Dr Soheili

All they ever wanted was to be in space. They're smarter than everyone they know and busted their ASS making themself indispensable at a young age. They've tied their self-worth to progress for so long that they can't let themself relax.

They just wish they could be more like their brother, though they do everything not to admit it. They are driven and blunt- they don' t have very many social skills (which Epoch does). They have a strict moral code which they stick to, and are a lot more optimistic and kind than the calloused personality they give off by accident.

Oh Brother

Soheili and Epoch are technically only half siblings. Epoch's parents got (amicably) divorced when he was still a baby, and Soheili was then born to the same father with his second wife. The three of the parents get along fairly well and really wanted their kids to have a good sibling experience. To maximize their time together, they decideded Epoch could be with his dad and sibling during the week, and with his mom on the weekends.

Soheili grew up idolizing Epoch. They wanted to do literally everything he was doing, all of the time. They mimicked him to the point of annoyance, followed him everywhere, and tried to join in on all of his activities. Epoch could have thought this was cute, at one point, but it didn't last long.

Especially when the family figured out that Soheili was a genius. They started skipping grades like crazy. When Epoch started 6th grade, his first year of middle school, 7 year old Soheili had caught up to him. They probably could have skipped up another grade, but the adults thought it would be great if they could be in the same class. It would be better for Soheili's social development if they could be with their brother. Unfortunately for Epoch, middle school is hard enough without kids making fun of you for having a 7 year old sibling that's smarter than you. Epoch started living with his mom during the weeks instead, and switched schools. Soheili was learning faster than the public school system was prepared for, so they got switched to a very fancy private school, where they thrived. They also got obsessed with everything to do with medicine and health, and started studying that nonstop.

When Soheili was around 12 years old, two major things happened- they realized they were nonbinary, and they graduated high school. Two years after that, Epoch graduated high school, and Soheili graduated from 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 with a pre-med degree as valedictorian. This was not great for their relationship- they and their parents were late to his graduation because the ceremony for theirs went wrong. They didn't completely miss it, but his dad not being there the whole time really (fairly) upset him. They tried to explain they didn't even care about giving their valedictorian speech and would have rather seen him walk, but that just felt like bragging to him. They were only 14- how could it not feel like bragging when they were so far ahead of him and 3 years younger?

Soheili didn't understand why Epoch was pulling away, and Epoch didn't understand how much they looked up to him. He didn't get why his supergenius little sibling would want to be like him- so he assumed they were showing off.

Best Doctor in the Galaxy

After they got their bachelor's, Soheili was told it wasn't smart to try and be a doctor immediately- they were very smart, and more than capable, but still- probably no one would hire a teenager in a hospital. So they started working on a couple PhDs. They were kind of famous at this point, so they had a lot of school options, but they chose to pick one a bit closer to home because they were only 14. It took them a few years, but eventually, at 19, they graduated with double PhDs- one in Sentient Species Biology (basically, alien medicine) and one in Biomedical Engineering (all kinds of prosethetics). Epoch had graduated college during this time, but he thought their enthusiasm for him was them making fun of him, so that wasn't great. They started working on their medical residency, so they could be a doctor.

They officially became a doctor at the age of 22- probably the youngest and most overqualified one ever. They had any choice of job that they wanted. They were practically a celebrity in some areas!

But despite the way they'd grown apart, Soheili still just wanted to be like Epoch. They knew he was going into the space military- he'd always wanted to follow in his mom's footsteps. They thought there would be no better way to impress him. So they applied for a space military doctor position as well.

Epoch was so excited to share with his family when he got the job as captain of his very own spaceship. He had a leadership position that he had worked for all on his own, and he finally felt like he was leaving the shadow of his sibling's accomplishments behind.

It came as quite a shock to him when he found out that Soheili had been assigned to be the doctor of that exact same ship.

Aesthetic