你从何而来WHERE YOU CAME FROM会有一千种理由坠入暗影。有时候在坠落到深渊的过程中，会伴随大量的尖叫与碰撞，然而有时候它更像是在（正如我最喜欢的一本书《死树》（old deadtree）的作者曾经说过的那样）“漫无目的地往下走”。但不管一个人怎么做，它几乎总是意味着一些非常重要的生活变化。让我们来看看你可能会以怎样的方式加入到（不那么）富有和虚无的生活方式。
公司：向外流动THE CORPS: OUTWARD MOBILITY快讯：并非每个在公司工作的人都对自己的命运感到满意。当然，有一份轻松的工作总是好的（或者至少有一份工作——薪奴的生活并不总是轻松惬意），不用担心下一顿饭的来源，也不用担心在凑合过夜时不定期用交叉火力保持通风。确切地说我也不知道那是什么，这是他们告诉我的。很多人喜欢这种生活方式，甚至向往这种生活方式，尽管我们很难理解。但总有一些人会抬起头来，注意到公司的生活是有代价的——也就是你的自由。超企，尤其是那些十大，会密切关注着他们的资产。这就是你对他们的全部：一笔资产。你住在公司的房子里，在公司的商店里购物，吃公司的食物，听从公司的命令。如果你不——我们就这么说吧，超企可不是靠宽恕而致富的。
暗影界从超企中挖掘那些不适应这种生活环境的最优秀的人才。他们有几种类型：这位前公司职员要么受够了领导层的路线，决定单干，要么就是犯了惊人的错误，带着极端的偏见在清算前先走一步：保镖的指控被驳回了（由于疏忽，或单纯只是故意）；那个姑娘终于看清了她的宝贝超企在做什么，良心受到了谴责；颇有成就的法师或碟客厌倦了在公司的弦上跳舞，并意识到他们的才能在公开市场上可以获得更多的新円；以及其他各种各样的人。
> 我共事过最好的出面人之一曾经是高级行政助理。任何了解超企生活的人都知道，如果你在行政部门工作，你就绝不会想要惹恼你的管理层——那些男男女女知道所有人的一切，如果你不好好对待他们，他们会从周日开始用六种方式折磨你。她终于受够了这种生活，于是她弃船而逃，遁入暗影——同时，她向上级汇报了她那猪头一样的老板那富有创意的会计报告，她设法扳倒他，让他下台。我上次听说她已经是一位自由掮客了。
> 基亚（Kia）
> 当像法师、执行官和研究人员这样的高价值资产逃离公司时，超企都会特别紧张，因为他们知道一旦这些资产流出，损害的可能就是公司的利润。当然，他们不会像对付乔·萨拉里曼（Joe Sarariman）那样花大力气去搞到一个秘密项目的首席科学家，但永远不要认为你是完全安全的。
> 邦德先生（Mr. Bonds）
劇透 - :
News flash: Not everybody who works for the corps is happy with their lot in life. Sure, there’s something to be said for having a cushy job (or at least a job—the life of a wageslave isn’t always cushy), not having to worry about where your next meal is coming from, and having a doss that doesn’t regularly get ventilated by crossfire. I’m not sure what that something is, exactly, but that’s what they tell me. A lot of people like that lifestyle and even aspire to it, hard as it is for us to comprehend. But there’s always going to be those people who poke their heads up and twig to the fact that corp life has a price—namely, your freedom. Corps, especially the big ones, keep close tabs on their assets. That’s all you are to them: an asset. You live on company property, shop at the company store, eat the company food, and toe the company line. And if you don’t—let’s just say that the megas didn’t get rich by being forgiving.
The shadows get some of their best talent from these corporate misfits. They come in several flavors: the ex-company man who either had enough of the party line and decided to go it alone or who made some spectacular frag-up and got out one step ahead of liquidation with extreme prejudice; the bodyguard who let her charge get cacked (either due to negligence or on purpose); the chica who finally got a good look at what her precious corp was doing and had an attack of conscience; the hotshot mage or decker who got sick of dancing on a corporate string and realized their talents would command more nuyen on the open market; and plenty others.
> One of the best faces I ever worked with used to be a high-level administrative assistant. Anybody who knows anything about corp life knows that if you’re an executive, you do not want to piss off your admin—those girls and boys know everything about everybody, and they can frag you over six ways from Sunday if you don’t treat them right. She finally had enough of the life and jumped ship for the shadows—while managing to bring her pig of a boss down when she ratted out his creative accounting to the higher-ups. Last I heard she was working as a freelance fixer.
> Kia
> Corps get particularly nervous when high-value assets like mages, executives, and researchers fly the coop, because they know things that can hurt the bottom line if it gets out. Naturally they won’t spend the kind of effort going after Joe Sarariman that they would trying to get their hands on the lead scientist of a secret project, but don’t ever think you’re completely safe.
> Mr. Bonds
与公司生活不同的是，街头生活通常没有什么值得称道的地方。生活在第六纪曼城区的战壕里，通常是相当具有中世纪的风味——这意味着肮脏，粗野，和短暂。
> 有点像链匠。
> 冬鹰（Winterhawk）
> 当着我的面说这句话——我谅你也不敢。
> 链匠（Chainmaker）
重点是，街头的大多数人都在寻找离开街头的方法，而暗影狂奔可能是到达目的的最佳方式之一。我们的队伍里充满了前街头孩子，他们开始为当地的辛迪加狂奔，当机会出现在家门口时，这些前帮派成员抓住了机会，还有一些犯罪分子（有组织的也有自由的），他们一有机会跳出这个危险的世界，直接跳入到另一个危险的世界当中。
> 这就是为什么你通常不会看到很多犯罪组织的高层成员在暗影界狂奔。一方面，他们在做自己的事情时会获得更多的信任，另一方面，一旦你坐到一定程度的位置，如果你成为自由职业者，你就活不了多久了。
> 雷公（Lei Kung）
> 你漏掉了街头狂奔者最可靠的来源之一：泛人类，尤其是兽人和巨魔。如果你是一个精灵或矮人，你还有机会在生活中找到美好的事物，但如果你身高三米，看起来就像一个行走的犯罪现场，那么你可以试着找一份轻松的公司活。有趣的是，当我们中的一个提出申请时，每一份不在“可牺牲炮灰”职业轨道上的工作都奇迹般地被填满了。在暗影中，有时我们会发现，除了强大和坚强，我们还需要更多的东西。
> 2XL
> 当大多数人想到那些在街头开始狂奔的人时，他们首先会想到的是刻板印象，比如街头孩子，流氓，和那些低级犯罪残渣。再深入一点，你就会发现其中有着各种各样有趣的人。就在去年，我和一个前娼妓、一个前文乐木偶、一个食尸鬼街头外科医生（是的，我不会再这样做了，但当时我没有太多选择），还有一个在三合会里站错边的三流赌徒一起狂奔。暗影狂奔有时候会创造给你一些千奇百怪的伙伴。
> 机师X
劇透 - :
Unlike corp life, street life doesn’t usually have much going for it. Life in the trenches of the Sixth World’s sprawls is often quite medieval—meaning nasty, brutish, and short.
> Rather like Chainmaker.
> Winterhawk
> Say that to my face—I dare you.
> Chainmaker
The point is, most people on the streets are looking for a way off the streets, and shadowrunning can be one of the best ways to get there. Our ranks are full of former street kids who got their start running errands for the local syndicate, ex-gangers who seized an opportunity when it showed up on their doorstep, and criminal types (both organized and freelance) who got a chance to break out of one dangerous world and jump right into another.
> This is why you don’t usually see a lot of higher-up members of the criminal syndicates running the shadows. For one thing, they pull in a lot more cred doing what they’re doing, and for another, once you get to a certain level, you don’t tend to survive long if you go freelance.
> Lei Kung
> You left out one of the most reliable sources of runners from the streets: metahumans, especially orks and trolls. If you’re an elf or a dwarf, you’ve got a decent shot at the nice things in life, but try getting a cushy corp job if you’re three meters tall and look like a walking crime scene. Funny, but every job that isn’t on the “expendable cannon fodder” career track miraculously seems to be filled when one of us puts in an application. In the shadows, sometimes we actually get to show that there’s more to us than being big and tough.
> 2XL
> When most people think of runners who got their start on the streets, their minds go first to the expected stuff like the street kids, gangers, and low-level criminal scum. Dig a little deeper and you find all kinds of others who are a lot more interesting. In just the last year I’ve run with an ex-prostitute, a former bunraku puppet, a ghoul street surgeon (yeah, I wouldn’t do it again, but I didn’t have a lot of choice at the time), and a small-time gambler who got on the wrong side of the Triads. Shadowrunning makes for some really strange bedfellows sometimes.
> Rigger X
暗影界是一块对于社会光谱中较为奇怪一端的磁铁，对于这一端，我指的是像魔法师、超链和碟客这样的人。当然，好的矩阵操作员和大多数施法者（无论好坏）都可以在公司里赚自己的饭票，直接离开街道或在公司学校毕业，进入一个舒适的工作环境在那里度过余生。
他们可以做到，但他们中的大多数不行。年轻人们，这里有另一条快讯：他们中的大多数人都很他妈奇怪。只能说，不管出于什么原因，他们中的大多数都不能很好地放入预制孔中。你可以把方钉子扎进圆孔里，只要你把方钉的棱角锉掉，但你试试用连个名字都没有的三维结构来做这桩事。然后，你就会开始发现，将他们当中的一些人加入到你那快乐的小公司整合集会中去，会爆发出成堆的问题。撇开陌生感不谈，魔法和矩阵都倾向于提升个体性——姑且这么说——的类型。当你宁愿挖出自己的眼睛也不愿接某个口若悬河的办公室极端派的命令时，为了自由去做你想做的事而放弃一些安全感会让你在短时间内变得极具魅力。
> 并非每个在暗影中狂奔的人都是如此，因为他们别无选择。多年前，为了有更多的自由去追求自己的道路，我做出了一个明智的决定，我解除了公司和学术生活的束缚。相信我——不管结果有多有趣，公司的魔法项目都不会喜欢特立独行的实验。我比在大学里学到了更多关于真实世界的魔法现象。
> 冬鹰（Winterhawk）
> 如果你是一个碟客，而且你足够优秀，它甚至不必是一个选择。我曾经认识一个人，他在公司临时工作中收入高达六位数，同时在暗影碟客界维持着三个不同的化身。是的你没听错。在暗影界，从没有人看见过他本尊。他没有继续狂奔的唯一原因是他变得粗心大意，不小心拿了一份和自己公司作对的工作。
> 故障（Glitch）
> 当然，如果你和我一样，那么公司也不会需要你，除了作为实验对象。所以即使我们想要这个机会，我们也没得选择。
> 网猫（Netcat）
劇透 - :
The shadows are a magnet for the odder end of society’s spectrum, and by that I mean people like magicians, technomancers, and deckers. Sure, good Matrix jockeys and most spellslingers (good or not) can write their own tickets with the corps, stepping straight off the streets or out of the corp schools and into plush jobs where they’re set for life.
They can, but a lot of them don’t. Here’s another news flash, kids: A lot of these people are fraggin’ strange. Let’s just say that for whatever reason, most of them don’t fit nicely into the prefab holes. You can fit a square peg into a round hole if you file off the corners, but try doing that with a three-dimensional construct that doesn’t even have a name. Then you’ll begin to see the problem with integrating some of these guys into your happy little corporate conformity-fest. And strangeness aside, both magic and the Matrix tend to elevate the type of people who are—let’s just say—individuals. When you’d rather claw out your own eyes than take orders from some mouth-breathing desk-hugger, giving up some security for the freedom to do what you want can get attractive in a hurry.
> Not everyone who runs the shadows does it because they have no other choice. I made a conscious decision many years ago to step away from the constraints of corporate and academic life for a while in order to have more freedom to pursue my own path. Trust me—corporate magical programs don’t look kindly on maverick experimentation, regardless of how interesting its results might be. I’ve learned more about real-world magical phenomena in the shadows than I ever did at University.
> Winterhawk
> If you’re a decker and you’re good enough, it doesn’t necessarily even have to be a choice. I knew a guy once who was bringing in high six figures in a corp gig, while simultaneously maintaining three separate personas as shadowrunning deckers. Yeah, you heard me right. Nobody in the shadows ever saw him in person. The only reason he’s not still running is he got sloppy and accidentally took a job against his own corp.
> Glitch
> And of course, if you’re like me the corps don’t want you anyway, except as experimental subjects. So we don’t exactly get a choice even if we wanted it.
> Netcat
有些人就是气得发疯，再也不想忍受。他们见到生活就是一坨狗屎，他们看到一小群人在某些地方甚至可能在火星上幕后操纵着一切，他们会不择手段接近他们，而其他人只是在那泥潭中不断堕落。无论他们的目的是什么——泛人权、新无政府主义、宗教自由、超链人权，甚至是一些更私人的东西，比如让他们自己所处的蔓城区小角落更安全——激进的狂奔者将他们的暗影狂奔和社会道德秩序的副作用结合起来。他们不是为了钱或个人利益，而是因为他们真诚地相信，他们有机会让世界变得稍微好一点。
> 这听起来很理想化，但是不要被愚弄了：不是所有的兜帽客都是头上戴花的清高者。有一部分兜帽客只是另一种恐怖分子的体现。这是视角的不同。炸毁一幢公寓大楼，因为它的拥有者是一个反泛人的警察，这可能是件好事，但那些失去一切无家可归的居民们又该如何。
> 汉尼贝拉（Hannibelle）
> 当你与激进或其他狂奔者一起工作时，你必须小心。大多数狂奔者本质上都是雇佣兵，也就是说他们为付钱的人工作。优秀的人知道，除非情况发生变化，否则你不会恩将仇报（是的，我知道，这只会发生在有“y”的日子里，但你明白我的意思）。他们也懂得妥协的价值，当有人切换演出剧目时，你可以跟他们讲道理。激进分子中比较理想主义的那部分人相信，没有什么比一个正在执行使命的信徒更危险的事情了。和一个只会看到自己观点的人一起工作是很困难的。
> 无耻政客（Snopes）
> 当你觉得自己是对的时候，你就不会妥协。
> 生态（Ecotope）
劇透 - :
Some people just get mad as hell and don’t want to take it anymore. They look at the drekker we live in and all they see is the fact that a small group of people pull the strings from what might as well be Mars for all the chance that they’ll ever get near them, while everybody else is down here in the mud getting screwed. Whatever their cause—metahuman rights, neo-anarchism, religious freedom, rights for technomancers, or even something more personal like making their own little corner of the sprawl safer—activist runners combine their shadowrunning with a side order of social conscience. They’re not in it for money or personal gain, but because they genuinely believe that they have a shot at making the world a slightly better place.
> This sounds idealistic, but don’t be fooled: Not all hooders are goody-two-shoes with flowers in their hair. One man’s hooder is another man’s terrorist. It’s all about perspective. Blowing up an apartment building because it’s owned by an anti-meta policlub might be all well and good, but tell that to the families of the residents who’ve lost all their stuff and now have no place to live.
> Hannibelle
> You have to be careful when you work with activists or other runners who are in it for a cause. Most runners are essentially mercs, meaning they work for whoever’s paying them. The good ones learn that you don’t bite the hand that feeds you unless the circumstances change (yeah, I know, that only happens on days with ‘y’ in them, but you get the idea). They also understand the value of compromise, and you can reason with them when somebody switches the playlist. The more idealistic end of the activist crowd believe, and there aren’t many more dangerous things than a true believer on a mission. It’s hard to work with somebody who won’t see anybody’s viewpoint but their own.
> Snopes
> You don’t compromise when you’re right.
> Ecotope
有时候，好奇心会带你去一些非常奇怪的地方，尤其是当你在寻找答案的时候，这是你在象牙塔中所找不到的。大多数学术类型的人满足于做安全的、适当批准的研究，但总有一部分人意识到，当你愿意做严格来说不合法或不安全的事情时，你可以得到更多有趣的结果。
我不常提起我女儿，但我想说的是，一些学者的研究超出了他们的理解范围，在可怕的事情发生之前可以做好一切保护措施。
> 在邓凯尔赞的遗嘱公布之后，我们看到了很多这样的例子。狂奔者小队带着植物学家和生物学家在像亚马逊这样的地方寻找稀有的动植物群，赚了很多钱。任何地方，只要你发现有趣的现象，而这些现象又不容易触及，你就会看到那些敢于冒险的学者们正在寻找到达那里的方法。他们中的一些人认为这次冒险是值得的，于是留在了暗影界。
> 玻璃行者（Glasswalker）
> 如果你想要大问题的答案，你必须尽你所能去得到它们。
> 伊利亚（Elijah）
军事和执法：高墙之外MILITARY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL
维护社会规则的人和违反社会规则的人，之间的差别比你想象的要小得多。就我所知，一些执法人员和军人越过高墙坠入暗影的理由，包括对内部猖獗的腐败感到失望，简单的诱惑，或徒劳无功的感觉（当这么多的坏人侥幸逃脱时，你很难保持理想主义，或者更糟的是，你会因为一些远远超出你工资等级的幕后交易而被解雇）。当你是一名巡逻警察或者是一名拿着垃圾工资的士兵时，你在暗影中所能获得信誉的诱惑难以忽视。再加上你在工作中学到的技能——比如武器使用，近距离格斗，保持头脑清晰的领导，以及让魔咒纷飞——这种转变比操作一般的公司无人机更容易，前景也更有吸引力。
> 这是许多独立佣兵机构招募新兵的地方。也许你的生活不像在军队或准军事组织中那样可预测，但它通常要有趣得多。而且可能更赚钱。
> 斗牛士（Picador）
> 我曾经认识一位前孤星警探，他花了两年中的大部分时间来运作一项逮捕某特殊狂奔者小队的行动。然后他惹怒了不该惹的上级，发现自己被诬陷犯下了一起引人注目的谋杀案。他在断头斧落下之前逃之夭夭，并且和他一直在追捕的狂奔者小队勾搭上了。
> 危险先生（DangerSensei）
劇透 - :
There’s a lot less difference than you think between the people who uphold society’s rules and the ones who break them. Some reasons I’ve heard for law-enforcement officers and military types going over the wall and into the shadows include frustration with the rampant corruption within the ranks, simple temptation, or feelings of futility (it’s hard to keep your idealism when so many times the bad guys do get away with it, or worse yet, get off due to backroom deals way above your pay grade). When you’re a beat cop or a military grunt earning crap wages, the lure of the cred you can make in the shadows is hard to ignore. Combine that with the fact that the skills you’ve learned on the job—things like weapon use, close combat, and keeping your head when the lead and the mojo are flying—make the transition easier than it would be for, say, your typical corp drone, and the prospect starts to get really attractive.
> This is where a lot of the independent merc outfits get their recruits. Maybe your life isn’t as predictable as it is within a military or paramilitary structure, but it’s usually a hell of a lot more interesting. And potentially more lucrative.
> Picador
> I once knew an ex-Lone Star detective who spent the better part of two years running an operation to take down a particular runner team. Then he pissed off the wrong higherup and found himself framed for a high-profile murder. He got out just ahead of the axe and ended up hooking up with the same runner team he’d been trying to catch.
> DangerSensei
还有一些更奇怪的家伙。在暗影界里到处都是他们的身影——那些从完全意想不到的地方坠入到这种生活的人。给我一点时间去思考，我可能会讲给你至少50个不同暗影狂奔者的起源故事，而这些故事绝非来自我之前提到的任何类别。从9岁的碟客，到用大批巧克力脆片曲奇走私稀有毒品的小老太太，再到兼职做高薪湿活工作的UCAS高级政客（不，我不会告诉你是谁，所以不要问），什么人都有。
> 我曾和一个做过水管工的狂奔者一起工作。我也有一段时间和掮客合作，他最初是一位高端艺术品经销商。我在暗影界里待得越久，就越能意识到这一点——只要动机正确，任何人都可以站到法律的对立面。
> 阿克西斯·蒙迪（Axis Mundi）
> 有一种类型的人让你无法忘怀，因为那里有很多这样的人：肾上腺素上瘾者。这些男男女女在暗影中狂奔，只为寻求刺激，他们中的很多人都是疯子。如果你发现自己所在的团队中有这样的人，我的建议是尽快离开。他们可能擅长他们的工作，他们也可能完成任务，但你不能指望他们做你期望的事情。如果你计划有一天成为一个资深暗影狂奔者，那么你就会意识到和一个喜欢整场任务都处于武装对抗状态的人在一个团队是极其不健康的。
> 2XL
> 楼上加一，虽然有一点那么碰巧：成瘾。不管是什么——毒品、BTL、酒精、赌博——背着负担的狂奔者总是会冒着在最坏的情况下做出错误决定的风险。他们可能会带着兴奋或醉意出现在工作中，或者他们可能最后欠了错误的人一笔钱，然后把你卖了。当然，也许在很长一段时间内，他们会过得很好，控制他们的嗜好，不让他们妨碍自己的事业。但我们都知道，这需要一段时间。我们所做的事业已经够危险的了，不要让你继续生活在某人成瘾的控制下。
> 尼芙琳（Nephrine）
劇透 - :
Then there are the odd ones out. The shadows are full of them—people who fell into the life from completely unexpected places. Give me a little time to think and I can probably name you at least fifty different shadowrunner origin stories that didn’t come from any of the categories I already mentioned. Everything from the nine-year-old decker to the little old lady with the lucrative business smuggling rare drugs in batches of chocolate chip cookies to a top-level UCAS politician (no, I’m not going to tell you who, so don’t ask) who moonlit as a highly paid wetwork specialist.
> I once worked with a runner who used to be a plumber, of all things. I also had a fixer for a while who started out as a high-end art dealer. The longer I’ve been in the shadows, the more I realize that with the right motivation, anybody could end up on the wrong side of the law.
> Axis Mundi
> One type you can’t forget about because there are plenty of them out there: the adrenaline junkie. These boys and girls run the shadows for the sheer thrill, and a lot of them are batshit crazy. If you ever find yourself on a team with one, my advice is to get out as soon as you can. They might be good at what they do, and they might get the job done, but you can’t count on them to do what you expect. Being on a team with a guy who likes to take on entire roomfuls of armed opposition is never healthy if you plan to be an old shadowrunner someday.
> 2XL
> Same idea, though a bit more hit-and-miss as far as reliability goes: addicts. Doesn’t matter what it is—drugs, BTL, alcohol, gambling—a runner with a monkey on his back always carries the risk that he’s going to make a bad decision at the worst possible time. They might show up to the job high or drunk, or they might end up owing money to the wrong people and selling you out for the price of a fix. Sure, maybe they’ll be fine for a long time, managing their addictions and not letting them get in the way of biz. But as we all know it only takes one time. What we do is dangerous enough without leaving your continued existence at the mercy of somebody’s addiction.
> Nephrine
