Personal History

       Bogna favors a cool, punk-rock aesthetic, tearing through the streets on a high-powered motorcycle with a stash of demolition charges strapped to her back—looking for all the world like she’s ready to take someone down with her at a moment's notice. Yet, this devil-may-care attitude clashes sharply with her actual day job: delivering food for the "Burger Consulate".

       During the Republic's boom years, fueled by the space race, Bogna was a renowned mechanic. By day, she earned her keep repairing vehicles for the wealthy; by night, she slept in an abandoned military barracks in Seimpolis (Сеймполис), occasionally taking her bike out for a wild ride. Though the mechanic trade was neither easy nor stable, Bogna relished the freedom and self-reliance of her solitary life. Living for the moment was enough for her; she cared little about what tomorrow might bring.

       However, as the Republic’s economy slumped and repair jobs dried up, Bogna stumbled upon a cache of old demolition charges in a corner of the barracks' warehouse. She briefly fantasized about the thrill of tossing them into the yards of rival mechanics who were stealing her business, though she never actually went through with it. To make ends meet, she had to find other work. Just then, the "Burger Consulate" posted a recruitment notice for delivery riders; thanks to her superb riding skills and intimate knowledge of the city streets, Bogna easily landed the job.

       Even with the new gig, her biker-style riding remained unchanged, leading to constant customer complaints about spilled drinks or smashed burgers. Yet, in the rough-and-tumble streets of Seimpolis (Сеймполис), a delivery rider needs a certain edge to ensure timely arrivals, and no one dared mess with a biker packing demolition charges.

       Bogna had known she was different from others for as long as she could remember. She didn't know who her parents were. For over a decade, the only person she could truly call "family" was Aunt Tsveta, a woman toward whom Bogna harbored complex feelings. On one hand, Bogna fully understood that she would not have survived to adulthood had Aunt Tsveta, a woman with whom she shared no blood ties, not taken her in after she was abandoned as a young child.

       Moreover, as one of the few first-generation female soldiers in the Defense Force to come of age under the influence of the former Union, Tsveta had generously passed on the expert vehicle-repair skills she had mastered in the transport corps to Bogna. On the other hand, Aunt Tsveta possessed the same formidable inner strength and technical proficiency as other people from the former Union, but also their characteristic authoritarian streak and reserved nature. She frequently clashed with Bogna over her wearing "outlandish clothes unbefitting a young woman" and often criticized her lack of focus when learning technical skills.

       Even when Bogna installed a part perfectly, Tsveta would offer nothing more than a slight nod of approval or perhaps prepare an extra dish for dinner; there were no effusive displays of praise. This often left Bogna, young and at an age where her sense of self was rapidly developing, feeling frustrated and unappreciated. The conflict between them reached a breaking point after Bogna bought a high-powered motorcycle, already used by countless previous owners; Aunt Tsveta believed such an expensive hobby would eventually squander the household's savings, while Bogna insisted she could easily afford it. After a heated argument, Bogna chose to leave home and make her own way in the world; though Aunt Tsveta seemed on the verge of saying something, she ultimately did not stand in her way.

       After riding off on her motorcycle, Bogna soon realized she possessed nothing but a change of clothes and her repair tools, leaving her unable to afford rent of any kind. She had no choice but to settle herself and her bike into an abandoned military warehouse, where stacks of crates cluttered the corners. In the quiet that followed, her thoughts inevitably turned to Aunt Tsveta: for a woman so stern and undemonstrative, was the solitude of living alone even more profound? Had her own decision caused too much heartache? Bogna stopped herself from dwelling on it further; to shake off the loneliness that dogged her every night, she knew she would need a reason, an opportunity, to go back and see her.