Jane is an intelligent, highly capable teenager raised entirely off the grid by her survivalist father. Homeschooled in advanced philosophy but lacking basic social interactions, she seeks connection through occasional visits to a local bookstore and, eventually, the early internet. Her natural curiosity drives her to question her isolated upbringing and look for hidden truths about her family's past, particularly concerning the mother she barely remembers.

Saul is Jane's fiercely intelligent, anti-technology father. A former Harvard-educated prodigy who worked in early computer science, he abandoned society to raise his daughter in the remote wilderness. He pens a philosophical zine called *Libertaire* and holds extreme views on modern progress, maintaining tight control over Jane's education and her exposure to the outside world.

Jennifer exists primarily in Jane's memories and through stories told by Saul. Jane grows up believing her mother was a loving kindergarten teacher who died in a tragic car accident. However, old photographs and documents prompt Jane to question this narrative and seek the truth about her mother's actual life and career in the tech industry.

Lionel is a twenty-one-year-old Stanford graduate working at a burgeoning tech company called Signal in San Francisco. A self-described social misfit, he thrives in the early days of the internet boom. He becomes Jane's first real connection to the outside world, offering her a different perspective on technology, society, and personal freedom.

Heidi is the teenage daughter of the local bookstore owner. Originally homeschooled due to a spinal injury, she provides Jane with her only peer friendship. As Heidi transitions to a traditional high school and a more typical teenage life, her evolving worldview contrasts sharply with Jane's isolated existence.

Lina is an upbeat, optimistic bookstore owner in Bozeman, Montana. She serves as a rare supportive adult figure in Jane's life, offering book recommendations and frequently encouraging Saul to allow Jane more access to traditional education. She is open-minded enough to stock Saul's radical writings on her shelves despite their fringe ideology.

Desi is a loud, blue-haired young woman who meets Jane on a cross-country bus trip. She shares her Walkman and introduces Jane to new music, representing the chaotic, unpredictable nature of the outside world that Jane has never experienced.

Frank is Lionel's boss at the tech company Signal in San Francisco. Operating in the fast-paced, unstructured environment of the 1990s tech boom, he oversees an office characterized by long hours, minimum wage pay, and unconventional sleeping arrangements for programmers.

Ross is the founder of Signal, a tech company that transitioned from a magazine into a booming digital platform. He is an enthusiastic proponent of the internet's equalizing power, giving speeches about the digital revolution that offer a starkly different perspective on progress than the views Jane grew up with.

Samson is a lone wild wolf that lives in a den near Jane and Saul's remote cabin. Jane forms a quiet, private attachment to the animal, watching him in the woods despite her father's strict rules against treating wild animals as pets.