Given only the name “Yingsu” as the last girl born in 1993 in a secret eugenics facility in Jiangsu, China, Chess Lang is unaware of her origins and her parentage. At the age of two, she was one of a handful children rescued by one of the facility’s employees, and smuggled to a Zhejiang orphanage specializing in overseas adoptions. She is unaware that her father, Kuang (who has fathered many of the eugenic project children, via test tubes, of course), the director of the facility, has always been aware of her location, due to a staff of Evolved individuals that includes clairvoyants among other useful resources. The children’s rescuers were caught and executed, but the director allowed the children to be adopted out, embracing the opportunity to “study” them in unique, remote environments, separate from the facility, where they were essentially trying to study the genetics of the Evolved.
The child was adopted by an Asian-American family in Denver, Colorado and given the name Francesca Liling Lang, or “Chessie” for short. She had an ordinary, charmed sort of life with her two older brothers and white-collar parents; she knew she was adopted but it didn’t matter; she was loved and felt lucky to be where she was In 2006, of course, the bomb changed everyone’s life — it was a remote event that didn’t personally affect her, but knowing there were people with powers in the world was both frightening and exciting to Chess.
It wasn’t until she turned 16, three years later, that the abstract became personal — she accidentally charged a ball in a water polo game and inadvertently sent what was the equivalent of a bomb toward the opponent’s side of the pool. Luckily the other team ducked and the water helped abate the explosive power of the bomb. She found herself in a locked room with various officials from several agencies, her life changed forever. She should have been registered Tier 3 and black-holed. Not that she knew that at the time. For some reason she was registered a 2. She would only learn later about Tier 3 and would question why she had been downgraded.
Soon, Chess had no friends where before she’d had plenty. Her parents moved her to a private school for what was left of high school, but she was unable to keep her secret — there’s always someone who knows someone who knows someone, after all. She grew more angsty and dealt with it by, naturally, blowing things up in her free time and honing her ability. Previously an outgoing, well-liked student, she became withdrawn and sullen.
Eventually, another Evolved student came forward to befriend her — a teleporter named Miles Dylan who was still under the radar, but had strong feelings about the rights of the Evolved. The two of them became inseparable, eventually, in 2011, enrolling together in college at the University of Colorado, Denver. The couple was only there a couple of months before the forced relocations were announced; the two went on the run rather than be imprisoned, managing, somehow, to stay free.
Hiding turned to helping others — to hide, to flee. That in turn evolved into fighting back, and eventually to war. Earlier in her life, in happier days, she’d learned to shoot a bow and arrow and had a natural penchant for it. Now, the arrows could be charged, using her ability. She could make a bomb out of almost anything, which made her useful and gave her purpose.
The rebels she fought with became a second family — she was one of the youngest among them and many of them looked after her like a little sister. Miles, too, was a valuable asset, thanks to his ability to teleport a small group.
Their platoon began to move eastward, slowly, eventually making their way to Pennsylvania. It was there that they joined forces at Raven Rock in January 2014. The rebels’ victory was a bittersweet one — both sides had suffered many losses and casualties. Chess had lost many people she’d come to think of as family — among them, Miles. The man had died in Chess’ arms after teleporting to her side to scoop her out of harm’s way — only to have been hit by the bullets meant for her.
Without Miles, Chess withdrew completely from those she had considered her family and friends. After the war, many of them had family to reunite with. She remembered the arguments about the Evolved and chose not to reunite with her own. She was a little aimless after the war, choosing not to settle in one place. Eventually the Safe Zone was announced and she took the offer to help — she had skills that could be put to use, and blowing things up is a lot easier than dealing with her own pain.
Three years in, she’s made a few friends but remains mostly an “independent contractor,” preferring to remain loyal only to herself. Much of the time she sleeps in a VW van that’s covered in overgrown vines in an abandoned park in Queens. The war has left its share of scars.
