Peristrophe Chin Riley was born in 2308 to parents Angelina Chin and Quentin Riley in New Atlantis, Jemison, Alpha Centauri. Angelina Chin is a respected independent reporter for the Settled Systems News Network, who gained limited regard for her on the ground accounts during the Colony Wars. Quentin Riley was a well established professor of xeno-botany in New Atlantis prior to his retirement in 2330.

Peristohpe "Peri" participated in the junior athletic union where she competed as an intermediate distance runner, before transferring to the union varsity swim team at age 16. Academically Peri benefited from her father's expertise, tutoring her and helping to cultivate her interest in zoology. By the end of her primary school education, Peri had been elected to represent the Student Union Biology Department, where her work on the emergent evolution of Jemison's indigenous flora and fauna earned her a full scholarship to the UC Science Academy. Some among her colleagues have suggested that while Ms. Chin-Riley was undoubtedly passionate in her academic and athletic pursuits, that she had benefited from her father's status among the academic community.

In spite of her success and emerging acclaim, Peri often experienced a deep loneliness, never developing genuine personal relationships or hobbies outside of her official pursuits. Worse even, the fiercely meritocratic young scientist was horrified at the accusations of nepotism, often going out of her way to distance herself further from her parents and their resources. All of this culminated in an apparent public breakdown, in which she left an undergraduate union session in tears. In spite of her parents insistence that she ignore her detractors, Peristrophe enlisted in a summer mining contract with Argo's Extractors, which promised to provide enough payment to cover the remaining costs of her education, assuming the privileged young scientist did not wash out before the end of summer.