Anna Maier

Anna Maier is one of the main protagonists in Murrain. She is employed as a research scientist at Sanctuary to find a cure for the plague.

Background
Anna Maier, originally Anna Fields, is the daughter and first born child of Jonas and XXX Fields. They immigrated to America from Ireland shortly after Anna was born, establishing themselves as an upper-lower-class family.

At two, her younger brother, Anthony, was born. Despite being only two years older than he, she spent a majority of her childhood raising him in place of her mother, who was rarely around as they grew up. Spousal cheating became an everyday occurrence in their household, though Jonas was an attentive father and worked two jobs to support his family.

At 17, Anna began delving into her bisexuality. At 18, she brought her first girlfriend home to meet her parents, and was immediately kicked out of the house by her mother without a single protest from her father. From there, she left home, returning to Ireland.

She attended Trinity College Dublin, and holds a Masters Degree in Molecular Medicine, with a specialization in Molecular Genetics.

In 2020, Anna was hired by Raul Hyde to work as a research scientist to find a cure for the ever mutating pandemic, A. That same year, Inigo Maier was hired to work along side her in the labs.

Appearance
Anna has brown eyes, light skin, and red hair that falls just past her shoulders. Anna prefers wearing her hair up, though takes to wearing it down much more after entering into a relationship with Inigo.

She is of average build and height. She is a "well-endowed" woman and often embraces this fact.

Personality
Anna doesn't consider herself to be very friendly, though she is often making friends and talking with people. She often tries to be optimistic and happy, but her temper is short and violent. This somtimes lands her in unnecessary scuffles with others.

Inigo Maier
Anna and Inigo didn't get along well at first, despite Anna's best efforts to befriend him upon his arrival at Sanctuary. However, as they continued to work together, both came to respect and enjoy the company of one another. Anna often found Inigo amusing and infuriating, and would do her best to try and get a rise out of him be it via shameless flirting or a petty, heated argument. Eventually, romantic and sexual affections developed between the two, prompting them into a sexual arrangement before actually dating. Inigo later proposes to Anna after she's been shot, to keep her engaged and alert, to which she says yes. Anna has always felt guilty that their engagement was so sudden, and not eased into at a more comfortable pace for Inigo. They are married after moving out of Sanctuary.

Even though she had been engaged in the past, Anna feels a deeper and more connected love for Inigo than she did Cassandra. Their marriage, at times, often resembles their early friendship, riddled with stubbornness and bad arguments. Still, the two love each other unconditionally and support one another no matter what. However, since Esme's birth, Anna has noticed Inigo becoming colder and more distanced from her. She knows that he loves both her and their daughter, but she often picks up on it when he's uncomfortable with Esme and struggles to be a bridge between the two. She is emotionally drained by Inigo's mood-swings and often ends up making things worse as she tries to help him struggle through something she doesn't understand.

Anna discovers that the secret Inigo has been hiding is a depression diagnosis. She finds out while doing laundry one day, stumbling across his medication. She's furious at first and confronts him in blind rage before leaving and calming herself. When she returns, she finds Inigo in the midst of a break down and comforts him, which prompts a long awaited discussion between the two.

Esme Maier
Anna is obsessively family-oriented, having always wanted children from a young age. Esme and Inigo are literally Anna's whole world, and she would do anything for them. She loves Esme unconditionally, and often remarks how much her daughter reminds her of Inigo in both appearance and attitude. Anna despises being away from Esme, and is often over protective of her. She feels that she struggles to be a good mother and good wife concurrently.

After struggling with fertility early in her adult life and the loss of her fiancée's son, Anna was shocked and terrified to learn she had conceived Inigo's child. Anna struggled through the pregnancy, but eventually birthed a healthy daughter.

Raul Hyde
Anna and Raul have a complicated past. They've been friends and enemies, they've been intimate and they've have physical fights.

They first met when Cassandra and Declan both fell ill to a mutated strain of A. For three months, he was their doctor and often helped Anna through the paperwork and guided her through the process of caring for those who were infected. The night of Cassandra's death, Hyde offered to help Anna sort through funeral arrangements though mindlessly in their grief the two ended up sleeping with one another. Three days later, it happened again, and nearing the end of their romp Anna received the call that Declan had also passed away. Unsure how to comfort her, and upset at himself and Cassandra, Hyde struck Anna to quiet her. She fled and tried to file suit, though the case was eventually dropped due to Hyde's higher influences.

A year later, Hyde sought Anna out and offered her a job at Sanctuary, where they continued their relationship as enemies.

Edwin Pieuvre
Edwin was Anna's first real friend at Sanctuary, even though he was a test subject and they were not to fraternize. She would keep him posted about things that happened outside of his cell, and vent to him about the ever vexing Inigo. She would confide in him, and he in her.

Edwin later admitted to having feelings for Anna, though never acted upon them for fear of losing his friendship with her and Inigo, who he had come to respect.

With Richard Hyde's threatening to release a new plague after the eradication of A, Edwin sought out the help of Anna and Inigo to work at the American branch of his pharmaceutical company. His friendship with Anna has changed over the years since leaving Sanctuary; Edwin is a bit colder and more mature, but still has a soft spot for his Sanctuary friends, and goes out of his way to make their employment as comfortable as possible.

Cassandra O'Flaherty
Though Cassandra was Anna's first love, a lot of retrospection pushed Anna to the realization that she was far more in love with Cassandra than she was Anna. Cassandra was a rather self-righteous and self-centered woman, though she did dote on Anna throughout their relationship. After the birth of Cassandra's son, Declan, via IVF, Anna spent most of her time raising the boy than with her fiancée. By the time Declan was three, Anna was more invested in the relationship for her son's sake rather than her dimming love for Cassandra.

Declan O'Flaherty
Declan, during his life time, was Anna's pride and joy. She raised him in place of the ever busy Cassandra and considered him her own child. She was there for his first word, his first steps, his first tooth -- and she was much more devastated by his death than Cassandra's, though she loved them both very much.

Secretly, Anna often thinks about the similarities and differences between Declan and Esme. She fears what Inigo might think if she were to admit she still misses her first child.

Jonas Fields
Anna was extremely close to her father growing up. He helped her to ease her aquaphobia and loved her unconditionally. However, in order to still take care of Anthony and avoid an argument with his cheating wife, Jonas didn't stand up for Anna when her mother kicked her out for announcing her bisexuality. This hurt Anna, and caused her to hate him for many years.

Upon their reuniting, Anna struggles to forgive Jonas for what he did, though she admits that she still loves him dearly and has missed him. At Inigo's request, Anna takes the time to give her father a chance to repair their relationship.

After Sanctuary, Jonas becomes a fairly big part of Anna and Inigo's life, often taking care of Esme for them when they need a night away or bringing by dinner when he's feeling a little lonely.

Anthony Fields
Growing up, Anna practically raised Anthony in place of her mother, who was never around. Because of this, the two shared an extremely close sibling bond. Anna admired his friendly, excitable personality and his willingness to try new things. Anna also envied how popular Anthony was with everyone at their school and his numerous artistic and athletic talents.

The only regret Anna had leaving America for Ireland was that she had left her baby brother behind without a goodbye. For the next few years, she went without contacting him. Upon her return to America, she sought out his address, only to find that he had moved all the way to China. She attempted writing him, but their letters were intercepted by Raul.

By some chance, Anthony's wife was chosen to be an examination doctor at Sanctuary, reuniting the siblings. Anna is worried that Anthony holds a grudge against her for leaving him, but he eased her worries by saying that he understood that she had to do what she had to do. Anthony and Anna both dote on Anthony's children, sharing their family-orientation.

Julie Corwin
Anna's relationship with Julie could be described as that of 'frenemies'. At times, they would get along well, and at others they might like to have killed one another. A lot of their quarrels stemmed from their mutual attraction to Inigo (though much of Julie's was a facade in order to keep herself safe, as she had a family waiting for her outside of Sanctuary). The two would often make bets about how Inigo might be in bed, ending with Julie taking home the jackpot.

When Anna is shot and Inigo is stabbed, it is Julie to tends to them. She admits that the whole time they've been in Sanctuary that she's simply acted the part of dumb bimbo to ensure that she would be safe from Hyde and be able to return to her children and husband. She and Anna become distant friends after this and somtimes keep in touch via e-mail.

Trivia

 * Aquaphobia: Anna is deathly afraid of bodies of water - to the extent that even a bathtub full of water can scare her.
 * Her favourite colour is teal.
 * Her favourite food is eggplant parmesan.
 * The code for her phone is 8907.
 * She is great at and enjoys playing Pool.
 * She loves grey cats.
 * Anna is mildly allergic to non-organic soaps.