Daria’s parents, Jakub Jelinek (1960-2026) and Luminita Popescu (1972-2068) divorced when she was two. She was close to both parents growing up. Her father managed an athletic shoe store in the outlet mall until receiving a large life insurance payout in 2011. Her mother works in a hair salon.

Daria was a popular girl in high school and a solid B student. She worked summers with the Rehoboth Beach Patrol from 2009 to 2014. She graduated in 2013 and enrolled in junior college studying as a laboratory technician. After earning her degree, she was hired by a national laboratory chain setting up new labs.

When the Hoagland Institute was ready to turn their Merritt Island complex into a research lab, Daria was hired to oversee the project. Once the set up was complete, she was hired to manage the maintenance of facility medical operations.

After a lengthy engagement, she married Robert Russell Jr. (1997-2031) whose father owned a string of strip clubs in the Washington DC area.  For tax purposes, Robert took over sole ownership of the clubs in 2025.  After Daria's F.S.I. in 2025, Robert's struggles with impotence became more pronounced and Daria began taking an interest in the workers at his clubs.  The couple went through a contentious divorce in 2027 in which Daria was granted ownership of all five clubs.  

After Daria was hired by the Hoagland Institute, she was brought to the orbital platform and administered the new rapid advancement genetic modification then being tested. With no prior augmentations, it was felt necessary to quickly increase her H.E.R. score to give her the capabilities to run the facility. She was verified to have moved from the standard human baseline of 1 to a H.E.R. of 4.083 after one treatment. Her levels completed their rise in less than six hours. While the rapid advancement process was an unrivaled success in Daria, the next two subjects, as well as an earlier subject in 2015, became unstable and needed to be destroyed.