Troy Salcedo

Troy Salcedo is a character in the series Stories from San Iadras by foozzzball.

He is a fur, part of a fourth generation production run of two dozen clones initiated by the Estian corporation for research purposes. His batch/serial number is BLMver3-80-13.

Physical description
His genome's baseline is derived from the 'black six' model organism inbred strain of lab mouse. Relatively slim-bodied, light-framed but not particularly effeminate. His fur is short, and a near black colour. He's furred across his hands and the backs of his ears, and whilst his front teeth are somewhat 'buckish', this is to human standards, with no protuding of teeth. His long tail is naked, and a pinkish colour, as is the rest of his skin. He keeps his hair relatively short, just a little longer than the length of his fur, and since it isn't dyed, it's the same shade as his fur. His snout is relatively short, with whiskers there, but quite short/thin, occasionally cut down. His eyes are brown, and his left forearm was cut off just below the elbow. He has a cybernetic prosthetic which is cosmetically almost no different to the missing hand. He has numerous scars from surgery which are all but invisible under his fur, and there are plastic-ceramic plates along the sides of his spine, just underneath the skin, where testbed cybernetics ports were once installed.

Background
Troy was born, the term for clones is decanted, in 2080 at Lake North Bio-research and production facility 1b. He and his brothers were kept on site in a research programme using them as experimental organisms for neural cybernetic implants, surgery techniques, immunological testing, psychological studies, etcetera. He and all of his brothers were named for various current and historical cities. His early years of childhood were filled with surgeries close enough to torture, behavioural modification that in many cases was torture by a staff of researchers who regarded him and his brothers as little more than a larger version of the lab mice from which they were derived, and the occasional game of chess, which he and his brothers learned from a book.

Not protected under any vivisection or rights laws - being theoretically a whole new form of organism - the mistreatments were almost too many to list. Suffice it to say that Troy experiences recurrent nightmares about his childhood almost continually, along with panic attacks and a strong aversion to most humans - whom he generally associates with lab staff. As part of the research being performed on Troy and his brothers they were schooled in various fields. Troy, wishing to try and please the staff, studied medicine. Once, when his liver began to fail, he was forced to perform a procedure through an experimental cybernetic surgical interface wherein he dissected the body of his brother Berlin in order to perform a transplant on himself. While the procedure was a success, Troy bears considerable guilt over the incident.

Troy and his brothers were one of the cases which convinced the Tri-corp special interest group to introduce a set of laws protecting furs and other artificially generated organisms, which went into effect in 2090. Troy and his brothers were then moved to a catholic orphanage in the south suburbs of San Iadras, and were put under the care of 'Padre' Munez whilst being treated medically to repair the various harms inflicted on them during the years of research. At age sixteen, in 2096, the local diocesan bishop determined that as furs do not have souls - they are animals, not men - the support of the orphanage should be turned to other, more worthy, human cases. Troy and his brothers were shortly homeless, and older furs - often from the third generation production runs - intervened on their behalf, giving financial and practical support.

Foremost among these figures is Fred Rodney, a fox born in 2074, a somewhat sleazy fellow who none the less supported the Salcedos to the point where they managed to gain access to various scholarship grants across the globe, with unfortunately very few close together. Troy and his brothers split up, with Troy going to study nuclear chemistry at the University of Minnesota, where he worked on a doctorate based on research into 'fusion-fission chain' reactions, providing research into fuels on a research reactor project. His studies were interrupted for a time when his brother Houston fell ill in Japan with a form of tuberculosis, which he eventually passed away from. Troy spent a lot of time at his bed side, learning fluent Japanese in order to deal with hospital staff.

He returns to San Iadras frequently as he can to see his brothers who have moved back into the city over the years, and on one such trip - wherein he was invited to speak on behalf of the 'furry rehabilitation fund' - he met Jennifer Dixon. He fell in love with her at first sight, very nearly literally, and tries to see her as often as he can, calling her and sending her frequent messages online when not in San Iadras. He's not comfortable with the 'open' status of their relationship, but does his best to endure it.

On his relationships
Troy very often tries to find ways to express his love for Jennifer without seeming pushy, and as a result is developing quite a collection of unsent love letters. He has taken an interest in theatre and the performing arts, mainly because it's something that she likes.

About him
He dislikes crowds, has nightmares almost every night, has difficulty with money and enjoys playing chess. He is occasionally lost in his work for hours and days on end, losing track of time.

His desires
He has always wanted to find the time and money to collect something, but he's never actually worked out if he cares enough about anything to actually start a collection.

A childhood event
In childhood he once bought four packs of gum with the intent of chewing them all at once whilst Padre Munez said grace at the table, on a dare given to him by his brother Philadelphia. He chickened out at the last minute.

Miscellaneous extra
Troy and his brothers typically use a quotation or other piece of text in their e-mail signatures. Troy's is:

''"Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes." - I fear the Greeks even if they bring presents.'' - Virgil, the Aenid

Generally, when one of the Salcedo brothers dies, by custom they use their deceased brother's e-mail signature's quote as an epitaph.