Alec Ryder

Alec Ryder
"When your back's against the wall, and you can't run from it, use it."
Affiliations	Vanguard Antapex Initiative N7 Vanguard
Rank	Captain
Occupation	Antapex Initiative Pathfinder
Connections	Ellen Ryder (Wife) Amanda Ryder (Daughter) Matthias Ryder (Son)

A key member of the Antapex Initiative and Vanguard Research and Development, Alec Ryder is effectively a paragon across the Vanguard. Ryder, in his earlier service, became renowned for leading bold expeditions throughout uncharted space. Later driven by both inspiration from his travels and despair from his wife's ailing condition, Ryder developed the Simulated Adaptive Matrix (SAM) to explore and achieve the full potential of human-A.I. connections.

Records

Acquaintances of Ryder have stated that the best way to describe him is a dreamer. Throughout his entire career, Ryder displayed a unique ambition to push the limits of what was considered possible. While tactical-minded and a skilled combatant (a necessity for any N7), Ryder cared less for Vanguard fleets and armies and more for the unexplored vastness of the universe.

Ryder's days leading expeditions earned him several commendations for his adaptibility to deadly surroundings and independent assailants such as pirates. Over time, he began to show interest in the development and usage of artificial intelligence to give him and his subordinates an advantage in hostile environments. Ryder would often use himself as the field test subject for each prototype, which he later dubbed "profiles" when sorting.

Eventually, Ryder's achievements even earned the support of Vanguard command due to an increasing passion for scientific development sparked by the arrival of the Traveler soon after the Unification Wars. Not long after, he also qualified as one of the first candidates for N7 Vanguard, an extension of the System Aliance's special forces program as per the Citadel Coalition.

Simultaneous with the rise of Alec Ryder's career was the beginning of a family with his wife Ellen and their newborn twins Amanda and Matthias. Ultimately, however, Alec's focus on his work resulted in a distant relationship with his children, only minimally better than those he had with his acquaintances. Though his inspiration resulted in both Amanda and Matthias joining the Antapex Initiative, their sense of family was so weak that Matthias would often only refer to Alec by his first name.

Ellen Ryder (née Harlow), biotic implant developer, wife of Alec Ryder, and mother of Ryder children

Amanda, Initiative archaeologist and eldest Ryder child

Matthias, Initiative SAR specialist and youngest Ryder child