camilla sciarra's pediatric appointments were infrequent, but at age 4, the nurse looking at her tonsils discovered exactly what made cam different. everyone has their little variations from the standard template of humanity, of course; some people have second toes longer than their big toes & some people can digest plastic. camilla sciarra, age 4, breathed out & it smelled like a sharpie. the nurse added cam's trait to her medical record: her lungs converts oxygen not into carbon dioxide but into evaporated isopropyl. every exhale creates a cloud of rubbing alcohol.

with a source of ignition, cam made air kisses into blowtorches. her ability was what saved her when she was attacked by a wanted criminal, & what earned her recognition from the heroes who later imprisoned that criminal. at just 19 years old, cam was recruited by the east coast branch of the savior's fist, an organization dedicated to fighting crime.

half a year later, cam is deeply uncomfortable. her mentor, code name silverfish, trains her in the way of the savior's fist: enforce the law, bring criminals to face justice, & move on. the cruelty of this process is not lost on cam, nor the unfairness. when cam confronts her, silverfish says, "we are not a part of the government, but we rule this nation as surely as the president. they make the laws in writing, & we bring those laws to life." cam asks, "what about when the laws are wrong?" silverfish says, "that's not for us to decide. we do our duty, & nothing more."

cam is planning to leave when when a girl named elise finds her, demanding to join the heroes she has admired all her life. elise is twelve years old, with fingers like a chameleon which let her climb walls & pick pockets easily. she is homeless, angry, & desperate to be worth something. cam looks at elise & sees herself. she does not want another young person chewed up & spit out by this machine. a split-second decision, & cam runs: she takes elise with her &, with cash, buys a house in a random suburb far away. she tries to keep elise safe, which is difficult when she's protecting elise from elise's own self-destructive impulses, the savior's fist members pursuing cam, & from cam herself.

she tries, though. cam is determined that history will not repeat itself with elise.