The Flow: Dramatis Personae

The Flow is a science fiction novel focusing on the adventures of Kai Currant (above) aboard the TPA Vanguard, piloting his mech Stormblade. Piloting Stormblade means accessing the pocam interface, which allows him to 'inhabit' the mech. But doing so changes him over time. This is a sacrifice he's willing to make, since very few people can use the pocam interface and pilot mechs effectively.

Lieutenant Jian Li (Jian first name, Li family name), from the Asia Sector of Terra, is the leader of the Aegis Squadron mech team and acts as the designated sniper of the group. A driven and determined leader, she has a 'complicated' relationship with ship's weapons officer Rex "Hammer" Harding.

First Lieutenant Zephyr pilots Skyfire. Zephyr is a pocam, a three-fingered, non-binary and genderfluid alien species from a planet called Resonance Prime. Skyfire is a shapeshifting mech, capable of a flight mode that allows ver to fly at high speeds and provide recon, as well as an assault mode (visualized above). Zephyr thinks humans are beautiful. While ve is a pilot mostly because ve found ve was skilled and adept at mech piloting, ve also wants to build stronger bridges and connections between the pocam and human peoples. As the story develops, Zephyr develops a romantic relationship with Zen.

Zachary "Zen" Barbados is the pilot of Juggernaut. From the Oceanic Sector of Earth (Terra), he seeks glory, and wants to be remembered as a great hero in the holo-vids of the future. He tends to embrace whatever the pocam interface throws at him, celebrating his changes rather than agonizing over them, and seems constantly willing to push the limits of his relationships.

Eliza Nocturne is a survivor rescued from the "Haven" colony. With her family and community destroyed by the Gen-Forgers, she joins the Vanguard crew, using her flexible skills to later become an assistant medical officer. She develops a relationship with Kai early in the story.

Unit 434 is an android. They are bald up until their crown, and then the back of their head was buzzed to create a "sculpted" look to the hairline. Unit 434 has a skin tone that is neither entirely European or entirely Asian, making it feel like Unit 434 was meant to not only have a specific gender, but not have a specific ethnic background either. Acting as a 'flexible' support staff, Unit 434 can handle complex tasks in navigation and scientific analysis. Ve pilots transport ships and scientific support vessels to analyze conditions in real time and support the pilots, while sometimes performing 'riskier' actions than a human pilot might be inclined to.

Sergeant Rex "Hammer" Harding commands the TPA Vanguard's main cannons, weapons designed to cripple capital ships. With a full brown beard and a solid frame, he might be older than the squad, but he wasn’t yet ‘old,’ in Kai’s mind. Maybe late 30s, although his beard and build sometimes makes him look older.

Dr. Mira Voss is a human from the Europe Sector. A dedicated professional, she's quick on diagnosis and is ready to help injured colonists when the worst happens. She monitor's Kai's response to the pocam interface in the beginning of the story.

Dr. Voed is a pocam psychologist, and takes a pocam approach to psychology, which differs in key ways from human psychological practice -- both more tactile, and more 'direct.'

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Characters from later in Part 2 and 3. This section will be a bit more vague.

Xylar is a pocam pilot, and Warden is ver mech. Warden is capable of creating on the fly shield arrays for other mechs and in the environment.

Oorly is a pocam pilot, and Hornet is ver mech. Hornet has drones that can help it fight and can fire versatile Stinger missiles.

Traktor is a human scientist with connections to PDD, the Planetary Defense Department.