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Espra isn't Espra. Espra is Phelia. Y'see, three years before 'Espra' came to Shankill, she died in a dark alley. (Is this confusing enough yet? It gets better, I promise.) Nobody knows that Espra's dead- as it often did, the DIS took advantage of the situation and disposed of the body, keeping the girl legally 'alive' as far as the FSP was concerned.
Backing up a bit in the history...
Phelia was born at Copper Hill Steading on the planet Linnae. Her parents weren't married- they barely knew each other. Their mating was part of a long-term experiment concocted by the DIS chief. It resulted in Phelia's birth. From her earliest days, Phelia knew nothing but what the DIS wanted her to know- that meant she had no friends her own age, never heard fairy tales, never played games. By the time she was a teenager, she was a pure killing machine. She did well in her work, though as she learned a bit more about the world, she grew to know that something was missing. She was shocked to discover that most people abhorred killing. And as she grew to value people for themselves, despite Ivrel's best (or worst) intentions, she came to be of the same mind.
This culminated when she killed the wrong target- the wife of the Dragonbonded Guildmaster. Not only did she swiftly have a price on her head (Kestrin turned out to be rather vengeful when he found out his wife hadn't died of a heart attack as he first thought), but she had murdered someone completely innocent. Not likely to remain living for long with the size of the bounty on her, she volunteered to take a job every other DIS agent had avoided, and packed her bags for Shankill.
That's where, for the first time, she found people she could call friends. Specifically, the other agents Ivrel had sent to infiltrate the Guild- Dariz "Dizz" Horton and Corlis Jerom- and their FSP-retired associate, Adan Aleron. In fact, she and Adan fell in love. Their identities and purpose were discovered by the Guild, and the quartet were called onto the carpet. After much explaining and oaths of sincerity sworn, they were allowed to go through Full Disclosure and join the Guild. Phelia herself was scared silly by the whole symbiont thing, and only her love for Adan gave her the courage to go to Ballybran. After her adaptation sickness, she found she'd become a medic (which she still regards rather humorously ironic. From assassin to medic...). She and Adan, who'd adapted as a sorter, were married on the planet Syrine, where they vacationed for the next Passover.
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