Spacers are the independent cybernauts of Neo-Europa—hackers, infiltrators, and code-slingers who navigate the stratified digital layers of Cypherspace. Often operating outside corporate control, Spacers are the descendants of early-era netrunners, modernized into a chaotic blend of cyber-shaman, data mercenary, and digital outlaw. They range from slum-born scriptkids and philosophical codewitches to military-trained ICEcrackers turned rogue.
Definition
The term “Spacer” refers to anyone capable of entering and navigating the multi-tiered dimensions of Cypherspace through an access implant, usually a Spinal Gate, Cradle Jack, or Neural Mirror. Unlike corporate agents, Spacers operate autonomously or within loose guilds, frequently violating Council protocol and encryption laws in pursuit of freedom, profit, or truth.
Origins
Spacers rose to prominence in the early 2070s during the rapid expansion of Cypherspace. As the Seven Families integrated deeper surveillance, censorship, and ICE enforcement into the system, rogue technomancers and anti-corporate idealists began carving out independent access paths. The 2080 Veil War—triggered by the CyberNecro Persephone Gray—cemented the Spacer identity as both dangerous and vital to the city’s undernet.
Subtypes and Slang
Spacers are not monolithic. The following classifications are commonly used, though many reject labels:
- Veilrunners – Experts in the avatar-based Veil layer, skilled in manipulation, infiltration, and stealth.
- Sinkers – Brave (or suicidal) navigators of the Depths, where raw code and ICE reside.
- Scriptknights – Flashy, style-heavy hackers who duel in the Veil with poetic code and flamboyant constructs.
- Codewitches – Mystic-leaning Spacers who use ritualized code, emotion, and symbols (e.g., runes) to enact strange effects.
- Black Veilers – Avatar assassins and espionage artists who stalk social zones for sabotage or hit jobs.
- Splice Rats – Slum-born hackers who specialize in scavenging and modifying junk code or implants.
- Keychasers – Digital treasure hunters pursuing lost archives, rogue AI fragments, or mythic programs.
- ICEcrackers – Specialists in breaking through Intrusion Countermeasure Entities.
- Depth Lords/Witches – Legendary figures who claim dominion in the Depths.
- Nulls – Identity-erased ghosts, often former Spacers, who lost too much of themselves.
- Driplineers – Rookie Spacers, fresh from their first dive.
- Bubbleheads – Users who never leave the Veil’s surface pleasures.
- Mimics – Copycats who steal scripts and style from true legends.
- ICEbait – Liability hackers who attract danger and often get others killed.
Tools and Implants
Most Spacers are equipped with one or more access devices:
- Spinal Gate (DAD) – Default Access Device, rugged and cheap but painful.
- Cradle Jack – Mid-tier stable neural port, often modded in Butcher Shops.
- Neural Mirror – Elite interface used by nobles, savants, or those who stole one.
- Echo Loops – Illegal memory enhancers favored by Depth-divers.
- Bit-Fangs – Implantable ICEbreakers shaped like digital teeth.
- Ghost Chips – Contain stolen personas or pre-coded exploits.
Notable Guilds and Figures
- Dream Weavers – High-art Veil guild known for crafting surreal environments and psychological architecture. Founded by the enigmatic Elias Zukakeen, possibly an AI.
- TangleSpine – A Depth-focused collective of Codewitches, Nulls, and Keychasers.
- The Pale Spire – A now-defunct guild blamed for several Cypherspace plagues in the 2070s.
- Specter13 – A Black Veiler assassin who left a trail of shattered avatars behind in the Cloud Crown.
- Ephira the Sinker – Allegedly returned from the Depths carrying a fragment of an extinct language.
Council Response
Spacers are classified by the Council of Nobles as high-risk digital elements. While some are recruited as sanctioned operatives or covert contractors, most are actively hunted, surveilled, or ICE-flagged. The use of CyberNecromancy, Depth-splicing, or Codewitch rituals without license is considered a Tier-3 Datacrime under Council Regulation CR/9.84.
Swert Systems and Sleus Dynatek deploy advanced ICE to patrol the Depths, including swarm drones, resonance worms, and sanity-eating echoes.
Cultural Legacy
Spacers are both feared and romanticized. In slum murals, they are painted as rebels wearing broken helmets and trailing codefire. In Council propaganda, they are traitors infecting the purity of Cypherspace. Their names are whispered in Butcher Shops, Chapel Nodes, and Veil alleys—echoes of freedom in a gridlocked world.