DARKMARKET

Things looked bad for Max. But they were about to get worse. Not only had he received a two-year sentence in Taft, but a month after he arrived there, Kimi announced she was leaving him.

Abandoned by his wife for another man, forsaken by his erstwhile friends in the FBI, Max Vision tumbled down the abyss, at the bottom of which lay a deep depression. Here he landed next to a fellow inmate, one Jeffrey Normington, who extended a hand of friendship when nobody else would.

On his release from prison, Vision was unable to find regular work that paid more than the minimum wage. He applied for jobs and was offered senior positions in security companies abroad, but as he was on parole, he was not eligible for a passport. In Silicon Valley, nobody wanted to employ someone whose CV included an indelible conviction for computer crime.

His debts mounted as his despair deepened. Then one day friend Normington reappeared, promising a path out of the abyss and back into California’s sunshine. The route was littered with goodies. Normington promised him a top-of-the-line Alienware laptop, a must-have but expensive accessory for hackers. That was just for starters. He said he’d find Vision an apartment and pay for it. Normington would arrange everything.

In exchange for a few favours.

Crime was not Vision’s sole option. There were other avenues to explore. He could have gone to friends and family. But he was tired, he felt abandoned and Normington was convincing. Another turning point; another wrong turn.

Max Vision, all-round good guy, was discarded back into an abyss. In his place, Iceman emerged – all-round bad guy, albeit one whose alter ego, Vision, had form as a collaborator with the Feds.