25th April 3306

Most took Isuelt Shaw, aka Belexticus, to be damaged goods and a cold, stuck-up bitch of a woman. They’d be forgiven for thinking that. But Shaw's icy exterior and the difficulty with which people found getting close to her were a product of her upbringing, her experiences and her different mind. A neurodivergent, she now finds herself far from the comfort of her previous life, struggling to fit in with the diverse characters she now calls her kin.

“I was taught by my mother: ‘we are far above those peons and whilst we must show it, we mustn’t lose face.’ Screw her.”

Isuelt Shaw was born on 1st November 3281 on the third planet orbiting Eotienses A, daughter to Genevieve Elspeth Shaw (née Vanlaere) and Alexius George Oswald Shaw. Shaw's family were wealthy members of the upper classes of Imperial society, just short of nobility, though Isuelt herself did not care for the snobbery of her mother’s ideas of the client system. Her mother’s side, in Haoria, had made their fortune so long ago that few relatives could actually explain where it came from; most believed it was in mineral trading. The Vanlaeres also, until relatively recently, maintained a rumour that they were distantly related to the Lorens – a rumour that they couldn’t back up and that they had quietly dispensed with following the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Denton Patreus. Her father’s lineage could be traced all the way back to the establishment of Adams Market above Eotienses A 3, when one of his ancestors had arrived as a terraforming scientist in 2288.

Genevieve Shaw was a legal paragon, providing services to a selected handful of Imperial Senators. Known for her snake-like charm, Genevieve was the toast of the Imperial law set. Strange then that she should mysteriously die of an unknown illness in early 3304. There were suggestions of foul play at the hands of senators allied to Patreus but, of course, nobody could prove it and few dared speak out about it. From that moment, the Shaw family had been under scrutiny from forces loyal to the Admiral of the Fleet and his allies.

Alexius Shaw was a respected academic who led a strange double-life; his public persona was that of a quiet, tenured lecturer of astroanthropology attached to the Lyceum School of the Imperial Museum of Culture, but parallel to this he was a clandestine intelligence attaché working for the Imperial Diplomatic Corps. When not teaching the history of the cultural divergence of the Empire, or curating events at the Museum on the degeneracy of the Federation, he was off on ‘cultural exchange’ or ‘scholarly research’; obvious codewords for his more nefarious activities. He was no secret agent but his ability to assimilate with foreign cultures without revealing embarrassing shibboleths was a highly-prized skill to his ambassador.

“I do not think like you. I do not think like many.”

Isuelt wasn’t always the was she is. Being from a family of high rank, she had experienced a childhood and adolescence of privilege. A prodigy, she attended the prestigious Tollhouse School in Port Isabelle where, through her neurodivergence, she excelled in many subjects and wasn’t shy about demonstrating her brilliance, despite struggling with social skills. She wanted to be sociable with people but few understood how her brain worked and, although she had one or two friends, this led to frustration and loneliness. Whilst her academic abilities impressed her tutors, it did not ingratiate herself with her fellow students and some rough retaliatory action on the fencing piste led to her being scarred across the face. Honour was later satisfied, but this left Isuelt with an apathy towards others and she retreated into herself. Finishing school, she was expected to retire to a life of luxury, as was her mother’s desire. Instead, she matriculated at the residential Patreus Academy of Arts and Sciences, where she specialised in economics, mathematics and physics. Attractive and intellectual, but quiet and mysterious, many young men tried to seduce her without success, and many who were ignorant saw her as the ‘cold, stuck-up bitch’ she was often taken for.

“I didn’t deserve this, but people won’t understand.”

Isuelt never expected to find herself in the big black – this was out of necessity. The Imperial Internal Security Service had raided her father’s offices at the Museum after the New Dawn Collection had mysteriously disappeared two years ago. Despite the respect he maintained and his government service in the Diplomatic Corps, there was a suspicion that Alexius Shaw – a man used to mixing with ‘foreign powers’ – may be collaborating with enemies of the Empire. Isuelt had said goodbye to her father that morning and never saw him again after he was taken in for questioning by the IISS. A scrambled telecom call that day – later realised by Isuelt to be from Captain Ristor Belmont of the IISS, one of her few friends from the Academy – had been quite clear: “Leave now. Don’t wait. Don’t travel to see your family. Go into hiding.” She did.

Adopting the pseudonym Belexticus, which she believed to mean “fight with purity” in an ancient tongue her father had taught her about, she now flies with no aim and no goal; save only to find a new home, a new family and a new purpose. She ran with a few rag-tag traders, scavengers and bounty hunters, before finding a position with the Artemis Corporation; still in Imperial space, but hiding in plain sight under her new name.

“Damaged goods? Maybe, but the fix is out there somewhere.”