Zelia had been working as a linguist and translator for the Smithsonian when she was selected to go on an expedition as an interpreter as well as to translate ruins. When her expedition landed in Peru and arrived at the temple, Zelia found herself being pushed to the front of the crew under the guise of ‘deciphering any dangers’, when in reality Zelia knew they saw her as expendable due to her status as an Omnic. Guiding the team, she not only led the expedition, but also saved them several times by translating how to disarm the traps. During this though, Zelia discovered that she was meant for more than just translating in back rooms, but rather in the heat of the moment, dodging traps and recovering lost artifacts and making discoveries in the field.

After that initial expedition, Zelia began partaking in more and even leading several of her own, earning a reputation preserving history. She became a formidable fighter, learning how to properly handle a firearm and boomerang. Further more, on an exhibition to Mayan ruins, she discovered two relic automatons designed for protecting a temple. While the temple had already been looted, Zelia took the antique automatons home as a souvenir and upgraded them as her personal guards.

For a while, Zelia’s goals fell into the preservation of relics, however that changed after running into Talon several times on her expeditions. Now with the goal of keeps potentially dangerous artifacts out of Talon’s hands, the began racing them to artifacts, and it was in Greece where she found herself caught between a squad of Talon members and an Overwatch team sent to intercept them. During the chaos, Zelia assisted in taking out the Talon grunts, earning herself an invitation.