RAND

Rand is a worker bee with a philosophical bent passionate about improving the efficiency of his neighborhood’s operations. Before the Collapse he was a small-time drug dealer trying to support himself and his wife Anisa on the margins of society. He connected with Iona and Katrine after his wife left him for the Meld, channeling his pain into resistance work. He has since gone missing, and his comrades believe the Meld may be involved.

ANISA

Anisa is a counselor, ambassador and Meld Shepherd with a wide range of skills and a preternatural ability to read people. Before the Collapse, she was a peace activist living with her husband Rand. She suffered from crippling depression and anxiety about the general zeitgeist filled with disasters like human-caused climate change as well as general social malaise, which made it impossible for her to hold down a job. She went into the Meld at the very beginning and found her purpose.

DR. SOMMER

Dr. Sommer was a world-renowned psychotherapist, computer scientist and philosopher, as well as one of the original architects of the Meld. As a member of the final U.S. President’s cabinet, she helped orchestrate the coup to fold America into the Meld, and she played a key role in the development of the Atlas AI. Though her age has advanced, she remains sharp and youthful, serving as senior Shepherd administrator and global strategist. An avid Go enthusiast, her charm is disarming, but her core is steely determination; she is committed to saving the human race at any cost.