Autumn Rees

Autumn Rees is the daughter of William and Gweynlillian Rees, a lower-upper-class (or upper-middle class, depending on how you look at it) couple who moved to Chicago  explicitly to make use of the Lake Michigan Ark. Formerly of Carmarthenshire (a county in Wales), they found the developing ‘free city’ atmosphere of Chicago to be preferred, and a better place to raise a child then the increasingly alarming environment of nearby Europe. This was before Autumn was born, of course. Consequently, she’s a clone of genetic material from the Lake Michigan Ark; she comes from a stable and happy family. They wanted a child, and were desperate to have one. They (obviously) knew she was a mutant, had no problem with it; her home environment was stable and loving. They themselves were both infertile humans, of course.

Named Autumn after her leafy hair and green skin, her parents did everything they could to shield their child from the harsh world she would someday face; and to prepare her for the flowering of her mutant powers. They were religious, but not proud or ostentatious about it. Her father worked for a megacorp, and her mother taught art. It might seem like they had pointless, ordinary lives – but they tried to practice ordinary acts of kindness, and this was something Autumn absorbed growing up.

As a teenager, she found her connection to the natural world growing. It was obvious, both from the genetic information gleaned from study of the ark and the stored material that spawned her…and a simple glance at her…that she would have some sort of connection; but while she was very young, it seemed to be mostly cosmetic. As she grew into womanhood, it became apparent she had an empathy for the natural world around her. For the plants, the trees, the people. She needed sunlight and exposure to it the way others needed mere food; and when the natural world around her (the plants or the people) became disturbed or upset, her mood suffered as well. And, rarely, vice-versa. Her parents did not understand this, but they did accept it, and they loved her.

As an adult, she did not maintain her parent’s Christian faith; neither did she reject or scorn it. Neither did she turn to any of the other traditional religions, or even new-age superstition. Instead, she found her spirituality in what was around her. The people of the sprawl, whose emotions she felt so keenly. The struggling plants, trees and weeds, whose needs touched her heart and soul. The warmth of the sun upon her, the scene of the breeze. She cares for what is around her, right now in the moment, and how you can live a good life. She doesn’t want wealth, or fame or heroics; but to help nourish and grow what is around her. Yes, she sees the world in gardening metaphors.

She thinks great things must start as little things, as seeds – and it is for the lack of attention to these seeds that so many who wish to do great things fail. So she sticks to the seeds, the simple things. She prefers to try and work with the impoverished, the destitute and the homeless, to set up urban gardens to offer fresh food and produce for those who could not afford it, or might have little to eat at all. She’s not above helping a Megacorp however, if it needs assistance growing a plant faster, or needs some other assistance relating to her powers. She tries to do what good she can, where she can. But she prefers the small things. It is those things upon which the world turns.