Rachel Young

**Rachel Young** is the Director of Special Projects at Goddard Futuristics. She works closely with Mr. Cutter, notably on matters relating to the Hephaestus mission, including recruitment of the crew members. She made her first vocal appearance on the show in the mini-episode "Meanwhile."

## Biography

### Pre-series

Little is known about Rachel's life before she joined Goddard Futuristics. In "Volte Face," it is revealed that her real name is not Rachel Young, and that she had been through several aliases (including Andrea Nash) before joining up. The episode also gives a speculative summary of her life through Mr Cutter's analysis: *"Andrea Nash isn't your name. In fact, it isn't even your third name. Yes, of course I knew, a chameleon can always spot when someone is trying to hide in plain sight..."*

Cutter proceeds to correctly guess that Rachel came from "just enough money" to put herself through education, but not enough to be given special opportunities. Alongside her education, she engaged in illicit activities through the dark web, bringing in decent money until one time cut it too close. At this point she joined Intelligence, and worked there until, as Rachel noted, there was a fire which resulted in casualties and a new "life is short" outlook. It is not specified whether Rachel's next move was to enter journalism, but considering that she was attributed to at least a few aliases, it is likely she pursued some other "exciting" pathway before becoming Andrea Nash, investigative journalist and apparent scourge of business executives across the nation, possibly the world.

At the time of "Volte Face," Nash is a prominent figure in the business and journalism spheres, enough to warrant pre-emptive measures on the part of Goddard Futuristics to keep her from making her interview with Mr. Cutter, all of which she outwitted. Her time onboard Cutter's aircraft proves that in addition to having a good head for business and human psychology, she has prominent coding skills that extended at least in part to hardware engineering.

At the end of the special episode, after unknowingly narrowly avoiding an encounter with a behavioral restraining bolt, Nash is offered a position within Goddard Futuristics, for which she changes her name to Rachel Young.

### Goddard Futuristics

Rachel began to progress through the ranks at Goddard, and was involved in staff screening and selections for both Lovelace and Minkowski's missions on the U.S.S. Hephaestus. By December 26, 2014, Rachel has been promoted to Director of Special Projects at Goddard, working alongside or possibly ahead of David Clarke and Saul. Cutter mentions that she is working on something to do with psi-wave radiation in the "Sigma" sector.

Rachel also oversees the research on Wolf 359's anomalous behavior after the red dwarf star suddenly turns blue on Hephaestus mission day 666. Following a further contact event on Hephaestus mission day 1083, Rachel accompanies Mr. Cutter and Dr. Miranda Pryce as they join the Hephaestus mission personally.

### The Hephaestus mission

Rachel Young arrives on the U.S.S. Hephaestus on mission day 1202. She aids Dr. Pryce and Mr. Cutter in retaking control of the station after Minkowski's coup overthrew Kepler's command.

After disposing of Bob's body through an airlock, Rachel notices that the power to the pulse beacon relay is only at 50% capacity, which she points out to Kepler. Instead of seeming shocked as she expected, Kepler calmly explains that he was the one who diverted the power, that it was being diverted to Hera, and that in doing so he had knowingly betrayed Cutter and Pryce. He proceeded to shoot Rachel twice, presumably in the chest, as she had time to then vent him out of the same airlock Bob had been disposed of in. With her dying breath, Rachel tries to prove her superiority to him one last time, but doesn't manage to finish the thought.

## Personality

Rachel is depicted as highly intelligent and dangerously cunning. She manages Special Projects with an iron will. An air of superiority came along with her competency, and she was able to keep up mock familiarity even with her superiors (with the exception of Dr. Pryce).

## Relationships

### Marcus Cutter

Mr Cutter is Rachel's boss, but he also seems to trust her to a higher degree than most of his employees. She is one of only a few who routinely stand up to him with minimal fear of punishment. In "Terms and Conditions", he admits that he values her insight, particularly the way she catches things he would miss while still thinking along his lines. He trusts her enough to include her in his inner circle, though she is still definitely his subordinate and is treated as such.

### Miranda Pryce

Rachel's direct interactions with Dr Pryce are minimal, possibly a result of the combination of Pryce's secrecy and Rachel's own fear of her. With Pryce, Rachel exhibits none of her regular faux-sweetness or familiarity; as seen in "Idle Hands," she limits herself to primarily yes- and no-sirs and the occasional hesitant question. That said, it is clear Rachel respects Pryce.