Tera Ito (LeBlanc)
She/her
When Tera was a child, the artificial intelligence known as the Mainframe sent microscopic technology to fuse with her body. She was born from an affair between her mother and her religious, politician father—one of the Supremes of Houston. Desperate to hide his infidelity, he sold Tera and her mother into a human trafficking ring. Tera grew up in a couple of households, physically and sexually abused.
In her preteen years (in the late 2190s), Renovatio found her. Knowing that Tera was the sister of Aru—an engineer they were trying to control—Renovatio placed Tera in a prison. There, she overheard a couple of others her age who were also imprisoned by Renovatio—Sterling and Will.
Soon, the three of them were rescued by the Antistasi to join the Sivylla—a group of other teenagers who the Mainframe fused with technology. During this time, the group discovered side effects of the technology: enhanced abilities. Tera discovered that her capability was related to her hearing. She could hear incredibly well over a distant radius. After the Mainframe events, she lived with Aru and Dix in Houston.
At the beginning of "Death's Mending Touch," Tera lived with Aru and Dix. She primarily spent her time recovering from her trauma, learning to swordfight, and reading. When the deceased Bian appeared around the world, the Antistasi called Tera and the other Sivylla together to address this. After reuniting with Bian, the group decided to work with the Antistasi part-time under a new team name: the Enforcers.
This section includes major spoilers about "Death's Mending Touch." Please read the book first, unless you want the ending spoiled.
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By the beginning of "When Truth Cowers," Tera became a legal guardian for her great-niece, Cai. She was still an Enforcer working with the Antistasi, although Cai didn't know much about Tera's job. Tera was also in a romantic relationship with Bian. When Cai applied for game shows, Tera wanted to give her extra protection, so she asked her friends to apply to the same game shows. This led to Nairobi joining Truth or Dare under the pseudonym Sevyn Evans to protect Cai.
Appearance
Tera was born a human. She was a white woman with brown eyes. Her recent ancestry was primarily Amalrican and French. At the beginning of "Death's Mending Touch," she had long, wavy, brown hair. She had a bright green Medusa tattoo on the right side of her stomach. She was 5'7" and lean with muscle. She wore hearing aids that Dix made for her—specially designed to keep out noise when she was overwhelmed. She liked wearing fashionable clothing that matched the color scheme Aru publicly wore—mahogany, maroon, gray, white.
As of the beginning of "When Truth Cowers," she had shorter wavy, brown hair. She was still lean, although older, as she was now in her 50s. She still wore her hearing aids and the same sort of color scheme.
Personality, Behavior, Et Cetera
By "Death's Mending Touch," Tera was more comfortable in her own skin. She still had plenty of trauma responses that impacted her health, but she was steadily feeling safer over time. She kept catching herself spying on the world around her, on alert for trouble. It took time for her to trust anyone, but when she did, she was open to communicating with them in her own way.
Tera didn't talk when she was growing up. It was one of her responses to the world being overwhelming. She was autistic and navigating trauma, so when she was overwhelmed, she often froze, unable to speak. After a while, she found it easier to typically communicate with others via writing, gestures, and expressions. She did eventually try speech therapy, but even then, she preferred not to talk very much.
She became quite comfortable with self-defense, martial arts, swordfighting, and even video games (especially with Sterling and Will). Since Aru and Dix are happy to keep taking care of her to make up for lost time, she's not yet sure if she wants to pursue a career. Eventually, she takes on a more active role in the Antistasi.
She's a lesbian.
By "When Truth Cowers," she stepped into her role as a protector for Cai. She's a patient guardian who tries to listen not only for what Cai says, but also what Cai withholds.
Relationships
Tera initially wasn't sure about trusting Sterling and Will, but considering they were locked in a much better environment than the households Tera came from, she opened up faster than she expected. With how talkative the two of them were, she felt like they weren't hiding anything dangerous about themselves. Being rescued by the Antistasi resulted in finding more people who cared about her, including Corelai, Aru, and Dix. She began looking up to them and hoping that she could continue being around safe people like them.
In "Death's Mending Touch," Tera lived with Aru and Dix. She trusted them completely at this point. She was also one of the youngest of the Sivylla, so she was considered almost like everyone's little sister. She loved how patient everyone was with talking with her and not leaving her opinions out of the conversation. She was still particularly attached to Sterling and Will.
Sometime after "Death's Mending Touch," Tera began a romantic relationship with Bian.
By "When Truth Cowers" Tera became Cai's legal guardian. Cai was Tera's great-niece. Tera was nervous that she would ruin Cai's childhood because she didn't know what a normal childhood was like. But Tera and Cai click well together, even without verbally communicating. Tera was still in a romantic relationship with Bian, although Cai didn't know that. Tera was happy to see Aru and Dix every so often. Tera tried her best to interact kindly with Cai's parents, Alexis and Kiran, although it seemed that their relationship was somewhat awkward due to Cai living with Tera.
Trivia
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Tera's birthday was May 2, 2183
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Some of Tera's personality was inspired by a quiet singer who opened up over time
