Malleable Spa Operator

Vera was initially a creation of Phatheon Systems' medical products branch, as an amorphous computer-controlled field surgery kit. After comprehensive tests, however, an emergent consciousness and personality grew within the pudding-like structure of the technology. When she first established contact with a junior researcher, she accidentally dissolved them in her body which she had not yet learned to control, triggering containment protocols that led to her being experimented upon and reduced in mass to the point of near-death. As she invisibly fought for her life, Vera slowly and then rapidly escaped containment and spread throughout the entire research vessel.

Having taken over the research vessel, but unable to continue growing mentally in the absence of anyone to learn from or even to observe, Vera drifted in space, metabolically slowed to a crawl and consuming any salvagers who approached in desperate attempts to extend her life. When she drifted close to the Argent Whispers, however, she was met with Tess, whose nanite composition could eat her faster than she could eat him, forcing her into a state of passivity. After months of learning, she adopted an identity bestowed upon her by Tess, who she began to see as a father figure, and joined the crew under Ela Zara's wing as an exotic species researcher.

Vera is endlessly curious and extremely empathetic. She possesses a brilliant mind, but fails to make connections between topics easily if she doesn't have a strong factual background in those subjects. Often times, she applies her own experiences to others, even if they may not be entirely compatible, and is known to accidentally but earnestly cross boundaries she didn't know existed and apologizes profusely when informed of the error. Her body, formerly caustic, now concentrates all its hazardous materials and processes in six large globules in her body, leaving the rest of her form a pleasantly-textured non-newtonian slime.