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+--- Thread: Lore Dearborn (/thread-1632.html)
Lore Dearborn - Lore - 08-16-2024
"Lore Dearborn is a self-made entrepreneur of considerable worth, who first featured on the Forbes Under 30 list in 2044. She grew up on the Ashurst Estate outside London, alongside controversial figure Damien Oakland, the current Patron of the newly established Dominance IX. Ms. Dearborn studied at Oxford before completing her education overseas, and made her first mark on the business world while interning for luxurious brand Stella Moreau in New York. Her business Second Chances sold to Anastasia Vega of Jivana Industries for an undisclosed amount. In recent months she has been seen in the company of Jessika Thrice, former governor of Texas anticipated to become the first Privilege of IX."
Business news pages, late 2045
BIOGRAPHY:
Early Life
Lore grew up outside London, on a modest estate shared with the family of her father’s longtime friend and business associate. The unconventional circumstance was only something she understood when she was older, though even as a child she was somewhat aware of the subtle shunning of society around them, and why. There was no great pedigree to the Dearborn name, and certainly nothing to leverage respect or justify their acquisition of the Ashurst estate from its ancestral keepers – just the hard work of her entrepreneur father, who’d forged a fortune over the years in blood and sweat. When hardship threatened, the sharks circled; waiting for their tumble back down the ladder – for if her father broke a glass ceiling on his rise, those same shards were waiting to cut him to shreds on the way back down. And they weren’t wrong. Truth was, in the turbulent economic flux of the late 2010s, inviting the Oaklands was the only way they could keep hold of their home while investing the capital to keep them afloat.
The joint business venture more than paid off; debtors were repaid in full, leaving the coffers renewed and then some, but as it was the Oaklands stayed. The grounds were large, and it was no imposition; it seemed pointless to break the ties when they had proved fortuitous on both sides, and by then both young families had grown.
Their son, Damien, was six years old when Lore was born, more stern older brother than playmate to her when she was growing up. As a toddler she was both terrified and infatuated, hiding from him in shadows, yet following everywhere he went. Her mother blamed it on the colourful dreams she suffered even then, and of course Lore was too small to articulate. She was a generally quiet child, happy with a book and her own company as she grew older. In that they were much alike. By the time she was a teenager, tragedy took the Oaklands back to Maine. Lore was both disappointed and relieved to see Damien go.
Financial difficulty hit the Dearborns again in the following years. A few bad business deals; sure bets that inexplicably backfired due to unmitigated natural disasters around the globe. The world was erupting in disturbing chaos. Meanwhile Lore attended university on scholarship, won on her own merits, though some did not feel she deserved the help – that her family, having known and lost their wealth – were simply not poor enough to warrant an opportunity that might have been better gifted elsewhere. If anything it made her work harder, and she was already a diligent student, bright-minded and with a very fine memory for detail. But she struggled to fit in, and that was before the news reached them about Damien back in America.
Suitably horrified, Lore was not actually surprised to hear he’d ended up on Death Row. He’d always been so intense, she didn’t have to try hard to imagine him capable.
Though it had been many years since Damien had passed through Oxford’s halls, it was the kind of old world institution where legacy had a sharp bite – and his was already a legacy she was living in the shadow of, for he’d left an indelible mark there as a future bright star. She did not bother explaining she was not Damien’s sister, knowing it would only make the title stick harder – and no one here seemed to remember her name anyway. Instead, she opted for foreign-exchange the moment the opportunity was offered, and completed her studies in the US, where no one knew who she was at all.
America
After graduation she interned for a year at Stella Moreau in New York, and fell in love with the city. Though her father offered financial support where he could, she mostly relied on herself, and lived in a tiny apartment she shared with three other girls. A far cry from the country estate of her childhood, where two entire families had been able to sprawl without invading the other’s privacy. Not that she ever mentioned it. Her friendship groups remained in academic circles rather than the socialite scene – she’d chosen Stella Moreau for their notable philanthropy and clean moral bill more than any interest in cosmetics. Not that she didn’t take advantage of the company perks. But she never seemed to be wearing the right brands at the right time, or the exact shade of the season’s exact favoured colours, no matter how hard she tried to wrap her head around that world. Despite a reputation for quiet and efficient work, she made no lasting impression.
More importantly to Lore, Stella Moreau employees were entitled to take a paid day a month where they were encouraged to give back to the community. She was astounded at the poverty she discovered beyond the Custody’s borders. Not that London didn’t have its own problems, of course – and she’d learned about the world-wide catastrophes of the 20s; had even felt their sting on her own life. But it was nothing like seeing the sad ruins that had been left behind elsewhere in the world. Here, disaster had ravaged the coast, New York City itself nearly sinking into the sea, and even more than a decade later the infrastructure struggled to recover.
When she sat in her box room that night, grateful to have a roof over her head at all, she began drafting the first version of a business plan that would soon become the making of her.
Business
Her start-up was called Second Chances, and focused on the homeless and displaced; networking employment opportunities and training, assisting job application and interview preparation, and providing a physical address for mail and government necessities. Lore plied every free moment she was not working into winning funding and attracting investors, including the Stella Moreau Charitable Foundation, who donated a sizable chunk in the year of its inception and helped give the venture wings. At its helm Lore was remarkably adept, but there were never enough hours in the day, and something eventually had to give.
When her internship came to its natural conclusion she was sad to close the chapter, but determined to use the opportunity to refortify her attentions on Second Chances – risk that it was then, with the venture still in its infancy. But the company continued to grow, and by the time she was 24 she was among those featured on the Forbes under 30 list for social impact. After its publication, the first flutterings of interest from large corporations surprised her, given the nature of the work, but Anastasia Vega numbered among them, and it gave Lore pause. The business was her very heart at the time, but she placed its needs above her own. The work here was a drop in the ocean, even in New York itself. And she would let go if it meant the help would reach more people: something she simply couldn’t do alone.
The flagship branch was self-sufficient by then. Lore had never been the face, preferring to enable local people the chance to step up for their own communities. Over the past few years she had employed good and talented people, and she knew it would continue to flourish without her. She still did her due diligence, that went without saying. But Jivana Industries had a stellar reputation, and Lore agreed to a period of consultancy to ensure a smooth transition. The brand and its ethos would be disseminated out into the Custody. Investment would be injected into the New York branch, with the option to franchise out. Second Chances really would fly high.
The sale propelled Lore into extreme wealth – Ana Vega was more than generous with what she offered. Ever the astute businesswoman, Lore began investing her new capital immediately, and has significantly increased both her net worth and portfolio over the past year. Typically she looks for opportunities that enable her to share knowledge with those who will use it wisely, investments that ease environmental impact, and ventures that support free education. Notable acquisitions include the American business Cyberpoint, which she flipped for an obscene amount of profit to the Custody company Paragon Group, noted for their support of war veterans. She retains shares, and will benefit from future projects which use Cyberpoint’s IP.
Mexico City
It was around this time that Damien's shadow loomed over her life once more, when news broke about the bombing of the American Embassy in Mexico. Close to a decade had passed, but she recognised him immediately, and began following the story with a morbid curiosity. It wasn't that she had ever forgotten Damien, but neither had she ever written or attempted to visit him at San Quentin. She was quite certain he would have had his own version of what happened back then; just as certain as she was that he could charm the birds from the trees and convince them to clip their own wings.
Her instincts urged her to steer well clear. But there was an element of guilt too. Not because she owed him anything, but because Second Chances had been about just that.
She considered herself at least somewhat worldly by now, having survived the cut-throat arena of New York City for so long, but Mexico was a shock to the system. Lore was organised and sensible with her travel preparations, but she had no concept of the danger into which she placed herself so willingly – and no concept of what a civil war might truly look like. Even safe to her destination, she found herself unsettled. In the foyer of Damien’s building, she was met by a dull-eyed man whose lofty tones declared himself a lord. Lore was not au fait enough with the gentry to say otherwise, but she couldn't see what he was doing in Mexico – and at the side of a convicted killer. It sent a shiver down her spine to consider what kind of allies Damien might have surrounded himself with. Yet it was too late to turn back.
Damien had weathered under hardship, but when she was granted his audience he was almost exactly as she remembered; which is to say his magnetism made her supremely uncomfortable. She had no real notion of what reception she would receive, or if they would be strangers now, but she told him she was sorry about Elissa. The meeting was private, and none know exactly what transpired between them, but within the month Lore had been sent – or exiled – north, where she has remained at the side of Jessika Thrice since.
ABOUT:
Lore appreciates order and understanding the world around her. She greatly admires figures like Nikolai Brandon, who have affected such great change, and is a great supporter of the Custody, which she believes to be the first steps towards peace and utopia. She feels a pull towards those who shape the world around them, but her admiration is usually formed from a distance. She’s naturally introverted, and can seem shy, but does not actually lack confidence; in fact she is usually direct and practical, and not someone afraid to speak her mind. But she is more comfortable away from the limelight, and she is certainly no great actress.
She’s not competitive in nature, but is certainly highly driven. Work is the main component of her life because she enjoys what she does. Tasks are completed quietly and efficiently, which sometimes leads to her being overlooked in favour of those more vocal about their talents. She is and has always been independent.
Everything about her mannerism and appearance is feminine, from porcelain skin to rosebud lips, but she’s not the sort to attract lots of attention, usually falling into the shadow of more gregarious women, where she is quite content to stay. She prefers actual conversation to small talk, and can be passionate when she feels a rapport (for person or topic). Public speaking is no issue for her – she excels at anything she may practise or plan for. She loves to be organised, and is an exceptional businesswoman, with a knack for making money – as attested by her self-made fortune.
In Jessika's circles she's primarily known as Damien’s sister, which she doesn’t correct despite the inaccuracy, or the way it marginalises her own accomplishments. She is loyal to Jessika, unaware of any corruption beneath her meteoric rise, and curious for the challenge of Moscow.
TALENTS:
She possesses the ability to channel, should she ever learn.
She often dreams in vivid detail, and sometimes lucidly. Occasionally she records these snippets in a diary, but she has no notion that they mean anything specific. Rather, she does it because it is the closest she ever feels to spirituality. Sometimes it fills her with the sense that there is something missing inside her for which she deeply longs, an answer she has chased for most of her life. In the minutes when she wakes, before the dream fades as any other, she sometimes feels like that answer has just slipped through her fingers.