Curse you Sir Baubius! (but thanks for the comment)
So this was initially inspired by this, itself connected to 049-J, though the idea evolved significantly from there and it mostly became a backstory for Darke, or my Darke anyway.
As usual with my scips, I don't feel this quite reached its full potential, but my feedback was starting to go in circles so I guess it's as good as I can make it.
Thanks to everyone on chat and the forums who gave me advice on this.