Marek Svobotka

Marek Svobotka, known as "The Harvester", was a serial killer who operated in Prague in 2024. Over the course of seven months, he murdered 27 augmented people removing their augmentations in the process, which earned him his nickname "The Harvester".

In each killing, he used EMP to stun or incapacitate the victim, then injected them with a homemade muscle relaxant, then removed their augmentations. He was eventually caught by police and sentenced to death. He is buried on a cemetery in Prague.

Motives
Svobotka saw augmentation as a threat, both to the individual and to the collective good. He believed the entire race was under attack, that mechanization would keep people's souls from migrating. He considered augmented people as the victims of mechanization, and although he claimed he did not hate them, he did not see them as individuals either. He removed people's augmentations to "save them" and "make them human again".

Tai Yong Medical Experiment
While awaiting execution, Svobotka took part in an experiment conducted by Tai Yong Medical's Neural Division and led by Dr. Nicholas Cipra. Participants got perks like bigger cells or running water, which might have been why he agreed.

The scientists needed personality donors to create neural implants with personality imprints that could be infused into recipients. Svobotka became donor 698843. His personality package was implanted into Daria Myška in order to treat her from extreme social anxiety; his character traits were found to be a perfect complement for Daria's. The experiment was considered a success at first, but over time Svobotka's personality became more dominant, to a point where Daria began to perform almost identical murders herself.

Publications about Svobotka

 * In the Footsteps of the Harvester by Angela Gunn. (In a twisted turn of events, Angela herself was later killed by Svobotka's copycat Daria Myska.)