Engineering Department Head

Head of the Council's Engineering Department, and thus responsible for keeping all the computer systems running across all Council worldwide sites. The Countess Fenella of Bergen came from an aristocratic Germanic family that dabbled in low-level, yet highly lucrative criminality. The Countess saw from a young age what money could do and buy, but also its limits. Having servants to do everything for her, the Countess grew increasingly restless as she grew older. Flying through school with top marks, she entered a prestigious German university under a false name, where she studied computer science, bioengineering, chemistry, and, in particular, AI development. She even completed a doctorate on the theoretical merging of biological material and silicon to create a system that would be astronomically faster than current machines. After years of studying, she set to work trying to find a legal job, despite her parents' desire for her to continue the family “business”. Unfortunately, her time spent looking for work came to nothing - she was either regarded as “too overqualified” or her heritage scared people off. Eventually, much to her parents' delight, she ended up working for her parents. The Countess quickly discovered a whole raft of inefficiencies and problems - the least of which was their computer systems. Initially, dismissive of the recommendations The Countess presented to them, her parents' views quickly changed when The Countess implemented her recommendations anyway. Soon, her parents were running a far more efficient and effective “business”, which in turn caught The Council's eye. Being a fairly new organisation at the time, Abigail couldn't expend resources investigating further, and so The Council moved on to other priorities. After a few years, the Countess gets bored again and sets out to challenge herself: the complete overthrow of a corrupt African country. She makes her choice of country not for any humanitarian or ethical concern, but for the challenge it would bring. Coincidentally, Abigail was also in the country, looking to expand The Council's presence. Initially, everything went well for the Countess; however, one thing that she didn't realise was that who you try and blackmail may not be whi you think they are. Betrayed, beaten, harshly interrogated and then thrown into prison, the Countess was due to be executed the following day. Abigail hears of the Countess and her supposed fate during a conversation with the Countess’s former blackmailer. Abigail quickly realises the potential a rescued Countess could be - a possible new recruit at best or perhaps some control over the Bergen family at worst. Abigail quickly creates a plan to not only rescue the Countess, but to frame the former blackmailed person for it as well, enabling Abigail to get a much stronger foothold in the country to boot. However, the rescue mission didn't quite go as planned, and it took a lot of fighting between a badly injured Countess and Abigail's poisoned needles and her hand-to-hand combat skills before they were free from the prison complex and flying back to the US. Abigail asks the Countess why she was trying to do, to which she replies that she wanted to take over a country as she was bored. Abigail states that she can give the Countess all the excitement she could ever want by using her skills to create a new semi-organic computer system for The Council - worldwide. Abigail explains what the Council is for, and whilst the Countess is sceptical that Abigail can achieve it, she is on board with designing a new computer system. The Countess is also more than willing to be proven wrong. Abigail states that she’ll have almost unlimited money but a small team at the moment, and she’ll have to visit all Council places to install everything, which could mean trouble from the Council’s opponents, the Phoenix Custodians. However, the Countess doesn't mind - she’s up for a challenge, although she doesn't intend to stay beyond the time it takes to get everything working. Abigail laughs and says she hears that a lot, but no one has ever left by then. 15 or so years later, the Countess is still working for The Council, putting up with Abigail's flirting but enjoying every moment of her time at the organisation. The Countess is the engineer's real name. She uses Giovannetta Sposenfiaten after Abigail and herself set an elaborate, yet failed, trap.