Zarla was born into a prestigious family of scientists. Her parents were lead engineers of Luma-5's energy fusion development, and from a young age Zarla was expected to follow in her parents footsteps. As a child Zarla was bright, curious, and constantly tinkering. At age 8 she built her first energy amplifier, though it caused a minor explosion.

Zarla eventually enrolled in the Lumerian Science Academy and quickly stood out for her brilliant problem solving and because of her lineage. She became one of the youngest scientists in the energy fusion development and the overseer of a new experimental energy core. Zarla pushed the core into its final stage despite warnings from the engineers as she believed in the cores stability. During a test run, the core became overloaded and eventually exploded, killing almost all life on Luma-5.