NPCs From Hell #005
By Blackjack [Blackjack's Shadowrun Page: www.BlackjackSR.com] [BlackjackSRx@gmail.com] [@BlackjackSRx]

Posted: 1998-04-27

Cutters

Cutters tend to be mentally unstable gang members or individuals heavily devoted to neo-punk who have decided to carry their interest in the subject of body scarification to a rather extreme level. Having already obliterated nearly all of their body with various tattoos, burns, piercings and slashes, Cutters have gone the extra step and embedded a variety of razor oriented paraphernalia directly into their skin (sharp side up, of course). Essentially, these people are walking razor blades, scaled with layers of ultrasharp steel and posing a grave risk to the dermal health of anybody who happens to brush against them. Since the social consequences of such alterations can be rather severe (even punk palaces won’t let these people in), Cutters tend to end up as bitter outcasts who silently resent their decision to undergo modification. Wishing to use their mutilation to their advantage, and perhaps hoping to obtain enough money to reverse it, Cutters often seek employment with protection rackets and other black market industries who are always looking for new ways to scare people.

Bloodletters

Even with major advancements in pseudo-blood technology, many individuals with rare blood-types or sensitive rejection systems still require the real deal if the need for a transfusion arises. And, since blood related generosity tends to be somewhat limited in the 2060s, finding someone who is willing to donate a life giving fluid that isn’t all that easily replaced can be a tricky activity, even if money is offered.

Bloodletters prey on this type of situation, clandestinely searching medical records for people with obscure blood types, tracking them down, and then unceremoniously removing the life-giving fluid from their body. And while chop-shops have engaged in similar activities for decades, even the darkest black market body bank is above using the techniques of the Bloodletter.

Using a combination drill/suction device concealed in a cyberarm, the Bloodletter simply places their hand over the target’s heart, deploys the drill through the palm of their cyberhand, bores a hole, and sucks out the blood. During suction the blood is shunted to a variety of containers concealed both in and outside the Bloodletter’s body, giving the Bloodletter the opportunity to ditch any external containers while still retaining a impressive amount of fluid in various cyberlimb/torso cavities. Some Bloodletters (usually the larger ones) don’t use any external containers at all, making their activities all the more intangible. After the job is done the Bloodletter simple retracts the drill and continues along their way. The whole procedure can take less than ten seconds and leaves virtually no visual indication of assault, except for a relatively minor hole in the target’s chest. The Bloodletter then sells the blood on the black market or - frighteningly more often - to the corporate fat cat who hired him directly.