Characters
Aris Venandi
Aris Venandi was a recent college graduate with a degree in planetary surveying. Her first assignment was on Kezoron, a seismically active, Respersect-infested planet where a giant ant snatched her away from her crew. After a giant beetle attacked the ant for its fair-share of human flesh, the ant released Aris, and she ran away and hid.
Three days later, she was "rescued" by a ship that later arrested her for "abandonment of her surveying crew." The ship brought her to an unnamed prison planet where she met Dr. Craig Stoichenberg, who she grew to fear after learning about his plans for her as a test subject. She escaped the prison during a riot and headed for the mountains in a cargo ship she snuck into.
In the mountains, she survived off of river water and whatever fruits and vegetables she could find. She soon met the Learson siblings, both of whom are also fugitives from the prison. Though they were wary of her at first, they soon became friends.
Aris Venandi is shy but friendly. She desires a stable future of improving the lives of those around her. Though social cues are confusing for her, she enjoys meeting new people.
"I was on auto-pilot, focusing purely on the present. Yet, like a jolt of electricity...
...It all came back to me... The second I saw him." -Aris Venandi
Maxie Learson
Maxie Learson was a medic for The Expansion for five years. Most of her work involved rescuing scientists and soldiers who were wounded by Respersects. After recognizing that the Respersects were killing more people than The Board was reporting, Maxie became an activist who pushed to have the experiments shut down. She was put on The Expansion's wanted list, but remained persistent. She was eventually arrested along with her brother Derik, but the two managed to escape with each other's help.
Maxie Learson is an outgoing, caring person with a lot of energy. She is still plotting to continue her activism once she escapes the prison planet. She was quick to befriend Aris, and the two frequently socialize over games of Checkers.
"My work as a medic was fulfilling. That is, unless I couldn't save someone..." -Maxie Learson
Derik Learson
As a biologist for The Expansion, Derik Learson helped create some of the Respersects. He felt nothing but a deep passion for what he did. Unfortunately, that passion was put to the test. The Respersects proved to be too strong for the containment units, and they murdered many of his colleagues in front of him. After pushing for the suspension of the Respersect experiments until adequate containment units were built, Derik was fired.
Though he gets along with his sister Maxie and became good friends with Aris after only knowing her for an hour, the most recent events of his life have soured his views on humanity. Fortunately, Derik has gradually gone back to his more humorous self thanks to his friends.
"When I saw the blood of my friends dripping from the palps of that monster, I didn't know what I was doing anymore." -Derik Learson
Dr. Craig Stoichenberg
Dr. Craig Stoichenberg is a doctor of psychology and the grandson of Dr. Harold Stoichenberg. Craig's goal is to perfect the use of electroshock therapy to control the Respersects and to rehabilitate those who defy The Expansion. Despite his confidence in his research, not one patient has lived through his therapy. This is why those who fear him know him as "The Electrocutioner."
Due to a lack of results, The Board recently cut his funding. He is infuriated by this decision, proclaiming that it was innovators like him who made The Expansion what it is today. Craig planned to use Aris as a test subject to continue his research without notifying The Board. Ever since Aris escaped, he has been desperate to recapture her.
"If that snot [Mary Richardson] has her way, the Stoichenberg family legacy will end with me! I cannot let that happen!" -Dr. Craig Stoichenberg
Mary Richardson
Mary Richardson is a Board member and the inheritor of Richardson Ore (RIC ORE). As one who values the status quo, she views any deviation as detrimental to economic growth and to those who have earned their social status.
Mary occasionally visits the prison planet to ensure that the prisoners are mining ore at an acceptable rate. She condemns Dr. Craig Stoichenberg's research, calling it pre-2156 pseudoscience that is killing prisoners who should be working in the mines. When addressing the public, her rhetoric creates a sense of unison and belonging throughout The Expansion.
"Our system isn't broken, so why must we fix it?" -Mary Richardson
Learn about the locations of Lithobius!