Harry Callaghan

Harriet Callahan was born and raised in the slums of Boston. As a child, her father told her stories of the days before the Nano Wars, and of his more contemporary attempts to organize a guild in the copper mines where he worked to harvest the raw materials necessary to support nanotechnology. Tragically, he was killed in a mine cave-in before his efforts could amount to very much. Harriet’s mother couldn’t afford to support Harriet and her four younger sisters on a single salary. Harriet was forced to leave school at the age of eight, whereupon she found herself in a workhouse that manufactured nano-fibres for airships. She came, as her father had, to view the monarchy as the source of her misfortune.

Initially a menial labourer amid the other orphaned and poverty-stricken young wretches, Harriet quickly gained a reputation for being able to fix malfunctioning Babbage machines and recalibrating aerothometers, frequently sparing the others from the foreman’s wrath. Despite her mechanical talents, her prospects for advancement were limited by both her class and her gender, so she began to call herself Harry, disguised herself as a boy, and learned to better mask her pronounced Irish brogue. Eventually, her anonymity amid the toiling masses allowed her to assume an entirely new identity, whereupon she found herself apprenticed to the factory’s master mechanic. Even when puberty hit and she could no longer disguise herself, her skill with machinery and her tiny fingers were enough to allow her to keep her position with a minimum of whippings for insubordination.

Harry’s discontent remained, however, and she eventually made the acquaintance of several would-be guild leaders in the factory. It was through them that she first made contact with the Canadian anarcho-syndicalists, who equipped her with poorly worded propaganda leaflets and an upgraded system that allowed her to communicate instantaneously and freely with them.

This state of affairs was also short-lived. After an industrial accident claimed the lives of several children at the factory, Harry and the other guild organizers attempted a walkout. The factory owner called in the police, resulting in a great deal of bloodshed on both sides.

However, a good airship mechanic is hard to find, and since the master mechanic was one of the casualties of the unfortunate business at the workhouse, Harry’s skills were suddenly very much in demand. She was given her own semi-independent workshop, where she was able to carry on her clandestine activities in a much freer manner. In between building airship engines, she created an aero-velocipede and a cybernetic sewer rat, named Rattigan.

Harry sleeps very little. In her spare time, she has been reading increasingly complex political theory (a difficult feat for a woman with a third-grade education) and contributing political screeds to northern anarcho-syndicalist journals.

There’s a story about the bomber jacket too, but that’s classified.

Motivation: Overthrow the Monarchy
Attributes