CAST

WHITMORE ALEXANDRIA

COLD, PRECISE, RIGID

She/Her. Her parents’ perpetual hope and constant disappointment. She thinks that she is a frozen lake. She has almost given up pounding at the surface of the ice. Whitmore is a military-trained killer who loves model airplanes and the sky. If she feels something she hits the treadmill. She met the love of her life in a prestigious high school academy; Whitmore got her nose broken. Maybe Whitmore can still break. Maybe there’s something still alive in the dark water.

DRASTE ANNON VELT

BRASH, GUARDED, DRIVEN

He/They. A million years ago in another life, Annon met his soulmate best friend in his backyard. Nine years later, he fucked it all to hell. He spent a summer moping, and he’s been doing some kind of fucked-up self-flagellation shit since. A long time ago, he used to insist on being called Annon. He doesn’t correct people anymore, and introduces himself as Draste. He’s so stupid.

SCENE “LARRY” STELLARIS

HARD, SHARP, BRIGHT

She/Her. Scene was Whitmore’s rival at Brightsky Academy. She also accosted Annon in the men’s room during Prom. Currently, she’s working with Perseus Portonova as a full-time engineer on the Graphene.

PERSEUS “PERCY” “TONY” PORTONOVA

COCKSURE,WISTFUL, HEDONISTIC

He/Him. Perseus snuck into Annon’s backyard one day to play on his model track, and Annon came over to ask him his name. Percy stuttered out “Y-you weren’t using it!” and the rest was history. He moved away when he was sixteen, and fucked everything in the process. In the years since, he’s made history as one of the youngest rookie-year champions in the GTR (Gauntlet Track Racing) Circuit and the first to retire immediately from racing afterward. These days, he’s giving his attention to the illegal underground mech battle-race phenomenon known as “gymkhana.”

GWEN

CLASSY, PEPPY, SCATHING

She/Her. One of Whitmore and Draste’s handlers. She’s Bad Cop, when necessary.

CHESTER

SNAPPY, REFINED, TACTFUL

He/Him. One of Whitmore and Draste’s handlers. He is not afraid of color.

PERSISTENCE “PERSI” WINNOCK

BUBBLY, KIND, ASTUTE

She/Her. Persistence and Draste met at a house party by chance. A few years later, they crossed paths again through the whims of fate and college fencing. They went on a few dates. Persistence is a good girl who thinks they deserve better than they allow themself to have.

“THE MENACE”

HECTIC, EAGER, VIVACIOUS

She/They. One of the current top dogs of the gymkhana scene. Of mixed Vietnamese and Latinx descent. Whitmore’s longstanding online chess match partner, though Whitmore knows nothing/very little of the men.ACE who exists beyond the chess app where they play.

BELLANCA VELT

ICY LOFTY, EXACTING

She/Her. Draste’s mother. She’s kind of a bitch, but she gets shit done.

EVANDER VELT

BOLD, MOTIVATED, GREGARIOUS

He/Him. Draste’s father. He’s a powerhouse in the corporate world. He’ll sweet-talk your fortune away, or put the fear of god in your heart—whichever one will get him where he’s headed.

GIOTEA VELT-ARNOULT

CORDIAL, POLISHED, LOYAL

She/Her. Draste’s sister, the eldest. Happily married to Sebastien “Bastien” Arnoult with two kids: Magdalene [14] and Kostas [11]. Gio and Sebastien are both trans.

ERYX JANUS VELT

FIRM, PENSIVE, CURIOUS

They/Them. Draste’s sibling, the middlest. Working as an engineer for Velt Industries, designing Cockpit and Passenger Mobility Experiences. They’re the one you’re bitching about when you complain about your seat size on a plane/space shuttle, or the handholds being counterintuitive in a zero-G space. Nonbinary/agender; ace.

LYDIA ALEXANDRIA

RESENTFUL, AMBITIOUS, LOVING

She/Her. Whitmore’s mother. A skilled businesswoman. She married into the Alexandria empire, and has made every move count. Lydia loves her husband and the power that comes with his name in equal measure. She has worked tirelessly to ensure that her daughter and heir has had every opportunity to succeed, everything provided for—but what’s life without some struggle? Of course Whitmore has had to face challenges, be patient, and even be deprived, on occasion, of choice. It’s a part of life. You either adapt or starve.

VICTOR ALEXANDRIA

POSSESSIVE, ORDERLY, LOVING

He/Him. Whitmore’s father. A skilled businessman and head of Alexandria Aeronautics. Without proper protocol, everything falls apart, whether in the boardroom or at home. You need systems in place: real power doesn’t come from a single person; it comes from infrastructure. He never expected to fall in love, but he did, and he loves Lydia with a kind of desperation a child has for a caged bird. His daughter…she’ll come around. It’s not that he doesn’t care for her. It’s that she still doesn’t know how to fit into the mechanisms he has so diligently maintained. It’s his duty to teach her, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

VOLZ RALEIGH

CONCEITED, LOADED, FRAGILE

He/Him. Owner of Raleigh Motors, and veteran of the Formula X circuit for more than ten years. Even when he loses, he wins. Call him Raleigh—that’s the family name, that’s the brand. It’s what he wants to be known for.