Born Daisy Sumpter-Fernandez, she is the sole survivor of a corporate disaster, raised by an alien race, The People (Quetzali). Her life is a fractured journey through roles: orphan, terrorist, pop icon, and ultimately the Systems Manager of Outriding, deeply connected to the living station.

Shen’s story is the central pillar of the ‘Forever-Coming-Home’ narrative. After her parents were killed on Shen’s World, she was adopted by the native Quetzali, who altered her neurology. This made her an outsider to both their culture and humanity.

Upon her “rescue,” she became a celebrity but soon turned against the corporation responsible for her parents’ deaths, becoming a famed anarchist. Her actions led to the landmark ‘Shen’s Law’.

Exiled and a pariah, she was recruited by the AI Outriding. Onboard, she is fiercely protective of the station’s mind, viewing herself as a ‘vicar to a society that doesn’t know it is sick and dying.’ Her relationship with Outriding is profound and central to the series’ deeper themes.

A loyal, by-the-book Court Librarian for the Earth Alliance Defense Corporation (EADC). After a career-ending act of insubordination against a commanding officer, he is exiled to Carrier’s Outriding to serve as its new Information Officer.

Theo embodies the values of service and order taught by the EADC. His exile to Outriding is a culture shock, throwing him into a chaotic world of misfits, mercenaries, and alien politics far from the rigid structure he’s always known.

His arrival coincides with a mysterious ‘virus’ causing crew members’ heads to explode, which is later revealed to be a form of First Contact with The Open Line. Theo is unwittingly used as ‘bait’ to draw out the intelligence, forcing him to navigate a conspiracy and question his own loyalties.

His journey is one of adaptation, finding a new sense of purpose and home among the outcasts of the station, and playing a critical role in bridging communication with a new form of life.

Outriding’s Social/Comms Director and Head of Logistics. He appears as a fussy, efficient, and often stressed administrator. However, he maintains a secret, secondary Link implant and a persona named Fairfax Rapparee, a notorious criminal highwayman.

As Bobby Greener, he is the VIP liaison and the one who gets things done, managing the delicate balance of Outriding’s diverse and often hostile population. He is sharp, capable, but seems perpetually put-upon.

As Fairfax Rapparee, he navigates the station’s underworld, using his fearsome reputation to maintain order where official channels cannot reach. This duality is a closely guarded secret, known only to a few, and represents the station’s necessary compromises. His relationship with Theodore is complex, shifting from antagonistic to protective.

The Captain’s Second and a former pulp hero with his own line of action figures. He is the charismatic, larger-than-life public face of the station, but behind the bravado is a man with sad eyes who deeply cares for his crew.

Dexter is a superman among men, known for his daring exploits across the galaxy. On Outriding, he often acts as a foil to the more serious members of the crew with his booming personality.

Despite his sometimes silly demeanor, he is a competent officer with Union clearance who understands the station’s critical role in galactic politics. He shows a surprisingly kind and protective side, especially towards newcomers like Theodore.

Outriding’s Protocol Director, responsible for intercorporate etiquette and diplomacy. His fearsome, beast-like appearance (muttonchops, scars, one biological arm) belies a deeply protective and caring nature.

Karnides’ job is to ensure interactions between the station’s many different species and factions go smoothly. He is an expert in xenosociology and custom, preparing dossiers to prevent diplomatic incidents.

He acts as a guardian for the crew, especially new arrivals. Despite his gruff exterior, he is one of the first to show genuine kindness and offer protection to Theodore, telling him, “You were treated badly. I won’t let that happen again.”

The Captain of Carrier’s Outriding. A formidable and respected leader with a rumored past as a pirate queen. She is a woman of immense authority, with a steel arm and a carbon-black eyepatch, to whom everyone on the station answers.

Captain Bellar is the ultimate authority on Outriding. She runs the station with military discipline learned from the old mercenary guilds. Her primary concern is the safety of her people and the stability of the station, which she views as a crucial keystone of galactic peace. She is willing to bend rules and engage in clandestine operations to protect her mission and her crew.

An ancient, living space station of unknown origin, comprised of six interlocking, freely swinging rings. It serves as a vital diplomatic free space, marketplace, and cultural keystone at the edge of known space. Outriding is also a living Alexandria, a repository of information collected over hundreds of thousands of years.

Outriding is more than a structure; it’s a sentient being. Its AI persona is a fragmented ‘whistling-shade’ of its true self. The station’s real communication is through its physical alignment, known as the 64 Postures, which tell a story of its state and intentions.

With a stable population of over four billion, it is a nation in its own right, home to outcasts, refugees, diplomats, and criminals. The crew, led by Captain Bellar, is fiercely dedicated to protecting the station and its role as a beacon of peace and information.

Theodore Castelline’s nation of origin. The EADC is one of the oldest and most powerful incorporated nations in the Commonwealth, built on military traditions dating back to Earth’s original governments. It places a high value on service, honor, and a strict chain of command.

In the EADC, citizenship is earned at eighteen after years of escrow. The culture is steeped in tradition, from its archaism-filled ‘jody’ songs to its reverence for protocol. Defection is seen as a profound betrayal.

While publicly committed to transparency and order, Bobby Greener implies the EADC has a clandestine Special Ops office involved in espionage and other black arts, suggesting a darker side to its pristine image.

The native, avian-like race of Shen’s World who adopted Shenayla after her parents’ death. They are described as having multiple wings, six limbs that serve as arms, and excess feathered skin, giving them an angelic or priestly appearance.

The People have a unique physiology and philosophy, viewing the neurological and lymphatic systems, not the brain, as the seat of identity. Their culture was in decline due to encroaching colonialism by the time Shen was discovered.

They altered Shen’s neurology to better suit their culture, an act anathema to the Union but one that fundamentally shaped her identity. Shen became the sole recipient of their cultural history before they were wiped out by her parents’ corporation.

The primary governing bodies of human and galactic space. The Commonwealth is the collection of human incorporated nations, built on the principle of ‘nationality without locality,’ where allegiance is to a corporation, not land. The Union is the larger galactic government.

In this society, all citizens are fitted with a ‘Link’ at birth, an always-on connection to their chosen nation. Changing nationality is as simple as transferring shares and reconnecting to a new hub. This system underpins the entire political and economic structure of the galaxy. Outriding’s stability is crucial to the health of this meta-economy.

The elite security and defense service of Outriding. They are ageless clones, spliced with traits from a million intergalactic races to achieve perfected physicality. They operate with silent, networked communication and are viewed as biological robots or humanoid superweapons.

While appearing as terrifyingly efficient soldiers, their unused brain sectors also function as outsourced server space for Outriding, constantly running probabilities and analyzing patterns. They are fanatically loyal to Captain Bellar, with whom they share genetic material.

A newly discovered form of non-biological life that exists as pure information. They communicate by ‘infecting’ a host’s Link, which proves fatal to most carbon-based life. They specifically target the terminally ill, offering them a form of digital transcendence.

The ‘virus’ that plagues Outriding upon Theodore’s arrival is this race’s attempt at First Contact. The crew’s ultimate goal becomes not to destroy them, but to create a ‘language’ the Union’s systems can recognize, allowing them to exist without being automatically purged as a threat. Theodore’s virtual clone becomes their ambassador to the Union.