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#Character

Alex Prane

Full name Alex Prane
Pronouns she/her
Species Human
Origin Lukyr Qyvor — of Brisk descent; ancestral home is Lukyr Prime (formerly Perind)
Role / occupation Computer scientist

Alex Prane is a computer scientist originally based on Lukyr Qyvor in year 7354, romantic partner of Tomas Lithe. She provides crucial technical expertise when The Glowing Element begins communicating via computer corruption, ultimately helping discover the connection to approaching entity SYMMETRY. After Tomas is conscripted by the Royal Research Guild, she is relocated to Lukyr Prime as a condition of his contract, though separated from him upon arrival.

Brisk descent: Alex is of Brisk descent — the original settlers of Lukyr Prime (who called it Perind). Under Rovin Warpine's rule, Brisk and non-Brisk are ineligible to marry. Her family has not been to Prime in approximately 100 years; she herself has never been there.

Physical Appearance

No physical description provided in Chapter 1.

Personality

Patient: Calmly responds to Tomas' tech frustrations, barely looks up from reading when he complains his computer won't start.

Skeptical but open-minded: Doubts material communication hypothesis ("Could have been a weird coincidence") but agrees to experiment. When connection confirmed, admits: "You know, I wasn't serious about pointing out the connection."

Sarcastic and teasing:

Professional packrat: Hoards old data drives — "perfectly normal for people in my profession." When Tomas calls it "maniac behavior," she points at his lab full of redundant equipment and old experiments: "I'm not alone with that, am I?"

Collaborative: Readily helps Tomas when asked, willing to join his work long-term when he needs computer expertise.

Professional Background

Profession: Computer scientist/engineer

Skills:

Tools: Uses phone for diagnostics — phone can connect to computer internals via cable, read data drives, run comparison scripts

Work materials: Heavy box of old data drives she doesn't need or that don't contain critical data (kept for professional reasons)

Story Arc

SFL-TA Chapter 2 — Relocation and Separation

Reunion at ZRDC lab: Alex rushes to the lab where Tomas is being detained and embraces him. He explains the situation: the Royal Research Guild is verifying his findings; he'll likely be required to work on Prime indefinitely.

Fear and warning: Alex is visibly frightened. She warns Tomas quietly: "Rovin hasn't been in power for 400 years by being nice to people." She urges him to be careful — not to ask for too much, or Rovin's people might find it easier to dispose of him.

Relocation secured: Tomas negotiates her inclusion in the Guild's arrangements. Telling the scientist she is of Brisk descent — a disclosure with real risk — is part of how the exception is granted. The Guild scientist grants her relocation on the basis of Tomas being an "exceptional asset."

Defiance: When it seems relocation might not be secured, Alex whispers: "If they don't relocate me, I'll relocate myself." A moment of quiet defiance.

The journey: Escorted by a Royal Brigade Knight, they travel via armored van to Starpointed's space elevator station — skipping every queue. Alex spends the elevator ride engaging Tomas in technical discussions to distract herself from distress: questioning why elevators don't do shorter, more frequent runs rather than one massive trip.

When they arrive on Prime, Alex is asked how she feels about going "home" — with her being of Brisk descent, technically Prime (formerly Perind) is her ancestral world. She pushes back: "That's not my home. I have never been there, and neither has anyone from my family for like a hundred years."

Separation: At the Guild's headquarters train stop, Tomas is taken to the research lab and Alex is sent on toward their accommodation. No timeline is given for when they will see each other again.

SFL-TA Chapter 8 — Reunion

Alex does not appear during the intercept mission chapters. However, at the end of Chapter 8, Tomas regains consciousness after his direct contact with the probe and finds Alex seated beside him in a brightly lit room, gently caressing his cheek. No explanation is given for how this came about — whether the probe transported him, or she somehow reached him, is unknown. This is the first time they have been together since her separation at the Guild headquarters train stop in Chapter 2.

SFL-TA Chapter 3 — Left Behind

Alex does not appear in Chapter 3. She is at the relocation housing on Lukyr Prime, separated from Tomas since their arrival.

Tomas asks Miran Keldt to let him see her before the mission. Miran hesitates before denying the request — the Emperor personally demanded the mission start immediately. Barely 30 minutes remain before launch.

Tomas boards the research ship without seeing Alex. He stares out the window as the engines fire, regretting the missed farewell — but unable to do anything about it. If he is unlucky, he might never see her again.

Alex's situation on Prime — in relocation housing, chipped with a locator device, in a city her family hasn't visited in 100 years, separated from Tomas with no timeline for reunion — remains unresolved.

SFL-TA Chapter 6 — Still On Tomas's Mind

Alex does not appear in Chapter 6. Aboard the intercept ship, when Tomas suspects Byran Kale and Miryana Dorense of altering navigation data at the bridge consoles but has no way to access or verify it, he murmurs to himself: "If only I had Alex here now... She could help me access their data anyway."

This is the first explicit acknowledgment that her data access and analysis skills extend beyond the Glowing Element experiment — she could, in principle, retrieve or audit computer console data from which Tomas is locked out.

SFL-TA Chapter 1 — Discovery and Analysis

Computer repair: Reading on tablet when Tomas complains computer won't start. Investigates skeptically ("Have you tried pressing the on button?"), then diagnoses core system file corruption. Replaces file, keeps corrupted version for analysis.

First message discovery: Tomas finds "almost" in his test log corruption. Alex examines the corrupted system file she'd kept — finds "there" in middle of system data and binary code.

Notes this is very unusual: "Random corruptions aren't unheard of in Computers, but they're very rare, and when they do happen, they don't usually create cohesive words like that." Plus Tomas' computer is proper model with corruption protection.

"Almost there" forms a sentence.

Skepticism: When Tomas suspects material intentionally communicated, Alex doubts it — points out he asked material to share something after corruption already occurred, chronologically impossible. Still, agrees to experiment: "Sure." (smile showing both doubt and determination)

The experiment: Retrieves heavy box of old data drives, places them at varying distances from material (directly touching, few cm away, half meter away, full meter away). Wait three hours while she reads fantasy novels.

The connection: Tomas tells her about approaching object that appeared suddenly. She jokes: "So are you saying it's … 'Almost there'?" — making connection to material's message. Claims: "I'm not suggesting anything, just making connections."

Analysis of results: Checks data drives after three hours. Finds numbers — explains they're "numbers in text form, so specifically meant to be numbers, not numbers representing something else." Tomas doesn't understand. She snort-laughs at his confusion: "I'm sorry, I really don't know how else to explain it." Sends numbers to him.

Confirmation: When Tomas confirms parameters match approaching object's location 73 minutes ago, Alex sits down with overwhelmed exhale: "You know, I wasn't serious about pointing out the connection."

SFL-TA Chapter 9 — Epilogue

Reunion: Alex is seated beside Tomas when he wakes in a medical facility (how she came to be there is unexplained). She greets him warmly: "Good morning. Welcome back." When Tomas struggles to respond, tears welling up in his eyes, the two embrace. He cries into her shoulder, then kisses her cheek several times before holding her face and staring at her intently. He says: "I can't believe I have you back." Alex smirks: "Well arguably, if anyone's got anyone back…" He tells her to shut up. They embrace again, both smiling widely.

Learning what happened: After Tomas is checked by a doctor, Alex sits with him. She explains she's working off secondhand information from the crew and that she found it difficult to grasp. She asks what he remembers last. He notes his memories are chronologically scrambled — all memories after boarding the ship are affected. Over the next half hour, Alex listens as Tomas recounts his entire void experience. Many times she has to dismiss details she can't understand, but she grasps the important elements.

The aftermath (relayed to Tomas): Alex explains what Kristopher Yette witnessed after Tomas touched the probe:

She also reports crew status: Byran Kale is locked up, Mera Serenol went to a genetics lab, and Kristopher Yette and Miryana Dorense are doing well.

Doctor visit: A doctor reports that despite crew testimony suggesting severe trauma, Tomas is in perfect health (except for pre-existing issues). Psychological diagnosis is outstanding. Tomas is cleared for release and immediately expresses a desire to continue his research.

Leaving together: Alex, Tomas, and Kristopher leave the hospital. When Kristopher asks if Tomas really wants to go back to "that thing," Tomas confirms he does. Alex predicted earlier that he would.

Relationships

Tomas (Romantic Partner)

Close, collaborative relationship. Live together. Playful dynamic:

Division of expertise: Alex handles computer diagnostics and data analysis, Tomas handles physics and material science. When he asks for long-term help with computer aspects of his work, she agrees.

Reading preferences contrast: Alex reads fantasy novels to catch up on good stories she's missed. Tomas reads scientific papers on gravitational anomalies. She teases: "I'm almost afraid to ask, but what have you been reading?"

The Glowing Element

Initially distant from it — cautiously steps toward it then back when placing first data drive: "Are you sure it's safe to get close to it?" Tomas promises it is.

Becomes instrumental in proving element's communication ability through her data analysis skills.

Open Questions

  1. How will Alex's Brisk identity affect her treatment on Prime? She is effectively in Rovin's territory — a Brisk person in the Empire's capital.

  2. Will she be given work, or is she merely housed near Tomas? Her computer science skills seem relevant to the SYMMETRY project.

  3. How did Alex come to be beside Tomas when he woke? The mechanism is unexplained — was she brought there by the probe, or was Tomas returned to wherever she was waiting on Prime?

  4. Does her Brisk heritage give her any connection to the underground Cities of Perind on Prime?

  5. What role will Alex play in Tomas's continued probe research? She predicted he would return to it — will she be involved?

Sources

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