The narrator is a 45-year-old writer traveling to conduct a final interview with his aging former mentor. He struggles with severe anxiety regarding his daughter's school refusal and global crises. His dependence on his smartphone becomes an issue when he accidentally destroys it before the interview. He relies heavily on his own concept of fiction as a coping mechanism to organize a chaotic reality.

Thomas is a 90-year-old renowned intellectual and the narrator's former college mentor. He is brilliant but emotionally distant, prone to responding to personal issues with erudite digressions and literary references. His home reflects signs of disorganization, and he experiences cognitive changes that cause him to blend memories and identities. He possesses a charismatic but demanding presence that forces others to adapt to his reality.

Max is Thomas's son, a lawyer, and an old college friend of the narrator. He resents his father's emotional detachment and intellectual self-absorption, viewing his childhood as a period of profound neglect. He is a fiercely protective father to his own daughter, going to extreme lengths to accommodate her severe eating disorder. His pragmatic, emotional perspective directly contrasts with the narrator's theoretical approach to life.

Rosa is a curator and a longtime mutual friend of both Thomas and the narrator. She is deeply devoted to preserving Thomas's intellectual legacy and acts as a strict moral observer regarding his work. She values factual accuracy and ethical responsibility in biographical representation.

Mia is an anthropologist, the narrator's wife, and the mother of Eva. She operates as a grounding presence in her husband's life, managing their daughter's daily struggles while he travels. Her college years with the narrator involved a painful separation that fundamentally shaped his understanding of trust and memory.

Anisa is Mia's former college roommate who becomes a close confidante to the narrator during a period of intense grief. She provides the narrator with highly detailed, fabricated updates about Mia's life abroad. She currently works as a dean at a private high school in Atlanta.

Eva is the 10-year-old daughter of the narrator and Mia. She struggles with acute anxiety, often refusing to go to school due to fears about climate disasters, political instability, and changing friendships. Her distress serves as the primary focal point for her father's fears about the future.

Emmie is Max and Adelle's daughter, diagnosed with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). She is bright and social but experiences severe anxiety surrounding food consumption. Her condition forces her family to adopt radical, unconventional therapeutic approaches involving junk food and digital media.

Adelle is Max's wife and Emmie's mother. She works alongside Max to manage the confusing and contradictory medical advice regarding their daughter's severe eating restrictions. She shares the profound emotional toll of parenting a child in medical crisis.

Virginie is Max's mother and Thomas's former partner. She was a poet who struggled with a severe mental health condition and refused medication. Her tragic history remains a source of unresolved tension and defensive deflection for Thomas.

Andrés is a Spanish man whom Mia met during a study abroad program in college. He becomes a figure of intense fixation for the narrator, heavily featuring in the fabricated stories Anisa tells about Mia's life in New York.

Chloe is a faculty member and a former acquaintance of the narrator from his college years. She briefly assists the narrator during his technology crisis and provides updates on their mutual college friends.

Dr. Saro is a medical specialist in Santa Monica who diagnoses Emmie with ARFID. He proposes a radical deregulation approach to her eating habits, advising the family to remove all pressure and fill the house with junk food.

Arjun is a deceased college friend of the narrator and Max. He appears as a ghostly memory in the narrator's mind, particularly associated with a student play involving water and erased transparencies.

Samuel is Rosa's husband. He attends academic and memorial events alongside his wife and shares her critical perspective on how historical records should be preserved.