View source for Nora "Spence" Spencer

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Eldest of 5 daughters. Her father and youngest toddler sister were killed in an accident when a neighbor's barn roof caved in when she was 10. Her mother was critically injured as well, but survived. This was around the time she started asking to be addressed by her surname (leading to the nickname of "Spence") rather than "Nora" anymore as she felt it had more authority. Spence took on the role of the "patriarch". She kept the family ranch running, helped raise her three sisters, and nursed her mother back to physical health, but it would be several years before her mother was mentally and emotionally back to being even close to her old self. For much of this time, Spence's mother was in a deep depressive state, unknowingly leaving her young children to fend for themselves.

When her younger sisters were able to take on more responsibilities and her mother was coming back into the fold, Spencer took on a job at a veterinary clinic, partially to have a place away from home for part of the day and to bring in a little extra money. At the urging of her eldest sister who understood the gravity of her childhood sacrifices, she enlisted in the army at 18 in hopes she could live life a little more independently even if it meant serving her country abroad. She worked her way up to Specialist and became a mechanic. Machines, to her, took the same amount of love and care as tending to animals, but was glad they left far shallower scars when they broke down. She has a tendency to address machines, sometimes by name, as they "speak to her" and have personalities of their own.

The "you're on your own" speech was a traumatic flashback to feeling abandoned by her mother after the accident, and she feels she's barely keeping things together because of this. Having had to be the caretaker for most of her life, she feels awkward when others try to take care of her, but being the youngest and most inexperienced in her team has helped in developing trust in others.