X, Y, and Z

Role

The engineers who rescued Galena

Three engineers who rescued Galena before deployment. X, Y, and Z grew up with or around the Galena project, inherited its moral burden, and chose to betray the institution that shaped them.

Their parents’ generation began the Galena project in the late 2960s, and X, Y, and Z grew up with or around it, making them emotionally closer to siblings and caretakers than simple creators. They were separated after Galena’s extraction, and one of them made the FnKey so the others could later find the ship once GP pressure died down. The GP caught up too soon, forcing that engineer to give the FnKey to Julian, their young nephew, as a desperate contingency.

One of the three may be dead. One may be alive, and may later bond with Julian over shared grief. A romance between two of the engineers is also a live possibility.