Isabella Valentine, better known around the Institute by her preferred
nickname of "Ivy", is another of our success stories. A former patient and
resident in the Open Ward she was declared rehabilitated and released at the
same time that I began looking for an Executive Assistant.
The position requires someone with both administrative and physical skill
since my position often requires testing new products that our outside vendors
have produced. So I needed an assistant who could both assist with the
practical application of these devices and conduct business on my behalf
while I am temporarily incapacitated.
Ivy has demonstrated that she can perform both duties with expertise and
assurance and has proven the ideal Executive Asistant. Or as I affectionately
call her, my Executrix Assistant.
While I don't dwell on it I also don't deny the fact that she was once a
patient here and desperaely needed our help. So let's turn the clock back
briefly to Ivy's days as a patient when she resided in the Open Ward.
In those early days Ivy was a prime example of how parents can botch
bringing up their children badly enough to warp their offspring's entire life.
It's been suggested people shouldn't be allowed to have children without
studying for a license and in this case it can be fairly said that all of
Ivy's problems stemmed from her upbringing. Her late foster father's
obsession with a mystical weapon and its alchemical properties grew into
dementia and ruined not only his life but also those of his wife and daughter.
Following the death of her parents and the shock of her mother's deathbed
confession that she wasn't their biological child the young Ivy decided that
she could restore the tarnished family name by seeking out and destroying the
artifact that had obsessed her father. While sounding vaguely reasonable on
the surface it wasn't too long before she was as obsessed with the mythical
"Soul Edge" as her father had been. This may not have been entirely due to
her foster father's influence, it could be partially hereditary as her
biological father was also noted displaying dementia along with other medical
anomalies.
As is unfortunately all too common in these vengeance seeking cases Ivy
began studying a school of martial arts which translates roughly as "Fighting
Dominatrix Style" but decided to use a weapon rather than using the more
common Spiritual energy (aka Ki) based attacks. Sadly her weapon's unusual
properties accelerated her mental decline and it was her subsequent behaviour
resulting from this that alerted us to a woman desperately needing our aid.
She was involuntarily committed and spent several years in the Open Ward
receiving therapy until she was pronounced able to re-enter society. Shortly
before her release she was given aptitude tests to help her choose new goals
to pursue and by a peculiar coincidence these showed her to have excellent
potential to assist me. So we offered her an interview, she accepted and was
the best of the candidates so I hired her and she recently completed her
probationary period and officially became my assistant. I've quickly come to
find her indispensible and it's already hard to imagine what I'd do without
her.
One final note; since there were some concerns expressed that returning
her old weapon could have side effects as it did have a negative influence on
her for so many years it remains secured in the Vault and will only be released
for her to use in the event of the most dire emergency requiring us to
maximize our defensive capabilities. Fortunately Ivy doesn't miss it at all.
She has often said that why should she when she gets to play with much better
toys these days.