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anythingdrabbleTitle: Darm
His name had been Darm. He'd liked that name. He hadn't changed it even once, when renaming became fashionable as a way to redefine yourself, or between friends to show trust. Tiem always said it sounded cool and manly, when other guys teased him for being old-fashioned and stuck in his ways. As long as his daughter, who was his world, liked his name, he didn't care what anyone else thought.
When he checked in with Data Memory to find an extra letter added to his name, he knew he was in big trouble. That was how the system branded you a criminal. There was no fine, no sentence, your identity was made officially invalid. While people usually took personal longer names, your official name on the system had to be a code of four letters. Changing it every other day was fine as long as you still used a valid name. It had been a rule before Motherbrain, something to do with tradition. Now he was no longer recognised by Data Memory, he couldn't even backup his clone data to avoid permanent termination, never mind trade or apply for work or in any way live a normal life. He'd lose his house, his claims to family, his status as a person
He briefly wondered what he'd done wrong. He'd just been a hydroponic farmer. All he remembered doing even slightly unusual was logging a complaint about irregular water levels and a weird mutated bee that was eating the crops. Reporting real, dangerous system malfunctions wasn't illegal now, was it? He knew that Motherbrain wanted to always be right - She was a real diva for a supposed perfectly logical and benevolent computer - but surely she wouldn't do that to a loyal citizen.
That had been a lifetime ago, and now he lived in Nido with the bandits after even being kicked out of Arima, the border town where the clone lab had broken down years before and they'd gotten tired of losing people who tried to report it. Better just to leave town unless you couldn't. Still, it didn't mean they wanted all of Paseo's exiles. The bandits, however, they'd take anyone loyal and strong who could fend for themselves and had no moral qualms left. Tiem disapproved but he didn't want her to be involved in his failed life any more.
Until there'd been internal struggles and they'd betrayed him, finding out where Tiem lived and kidnapping her for ransom. He'd just take what he wanted, he decided, especially if it meant getting one over on someone so deep into the corrupt system that they'd been made an Agent. They always used the same bridge. With the automated security not bothering to activate for only a few criminals who weren't damaging vital computer equipment, it hadn't taken him long to secure the bridge, along with his few remaining loyal friends.
He'd get the ransom money, no problem. It wasn't like he had anything else left to lose.
Fandom: Phantasy Star 2
Characters/pairings: Darum & Tiem
Word count: 500
Rating: PG-13/Gen
Tags: backstory, worldbuilding, tragedy, societal shunning, family, kidnapping
Summary: Its when you got past four that things started going really wrong.
His name had been Darm. He'd liked that name. He hadn't changed it even once, when renaming became fashionable as a way to redefine yourself, or between friends to show trust. Tiem always said it sounded cool and manly, when other guys teased him for being old-fashioned and stuck in his ways. As long as his daughter, who was his world, liked his name, he didn't care what anyone else thought.
When he checked in with Data Memory to find an extra letter added to his name, he knew he was in big trouble. That was how the system branded you a criminal. There was no fine, no sentence, your identity was made officially invalid. While people usually took personal longer names, your official name on the system had to be a code of four letters. Changing it every other day was fine as long as you still used a valid name. It had been a rule before Motherbrain, something to do with tradition. Now he was no longer recognised by Data Memory, he couldn't even backup his clone data to avoid permanent termination, never mind trade or apply for work or in any way live a normal life. He'd lose his house, his claims to family, his status as a person
He briefly wondered what he'd done wrong. He'd just been a hydroponic farmer. All he remembered doing even slightly unusual was logging a complaint about irregular water levels and a weird mutated bee that was eating the crops. Reporting real, dangerous system malfunctions wasn't illegal now, was it? He knew that Motherbrain wanted to always be right - She was a real diva for a supposed perfectly logical and benevolent computer - but surely she wouldn't do that to a loyal citizen.
That had been a lifetime ago, and now he lived in Nido with the bandits after even being kicked out of Arima, the border town where the clone lab had broken down years before and they'd gotten tired of losing people who tried to report it. Better just to leave town unless you couldn't. Still, it didn't mean they wanted all of Paseo's exiles. The bandits, however, they'd take anyone loyal and strong who could fend for themselves and had no moral qualms left. Tiem disapproved but he didn't want her to be involved in his failed life any more.
Until there'd been internal struggles and they'd betrayed him, finding out where Tiem lived and kidnapping her for ransom. He'd just take what he wanted, he decided, especially if it meant getting one over on someone so deep into the corrupt system that they'd been made an Agent. They always used the same bridge. With the automated security not bothering to activate for only a few criminals who weren't damaging vital computer equipment, it hadn't taken him long to secure the bridge, along with his few remaining loyal friends.
He'd get the ransom money, no problem. It wasn't like he had anything else left to lose.
