Throwing out ideas. It is interesting coming up with origins for things. You don't really need a solidly defined age since things are potentially different for each character. I was merely presenting options outside the box of human years. You can come up with entire logical or illogical methods based on culture or physical phenomena. A species could even not be space faring, and simply have been picked up by others and yet to have a concept of time other than being. Or have a religious view that transcends time making it irrelevant.
@Juicy It is a WIP, but so far I've learned nothing lol.
On a slightly different note, civilization tends to quantify things such as age and time. And that does not necessarily need to be by a planet's cycle. There is bound to be a method by which an "age" can be derived. For instance you mentioned that Zor is female on a leap year. While not a well defined time frame that would be something rather specific to the species biological clock and could be used to define something like age. While not in something like Earth years, it would be a way to define how long an individual has been alive. Not that there needs to be per se. Some cultures you simply exist. But I would think that one that is space faring has to have a solid understanding of mathematics and the passage of time in order to travel anywhere.
It's also likely that the space community at large has developed a more universal method of telling time. Since each culture would probably be using many methods that are difficult to convert between one another. Such collaboration would be of benefit to trade, negotiation, and many other interactions.
A tough but light armor originally designed for survival in hazardous environments and easy transition into pressurized and unpressurized areas. What it lacks in raw stopping power it makes up for in, speed, agility, and versatility. Due to Harriet's unique biological requirements the suit has been heavily modified and only partially resembles its original design. Providing her with artificial sunlight, CO2, and water she could effectively live inside the suit indefinitely so long as power and supplies last. The hermetic seal can be broken to allow gasses to move in and out of the suit while still providing adequate filtration in hostile atmospheric and chemical conditions. This can save on supplies and allow easier respiration.
Name: Harriet Matthias
Species: Phyto Sapiens (formerly Homo Sapiens)
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Height: 162cm
Weight: 72kg
Personality: Harriet is an ambitious woman. No matter what obstacle gets in her way she will do her best to push through. She also is somewhat impulsive, which is what lead her to join on the GAHL scene despite her parent's objection. Probably making things worse she can also be playful which gets her into trouble. This has only been further enhanced by her newfound freedom in nature. Much to most relief she is not an environmental nut, despite now being her own house plant.
History:
System CL-3078 (later named Flora) holds one life bearing planet, Flora e. Discovered one decade ago it sports the unique trait that every life form present falls under the broad term of vegetation. Even the creatures that are not rooted to the ground appear to be plantlife. After remote study with probes and drones for several years a team of scientists went down to the surface to set up a lab and perform experiments. Harriet was the newbie of a team hired through the GAHL to keep them safe from any danger. The pay was good, especially since everything on Flora e appeared docile. The job however was set to be long term, three years.
While not a scientist herself, Harriet certainly learned a whole lot about the things that lived here from the scientists who never seemed to stop talking. All life on this planet seemed to be closely related with foreign DNA being present. Organisms exhibited high levels of regenerative and adaptive capabilities, changing to adapt to environment and stimuli. There was evidence to suggest that at some point other species existed but were suddenly wiped out. Despite what was known there were far more questions than answers. A year and four months later a drastic change occurred when everything began to flower. While exceedingly beautiful the peaceful environment became extremely hostile. A majority of the team was caught out in the field and were lost, likely killed. The temporary facility wasn't that safe either with many creatures contained inside and horrifically large ones rampaging outside. However the monsters seemed only to be interested in exterminating the invading humans, completely ignoring each other.
Harriet managed to ride out the carnage until the creatures returned to being peaceful. Things had changed though, visibility was severely obscured by a yellow haze that the woman presumed to be pollen. Breathing it was unavoidable with almost all the equipment either missing or destroyed. It was then that she learned just what happened to the other species on the planet and why everything was so closely related. While no scientist Harriet could see that whatever was in the air was mutating her. Spores released by a parasitic species had already changed everything else into plant hybrids and now the same process was happening to Harriet. Her DNA being mingled with the parasite she was changed from the inside out to be like every other creature on the planet. Becoming docile like all the other creatures around her she didn't really have the chance to panic.
For several months the newly transformed woman simply existed and moved about on autopilot without any conscious thought. Eventually though her mind returned to her and she began to work on getting off the planet. Alone it took her nearly two years to gather leftover parts and repair the spacecraft to escape. Returning to GAHL she narrowly avoided becoming a lab experiment thanks to agreements with the organization when she signed onto the job. That didn't mean she was out of the woods yet. While she instinctively could take care of herself there was still a lot about her new physiology she didn't understand and that others would need to get past. And somehow she had to convince someone in the GAHL to take her aboard after being altered by an unknown alien species and with relatively little experience.
Weapons/Supplies: Tolian Harmonic Blade - A piece of equipment that Harriet picked up on the Flora e job. Hewn from an energetic crystal the blade's micro vibrations cut through organic material easily. While not as strong as an energy blade it works passively with little maintenance and no need for a power source.
MT3 Plasma Pistol - A single small plasma pistol that accompanies the bio suit. While not packing a whole lot of punch it does like to burn through things fairly quickly. Doubling as a cutting and welding tool Harriet took to it quickly after having been stuck on that planet for two years.
M-801 Charger (Photon Lance) - Having seen her previous team being overpowered and under supplied, Harriet used what little funds to purchase a M-801 upon her return. A common mining laser capable of burning through stone and softer metals with relative ease. It however was bulky and requires a heavy power source. Gutting the tool and dialing down the strength, Harriet fitted the components in a more manageable medium rifle chassis themed after her own appearance.
The photon lance has two firing modes. The first is short blasts more akin to your standard laser rifle. The second is a 3 cm diameter beam that can be sustained for seven seconds. It takes ten seconds to build a charge before it can fire the beam and a fifteen second cooldown afterward to fire again. Safety can be turned off to fire longer or more often but it is ill advised.
Misc: Her hair and skin have been replaced with soft leaves that cover her body. She actually has a mix of endo/exo skeletal structure with tough fibers woven together just under her skin as well as her bones being wound and formed the same way. Acting like an evergreen she does not yellow during a planet's fall or winter cycle. Most of the time she has a refreshing and slightly sweet smelling scent which can improve the mood, especially when stuck on a ship where greenery is usually sparse and mostly aesthetic.
The same parasite that adapted Harriet to be its host also adapts her for her environment. Her body will react to temperature in order to keep her stable, harden to resist impact and injury, soften to allow her easier movement and fitting into smaller spaces, grow thorns for defense or attack, partially allow reshaping of limbs, counteract several poisons and toxins, and even slow regenerative abilities capable of regrowing entire limbs. All that said she does have limitations and doing too much can leave her weak and require time to recover.
Even though she can survive for months on water and sunlight alone she can still eat as another measure to get energy. Unfortunately her new physiology makes it much more difficult to utilize most modern power armor for protection. It is just too restrictive and not at all designed to allow full body respiration of a photosynthetic species.
Safe Haven Not the most interesting place in the world thus far. But beggars can't be choosers. It was far better than being locked up. Everyone else moved in a particular direction. Seeming a reasonable option she followed to see where they were all headed. Coming to the end of the hall she entered a room. Someone must have alerted them to her coming because they were already staring when she entered. Eyes darting from one to the next she studied each.
While she observed many things about them, most of them didn't seem all that important to her. There was young child, Willard, who seemed to be just a bit nervous. There was little telling why at this point. Perhaps he came from the Orphanage as well, she saw many children being moved out. Perhaps the striking green eyes was the most noticeable feature aside from his age.
Her eyes rolled over to the spirit. What was he anyway? Aside from obvious differences in appearance he didn't give off the same signals other people did. Admittedly she knew very little about mystical beings and the like. Somehow this didn't really bother her so much in its own right. So long as he wasn't out to harm her who or what he was didn't matter. If anything it made her more curious. So what if he looked dead and didn't have eyes.
This of course brought her to the one person in the room that she actually recognized. "You made it out." Stopping she tried to remember the name. It didn't come right away and she walked closer to the three of them. Reaching down she lightly ruffled Willard's hair despite not having introduced herself. At the very least though her mood was pleasant, if not a little weak. Drumming a finger against her cheek she glanced at Jinx again. "I remember seeing you. They put you in a pod. I don't remember what they called you though. That was a long time ago."