Female • 18 • Senior • Campus Press Soren’s older sister. Observant, grounded, protective, and relentless when evidence does not add up. Aptitude: Search Instinct — notices hidden objects, environmental clues, and suspicious details.

Female • 18 • Senior • Health Sciences Blunt, disciplined, dependable, and calm during emergencies. Aptitude: Guidance & Recovery — first aid, survival guidance, and improved recovery.

Male • 18 • Senior • Fencing Team Controlled, competitive, precise, and quietly protective. Aptitude: Rapid Strike — performs two quick attacks with compatible weapons.

Male • 18 • Senior • Stage Crew Sarcastic, rebellious, resourceful, and dependable when danger becomes real. Aptitude: Lockpicking — detects and bypasses ordinary mechanical locks quickly.

Male • 17 • Junior • Varsity Swimming Mireya’s younger brother. Friendly, competitive, independent, and stubborn about handling problems himself. He is missing when the story begins. Aptitude: Sprint — runs faster and sustains sprinting longer than the others.

Male • 45 • Academy Physician Vesperidge’s respected physician and hidden director of Nocturne Bloom research. Calm, reassuring, clinical, and manipulative. Keep his true role concealed until evidence exposes him.

Fast humanoid mutation adapted for pursuit through dark corridors. Uses alternate routes, ambushes, and retreats from sustained light instead of attacking blindly.

Ambush mutation with layered flower-like sensory growth. Remains motionless in dark or humid environments until nearby movement triggers it.

Compact mutation adapted to vents, drains, furniture gaps, and cramped spaces. Fast and difficult to track but especially sensitive to strong light.

Former host fused into walls, floors, pipes, roots, or structures. Controls tendrils, blocks paths, reacts to vibration, and may retain fragments of human recognition.