act as security for her.

She’s survived more attempts on her life than most third-world dictators, but she keeps coming back for more. She truly believes in a unified world of orks and trolls and as she connects trogs from around the world using music with a meaning. She gets closer and closer to truly earning the title her enemies slap on her with distaste but she revels in: “Queen Slitch of the Trogs.”

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community, it’s barely holding itself together against the media onslaught by the corps. We can make it sound like she’s rallying the trogs of the world, but most places run news about “disruptions and violence” caused by her concerts. The media corps love orxploitation, but they paint Wejoto as some dark goblin-cult music label to most of their citizens.

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of corporate security details at their concerts who are there following citizens who have left corporate property without proper authorization. They listen to her artists by accessing the public grid (ewww), and more often than not, the violence at these concerts comes from Humanis goons. KSAF has done dozens of live feeds from Wejoto shows only to reveal that those who cast the first stones—

along with the second, third, fourth, and so on—all have smooth skin and tuskless jaws.

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KING ALFONSO XIII