Philip Duvall was a software developer.
In 1986 while crossing the street, he was hit by a motorcyclist. The effects of the accident required him to use a powered wheelchair, and left him able to communicate only through the use of a voice synthesiser. His wife Jacqui had to take care of him. Their daughter Ruby blamed him for his mother's death years later from a plague disease. One of the systems he developed was the basis for the Nanocom. (PROSE: Iceberg)