Ventu/Early Life

A Childhood of Imbalance & Indecision

Aresee Lily Ventu was born to Jarin Ventu and Matilda Tayler in 2352. Matilda had been warned earlier in her life that she carried a genetic marker that made a neurochemical imbalance almost certain in any children she might have, and so the couple decided, early on in their marriage, not to have children. Lily's was an accidental pregnancy but, even knowing the risks, Jarin and Matilda went ahead with the birth.

Although Lily's condition is a unique, familiar genetic condition, similar to 5-alpha reductase deficiency, its closest analogue in current medicine is bipolar disorder.

At age five, Aresee is first diagnosed after rapidly cycling through multiple moods, leaving her extremely hyper one moment and nearly catatonic the next. She is misdiagnosed as depressed and begins seeing her first counselor, by whom she is labeled bipolar. However, further genetic tests reveal that she (and her family) carry a unique genetic marker for the disorder. She is put on a daily regimen of meds and begins her "normal" childhood.

Aresee at ten

When she's ten, Aresee experiences her first violent mood swing at school, destroying some property and breaking a boy's arm. She flees the scene and is found a mile away, curled and apologetic, having drawn so far into herself that all she can say is, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She undergoes a three-week intense session of counseling, during which she's withdrawn from school at put on even more medications. She refuses, following the incident, to return to school, and is home-schooled until high school

Lily enters high school

, sometimes staying at home with her father, and sometimes traveling with her mother aboard her ship.

When she enters high school, Aresee eschews her first name, citing an inborn hatred for its forced ostentatiousness, and chooses to go by her middle name, Lily.
High school is mostly uneventful - Lily stays under the radar for the most part, achieving good marks but really living for after school, when she's left to herself. She doesn't make many friends, though this frustrates her - her operant thinking is not that she wants to be alone, but rather that she hasn't/can't meet anyone worth inviting into her life.
As graduation nears, Lily is pressured to choose what to do after high school. Her mother, who is nearly retirement, wants Lily to take over her merchant vessel, but Lily doesn't have much interest in doing that. Throughout her life, the only people who have been omnipresent, besides her family, are various counselors, and she decides in her senior year that she'd like to pursue a degree in counseling psychology.

Attending the Academy For the First Time

• 2369 - Lily fails her first entrance exam when she attempts it during her junior year. She decides to try for a bachelor's degree in counseling psychology on Earth, and then go for her master's. However, a week after her failing scores arrive, an ensign from the Academy named Abby Roberts contacted Lily and urged her to re-take the exam. Lily signs up after her mother agrees that it's a good idea, but doesn't intend to sit the test again.
• 2370 - After her acceptance to two reputable schools and her graduation, Lily takes her second entrance exam. She passes, and decides to try it out for a year. Abby Roberts is assigned as Lily's don, and serves as her mentor and friend during her first terms.
• 2371 - In the first months of her freshman year, Lily meets Nicholas Parks, and the two become good friends. A month before the end of their first year, the two begin dating.
• 2373 - During Lily's junior year at the Academy, she decides to take a leave of absence for several reasons. Not coincidentally, the leave of absence request comes just as Nick and Lily break up.
• 2374 - Lily borrows a family ship and strikes out on her own.

Alone in the Borderlands

• 2376 - Two years hence, Lily finds herself on the edge of Federation space, in the region known as the Borderlands. For some reason, she's drawn to the region. While there, pragmatism wins out over aesthetics, and Lily becomes Aresee again, using her old name as a kind of alias.
• 2378 - Aresee spends two years in the Borderlands, making various contacts and enemies. During the end of her stay, she discovers an eleven year old girl - Alexa, no last name - and, like her attraction to the Borderlands themselves, finds herself inexplicably drawn to the girl. She convinces the girl to come with her.
• 2379 - Aresee is chased out of the Borderlands by various enemies. She and Alexa return to Earth. Matilda and Jarin formally adopt Alexa.

Returning to the Academy

• 2380 - Aresee spends several months at home, reacclimating to the Federation standard of life and helping her new sister adjust. To her dismay, she finds that her mood swings have returned in full force. Aresee returns to the Academy. She does an extra semester of catch-up. While there, she steers clear of romantic contact, and though she has a few acquaintances, makes few friends. She does not attempt to track down Nick, nor does she return to using Lily as her first name.
• 2382 - Aresee graduates from the Academy.