Glen Runciter is the eighty-year-old CEO of Runciter Associates, a New York-based firm employing inertials to block corporate espionage. He maintains a youthful physical appearance through artificial organ implants. He regularly travels to a Swiss moratorium to consult his deceased wife, relying heavily on her strategic business guidance to keep his company afloat.

Joe Chip works as a tester for Runciter Associates, evaluating the abilities of potential anti-telepath employees. He struggles with personal debt, spending his limited funds on automated apartment appliances that frequently refuse to operate. Despite his disorganized lifestyle, he understands the mechanical operations of his industry and accurately assesses new talent.

Pat Conley is an attractive young woman who arrives at Runciter Associates claiming to possess a rare anti-telepathic ability. Unlike standard inertials who block telepathy, she can revert matter and people to earlier states, effectively altering the present. She moves into Joe Chip's apartment immediately after her initial testing, demonstrating a brash confidence in her own power.

Jory is a young man whose consciousness is stored at the Swiss moratorium where Ella Runciter resides. He exists in the cryogenic state of half-life, where his unusually high cephalic activity allows him to overpower the frequencies of other nearby individuals. He frequently intrudes on private communications, acting as a disruptive force in the moratorium.

Ella is the deceased, twenty-year-old wife of Glen Runciter, existing in a state of extended consciousness known as half-life. She provides critical business advice and consultation for Runciter Associates from her resting place in a Swiss moratorium. Her energy diminishes with each resuscitation, and she struggles to maintain focus when stronger half-life signals interfere.

Ray Hollis commands an enterprise of powerful telepaths and precognitives. His organization conducts aggressive corporate espionage, creating the market demand for anti-telepaths like those employed by Runciter Associates. He operates as the chief adversary to Runciter's business model.

Herbert operates the Swiss moratorium where deceased individuals are stored in half-life. He views traditional burial as primitive and takes pride in his facility's technology, though he cannot always control the overlapping frequencies of the residents in his care. He worries about corporate espionage infiltrating his sensitive business.

Ashwood is an employee of Runciter Associates who scouts and recruits new talent for the firm. He brings Pat Conley to the company's attention, believing her unique abilities will revitalize the organization's struggling operations and provide an edge against the Hollis corporation.

Stanton Mick is an immensely wealthy businessman funding a top-secret interstellar drive project on the moon. He contacts Runciter Associates, claiming that telepaths have infiltrated his operations, and offers a substantial sum to secure a large team of inertials for protection.

Miss Wirt acts as the confidential assistant to Stanton Mick. She handles the in-person negotiations with Runciter Associates, requesting a specific team of eleven inertials for a high-paying mission on Luna while keeping project details secure.

Wendy Wright is an inertial employed by Runciter Associates. She is selected as one of the eleven team members deployed to Stanton Mick's moon base and shares a mutual attraction with Joe Chip, putting her at odds with Pat Conley.

Al is an inertial working for Runciter Associates. He is part of the special eleven-member team assembled to protect Stanton Mick's lunar operations and acts as a practical investigator when the team encounters bizarre environmental changes.

Don Denny is another inertial employed at Runciter Associates. He travels with his colleagues to the moon to fulfill the company's contract and remains with the core group as they attempt to make sense of their deteriorating situation.

Edie Dorn works as an anti-telepath for Runciter Associates. She is chosen to be part of the eleven-member squad dispatched to Luna and participates in examining the strange clues that appear following the mission.

Francesca Spanish is an inertial for Runciter Associates who travels to the lunar base. Upon arrival, she reports experiencing strange dreams involving telepaths, a phenomenon shared by other team members that raises early alarms about their mission.

Melipone is the city's top telepath and a frequent target of Runciter's anti-espionage efforts. His ability to change his facial features makes him difficult to track, and his sudden disappearance alarms Runciter enough to consult his deceased wife.