Tiffany Nguyen (Tihf-fan-nee WIHN)
Tiffany Nguyen was born to a working-class family in Los Angeles, former USA, Earth. Her mother, Trang, did her best to make ends meet on her own working 3 jobs, but Tiffany and her mother were in and out of women's shelters most of her young life. Her mother was the only niece of the tech bro trillionaire Cleves Nguyen, but due to a falling out between her father and his brother, her mother didn't really know him well. That didn't stop Trang from trying to get ahold of him though. He was always "busy," however. Whether he really was busy was anyone's guess.
So Tiffany grew up in poverty, like most people on Earth.
She only got the attention of Cleves when Tiffany was winning surfing competitions across the solar system. She could only get off-world due to corporate sponsors she won contracts with when she got the Gold in the Earth Olympics at 17. She had enough money to make her mother comfortable, and for once, she was having the time of her life. It took her 6 months of training, but she was the first Terran to win the notoriously dangerous Europan Underground Cave Surfing Competition, which made the news.
That night Cleves called Trang. He saw something in Tiffany and wanted to put her through school to become a genetic engineer and work for him. Tiffany's grades had been just okay, so she figured she'd have to get a scholarship just to get anywhere. Cleves wouldn't hear of it, got her into the best school, and hired an army of tutors to get her up to speed and keep her at the top of her class. Idealistically, she wanted to be a doctor, but she just assumed up until now, that would not happen.
Cleves said she could do whatever she wanted after she started working for him. So when she got her degree, she studied for her doctorate while working at Babies by Design for her great-uncle. Tiffany gradually made it through the ranks of her job, which she always felt was fishy, and it created resentment with her co-workers because of the probable nepotism. By the time she finished her residency, she was in charge of a whole department of genetic engineers and hated every second of it. Tiffany begged Cleves to let her just go be a normal doctor at a hospital, but he wouldn't hear of it. Having no children himself, she was his heir, and she had to learn the ropes if she was ever going to take over. Tiffany never wanted this, and she told him so. She was morally opposed to the whole thing. Genetic engineering to make children more resilient to radiation for those who live on the outer planet moons, but it had gotten way out of hand. She saw it as another thing that divided the classes and was reminiscent of 20th-century eugenics movements.
Cleves then tried to arrange a marriage without her consent to a man who would "bring her inline" and would co-operate with his plans.
That's when Tiffany ran. She cut her hair and bleached it herself in a grimy space station bathroom, and booked it to the outer planet moons. When she heard of The Darwin Project, she thought it was perfect for her. She'd get to be a doctor, and she'd never been under the influence of her great-uncle again. She was one of the last people who came on the project, only coming on 6 months before launch. Being a Terran, she could get away with it since she wouldn't have to take any grav meds like the people who came from off-world who had to start taking them months in advance to prepare.
The day of the launch, Cleves had finally tracked her down to Europa. (It took that long because do you know how many Tiffany Nguyens there are in the solar system?) It was too late though. Cleves found out exactly where she was 2 hours after launch.
Tiffany is a young, anxious, sweet, but socially awkward doctor. She's not had many relationships, but since coming under the wing of Cleves, they were all done in secret because they were exclusively with women.
So Tiffany grew up in poverty, like most people on Earth.
She only got the attention of Cleves when Tiffany was winning surfing competitions across the solar system. She could only get off-world due to corporate sponsors she won contracts with when she got the Gold in the Earth Olympics at 17. She had enough money to make her mother comfortable, and for once, she was having the time of her life. It took her 6 months of training, but she was the first Terran to win the notoriously dangerous Europan Underground Cave Surfing Competition, which made the news.
That night Cleves called Trang. He saw something in Tiffany and wanted to put her through school to become a genetic engineer and work for him. Tiffany's grades had been just okay, so she figured she'd have to get a scholarship just to get anywhere. Cleves wouldn't hear of it, got her into the best school, and hired an army of tutors to get her up to speed and keep her at the top of her class. Idealistically, she wanted to be a doctor, but she just assumed up until now, that would not happen.
Cleves said she could do whatever she wanted after she started working for him. So when she got her degree, she studied for her doctorate while working at Babies by Design for her great-uncle. Tiffany gradually made it through the ranks of her job, which she always felt was fishy, and it created resentment with her co-workers because of the probable nepotism. By the time she finished her residency, she was in charge of a whole department of genetic engineers and hated every second of it. Tiffany begged Cleves to let her just go be a normal doctor at a hospital, but he wouldn't hear of it. Having no children himself, she was his heir, and she had to learn the ropes if she was ever going to take over. Tiffany never wanted this, and she told him so. She was morally opposed to the whole thing. Genetic engineering to make children more resilient to radiation for those who live on the outer planet moons, but it had gotten way out of hand. She saw it as another thing that divided the classes and was reminiscent of 20th-century eugenics movements.
Cleves then tried to arrange a marriage without her consent to a man who would "bring her inline" and would co-operate with his plans.
That's when Tiffany ran. She cut her hair and bleached it herself in a grimy space station bathroom, and booked it to the outer planet moons. When she heard of The Darwin Project, she thought it was perfect for her. She'd get to be a doctor, and she'd never been under the influence of her great-uncle again. She was one of the last people who came on the project, only coming on 6 months before launch. Being a Terran, she could get away with it since she wouldn't have to take any grav meds like the people who came from off-world who had to start taking them months in advance to prepare.
The day of the launch, Cleves had finally tracked her down to Europa. (It took that long because do you know how many Tiffany Nguyens there are in the solar system?) It was too late though. Cleves found out exactly where she was 2 hours after launch.
Tiffany is a young, anxious, sweet, but socially awkward doctor. She's not had many relationships, but since coming under the wing of Cleves, they were all done in secret because they were exclusively with women.
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