Petra is a 12-year-old girl with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that limits her peripheral vision. She dreams of becoming a cuentista (storyteller) rather than a scientist like her parents. When placed in stasis for a 380-year journey to the planet Sagan, a malfunction allows her to retain her memories while a faction called the Collective reprograms the rest of the ship. She relies on the traditional myths and folktales she learned on Earth to maintain her humanity.

Lita is Petra's elderly grandmother who stays behind on Earth when the planet faces imminent destruction. As a traditional cuentista, she encourages Petra to adapt and embellish myths to fit new circumstances. She approaches her own fate with calm acceptance, passing an obsidian pendant to her granddaughter before the evacuation.

Javier is Petra's seven-year-old brother, distinguished by a birthmark on his thumb. He lacks his sister's vision problems and offers to act as her eyes if she ever needs help. His favorite childhood book is *Dreamers*, an item that holds significant emotional weight as the family prepares to leave Earth.

Nyla is the leader of the Collective, an organization enforcing absolute uniformity among the ship's passengers to eliminate future conflicts. She is biologically engineered, featuring a pale complexion with visible veins and blond hair styled in a pretzel braid. She views the destruction of Earth as a necessary cleansing that allows humanity to start over without the burden of history.

Voxy is a six-year-old boy biologically engineered by the Collective. He shares living quarters with Chancellor Nyla but harbors a secret fascination with the concept of differences. After encountering a physical book, he develops an intense desire to experience a world filled with stories and individual freedom.

Ben is a young caretaker assigned to look after the passengers in stasis. He values literature and promises to load mythology programs into Petra's mental feed while she sleeps. Recognizing the threat posed by the Collective, he takes significant risks to preserve the creative and historical legacy of humanity within Petra's mind.

Petra's mother is a botanist living in the futuristic American Southwest in 2061. Her scientific expertise secures her family's place on the evacuation ship heading to Sagan. She keeps Petra's vision condition a secret from the authorities to ensure her daughter is not disqualified from the journey.

A geologist who teaches his daughter to respect the earth by only taking what she needs. He voices strong skepticism about the Collective's early broadcasts on Earth, arguing that true harmony cannot be achieved by erasing diversity. He views historical knowledge as the foundation for a functional society.

Rubio is a human passenger who has been reprogrammed by the Collective and assigned the designation Zeta-3. Stripped of his Earth memories, he serves the ship's needs but quickly finds himself captivated by the stories Petra shares in the dark.

Assigned the name Zeta-4, Feathers is a little blond girl who occasionally whimpers in her sleep due to suppressed memories of Earth. Petra gives her the nickname "Feathers" and uses bedtime tales to comfort her when her mental conditioning falters.

Suma is a young member of the Zeta team who struggles with the Collective's conditioning. She is repeatedly put into stasis to wipe away her resistance. Before losing her memories, she owned a distinctive unicorn sweatshirt that accompanied her on the journey from Earth.

Crick is Chancellor Nyla's male assistant, biologically engineered to share her translucent skin, violet eyes, and blond hair. He functions as an enforcer for the Collective, distributing sedative pills and escorting subjects to their assigned workstations or reprogramming pods.

Len is a member of the Collective selected to test the planetary environment. Unlike the human Zetas, his engineered biology reacts violently to the intense rays of Sagan's two suns, causing his skin to blister severely during the expedition.

Glish is a passenger who openly questions the strict regulations imposed by the ship's leadership. Her verbal dissent leads to swift intervention by the Collective's enforcers, demonstrating the zero-tolerance policy for independent thought.

A physically massive member of the Collective, nicknamed "the Prawn" by Petra. He functions as a physical enforcer, violently removing dissenters like Glish from the communal areas to dispose of them.

The Lead Monitor is a supervisor among the caretakers assigned to the ship. She reveals early sympathies for the Collective's ideology, suggesting that the lack of politicians presents an opportunity to create a completely new history. She actively tries to block elective mythology programs from being downloaded to passengers.