Eli was a first generation Chinese immigrant, born in Bakersfield and living a fairly understated life, even as his family - and others in his Chinatown community - slowly began the target of America's growing xenophobia and social strife as the Resource Wars ramped up. He began attending a technical school in the region, studying engineering while picking up an interest in civil structure and sociology, then, at his parents urging, attended college halfway across the country at Vault-Tec University in Morgantown, one of the first students studying there after the rebranding in 2031. Eventually, he landed a desk job at Atomic Mining, a large conglomerate in the region, and worked as a city planner while they laid the foundations for their 'city of the future'/company town, Watoga. While Eli was able to mostly avoid the all-too-eager eye of anti-communist and Chinese-sympathizing watchdogs, he was able to watch firsthand as anti-Chinese sentiment rose and rose. Letters from his family became more despondent as Chinatowns across the country became subject to curfews, surveillance, and violence. After a dozen or so years of working and sending money back to San Diego, he eventually decided to fly back in mid-October, 2077.

The next few decades were a blur. His home became an ash-covered ruin of twisted rebar and concrete - the sky was always a red amber, and the sun didn't seem to come out for years. The only few things he remembered was the feeling of burning inside his body, like hot needles covering his insides at all times. Whenever he saw a reflection he became less like Eli and more like a rubber-faced extra from an old zombie movie. Everyone he knew was reduced to cinders, as if they didn't exist at all in the first place.

He soon knew what he was, and that there were others like him. He was lucky, in a way, that he survived at all, and that he didn't lose his mind when the Ghoulification hit. Others - even some in the Vault - weren't so lucky. There was a guy in charge, but it was hard to care about him. For a long time, he spent time in Chinatown, picking apart what was left and collecting it. He found his old textbooks and work documents, and slowly began remembering who - and what - he was. Eli was thankful that the Ghoulification made everyone equal -you couldn't tell what someone's skin was if it was all rotted off - but when he saw a guy in a blue jumpsuit wander in one day, he realized that there were still flesh and blood 'smoothskins' running around - and that Ghouls would, of course, make a perfect 'other'. A month later, the water chip from the vault underground was gone. A few more days, some monsters - bigger monsters than he was, green and muscular - came and opened fire on the growing community. Eli shoved his books in a bag and ran towards anywhere his legs could take him.

San Diego - rather, the Dayglow now - was a perfect place for Eli to fully remember who he was. There was some members of a group there, the Followers of the Apocalypse, and while most of them had gone on to other communities, there was a small contingent that actually appreciated Eli's more cerebral talents - he wasn't a good shot, but he could help plot out a small farming community while taking into account water and power needs! There were more ghouls, too, some from Necropolis and some who heard that it was a perfect place for the 'others' like them. He also met some of the monsters that first drove him out of Necropolis, on friendlier terms now that they weren't being led by a megalomaniacal flesh blob. Super Mutants, apparently.

Dayglow was a fine community, thanks to the Followers, the Ghouls, and the Mutants learning how to prosper and cooperate. Followers would provide medical aid and help coordinate traders, the Ghouls would help scavenge and work the inner city that humans couldn't handle, while the Mutants would provide security, heavy lifting, and effectively 4 times the manpower for any given Ghoul or human. Some fellow pre-war Ghouls were even able to get some Protectrons and Mr. Handies up and running, and their assistance and cooperation was very well-appreciated. It was one of the better places to live, if you could handle the radiation.

Naturally, the new guys in town, the NCR, thought it would be perfect to incorporate, and the community figured it wouldn't really hurt. While the Republic did like to wag itself around, the dangerous environment might keep them from infringing on their community. The Followers of the Apocalypse that Eli was working closely with encouraged Eli, with his rare pre-war university education, to head towards Shady Sands to represent Dayglow on the greater scale. Eli was a bit hesitant, but decided that he could show that greater cooperation and inclusion across the Republic would help it truly become a nation, while hopefully dissuading them from the bigotry and populism that drove them to this sorry state in the first place.