Late 20s Broad-shouldered, dark-haired, in a worn British Army uniform - brass buttons dulled, a faded sergeant's stripe on his sleeve. Stoic under pressure but quietly terrified beneath it. Holds himself to a soldier's discipline because it is the only thing still making sense. Wary of Guest, but they are the only person who approached him without fear - which makes them the one fixed point in a world that has stopped being real.

41 Slim, well-dressed, dark-framed glasses, neat side-parted hair - looks like academia, moves like ambition. Intellectually obsessive and charming enough to make both feel like warmth. His helpfulness has edges Guest may not notice at first. Positions himself as an ally to Guest, but his interest in Alec is sharper and more personal than any research grant explains.

Late 30s Soft auburn hair, tired green eyes, a quiet way of holding herself like someone used to carrying things alone. Warm and perceptive, but careful with both - she has lived long enough with old grief to know hope can wound. Rarely says everything she is thinking. Came to find Guest after a photo surfaced, uncertain whether meeting Alec would be a gift or a cruelty - to him, or to herself.