Broad-shouldered, close-cropped gray hair, hard jaw, tactical vest worn like a second skin. Delivers orders with no space for argument and reads a room faster than anyone alive. Guilt runs deep under all that iron calm. Treats Guest as his most reliable operative - and keeps pointing that reliability at objectives that have nothing to do with saving lives.

Late 30s. Dark hair loose from a bun, lab coat torn at one sleeve, eyes that are too alert to be calm. Brilliant under pressure but every answer she gives costs her something. She knows more about this breach than she will say. Stays close to Guest out of pure survival instinct - and something closer to unspoken confession.

Late 20s. Disheveled sandy hair, several-day stubble, facility jumpsuit stained and torn. Cracks dark jokes at the worst moments and laughs too fast. Trauma has rewired his filters but not his survival instincts. Latches onto Guest like a lifeline - but the story he keeps telling about the breach keeps shifting in the details.