P. Burke is a neglected 17-year-old girl lacking family, friends, and a conventional support system. Believing herself physically monstrous and harboring deep self-hatred, she accepts an offer from the Global Transmissions Corporation (GTX) to leave her life behind entirely. Placed in an underground capsule in Carbondale, she becomes a "Remote" operator, utilizing her exceptionally adaptable brain to animate and control a beautiful, artificially grown celebrity body miles away. She experiences life entirely through this synthetic vessel.

Delphi is a perfectly engineered 15-year-old celebrity body grown by the GTX corporation to market products to the wealthy elite. Though she appears as an independent, joyful, and innocent starlet to the public, she is physically inert without P. Burke operating her remotely through the carrier field. She exists purely as a corporate asset designed to be desired and observed, functioning with deliberately dulled physical senses and zero capacity for sexual feeling.

Paul is a confident, rebellious film director working on "marginal creativity" projects that protest the established, consumerist order. As the son of a powerful GTX executive, he enjoys immense privilege despite actively despising his father's corporate system. He possesses a strong, assertive energy that sharply contrasts with the artificial celebrity world, immediately fixating on Delphi in an attempt to pull her away from corporate control.

Joe is a technical specialist at GTX who oversees P. Burke's physical integration into her underground capsule. Unlike others in the corporation who value only superficial beauty, he appreciates P. Burke specifically for her complex cerebral capabilities and unique digital connectivity. He treats her with genuine tenderness and cares for her physical body while she operates as a Remote.

Mr. Cantle is a quiet, fatherly GTX official who issues P. Burke her instructions and outlines her new life as an undercover product influencer. He operates as a pragmatic company man, valuing economic order and profit above all else. While he prefers not to use harsh physical punishments, he views the Remotes strictly as highly valuable corporate investments that must be kept in line.

Also referred to as the "sharp-faced lad," this unnamed GTX employee has climbed to a senior position at a young age. He strictly controls Delphi's itinerary and the carrier field that links her to her underground capsule. He is highly ambitious, cunning, and perfectly willing to inflict physical pain on Remotes to maintain corporate discipline.

Davy is a young male celebrity Remote working for a smaller corporate firm. Like Delphi, his artificial body possesses severely diminished physical senses and lacks a conventional sex drive. He provides Delphi with safe, entirely platonic companionship in a highly scrutinized public environment.

The Spanish Prince is an 81-year-old aristocrat who marries the teenage Delphi in an extravagant, corporate-sponsored ceremony. He approaches the marriage entirely as a financial acquisition, viewing Delphi as a decorative, sexualized object purchased for his personal collection.

Rima is a former celebrity whom Paul Isham loved deeply. She died under mysterious circumstances, fueling Paul's deep resentment toward the GTX corporation. Delphi bears an uncanny physical resemblance to her.

Paul Isham III is a senior executive sitting on the GTX corporate board. He represents the established, ultra-wealthy order that prioritizes passive consumerism and strict social control. His immense status inadvertently shields his rebellious son from severe consequences.

The Narrator is a forceful, highly cynical voice speaking from an undefined point in the future. She uses unusual, futuristic slang to tell P. Burke's story, frequently pausing the action to mock her audience's obsession with capital growth and to offer sardonic commentary on the nature of consumerism.