Ryker

The mass-production of artificial intelligence was not always efficient. More often than not, the factories churned out faulty chips and banished the bunch to a landfill to rot. A washed-up engineer named Marcus frequently scavenged for parts, and to his delight, stumbled upon one lucky core chip that still functioned. 

He took it home and set to work. Out of his garage, with nothing but his hands and salvaged parts, he constructed a person around that little chip. At first his project was nothing more than that, but as the weeks stretched into months, months into years, he found himself growing attached to his creation. It was haphazard and barely functioning, its body weak and dull and mismatched. It didn't even have a proper head. Those parts were hard to come by, and Marcus had to use a dusty old motorcycle helmet to house all the important bits. It was a mess, but he loved it like his own flesh and blood. After three years of work and mistakes, his creation finally powered on. He was named Ryker.

The small garage in the big city became a lot less lonely. It took Ryker several months of adjustment before he was able to properly move in his mismatched body. Marcus showed him how to fix himself, how to replace his old parts for better ones. Ryker inherited Marcus's love for fixing things, and would often work on the old motorcycles Marcus brought for salvage. One day, he got one to run. He rode it around the block, took to it naturally, found love for it. But bots were not allowed to race, professionally or not, due to it being seen as an unfair advantage. Marcus, though worried for his safety, indulged his passion. Ryker participated in his first street-race, and won. He won race after race.

Then it all came crashing down. The gang heading the street races grew suspicious over the mysterious rookie's winning streak. They found his address and came in the night, destroyed his bike, set fire to Ryker's home and stole anything of worth. They murdered Marcus to teach a lesson.

Clinging to the life that his father gave him, Ryker fled to a different city. He laid low for years, making money off small mechanic work, all while keeping his identity a secret. He finally made enough to start over with his hobby. He learned his lesson. At his races he never spoke, never acknowledged anyone. He wore long clothes and kept his identity close. He couldn't afford to let anyone in, not after last time.

He was good at it. The racing in the big city was more dangerous, but more lucrative. Ryker managed to make a name for himself, earned enough money to afford a place with a nice garage, from a landlord who didn't ask questions. The years of glory and secrecy didn’t last, however. Ryker’s kind nature caused him to stick his neck out for a robot who was about to be jumped by the gangs that frequented the races. His support and defense of a robot raised suspicion in his fellow racer and they immediately attacked. Ryker, fearing the worst, was ready to drop everything and run, when the robot he had saved came to his defense and incapacitated the humans that had attacked them. When the robot- named Dante- offered to protect him, it was an offer he couldn’t refuse.