Character guide

Neel Sidorak

major

Also known as Neel

Neel Sidorak has spent his life inside a carefully engineered academic bubble in the Dolomites, groomed to study humanity from a safe, clinical distance. When Abravanel assigns him a project alongside Adao Costa — a UN observer Neel suspects of still working for Interpol — his hot temper and provincial assumptions about loyalty and motive surface immediately. His struggle to reconcile textbook theory with the unpredictable people around him drives the tension of the story's opening arc.

Brent Dalgreen

major

Also known as Mr. Dalgreen, Dalgreen

Brent Dalgreen moves through the art world with the ease of a recognized name, charming curators and talking shop while privately pursuing suspicions he admits are unsupported by a shred of real evidence. He keeps his true thoughts hidden even from the loquacious Kinnent, driven by the knowledge that the sands of his life are trickling out. His visit to Di Costa's residence sets the story's central mystery in motion.

Jon Venex

major

Also known as Venex, Flyer Atommel Filmer Venex Jon, Venex 17

Jon Venex is one of only twenty-two Venus Experimental models, waterproof and pressure-resistant, designed for undersea work that never materialized. Now free but broke, he navigates an employment exchange alongside his old friend Alec Diger and the rust-coated Dik Dryer, whose decay makes him unhireable. Jon's easy humor and willingness to slow his stride for shorter companions reveal a robot negotiating dignity in a world that has only half-accepted his kind.

Adao Costa

major

Also known as Costa, Adao

Adao Costa arrives at the university with real-world experience Neel Sidorak conspicuously lacks, officially there to observe for the UN and assist with the project. Neel's accusation that Costa still works for Interpol hangs in the air, and Costa leaves the room without a word when Abravanel dismisses him. His ambiguous loyalties and unflappable silence make him a walking question mark at the heart of the story's opening conflict.

Gino Lombardi

supporting

Also known as Major Gino Lombardi, Major Lombardi

Major Gino Lombardi flies alongside Dan Coye, whose dead friend Eddie Glazer haunts the mission's quieter moments. When they swing back around the moon and find Canaveral silent and the entire North American continent blacked out, Gino's grim professionalism keeps him steady while Dan's voice strains. His decision to return to Earth without ground control's help sets the story on its irreversible course.

Ned

supporting

Also known as Brooklyn Eddie, Eddie

Ned arrives at the precinct and is put to work sweeping floors and filing paperwork, so unremarkable that the officers forget he's there. When a robbery call comes in and no one else is available, he recites the entire reporting protocol from memory, leaving the Chief sputtering. His literal-minded competence and the officers' ignorance of his operation manual set up the quiet, escalating changes none of them see coming.

Hengly

supporting

Also known as Dear Hengly

Hengly never steps onstage, yet his name does the work of a handshake: it flusters receptionists, unlocks appointments, and gives Brent a plausible reason to be wherever he shouldn't. That borrowed authority is the point. Brent moves through galleries and private residences under a social cover he doesn't quite own, and the gap between the name he drops and the errand he's actually running is where the story's early tension quietly gathers.

Arthur Di Costa

supporting

Also known as Arthur, Di Costa

Di Costa is the city's newest artistic darling, installed behind a windowless greenstone facade, a robot butler, and a private elevator that opens onto a book-lined room. Tall, thin, with a handshake that is long and strong, he greets Brent's flimsy pretext with unnerving warmth, claiming he has wanted to meet the man behind the paintings. That easy generosity is exactly what makes Brent's secret suspicions feel both foolish and urgent.

Dan Coye

supporting

Also known as Dan

Dan Coye moves through a city where robots have legal equality but little else, trading stories with friends like Jon Venex and the rust-coated Dik Dryer about sold contracts, fractured knee bearings, and the old days of being owned machinery. He is blunt, loud, and unsentimental about his own decline, yet generous with the small comforts of companionship. His weariness gives the story its ground-level view of what the Robot Equality Act actually delivered.

Mr. Coleman

supporting

Also known as Coleman

Mr. Coleman belongs to the layer of the world where contracts are signed, contracts are broken, and the consequences are handed down to workers and robots who have no seat at the table. He is felt more than seen, a pressure rather than a presence, and that is precisely his function. The story's early arc depends on the quiet weight of such figures, the ones whose paperwork decides who gets repaired and who gets thrown out.

Professor Einstein

minor

Also known as Einstein, Albert Einstein

Historical figure referenced as a character in a story.

Abravanel

minor

Named character with limited but notable presence.

Alec Diger

minor

Also known as Alex

Character appearing in a specific story segment.

Marie Di Costa

minor

Also known as Marie

Female character connected to the Di Costa family.

China Joe

minor

Also known as Joe, The spurious China Joe

Character with a distinctive nickname, appears in a story.

Little Willy

minor

Also known as Billy

Young character appearing in a specific narrative.

Glazer

minor

Also known as Eddie Glazer

Character with a surname, appears in a story.

Chief Craig

minor

Also known as The Chief, Chief

Police chief in a story.

The UN

minor

Also known as UN

International organization referenced in a story.

Fats

minor

Minor character with a nickname, appears in a specific scene.

The Colonel

minor

Unnamed military officer with a recurring role.

Druce

minor

Named character with limited appearances.

Colonel Biff Hawton

minor

Also known as Biff Hawton, Colonel Hawton, Biff

Military officer with a nickname, appears in a story.

The General

minor

Unnamed high-ranking officer in a story.

Dik Dryer

minor

Also known as Dik

Character with a distinctive name, appears in a story.

Wil Counter

minor

Also known as Wil

Character appearing in a specific narrative.

The Priests

minor

Group of religious figures in a story.

Teddy Kaner

minor

Also known as Kaner

Named character with limited presence.

Reeves

minor

Also known as Lieutenant Reeves

Military officer appearing in a story.

The German Colonel

minor

German officer in a specific story.

Apollo

minor

Mythological figure referenced as a character.

Greenback

minor

Character with a nickname, appears in a story.

Societics

minor

Group or entity appearing as a collective character.

The Officer

minor

Unnamed officer in a story.

General Wingrove

minor

High-ranking military officer.

Admiral Fitzjames

minor

Also known as Admiral

Naval officer appearing in a story.

An Officer

minor

Unnamed officer in a specific scene.

Dotty

minor

Female character with a nickname.

O Goat-boy Grandson

minor

Also known as Goat-boy, Grandson

Character with a descriptive title.

Alex the Axe

minor

Also known as Alex

Character with a nickname, appears in a story.

Classmates

minor

Group of students in a story.

The Himmelians

minor

Alien or foreign group in a story.

President Roosevelt

minor

Also known as Roosevelt

Historical figure referenced in a story.

Alonzo Craig

minor

Character with a full name, appears in a story.

Colonel Schneider

minor

Also known as Schneider, Colonel

Military officer with a surname.

Fatty

minor

Character with a nickname, appears briefly.

Grandpa

minor

Elderly relative character in a story.

The Nazis

minor

Historical group referenced as antagonists.

Congress

minor

Governmental body referenced in a story.