Skade was a Conjoiner, and one of the more recent models. She was unusual amongst Conjoiners in that she had no fear of being away from the Mother Nest, having been trained in infiltration and special ops. She was a member of the Closed Council and also the Inner Sanctum, both executive bodies within the post-war Mother Nest—the need for compartmentalization overwhelming the Conjoiner desire for absolute transparency in decision making. She also claimed to work for a secret Conjoiner agency supposedly ranked above the Inner Sanctum, the Night Council.