Biela helped Tony install the arc reactor on one of the coldest days of the year. Later that evening, they were playing backgammon. Tony called out his roll. "Ooh," Biela said. "Good roll, good roll."
"Still didn't tell me about your name. Or where you're from," Tony said. "My full name is Bianca Elaria Evans," Biela replied. "I took the Bi from Bianca and the Ela from Elaria to get Biela. I'm originally from the US…I think." "You think?" Tony said, raising an eyebrow.
"My mother would sleep with anything that breathed," Biela said bitterly. "I wasn't even supposed to be born. She didn't know and I don't know who my father is. Too many guys in the general time period. But most recently, I'm from a small town called Gulmira. It's actually a nice place."
"Got a family?" Tony asked. "Mother, siblings?" Biela shook her head. "I told you about Mom's tendencies. I was the only "mistake" she had. She was a chemist slash biologist with a specialty in chemical and biological warfare. We were in Gulmira, staying a friend of Mom's, the only one she didn't sleep with, I think, named Yinsen. Then the Ten Rings came in and kidnapped Yinsen and Mom, 'cause Yinsen knew tech and Mom knew chemistry. Yinsen died the first week here, 'cause he refused to cooperate and was killed for it. Mom was weaker, and agreed, but died a couple years ago when she finally cracked from the pressure and the rape."
"How old were you when you came here?" Tony asked. "Six. It had been five years since Mom, Yinsen, and I met you at that technical conference in Bern." "And how old are you now?" Tony asked, shocked. "Ten, I think. Do you have a family?"
Tony shrugged it off with a twitch of his mouth. "Nah." "No. Hm. So you are a man who has everything…and nothing." Tony gave a half shrug, half smile, and went back to the game.