Lorena Marquez

**Secondary:**
Sha'lain'a Residence
Shayeris, Atlantis

## Background

### 2000 - 2007: Lorena Marquez

Born & raised in National City, Lorena was born to David & Gloria Marquez. As a part of the middle class, Lorena went to a nice school, had good clothes & was able to participate in some extracurricular activities. They were a normal family, nothing out of the ordinary with them. But that's exactly what attracted the scientist Dr. Anton Geist to her.

In the middle of night, Lorena was awaken by a loud noises & came downstairs to see her father trying to fight off a bunch of men. As she screamed & cried, the men changed their focus on to her. She ran upstairs to get away & hid under her bed until the commotion stopped. When it became dead silent, she ran back downstairs thinking she would see her parents but all she saw was their lifeless bodies with the men standing over them. Lorena wouldn't remember another thing as one of them knocked her out & carried her on his shoulder at the house.

### 2007 - 2012: Lorena Marquez

Under the orders of Dr. Anton Geist at Cadmus Labs, Lorena was injected with DNA from Aquaman along with the other teens that Geist had kidnapped across the country. He felt that he was doing in the name of science as there was an upcoming global warming epidemic that the world was not prepared for. After injecting her & the other subjects with Aquaman's DNA, their respiratory, auditory, ocular & muscular systems changed to a more marine-based model. But that didn't last for long as the test subjects began dying off due to their bodies' inability to merge with Aquaman's DNA. Lorena ended being the last one & was only alive due to a meta-gene already existing in her.

Before Geist could kidnap more unwilling subjects, The Light raided Cadmus as a means to get all their assets out. Shortly after, Green Arrow& Red Arrow did a sweep of all 52 levels but still couldn't find Roy. Luckily for Geist, he was able to make it out in time with Lorena & some of his colleagues.

For the next four years, Geist continued his research & discovered the reason for Lorena's survival was because of dormant meta-gene in her DNA. To further his research, he kidnapped enhanced individuals to test this theory. For the next five years, Lorena was trained in her new powers alongside the other teenagers. He even tried to help her develop new ones by putting her through survival simulations & forcing fights between the captives. Geist was eventually stopped by Aquaman himself after the authorities discovered his location.

Now orphans who would likely suffer from water deprivation if they remained on land, Aquaman opened up Atlantis to be their new home. With the help of his wife, Aquaman was able to set up the remaining children in the homes of Atlantean citizens. Lorena was placed in the home of his two good friend Sha'lain'a in the the city of Shayeris.

## Powers & Abilities

* **Unique Physiology**: After being kidnapped by Doctor Anton Geist, Lorena's DNA was fused with that of Aquaman, granting her a highly efficient biology.
	+ ***Amphibian Nature***: She has the ability to breathe underwater. Lorena has gills, which enables her to extract oxygen from water, while simultaneously eschewing carbon dioxide.
	+ ***Enhanced Senses***: As a denizen of the sea, Lorena is adapted to have enhanced senses that allow her to see & hear things underwater better than regular humans would be able to do.
	+ ***Enhanced Strength*:** Due to her underwater training, as well as her toughened muscles, her strength has been enhanced beyond human means.
	+ ***Enhanced Speed***
	+ ***Enhanced Durability*:** She also possesses enhanced density & muscle mass, allowing her to survive at ocean depths that would prove unsafe for normal humans.
* **Hand to Hand Combat:** She was trained by Aquaman in basic combat as well as being tutored on the go.
* **Investigation:** Lorena has a keen deductive mind, a quality that earned her the respect of Aquaman.
* **Multilingualism:** She speaks fluent English & Spanish.
* **Swimming:** She has been able to swim in underwater combat & keep up with the likes of the average Atlantean.

### Ratings

* **Intelligence:** 3 - Average / Basic
* **Strength:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Speed:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Occult:** 3 - Average / Basic
* **Weapons:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Range:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Strategy:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Combat:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **TOTAL:** 76 - Threat Level 2 / Low Threat

## Trivia

* The police declared Lorena missing following the incident at her house & it became a cold case after some years as there were no leads until she was rescued by Aquaman.
* Tula & Lorena came to look each other as surrogate sisters. She was ecstatic when Tula invited her to move into the Curry Lighthouse with her.
* Lorena first stayed with Sha'lain'a (Kaldur's mother), with the her becoming Lorena's guardian as mandated by Orin. Orin thought it would be a good fit as Sha'lain'a had experience with the surface world. This also led to her becoming a little sister to Kaldur.
* She is good friends with Static, Blue Scarab, Vaporlock & Sapphire. She does not get along with Bombshell.