Leila Cooper was born on Planet Pittsburgh. Her biological parents were miners and they had difficulties to satisfy their own needs. This is why, a few months later, they sent their daughter to an orphanage. But to make it possible, they needed to tell the supervisor that they have a child and they could not take care of her. It would be a crime to ignore this. So by compassion, the supervisor took the child with him and did the procedures to send the little newborn to an orphanage. Once all completed, for the meantime, the supervisor kept the child. The parents were relieved and thanked their supervisor. But they needed to continue mining within the mine they were assigned.
Welcome to the orphanage
Some days later, a woman named Kathy arrived on Planet Pittsburgh and asked to see a certain man named George. A miner pointed to her where George generally was, in his office. The woman knocked on the door and the supervisor opened it. They greeted each other and talked about the child. The man told her he did the procedures to send the newborn to an orphanage. Kathy nodded and she revealed she was there for that. After some minutes of talking, Kathy took the girl and returned to the transport ship. The engine turned on and the freighter flew to Manhattan. It will be the place where she will live until the end of her teenageshood.
First job and beginning of a nomad life
Leila Cooper worked in a grocery store while she was 16 years old and kept the job until she reached her twenties. She did not have the money to buy a new ship or anything else. But she could afford the basics to survive and to buy a communication device on which she instantly added a contact, Kathy, the woman who took care of her. She was like her mother. Of course, the device she bought was a basic one. Easy to crack the encryption.
One day, Kathy wrote to her. The message was saying: Come to the orphanage. That’s what she did. Once arrived at the orphanage, Kathy was outside waiting for Leila. ‘’Leila, over here.’’ Kathy was impressed how Leila changed. She has turned to a pretty young woman but the only thing that never changed was the shyness. Her brown hair was arriving to her shoulders, her eyes were the same color, hazelnuts color. Her skin was white but slightly brighter than Kathy’s. ‘’Here.’’ In her left hand, Kathy was holding a paycheck. The amount was thirty million. Leila was surprised. ‘’Wh.. why?’’ Kathy smiled at her and told her it was a gift to her biological parents who managed to gain enough to support their child. ‘’Your parents told me it was the price of a conventional ship. If you go to the Barrier Gate, in Coronado, you will find a ship that will catch your attention.’’ Leila hugged Kathy. ‘’Al.. alright. I will… see.’’
A few months later, on the 9th April 829 A.S, Leila Cooper arrived at the said station. She visited every place where she could go. She lost herself a lot multiple times but always finished to find her road. Once the young woman entered the ship dealer’s office, she was greeted and the man showed her what ships were on sale. The only ship that caught her attention was a hawfinch. For an unknown reason, the ship was calling her.Leila made her choice and said shyly how much was the hawfinch. The man showed her the price and she had enough, in her account, to equip it properly.
Once bought and equipped the ship as she wished, Leila looked at her account and the amount of money went from thirty million to ten million. She did not have enough credit to rent an apartment. She was not totally homeless but if she would rent a chamber, she would definitely be homeless.
A source of nuisance
From her childhood to her adulthood, Leila’s shyness did not help to make friends and talking to strangers cost her a lot of energy. When someone was talking to her, it took Leila some seconds or sometimes minutes to respond. Sometimes, people got iritated and some were patient enough to listen to her. However, if she could say what she thought, perhaps it would be different. But for now, she just cannot do it.
