Sylwester Nyss (a.k.a. Syl)
Mental characteristics
Isidor was arrested following the Vosgi Industries Prospecting Job after he was exposed as the ringleader of a criminal organization. This put a black mark on his record that severely hindered his ability to operate as an executive of a legitimate business, forcing him deeper into the criminal underworld. The Vosgi Job was meant to be his big break that would reinvent the Nix Nexus into a recognized corporation.
When Syl was a child, he and his family were targeted by a crew of pirates, leading him to have been taken hostage alongside his family for over a month. Food and water ran low by the end, and the pirates grew crueler to their prisoners the longer they were besieged by the Alliance Navy. During this time he developed a form of Stockholm Syndrome where he grew to respect the pirates holding them captive. What stood out in Syl's mind ever after was how a handful of men could control not only the hostages that outnumbered the pirates considerably, but also how the pirates were able to hold the might of the Alliance Military at bay for a long time. This all but cemented his drift into delinquent and then criminal behavior, as the lesson he took from the experience was that the weak submit to the strong, and his view of strength was one of ruthlessness.
Sylwester was taught moral philosophy by his father Isidor in relation to cutthroat corporate politics. Essentially, winning is the ultimate good, and winning is achieving your goal or defeating a rival. Syl's moral framework is rooted in the idea that in this world there are winners and losers, and that losers use moral arguments to justify their losses. If you're a winner the ethics of how you won are irrelevant.
Isidor's own philosophy was tempered by his commitment to family, but Syl developed a corrupted sense of loyalty. To him loyalty meant that the other party can be trusted to do as they are told. He values the loyalty of family in a utilitarian sense rather than out of a sense of love or mutual devotion.
Ultimately, Sylwester is only concerned about winning, with a parallel goal of "Don't get caught." While he himself has few if any ethical lines he will not cross to achieve dominance, he understands that the image of ethical behavior is important for maintaining success.
History
A big reason that the Nyss family adopted Ekendi was because Syl seemed to have connected with her during the hostage crisis. He’d been a problem child, displaying sociopathic tendencies from an early age. They hoped that the closeness Syl had shown Ekendi was love or a protective instinct, but unfortunately the main reason that he connected with Ekendi was that in her terror she looked to him for guidance. The blind obedience and way she seemed to believe every word Syl said during that time was what Syl craved, she made him feel in control during a time he was the most powerless. Over the course of their childhood this manifested in increasingly negative and manipulative treatment. He would consistently get her to do things she shouldn’t to amuse himself and to gain something from others. This culminated with Ekendi being encouraged to drop out of college and join Syl's criminal enterprise, Syl having presented his crew as a new family for Ekendi to be a part of. Eventually Ekendi realized that this "family" didn't really care about her, and Syl's own feelings for her were tainted by ego and twisted thinking. Although she tried to split amicably, Ekendi did not leave on good terms and in part due to her actions Syl would be convicted for racketeering and burglary. Syl blames Ekendi for his time spent in prison and the negative effects that had on his goals despite Syl having brought it upon himself.
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