Marko Aemillius Scaurus was born on 05/JUL/2378AE, the only child of Holdan and Lyka Scaurus, of Delphi, Caprica. Both of his parents are immigrants. His father, Holdan Caecellius Scaurus was from Tauron immigrant working as an emergency medical technician and his mother, Lyka Julilla Aggripina, was from Gemenon, and a priestess at the Temple of Aphrodite in Delphi.
If the description of his parent's relationship sounds both passionate and fraught with tensions, the reality is far worse. Lyka was an undiagnosed schizophrenic who's mental instability was only made worse by her religious fervor and the attendant heavy use of Kamala extract. His wife's mental problems and the often chaotic results upon his family's life combined with the pressures of a messy job often found Holdan relying heavily on the bottle to get through his days. While his drinking never got in the way of his job, nor compromised his ability to care for his child, it had the effect of creating a somewhat uncomfortable environment for Marko.
To escape the ever-constant weirdness at home, Marko found himself drawn to the streets, and all of the attendant dangers. For his own part, Marko was never the violent type, he would fight if provoked, the Taurian side of his nature demanded that his honor be maintained. But he was never drawn to the more violent aspects of street life. His talents, his primary school teachers discovered early on, lie elsewhere. Marko was, and is, a somewhat natural computer user. In school, Marko could apply his talents to making good grades in math and technical-related classes. On the street, his talents had a more…interesting application.
Forty years after the Cylon War, the average Caprican, as did their forebears, leave impressive footprints in the digital world. Bank records, PIN numbers, lines of credit. All of which, to a certain breed of criminal, are prized more highly than gold. These men were drawn to an innocent, outcast kid like Marko like flies to honey. For his part, Marko found their jobs a challenge. Free telephone service? A whistle prize from a Berry Crunch box and you're in there. PIN numbers? Play with dates important to a given mark, you'll find them. Not getting caught by the police or his parents? Sauce for the goose.
The funny part of the story is that Marko didn't get caught. He was questioned only three times by the Delphi Police, who walked away from each interview shaking their heads. They knew he was guilty, but they could never actually prove anything. His father, usually half drunk, would arrive at the station hollering about his son's civil rights, his slightly mad mother would play the religious persecution card, and Marko was back on the street before his backside could warm the chair. No search warrants executed. No charges filed. Hermes, his mother once claimed, was in his corner. He began to think he was bullet proof. It couldn't last.
On SEP/21/2757AE, Marko's mother, deep in a Kamala extract trance, committed suicide by slashing her own throat in the bathroom of the little home that Holdan had worked so hard to keep afloat. In her videotaped message, Lyka stated that she was sacrificing herself in order to save her family from the 'great calamity' she claimed to foresee.
Almost as if on cue, Trey, one of Marko's closest associates since childhood, was gunned down by a rival gang in the food court of the Orpheum Mall when he attempted to sell a batch of stolen credit card numbers. Numbers which Marko had never stolen to begin with. Questioned for nearly twenty hours by the Delphi PD, Marko was released a free, but forever changed, man. When the bloody consequences of the double life he'd been living came home, the allure of subverting the system was lost.
After his wife's death, Holden's drinking was now driven by grief, guilt, and anger and soon resulted in his termination from the Emergency Services Board. After which, he began his own, long, downward spiral. Fortunately, Marko's GPA upon graduation were good enough to allow him to apply for, and be accepted to, the Kobol College of Computer Sciences on his mother's homeworld of Gemenon. His hacker past now firmly behind him, Marko was able to rededicate his efforts towards trying to advance Colonial technology, in accordance with the works of his triple Magnate Award-winning inspiration, Dr. Gaius Balthar.
His hard-won maturity during his college years had almost the same effect as his young alienation during his formative. Once again, Marko was something of an outcast. Performing well in his classes, particularly his Computer Science major, but finding it difficult to adjust to a student life consisting of endless jabbering about politics, social issues, scholarly concerns and the religious influence his mother's suicide put paid to in his mind.
With nothing left to believe in, and desperate for a new challenge, Marko applied to, and was accepted by, the Colonial Fleet. If said Fleet is aware of his less than stellar past, they're keeping their own counsel. His father was overjoyed at seeing his wayward son finally stepping out of the shadows to take his place among the ranks of men.
Enlisting upon graduation, Marko, in what surely must be the mother of all ironies, was accepted into OCS. His questionable eyesight allowed him to graduate flight school with the appropriate qualifications, but it was his mind the Fleet really wanted. Growing up with computers, his 'shoot from the hip' computer skills, made him a lead-pipe cinch for an ECO. Marko graduated in the top five percent of his class and proudly swore his Oath of Alllegience to the Articles. He believes himself to be a changed man…only time will tell if that holds true.
