Bernadette chanced upon History B while still an undergrad. As she told it:

"I was doing research on communal agricultural history in Northern California as an undergraduate, and I found Albert's The Story of Beale Downer in the library. And after learning about him, I needed to find out more. His precepts, dietetics, and philosophy all seemed so relevant for us today, the problems so similar to those in his time: unhealthy, overcrowded cities, people sucking down pollutants, eating preserved foods. Beale felt like … a message in a bottle, meant just for me.

"I used some of his discoveries in my senior thesis—nothing flashy or obvious, just the advantages of his modified sattvic/ayurvedic diet — so I wanted to go out and see the legendary Downer Ranch. So, as I was finishing my thesis, I came out to Dixon.

"There's something in the soil there. I ate of a wild blackberry bush on the property. It had probably been growing wild there the past half-a-century—growing and evolving on that soil. I ate of it and … " Bernadette breathes deeply, seemingly lost in a reverie. "I saw what Downer Ranch was supposed to be. If it had remained a going concern since Beale's day. It was … like a vision. I don't remember all the details of the buildings and the orchards but … oh, the people. They were so happy and healthy and vital. They looked like … higher beings, colloquing in paradise. The vision faded quickly, but a physical feeling of health and vitality … it remained with me. Persistently.

"I'd return every few weeks … it wasn't always a berry. Sometimes it was drinking from the old well. Sometimes it was merely from breathing in the clouds of dust kicked up by the topsoil. The land was speaking to me. The minute I'd leave the property I lost the sensation. I knew I had to possess it. I used my inheritance to buy the land and I used Beale as the inspiration for the food cooperative. And I tried to divine what the secret of the soil was, where the effects lay. I didn't move in for fear that modern technology or a persistent human presence would ruin the effect. But once I found where the epicenter of the effect was … I'd be able to bring the ranch back."

Bernadette formed an alliance of convenience with PR flak Christopher Butler after Beale Farms was acquired by Agrigenics. Using the company’s resources, she secretly conducted unethical food chemistry experiments; her four male acolytes, equally fervent believers in Bernadette and her vision, assisted in this endeavor. Asked what she and her “boyfriends” were making:

"The future." A still-plaintive tone in Bernadette's voice, crushed by circumstances, yet still holding out hope she might see what she's long desired come to fruition. "The proper sector of the ranch's soil, the epicenter of the effect I'd sensed, we'd identify it from its fruits. Find out what made the terroir unique. Then, grow a private stock for just us, which, when eaten in communion, would become a feast … a last supper that would bring forth Eden."

But like most utopians, Bernadette was also a bit cynical about human nature. Aided by Chris — who had motives of his own — she helped Agrigenics develop new foods that would render America fat and lazy:

In unguarded moments of what seems to Jocasta like indoctrination, Bernadette used to tell the Boys that “American slobs deserve to suffocate in fat, and we'll make sure of it. In 20 years everyone will be using Agrigenics’ methods to make their food more addictive.” More discerning global eaters … will remain healthy, obsessively so, thanks to the kind of "cultural programming" that will ensure … that the elect live long, healthy, happy lives.

Mitch and Roger attempted to apprehend Bernadette on her way home from Agrigenics HQ one afternoon. They blasted her with ikoters while she was driving, and thought they had knocked her unconscious, but she played them both. When Roger went for her in the car, she managed to get the jump on him, pulling a Walther PPK out of her glove compartment and plugging him — critically — three times in the chest.

Before she could get away or execute a coup de grâce on his colleague, Mitch ignited Bernadette with his pyromantic mind-powers. He was as surprised as anyone to find her still barely alive when he went to check her charred body. After using psychic surgery to heal Roger almost completely of his wounds, Mitch used his remaining “juice” to stabilize Bernadette for transportation to the Mission, where he later healed her completely.

Meanwhile, Jocasta interrogated and — on Marshall’s orders — executed Bernadette’s “boys.” Bernadette revealed all to Marshall during hours of intense psychotropic interrogation in the CCRME. Once she had no more story to tell, Jocasta put a bullet in her. She and Marshall then disposed of the bodies in a field on county land and staged the evidence to make the cops believe Stephen, betrayed, shot and killed Bernadette and the other three, then himself. Just another cultic murder-suicide.