For an OC 11 years in the making, I've never really had Astrid's story written down anywhere. During downtime at work (shh don't tell anyone) I've been writing it out, and trying to make sense of everything that's happened to her.
At the moment, it's incomplete. But here's what I've got so far!
Edit: It's not incomplete anymore. This is all her story as I've fleshed it out so far. It's so weird having a gap between where the manga's at and now, because it means there may be a gap in her history. Is it 2017 in Gaia? Is the manga gonna catch up? I dunno.
Here ya go.
Edit 2: Bonus Content
Edit 3: Moo Moo: The Origin Story
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At the moment, it's incomplete. But here's what I've got so far!
Edit: It's not incomplete anymore. This is all her story as I've fleshed it out so far. It's so weird having a gap between where the manga's at and now, because it means there may be a gap in her history. Is it 2017 in Gaia? Is the manga gonna catch up? I dunno.
Here ya go.
Edit 2: Bonus Content
Edit 3: Moo Moo: The Origin Story
---------------------------
In September of 1991, scientists at G-Corp began experimenting with genetic engineering on humans – the eventual goal being to bring designer babies to Gaia. Using petri dishes and all of the immunity vaccines they had on hand, a set of seven zygotes were produced and put into a specialized incubator, the sets of genes chosen dependent on certain traits;
1. Tallest
2. Strongest
3. Left Brain Activity
4. Right Brain Activity
5. Most Reliable Memory
6. Aesthetically Pleasing
7. Artistic Skill
This was only to be the first set but, unfortunately, only Zygote #5 matured into an embryo, so the experiment was deemed an overall failure. Nevertheless the Labtechs grouped together, volunteering their off time and putting their all into raising this embryo, which eventually grew into a fetus and, after a stint in an artificial womb, a baby.
Once the baby was finally born, the Labtechs threw a naming party – since all of them had worked to “create” the baby, they all considered themselves a parent. Thus, it was extra difficult to agree upon a name. After quietly debating while outwardly cooing over and showing off the baby to non-Labtech guests, the end of the party was marked with a drawing – the name on the paper would be the name of the baby.
Someone wrote “Astronaut.” They rolled with it until Edmund heard about it and raised his own special form of hell in the lab. They eventually settled on “Astrid Nacht.”
Astrid spent seven years in the labs, being raised on science and genetically engineered food, and her IQ was noted early on: she constantly helped with simple tasks in the lab, repaired her own robot toys more often than not, and taught herself German to the point that English words were surprisingly difficult to master. Eventually, through much discussion regarding the child’s well-being, everyone decided that Astrid should be raised outside of the lab. Labtech 013 took her into his home and raised her until Halloween of 2004. Now paranoid of what he’d found evidence of in the labs 013 told Astrid to stay home that night and, unfortunately, perished in the zombie invasion.
November 1st of that year Astrid was hand-delivered a stack of papers – deeds and inheritances she’d been bequeathed by the Labtechs who raised her and left something for her. She elected only to keep 013’s house and sell off the rest, leaving her with enough to keep herself comfortable for a while. She used the time to lock herself away in the house, constructing a lab in the basement and rearranging things more into how she liked them. She welcomed that time away – she wasn’t ready to face Gaia yet.
She finally emerged in October of 2006 when whispers of crop circles made their way around the Isle. Through the town she would see the UFOs circling the skies and was scanned once or twice but never made contact. Until Halloween night.
The first Gambino event Astrid ever attended was the Gambino Halloween Party 2006, and it was that night that set Astrid on course for the rest of her life. That night, three things happened; she made her first contact with the Zurg, she met her future boss, and she first laid eyes on the love of her life – Gino Gambino.
Through the early part of the evening Astrid made every attempt to approach the boy – try though she might, her nerves continually got the better of her and Gino was elsewhere that night, so the distance was not to be shortened. However, once the party had mostly settled down she was able to talk Mother into letting her take a look at the crashed ship. Within an hour it was back in flying shape – even running more efficiently than it had before – and word of the girl got back to Johnny K.
Though Johnny had been aware of the attempt to genetically engineer babies all those years ago, he had assumed that none of the zygotes had survived when the project had been reported a failure. He had seen Astrid in the labs and exchanged pleasantries but just figured she was 013’s biological daughter (and, honestly, she may as well have been – the records burned with the mansion that night in 2004 so her parentage was lost to history). So when he heard that she’d repaired the ship he was not surprised. But he was very impressed. He invited her back to the mansion the next day and offered her a job as a Labtech the second she sat down in front of his desk. Though she was young, he said, she showed a lot of potential, and that wasn’t something to waste. However, she was young, so putting her to work was technically illegal. The job was unofficial and under the table, but Astrid was welcomed to the team regardless – the team, of course, being Labtech 123 and Johnny and Edmund. They were a little short-staffed.
Astrid Nacht, Labtech 456.
2007 saw Astrid turn 15 years old with a steady income and a job she hoped she would be doing for the rest of her life. Along with working as a Labtech (and working for the Gambino family in general) came a generous grant to go towards her education. She attended Wensleydale Prep – her first experience in public schooling – and managed to ace her exams, finish her homework in record time, and graduate in six months. Wensleydale also offered a direct course to any university of the student’s choosing, should they manage to wow the professors with a voluntary thesis. And that’s what Astrid did – with Johnny, Edmund, and Mother all in the audience.
Astrid’s thesis was on the Zurg – it examined their culture, their behaviors, and how it stemmed from their evolution from the moment life emerged on their planet. It also examined how a young Zurg would mature differently if raised on Gaia based on diet and cultural norms. The presentation was perfect, and she readied her final piece of evidence; ducking behind the podium, she emerged to gasps and exclamations of shock with a small Zurg baby in her arms. This was Moo Moo, who she had adopted the previous year and studied relentlessly in between school and work. Mother examined the baby in front of the entire room and declared he had a clean bill of health. Astrid had not only passed, but had professors from various colleges already writing strongly worded letters to each other to back off.
That spring, she arrived at work on her birthday to find a cage on her desk. Inside the cage was a grunny, chewing on the corner of a mass-printed birthday card she was trying to pull into the cage with her. Astrid named her Delilah. It just seemed to fit.
Over the summer – relieved to have some time away from school work – Astrid took on two very different projects, one for herself and one for G-Corp. Her own project involved buying and refurbishing an old G-BOT, and G-Corp’s involved splicing squid DNA with the G-Virus (ethically sourced using a jar, plastic wrap, and Delilah). The G-BOT was almost complete and charging when a bad mixture of chemicals set off an explosion, flinging Astrid to the back wall and burning most of her body – even through her protective clothing. When she came to, G-BOT was standing over her, cradling and bottle-feeding a whimpering Moo Moo. With a robotic voice and a light German accent, it updated Astrid on what was going on: it had finished its own updates, packed Moo Moo’s baby bag, and contacted the paramedics. They were on their way.
Due to the slightly radioactive and under-researched chemicals that caused her burns and thus infected her skin, Astrid's body violently rejected any standard skin grafts. With the help of Edmund and Labtech 123 she was able to develop a softer and safer artificial skin that could be used instead - the only caveat being that, if used in a medical procedure, dyes could not be inserted as they would be a health risk, and thus would have to retain its original color rather than being colored to match the patient. For cosmetic purposes, though, it is safe to dye. Her skin substitute is still in use today as removable tattoos and skin colors, but Astrid gets nothing from it. She wasn’t interested in a patent, and made the technology public domain and open source -- anyone had access to it and anyone could alter it.
The explosion also resulted in lifelong hearing problems for Astrid. She slowly began losing her hearing, and now wears the Mini UFOs as hearing aids. She tries not to wear them when she's dressing up but they're always with her, because life is hard when you can't hear and no one knows sign language. At this point without them everyone sounds like the adults in Peanuts cartoons.
When the family got home, they found something running around the secret lab in the basement; something with -- or made of -- tentacles. Whatever Astrid had been working on before the explosion had come to life, and she decided to name it Beaker. She thinks Beaker's a boy.
2008 through 2010 were relatively uneventful for Astrid – she worked between G-Corp and being a freelance scientist (read: repairman), and attended school at a Gambino Isle University in pursuit of two doctorates. She voted Diedrich in every election, fought for the Isle in every town event, and continued and developed her diplomacy with the Zurg – she even managed to acquire honorary citizenship on the planet so long as Moo Moo remains healthy in her care. Though she kept herself busy and reached a few goals, Astrid had a tendency to withdraw from the outside world and pore over whatever news or gossip she could scrounge up from all over the world by means of Airship-based websites. Through everything that had happened to her over the years one remaining constant was her love for Gino, and she was so afraid she’d see the day he was reported dead – whether it was from an airship crash or a defeat by a powerful god, she continually found herself more and more terrified of the future.
In 2011, however, Gino’s airship landed and he defeated Nyx. Astrid felt like she could breathe again. She made a vow to herself; from then on she would be far more honest in her feelings. God forbid Gino perish without knowing how she felt, and God forbid she never get a yes or a no.
Astrid graduated college in 2012, a now certified doctor of Mechanical Engineering and Zurg Studies (a relatively new field of study – she was the first with a degree in it). That year she also met Sayyora, who she learned was Moo Moo’s biological mother. Sayyora and Astrid became fast friends, and Astrid learned a lot about the girl; she had been very young and unprepared to raise Moo Moo when she first had him, and was incredibly relieved to find that he’d found a loving family on Gaia. After the adoption Sayyora had gone back to school and worked her little green butt off, eventually becoming one of the most famous and coveted fashion designers in the cosmos. She was revolutionary in her trade, mostly for her unique technique of taking Blessed Stellarite (once thought to be completely useless after it was discovered Astra items could move on their own) and weaving it into fabric and even hair, causing the material to sparkle with starlight even when there was no light on it. Sayyora made Astrid promise her; when the time comes for her to get married, Sayyora gets to make her wedding day clothing, from the gown to the reception dress to the wedding night lingerie. Astrid found the idea a little farfetched, but agreed.
[Edit] Sayyora
Cut to 2017. Astrid is turning 25 this year. She applied to and was hired by The Committee in Engineering, and now may or may not hold an official job at G-Corp. Sayyora is still Astrid’s best friend and her clothing line is still going strong. Moo Moo’s beginning to learn some new words, and Astrid has started taking Delilah to Lake Kindrid to let off some steam (it’s working, Delilah loves it). G-BOT is still Astrid’s lifeline, Beaker's still lively, and Astrid still loves Gino to bits. Hard to know what the future has in store, but Astrid mostly just hopes to survive.
[Edit] If by some miracle Astrid ever talks to Gino and everything goes extremely well, these are their twins, Artemis and Apollo. They, like their mother, will probably be born from test tubes because Astrid's patches can't handle a pregnant belly. They're both certified geniuses but Artemis is more into sports and Apollo is more into music than anything scientific. Artemis is older by about five minutes and they both love their brother Moo Moo, who reaches young childhood about the same time they do. None of them like Delilah too much though.
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