SOMEHOW, ALL OF THIS MESS

IS JUST MY ATTEMPT TO KNOW THE WORTH OF MY LIFE

Once a human, Maxwell Rose was living his best life at the height of the Golden Age. His life's work in nanotechnology made him an individual who was constantly sought-after, and he spent years working alongside bigger names in similar industries, most notably Clovis Bray. Maxwell's intimate knowledge of nanotech made him of particular interest to Bray, and the two remained steady partners for years. Developing exo technology was something that Maxwell wound up becoming involved in after a time, as well as even getting his hands dirty with SIVA technology. He had no qualms about using people to practice his exo integrations on, caring more for the furthering of his work than he did people's lives. His work was his life, and never in all his years did he let anything stop him.

And then came the Collapse.

The Collapse was a tragedy, not to the whole universe, but to Maxwell, specifically. It threatened his great and wonderful life, his work, and everything he'd ever built for himself. Believing that his impeccable brain was more worthy of saving than anything else in the entire world, Maxwell secured a prototype exo shell that he'd been secretly developing for several years, unbeknownst to Clovis, but was now fully intending to use it for himself. This exo shell was created with the specific intent of mass memory storage, boasted no initial refresh upon brain transfer, which was perfect for what he wanted. However, Maxwell was never aware of Clovis' creation of alkahest, and simply added the raw radiolarian fluid into specially-designed lines intertwined throughout the brain. Theoretically, he would be able to perform a transfer himself, without the need to pay a visit to the Deep Stone Crypt. It was the only way that he'd be able to save his brain while still retaining himself and his personality; forgetting nothing, and keeping everything.

I do have to note here before I forget: his exo brain was not up to spec with the exo Clovis Bray made. It was an experimental brain meant to enhance memory capability, as well as "lock in" the host's human memories before a reset can happen. Certain essential bodily functions were never added to this prototype, including sight, to keep all of the room for brain expansions and functions. This brain also featured raw radiolaria, as opposed to Clovis Bray's alkahest. The only reason that Maxwell did not experience billboarding upon transfer was because of the brain's extraordinary capabilities that he had perfected. However, once the Collapse happened, and he was exposed to the Darkness, the radiolaria did take on certain properties of alkahest, but it was far from what Clovis created. Once he died and was resurrected as a guardian, the Light's influence settled the virulent nature of the radiolaria, as well as the pseudo-alkahest, and since it was still safely contained in his brain, it kept his mind processing perfectly, and he has never once performed a reset due to this, nor will he ever have to. His human memories are all there, as was the intention of the brain, but they're hard to access; it's difficult to recall memories that are essentially not your own.

There was just one problem, though: the exo shell, due to still being in neo-development, had no capacity for a visual-processing center. The experimental brain center and memory manifolds were so extensive that it didn't allow for optic systems, and thus there was no way to even install them. Not that they'd been needed at the time; this particular shell was only made in the interest of developing the main cortex and negating the billboarding issue. Still, it was the only shell that Maxwell was willing to use, adamantly refusing to risk sacrificing his brain in any way. He'd seen all too well what a standard exo could do to someone's mind, and he wasn't about to let that happen to himself.

The transfer was flawless, and Maxwell became a fully-functioning exo. He had to administer a few minor upgrades once he was actually inside it, taking the time to properly outfit himself as best he could while being completely blind. Being blind also made it even harder to get out of the compound, the city even more so. Had he thought things through, he might have employed someone to act as a guide for him, but at this point, he'd been holed up in the Maxcorp compound for a couple of years now, having kept himself hidden, not having wanted to risk leaving. It was only a matter of time before the sounds of the building being overrun caused him to finally panic and flee, which ultimately led to his death at the hands of the Hive.

Some time later, no one really knows when, a little Ghost managed to find its way to him, resurrecting him as a guardian, and giving him what should have been a sense of purpose, but was more or less just a general state of confusion. His exo shell, which had once boasted the most powerful and efficient memory capabilities, was now completely useless in the wake of his resurrection. Maxwell, not remembering his name, but feeling like something had indeed changed, told the Ghost that he felt like something had just "majorly shifted" within himself, and the nickname Shift was granted.

It was not easy leaving the confines of Maxcorp; the entire compound was overrun by Hive, and a blind target was all too easy for even the lowest thrall to take out. Just getting out of the compound was a process that took several weeks alone, but they eventually managed to pull it off. The entire city was flocked with Hive and more on the way, so the Ghost was determined to lead Shift out of it. Acting as eyes for the exo, he was nicknamed Sights, and the name just stuck around forever.

While Shift wasn't sure of where they were going, Sights was determined to get them both to the Traveler, figuring they could come up with a plan later on once they got there.

It took them several years to finally get to the Traveler, arriving just as early settlements were clustered under its shadow as well. No longer tethered to his old close-minded views and self-centered ideals, Shift did whatever he could to help with inbound travelers and guardians, not letting his blindness be a detriment to him. What he lacked in sight he made up for with ideas and plans, and he became well-acquainted with those who were forming the Vanguard. It became clear to them that this exo, despite being blind, was a useful asset, and Shift wound up sticking around.

It wasn't until the Battle of Six Fronts did Shift finally begin to realise that despite all intents and purposes, he was still very much a liability. All of the Vanguard meetings and archiving he did was useless when it meant that in battle, he could just be killed at any second due to not knowing where anything was. Once that fight was over, Shift took it upon himself to find some way to be able to see.

Not really knowing why he understood so much of exo biology, and not really caring to delve into it, Shift managed to figure out a way to tap into his Light connection with Sights, almost hardwiring it into his cerebral cortex, and establishing a data transfer between the two. Sights, of course, can see just fine, and what he sees is immediately received by Shift in real time, being projected into his brain as raw data, and he had to teach himself to decode, analyze, and effectively "see" with it. It's hardly real visuals; more like seeing echos of the world formulated in data, and all of it from Sights' perspective, but it was enough for Shift. Once this connection had been established, he immdiately petitioned for access to the Crucible, which was by far the most effective (and brutal) means of getting Shift to figure out how to navigate. There were plenty of guardians around who treated Shift as an equal and did not go easy on him due to his status. It paid off over time, Shift finally learning how to engage in combat after several years of this. He was far from having it perfected, but it did enable him to hold his own at Twilight Gap, providing support and not having to be protected like last time.

Even after that battle was over, Shift continued to pursue his engagements in the Crucible until he finally felt that he was ready to start working in the field. Of course, while he was happy about being able to do so much more now, his first and foremost duty was to the Vanguard, now one of their personal kingpins in terms of data archiving and secrets that only he knows. With Shift's seemingly endless memory capabilities, and the fact that he has never once performed an exo reset, the Vanguard relies on him more than they rely on databanks. There are some things stored in his files that he can't even access himself, yet he keeps them safe, as it is his duty to do so. His purpose with the Vanguard is something that he does not take lightly, and over time, he was eventually given the rank of Lieutenant. He also holds several other titles, such as Intelligence Archivist, having Chronicler and Wayfarer accolades, and is an honorary member of the Gensym Scribes, most notably known for his intimate knowledge of exo biology and his massive memory banks crammed with years of nanotech research and development.

Spending more time with the Vanguard meant having to adapt with it as it continually changed. Shift was greatly saddened by the loss of Saint-14, but accepted Zavala as their new commander without question. He was excited to welcome Ikora as their warlock Vanguard, and even more so Cayde-6. The two exo bonded quick and close, and even across Cayde's multiple resets, the two stayed unbreakable friends. Shift's ever-present knowledge of Cayde kept their friendship steady, even when a freshly-reset Cayde had his doubts. The two were nothing but a pair of bros, occasionally getting into trouble, but always having a good time.

Though, all good things eventually come to an end, and their era of peace shattered when Dominus Ghaul invade the Last City, igniting the Red War. With the Light being taken from them, Shift's visual connection to Sights was broken, and he became completely blind once more. However, unlike before, his blindness wasn't the setback it used to be.

While everyone feared losing their last life, Shift was determined to keep his, and save everyone else's. Grabbing the only friends he had, Shift put everyone in action, coordinating Vanguard movement from his location at the farm until he felt like he had to go out himself. This didn't happen until shortly after he'd had a run-in with a titan, a fellow exo named Knox. Being a rookie guardian, Knox didn't know who Shift was, in terms of his Vanguard rank, and merely just saw him as someone that she could befriend. With the Vanguard scattered, and no one having any Light, they were pretty much on the same level. Shift, not one to turn down a potential friend and ally, had Knox join his fireteam, not knowing that this would be a decision that would change his life later on in the future.

After showing up on Titan, a dangerous place for a blind individual, and doing his absolute best to secure their place there, Shift did nothing short of putting Zavala to shame. Only after Shift had quite literally picked the commander up, slammed him against the wall, and yelled at him for being a coward did Zavala vow to retake the City somwhow. Shift was quick to find Cayde and Ikora after, and was able to get everyone rallying back on Earth. Despite never regaining his Light until the very end, Shift proved himself again worthy of his rank of Lieutenant, and was appropriately commended after the war was over. His relationship with Knox continued to grow, leading to the two guardians falling in love, and they were married a few years after.

It wasn't until Ana Bray started nosing around on Mars did Shift's life start to change once again. Tasked with quick archiving, Shift had to constantly be around the archaic remains of the Braytech facilities, and it started messing with his head, quite literally. He began experiencing headaches, sometimes even migraines that temporarily shorted his systems. And then came memory lapses. Everyone, especially Zavala, feared for the worst, wondering if Shift had just finally reached his mental limits and he would be forced to perform his first reset. But their invasive process to recover information from Shift's memory banks was the straw that broke the camel's back, and Shift, as they knew him, ceased to exist, and now in his place, was none other than Maxwell Rose, his memory fully intact, and perfectly fronting.

Being the arrogant, self-centered man that he had been years ago, Maxwell's immediate itinerary was to go back to Maxcorp and resume his work, only for the Vanguard to tell him that was not possible for multiple reasons. One, after having someone look into it, Maxcorp was very little more than pure Hive grounds now, inside and out, and two, he's currently carrying Vanguard secrets and classified information somewhere in that extensive brain. Maxwell, seemingly delighted that his shell was still working as intended after all these years, was happy to provide the Vanguard with the technical information they'd need to retrieve what they wanted, and then he intended to go his own way. He made some mention of Braytech labs, and after being given the coordinates to the installation on Mars, he shook his head, and insisted that he'd be going to Europa, where he had his own office and everything in the main facility.

It wasn't until he saw Knox that Maxwell finally gave pause, telling her that he remembered her. Not her as a guardian, no. Her human self. Telling her that it was he himself who constructed her exo body, a custom shell just for her. The way he spoke, flattering himself and stroking his own ego by insinuating that he did her a favor, was more than Knox could take. Her husband was gone, and in his place was this self-righteous, pretentious asshole who was the exact opposite of the man she had fallen in love with.

Somehow, it the midst of Knox's pleading with him, she managed to strike a chord or two within Maxwell, and he slowly began to accept that this world was far beyond him, and he was nothing more than a relic who no longer belonged in it. Everything he had once known was now hundreds of years in the past, and the now-present future held no place for someone like him.

Maxwell and Knox made the trip to the remains of Maxcorp so that he could recover some hard data on his shell to ensure that a memory shift like this would never take place again. As nice as it was to see the future, Maxwell had accepted that he wouldn't live in it, and for all of his old self-centered ways, even he couldn't justify ruining people's lives by stealing away someone so important to them. After they recovered the data needed, Maxwell brought back all of the necessary equipment for the procedure back to the Last City. It was then that he happened to run into Banshee-44, and it was the oddest meeting that anyone could recall seeing. It was almost like putting two new cats in the same room and not knowing if they'd start attacking each other or playing. Either way, Zavala wasn't having it, and ordered Banshee to return to his tasks, and to stay away from Maxwell. Banshee was more than happy to oblige.

After the procedure was finished, Shift stumbled across a side effect that hadn't been in the data, that being that he was able to retain both his and Maxwell's memories simultaneously. Perhaps it was a last-ditch effort for Maxwell to ensure that he remains alive somehow in this world, even if it's not himself, specifically. Shift made no mention of this anywhere, not even to Knox, and honestly does his best to ignore the lifetime of memories crammed inside his head that he doesn't remember, and yet remembers perfectly all at once. Someday he'll deal with that part of himself, but it won't be any time soon.

More will be added I just have wormy brain.