Sam Dekker (nee Draper) grew up without a lot of friends. He was a very smart kid, but kids don't care about that. So, he had a lot of trouble fitting in at school.
His mother's best friend, growing up, was Muku Kanto. And, when they two of them finished college together, they moved in to houses next door from each other to start their respective lives.
Muku is the mayor of Harabuya now, but when Sam was growing up he just knew her as Auntie Muku. And, while his social inadequacies made life difficult for him at school, his Auntie Muku loved the crap out of him.
Sam never learned how to interact with people. He was a fat, unathletic kid. And he grew into a fat unathletic man. The only place where he could escape being a fat kid that people made fun of was in the matrix, where he annihilated everyone in the games. People didn't like him there, either. But at least he was beating them instead of the other way around.
Sam's love of the matrix, and his obvious intellectual and logical prowess, got him a full scholarship to pursue an engineering degree. And he graduated top of his class. But, when he got out of college he found it impossible to find a job. His resume made its way to the top of every pile, but he never made it past a first interview.
So, with his particular skill set and his inability to turn that skill set into a respectable job, Sam turned to shadow running to eke out a living.
His mother's best friend, growing up, was Muku Kanto. And, when they two of them finished college together, they moved in to houses next door from each other to start their respective lives.
Muku is the mayor of Harabuya now, but when Sam was growing up he just knew her as Auntie Muku. And, while his social inadequacies made life difficult for him at school, his Auntie Muku loved the crap out of him.
Sam never learned how to interact with people. He was a fat, unathletic kid. And he grew into a fat unathletic man. The only place where he could escape being a fat kid that people made fun of was in the matrix, where he annihilated everyone in the games. People didn't like him there, either. But at least he was beating them instead of the other way around.
Sam's love of the matrix, and his obvious intellectual and logical prowess, got him a full scholarship to pursue an engineering degree. And he graduated top of his class. But, when he got out of college he found it impossible to find a job. His resume made its way to the top of every pile, but he never made it past a first interview.
So, with his particular skill set and his inability to turn that skill set into a respectable job, Sam turned to shadow running to eke out a living.