Maximillion Markov grew up in a poor family who immigrated to Angel City when he was a boy. His father was a well respected mathematics professor, but was unable to find work in the city and had to find work as factory workers to support his family. His mother was also a brilliant professor of philosophy at a university in their old city, but like her husband, couldn’t find work in her field so she was forced to take a job as a secretary at a Megacorp to help pay the bills. As a boy, Max resented that his brilliant parents were forced to work menial jobs to make ends meet.

A few years after immigrating, Max’s father was killed in a factory accident. His death broke his Mother’s spirit and she never recovered. She fell into a deep depression and about a month later, she took her own life, leaving Max an orphan.

Max’s teenage years were difficult. He was shuffled from an orphanage to foster care, never really finding a home or family he felt he belonged to. His one comfort during these hard years was studying mathematics and computer science in one of the rare youth education programs in the slums. Much like his parents, he was an extremely gifted student and quickly surpassed his teachers knowledge and began studying advanced theoretical mathematics and computational cryptography. His dream was to become a professor like his parents had been.

On the way home from school one day, he found a young kitten who had been abandoned in a gutter. Feeling a connection to this fellow abandoned orphan, he took the kitten in, nursed it back to health, and named it Gatbsy. Max and the kitten grew up together and became very close over the years.

As he continued his studies, Max caught the attention of a university in the upper city, where he was offered a modest fellowship to study their theoretical mathematics department. Money was tight, but he managed to get by and was making friends in the university and working towards his goal of becoming a professor there someday.

As he was getting close to graduation, he discovered that Gatsby had developed cancer and was dying. His vet told him that she could save Gatbsy’s life, but it would require an expensive surgery. Max begged for help from every person he knew at the university, but he wasn’t able to get enough money for the surgery and Gatbsy’s health grew worse and worse. Seeing how heartbroken he was, a friend he had made in the cryogenics department of the university offered a last ditch option to try to save Gatsby. He offered to cryogenically freeze Gatbsy’s body and keep it in the deep freeze at the university so that Max could try to save the money to bring him back someday. Desperate, and out of options, Max accepted his offer. He stayed by Gatsby’s side as his friend sedated him and cryogenically froze his body.

Losing Gatsby changed something deep inside Max. The feelings of helplessness at not being able to save his best friend because of poverty brought back a rage he had bottled up since his parents deaths. His whole life, he had been a prisoner of his poverty, unable to choose his own path or save the ones he loved. He swore that he would never allow himself to feel helpless like that again. He channeled this rage into a new plan to lift himself out of the slums and take control of his life.

Max turned his extensive knowledge of mathematics towards the field of cryptography and began studying economics and finance extensively. He abandoned his degree in theoretical mathematics and dreams of becoming a professor and instead turned his focus on creating a startup cryptocurrency development company. Over time, he transformed from an awkward intellectual to a driven and charismatic businessman with an unparalleled knowledge of economics and cryptocurrency. 

After graduating with a double major in business management and financial technology, Max authored a white paper for a new form of trustless cryptocurrency which he named Aurium, and founded a company called Gold Ltd. to oversee and manage the project. Max pitched his new project with the connections he had formed at various finance megacorps throughout the city and raised a large amount of capital investment. 

Over the next few years, Max built Gold Ltd. into a powerhouse financial technology firm, founding the largest digital currency exchange in the city and building connections with some of the richest and most powerful figures in the city. He legally changed his last name to Gold, and became of the the rising stars of the Angel City entrepreneur scene and was named one #1 on Finance’s prestigious 30 under 30 list.

With his newfound wealth and influence, Max decided it was time to come through on a promise he had made to an old friend. He had Gatsby's body thawed from stasis and hired a world renowned cybernetic neurosurgeon to transplant Gatsby’s brain into a fully cybernetic body, making him functionally immortal.

With his best friend back by his side, and an empire of wealth and power at his fingertips, Max had completed his transformation. He would never let anyone else control his destiny ever again.