Carbon

## Overview

Carbon is a diligent, caring woman, focused on properly raising her teenage daughter Steel; however, her abandonment by Steel's birth mother Iron shortly after Steel's birth has left her with deep (if well-concealed) emotional scars, leaving her unable to hold down a long-term relationship. Her natural charm has attracted various women to her, leaving her with a constant flux of semi-serious lovers rather than any single stable relationship.

On the outside she is a pale, black-haired woman of average height and slender build, with grey eyes. She normally appears to be worn around the edges or even dirty, usually wearing work clothes, as she puts little thought into her typical appearance. Despite this, on the rare occasion, and with the right pressure, she can be incredibly beautiful, even comparable to the likes of Gold or Platinum. Physically, she is thirty-five years old.

## Relationships

* **Steel:** Steel is Carbon's daughter by Iron, who Carbon has raised officially by herself since Iron's disappearance from their life. Much of Carbon's life is focused around providing for Steel, despite Steel's insistence that she's fine for herself. This and other traits make Carbon see the best of Iron in their daughter, which may play a part in her difficulties letting go. She has encouraged the role that most of her various lovers have played in Steel's development, but worries about whether she's given Steel enough support herself.
* **Iron:** Iron and Carbon were in a passionate relationship for the bulk of their teens, which culminated in Iron becoming pregnant with Steel. Soon after Steel was born, Iron slowly began to feel pressured by everything in their relationship, and eventually broke down, leaving Steel in Carbon's care and disappearing. Carbon holds mixed feelings for Iron; on one hand, still caring for the mother of her daughter and first love, and on the other hand resenting Iron's abandonment.
* **Tungsten:** One of Carbon's longest-term lovers after Iron, Tungsten and Carbon were involved for almost two years while Tungsten was on medical leave from her military responsibilities. While the two briefly entertained notions of a more permanent relationship, Tungsten's return to duty saw the two breaking up amicably, remaining friends but ending thoughts of romance.
* **Titanium:** Titanium was originally introduced to Carbon as a babysitter for a young Steel, and became a good friend of the family over time. In Titanium's later teen years, she developed an attraction toward Carbon, which Carbon deliberately ignored at first. After a chance meeting with Iron threw off Carbon's emotional state, she ended up sleeping with a willing Titanium for comfort; memories of the night were such that both agree to never speak of it again, especially around Steel, and while the two remain friends there is a layer of awkwardness between them.
* **Nickel:**The youngest of Carbon's regular lovers, Nickel and Carbon have a simple friends-with-benefits relationship, in part due to the age gap making it such that neither really considers the possibility of anything serious from the other. It is through Carbon that Nickel meets Chromium, and while Carbon is supportive of their growing relationship she also envies them for their closeness.
* **Chromium:**Another of Carbon's lovers, and one of the ones who is closest to Steel. Chromium tries to act as moral support for Carbon first and foremost, with the physical side of their relationship just being a secondary aspect. Overlapping (un)plans in Carbon's bed lead to her developing feelings for Nickel, which Carbon quietly encourages.
* **Zinc:** Zinc's friendship with and protectiveness of Iron cause a complicated relationship with Carbon. While Zinc tries to be supportive of Carbon, Carbon largely sees this as her attempting to act in Iron's stead and cover her friend's mistakes, leading to some resentment of Zinc's attempts to get closer to Steel. While there is mutual attraction between the two, they refuse to act on it due to thoughts of Iron.
* **Silicon:** Carbon's elder sister. Close as children, the two briefly engaged in a physical relationship in their early teens, but were separated once discovered. After the confusion of puberty passed and both women had grown into adulthood, they reunited simply as family, their short-lived dalliance believed best forgotten by both. Silicon remains close to both Carbon and her daughter Steel, and tries to encourage her sister to move past Iron with mixed success.
* **Molybdenum:** One of Carbon's lovers, the two were in an open relationship for some time before Molybdenum's daughter Technetium was injured and required extensive, experimental surgery, taking Molybdenum's attention away from Carbon. As Molybdenum would develop feelings for Uranium, one of the team involved in Technetium's treatment, Carbon encouraged her to pursue that relationship over their former arrangement. Despite the end of the affair, the two remain friends.