Violet Liu

Violet Liu is the Science Officer aboard the Iris II and previously held the same position aboard the Rumor and aboard The Starship Iris I. Before the explosion of the shuttle and the subsequent damage to the Iris I, Violet was a generally loyal member of the Intergalactic Republic, with only minor instances of rule-breaking such as listening to banned music. However, she did have the beginnings of doubts about the IGR due to her experiences as a paramedic.

Violet has an anxiety disorder, and generally is uncertain in unfamiliar situations, but finds it easier to set aside her own panic when she needs to help others. She is kind, helpful, intelligent, and curious, and desires to keep other people safe. Violet is Chinese-American.

Early Life
Violet was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Earth, on March 11, 2163. She did her undergraduate degree in biology at Harmony college, from which she graduated in 2185, and earned her master's degree at Everton in 2189. Her first year at Harmony, 2181, was during what Brian Jeeter calls the Purge, where many faculty members were arrested. While at Harmony, she met Other Violet Liu, who was two years ahead of her in school and also studying biology. At some point, Violet worked as a paramedic at Checkpoint O-11. She says this was after college, but it is uncertain whether this was after her undergraduate degree or after her master's.

Additionally, at some point during the Human-Dwarnian War and during one of her courses of study, Violet student-interned at a lab working to improve experimental PTSD treatments. After being promoted to a position over a team of six other interns, Violet was forced to transfer to another internship after a member of the team starting hinting that he was going to accuse her of Chinese separatism after sabotage on a nearby station.

In 2191, Violet was assigned to the Iris I due to a mix-up between her and Other Violet. On approximately June 2nd, 2191, the shuttle of the Iris I exploded while returning from a scouting mission. Violet was the only survivor. She was then contacted by Arkady Patel under the alias Kay Grisham, who pretended to be an old classmate's of Violet's in order to get Violet to change the Iris I's course to intercept the Rumor. After talking for a while, Violet realizes that "Kay" is not who she says she is, but Arkady still convinces her to reprogram the ship to meet up with the Rumor because it is her only chance for survival.

Aboard the Rumor
Violet is initially distrustful of the rest of the Rumor crew. As her first experience with them had been Arkady lying to her and she then finds out they're smugglers, she doesn't want to have anything to do with them. She quickly becomes friendly with Brian, due to their shared interest in science, and she helps figure out the key to Alvy Connors's message. Then Brian accuses her of being a spy due to the content of Alvy's message, but Sana Tripathi and Arkady are able to talk him down.

Upon meeting Krejjh, Violet is initially very scared because she assumes all Dwarnians want to kill all humans. However, the crew immediately encounters the wild VCN nanocloud and everyone's attention is drawn to that. While Violet is generally still wary of Krejjh for a time, she becomes close friends and "science buddies" with Brian, and is made to feel part of the crew when Sana makes her a jacket. She also becomes close with Arkady, and the two develop romantic feelings. After the crew escapes New Jupiter, Violet confesses her feelings and asks Arkady if she'd like to date. They return to the rest of the crew holding hands.

Because the crew had no doctor before her arrival and she used to work as a paramedic, Violet takes on the role of a medic for the Rumor.