Morrow

Evelyn Morrow (also known as @molliflied) was a Randwellian food scientist specializing in agricultural resiliency. Thon worked in the Food and Rations Manufacture laboratory of Randwell's military R&D department, focusing primarily on the applications of Marks in improving agricultural techniques and yields. Thon joined Project Perihelion on May 19, 2081 and died one week later on May 26 at the end of To Greener Pastures.

Early life

Childhood

Evelyn Morrow was born in the Republic of Randwell to Clive & Doreen Sterling, two married farmers that could not stand one another. The two squabbled repeatedly, sabotaging one another and performing far below regional yield targets. While their community leader attempted to aid them in resolving their disputes, they consistently doubled down, eventually proving so burdensome to their surroundings that their neighbors concocted a false rebellion accusation just to dispose of them. They fled to New Chiti, bringing their supposed son with them. A change of scenery did nothing to affect their demeanor. The two opened competing stores and continued actively sabotaging each other's businesses while a young Evelyn focused on finding work to support the three of them. Deo, unnamed at the time, emerged to provide Evelyn with a means of remaining calm and unflappable. Clive & Doreen, of course, were none the wiser, except to note that their bubbly young child would occasionally act much maturer.

Evelyn and Deo, keeping their plurality a secret, were able to survive together in New Chiti for a few years. An anti-mark, anti-Randwellian mob, however, had reached the height of its reign of terror over New Chiti's marked and ex-Randwellian citizens, forcing the two of them to flee once more. Lured by foggy childhood memories of a serene, beautiful, natural place far away from all of the stress and starvation they faced in New Chiti, the two of them hopped onto a train and headed back home, leaving Sterling Mart and Sterling Fresh to run each other into the ground. On the train, negotiating, they formalized their arrangement: Evelyn would handle the majority of their life in the Republic. Deo would step in if Evelyn needed a pinch hitter, handling the tough situations and tense moments. In the meanwhile, though, thon would rest.

Return to Randwell

Evelyn's Mark was welcomed with open arms and, upon her arrival, she was speedily placed into a new home. Adopted by Tonia and Geraldine Morrow, she received a typical Randwellian education. Showered in an addicting haze of love and support, she thrived. As soon as she knew she was trans, the Republic had bottles of gender-affirming medication in her hand. She was constantly encouraged to explore the potential of her Mark, with ample room to practice using Shell Game. Even in this environment, though, she found herself struggling to wield it properly. It kept misfiring, and when it worked she couldn't predict the momentum properly, and when she could Deo had doubts that teleporting people would even be safe. She couldn't be drafted like this. But she had a demonstrated interest in food and food insecurity, and was sorted instead into the military's R&D department.

The FaRM

Evelyn basked in the praise and attention, choosing to remain in R&D for years after her draft period ended and rapidly ascending the ranks of the Randwellian scientific community. The highest position she held was a sought-after spot in the Food and Rations Manufacture laboratory of the Republic's military. Working alongside Beck Collier and a few other scientists, she set her sights on more, better, longer-lasting rations for the Republic's soldiers. They were, after all, the ones spreading the gift of Randwell to the world. They deserved the same thing that drew Evelyn back home: those delicious, hot meals every single day. Their rations had to remind them that they were Randwellians, and they deserved food that would make the unenlightened jealous.

A rift began to form between Deo and Evelyn. Deo, holding tightly to the pair's doubts, was afraid of Shell Game and its effects. Plagued by fears that teleporting people was akin to a form of murder, thon refused to use the Mark altogether, practicing far less than Evelyn. But where Deo had doubts, Evelyn had curiosities, and her headmate's fear of their true capabilities transported to an utter fascination with Marks' application in agriculture. Could those blessed with gifts duplicate food? Increase its size? Farm faster, more efficiently, and more happily than their neighbors? Delving further and further into synergy and technique, her thoughts drifted between the impact of her research and her ever-tempting destination: an audience with the Premiere, genius above all geniuses, telling her the story of how her team's research brought the gift of Randwell to every house in every former city-state in every corner of the Randwellian Land.

Everyone would want to be her friend.

Deo was asleep. Evelyn was happy. The path forward was clear. Without an empty stomach, two miserable parents, and the ever-present terror that one of her odd-job suppliers would try to kill her, she was more grateful than ever for the one thing New Chiti could never give her: consistency.

The moon explodes

And then everything was different and the world was in chaos and she was being pulled into meetings and hearing the name "Dee Kelsey" thrown around with venom and something called the Parley and the sky had been torn open and something she never thought could disappear had suddenly exploded and what would she do and what would the laboratory do and how could the world go on and what would people eat for dinner, Dr. Morrow? How are you going to give the Republic stability under the rotting corpse of a celestial body?

Mushrooms. Resilience. Growth despite. Backup plans. Drifting in and out. Remembering even less. Clinging desperately to happier times, and finding the only drops of joy left in the bottle recoiling from her. She worked, she drank, she worked, she drank. Someone else was there. Two someones. Deo was a mess. EM was the solution. Morrow was fracturing, and suddenly there was Molly to split the good times with her. What was she? Who was she?

The dust settled. Molly would be the unaffected party. The joyful girl that came back home to see the Sun again. Deo would be the pinch hitter. The confident voice of reason when the going got tough. EM would be the coordinator. The broker of peace, to ensure the system didn't have another meltdown.

And Evelyn? If no one else took up the mantle, Evelyn would be a god damned proper Premiere-loving food-growing future-focused Randwellian if it killed her.

Project Perihelion

she had fun :-]