Julie Payton was in a car accident with her parents when she was eight years-old. Her parents were killed and she lost both of her hands. When she was 18 she planned to kill herself by jumping off a tall building but William Boone was able to convince her not to. Da'an was moved by Payton's story and offered to have the Taelon physician Ne'eg grow new hands for her. The operation was initially a success and Julie's new hands functioned quite normally. She began to think of Da'an as a messenger of God and joined the Church of the Companions.