Mackenzie was killed in a factory fire when she was 29 years old.  Her body was unrecognizable, and she was buried in a mass grave along with the other workers who had died.  Mackenzie awoke a week later, the extensive damage to her body causing her healing properties to work slower.  Disoriented and frightened, Mackenzie suffocated to death several times before digging her way out of the tightly packed dirt and shells.

Finding out that she was Immortal was a blow softened only be the woman who taught her about what she was.  Angelique was an Immortal, her age numbering somewhere beyond the thousands.  She became a mother to the young Immortal Mackenzie, as well as a teacher and mentor.  They left America and settled down in Europe in Angelique's home, that was built on Holy Ground.  She trained there for years, the two of them rarely visited by anyone that wasn't a priest or of some Holy Order.

Until Colum O'Shea showed up at their door, grabbing Mackenzie's usually stoic teacher in a gripping hug.  Mackenzie watched the animation on Angelique's face with amusement, and studied her teachers 'old' friend. Colum spent the year with them, and in that year Mackenzie fell in love with the passionate man.  Angelique, seeing this, disapproved.  She knew well the Game they all participated in - willingly or not - and knew nothing good could come of the two of them.  Getting close to any Immortal, romantically, could only end in pain.  Angelique's own failed romances poisoned her perceptions, and she passed them onto Mackenzie.  This was done without malice, but with concern for a woman she considered a daughter.Mackenzie was easy prey to her emotions, and to her mentors words.  The relationship was dissolved before it even started, and Mackenzie was relegated into a position of deep friendship with Colum.

She hasn't seen him in years, having returned to America after Angelique was killed in a battle.

Returning to America, Mack was surprised to find her Father's company in a holding state, run by the board of directors her Father had appointed before he died.  She found out that her Father had died very shortly after her own 'death' in the factory, and had no time to change his will.  Mackenzie, in theory, was still in control of the company.

Not wanting to see her Father's company fall to the whims of the board of directors, she fabricated an elaborate tale.  Claiming that she was the descendent of the illegitimate daughter of Mackenzie's Mother, she claimed that as Family, she could control what happened to the Conrad Steel Company. 

The board contested and blood tests were drawn.  Since she was Mackenzie Conrad, the blood tests returned positive, and she was given control of the company.

As a beautiful, successful, and young steel tycoon and billionaire, many male businesses felt threatened by the woman.  She proved a brutal businesswoman and a fighter for workers rights.  Her work invariably brought her face to face with the vast society of the Kindred.  Not so much a subculture as another race on top of humans was how Mackenzie viewed the Kindred.

But she prefered to participate in only one *game* that could kill her, and that was with her own race.  Even so, Arnand was able to sway her with his words and convictions.  Mackenzie is more of a financial backer for the Forty rather than an active fighter for them.

An immensely compassionate woman, Mackenzie would do most anything for her friends and partners, many of which include both Kindred and Demons.She has a sharp sense of humor and a bit of cynicism, acting as a wall over her emotions.

She lives in a refurnished mansion in Hyde Park, alone save for the few servants living in her household.