Cynthia Barris (BG)

"I know Henry would frown at the thought, but I couldn't help recalling the pomp around your appointment to the Hastings. You were the second in command weren't you? The military always did ceremony very well. God, that was a lifetime ago."

- - Cynthia Barris in a letter to David Anderson

Early Life
Born November 5th, 2137 in London as the second child to Penelope and Carl Ericksen, owners of a popular seafood restaurant in central London.

She met David Anderson when they both were freshmen at Oxford University. The meeting happend in the University cafeteria que when Cynthia failed to being able to pay for her lunch, due to forgetting her wallet in her dorm room, and David, who was standing behind her in the que offered to pay for her lunch. Cynthia later used that as an excuse to ask him out to dinner as a way "to make it up to him" and they quickly began a romantic relationship.

Marriage and First Contact War
Cynthia and David married before David went to attend his N7 training in the summer of 2156 and they spent a few weeks together in Rio de Janeiro where the training took place before Cynthia had to fly back to England to attend her second year. She had changed her major from economics to psychology, working on her bachelors, and was planning on eventually getting a doctorate.

The newlyweds had bought themselves a small two bedroom apartment in West End district and talked about having children after David finished his N7 training and Cynthia's graduation.

But fate wanted differently when the events of the First Contact War unfolded and David was forced into battle.

Mere days after an extravagant ceremony for the first graduates of the newly established N7 program, a day Cynthia would remember for the rest of her life as it was presented by none other then Jon Grissom himself, her husband was yet again whisked away. This time to fight a whole new species, turians. It was a few very long and scary months until it finally was resolved.

She focused on her studies which she'd begun to fail due to stress and inner worry. At the end of the war she was elevated to the wife of a war hero.

It only meant her husband had gotten promoted and would now be spending even lesser time on earth with her, now a Captain of his own ship and crew, and a lot of plans where put on hold. The most difficult was waiting on starting a family together and Cynthia put herself wholeheartedly in her studies. They kept in contact via email and videocomms. But it wouldn't be enough and after eight years of marriage the couple finalized their divorce in 2165. It was bittersweet but they parted as friends after being separated for nearly a year.

Later Life
She was working as a psychologist at one of the larger hospitals in London. She met briefly with her former psychology professor, Henry Barris, during a conference. He was a few years her senior and had back then been a new addition to the University staff. He had invited her out for coffee afterwards. There had been acknowledgement of a mutual attraction but both decided to remain friends as Cynthia's divorce was yet to be finalized.

They met again in 2166 when Henry called her up and asked her out. They married in early 2167 and moved to Atlanta for a fresh new start when both Henry and Cynthia found new career opportunities. Their son Jason was born nine months later.

Jason grew up a huge fan of Cynthia's ex-husband and would become an aerospace engineer in 2185 and a job working for the alliance. He served in the Reaper War of the following year.

Trivia

 * Is of African, Irish and Scandinavian descent
 * Speaks with an English accent unlike her ex husband