Ardette came as part of the last wave of subjects to enter Step City before it was cut off from the rest of the world (X083-84). It was a confluence of brilliant minds and an opportunity to get away from her family, and she wanted in. Ardette was a precocious teenager who was too mature, too self-confident, obnoxiously bright, and utterly alone, which made it easy to lie about her age. If anybody knew she was barely 17, they didn't care. The handsome young Scientist who got her a boarding pass and a room in the Research District certainly didn't seem to mind.