[attr="class","header2"]APPEARANCE

[attr="class","body"]
For as long as Marie could remember, she had a book in her hand. Before Marie could walk, she remembered reading. Before Marie could say a word, she remembered reading. Before she's ever seen the sunlight, she remembered reading. And before having her own name, Marie remembered sticking her nose in whatever book she could get her hands on.

The circumstances of her own birth are a mystery to her, and one she's not particularly fussed with solving. Did she have loving parents? That seemed unlikely. Was she left at an orphanage? That was somewhat probable. Was she a virgin birth? Any logic would dictate not, but she also couldn't rule it out. What she did know was where she ended up, and just why she ended up there.

Just outside of London, some upstart and incredibly unregulated geneticists set up their own little underground farm. Marie was just one of the lucky children raised in the program, though they would simply call her Subject 8. Unfortunately that number would always feel much closer to her real name. It was the first thing she'd ever respond to, and it was the symbol branded permanently onto her upper back.

The researchers were attempting to understand and manipulate quirk biology in a way any government would deem immoral. Innocent children be damned, they were going to achieve their goals. To this day, Marie doesn't fully understand what those goals were. Were they attempting to weaponize them? Possibly. What is some sort of indoctrination? Maybe. Was her own quirk even natural? Unfortunately she'll never know.

Strangely enough, there was a library. Marie wasn't sure why captured children were given that particular luxury, but she figured it must have played into their goals somehow. None of the other children really spent their time there, but she couldn't blame them. Its not like they knew how to read, and she was no different. But she learned. Starting from square one was surprising easy at such an early stage in life.

Whenever she was free of the experiments, she'd pour herself into some new book. By the time she was 6, her efforts were noticed by the various scientists. That, or maybe something in her test results interested them. Either way, they would spend hours with her in the library. They taught her how to speak, what her own number was, and how the words in the library were all linked together. It was a strange connection in hindsight, but it changed her entire limited worldview.

Just as she was truly discovering the wonders of education, the heroes would arrive. It happened when her and the other children were asleep, though the commotion easily woke them. The whole situation was a massive blur, both literally and figuratively. In the span of a few hours, she was finally taken out of the lab and saw the sun for the first time. Understandably, she cried.

Over the next weeks, the subjects would all be taken in by a boarding school, with specialized courses to try and get them caught up on normal existence. Though, Marie naturally stood out from the other subjects. Her almost single-minded desire to learn had remained, and set her well above her peers. Though this cycle would repeat itself when she was transferred to join the regular students. For years she would consistently overperform expectations of every educator she worked with.

Along with academic success came a new challenge. Forming her own identity and self-worth took her many years. For as much as she thought, she hardly ever thought of herself. Lacking her own dreams or aspirations, it seemed logical to pursue the dreams and aspirations of others. From her understanding, becoming both a medical practitioner and hero seemed like the most effective way to do so. Her quirk was objectively one of the more useful in terms of public safety, and her academic skill seemed uniquely poised to the rigorous of medical school. Beyond that, it felt like the next evolution of her experience. Her body was already used in the further research of quirks, she figured she could continue that practice more ethically.

With a new objective as a guiding light, she finally started to grow into her own person. To signify this, she finally chose a name for herself. She'd name herself Marie Descartes, after both an inspirational chemist and philosopher. Though it did confuse some of her caretakers, considering she was assigned male at birth.

Given her savant status, she continued to push the limits of her own success. She'd achieve her doctorate from Oxford at the age of 18, only to immediately enter U.A. to pursue a professional hero license. While she had a bit more difficulty with the four year program, she would graduate again at 22 years old. With all of the education necessary to pursue both of her passions, it became quite obvious how hard it was to balance it all. Though she would eventually find a job opportunity that let her do both.

While Maxima was a bit loud and excessive for her tastes, it was easy to recognize the good they did. It also happened that they had a practical use for both a hero and a doctor specialized in treating heroes. The fact that she could lead the medical staff certainly sweetened the deal. Unfortunately for her, she'll just have to get used to the limelight...