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#Character

Kynon Bancroft

Full name Kynon Bancroft
Pronouns he/him
Species Human
Affiliation ySteel
Role / occupation Engineer

Kynon Bancroft is the protagonist of The Engineer — Stories from Lukyr (SFL-TE). A wealthy engineer contracted under ySteel, he arrives on Lukyr Arix expecting a routine machine inspection and finds himself stripped of all standing when his corporate name tag is lost — the only form of identity legally recognised on the planet. The story follows his involuntary immersion in the conditions of the workers he has always dismissed.

Physical Appearance

Kynon dresses to signal status, adjusting his tie on disembarking and wearing his ySteel name tag prominently. No detailed physical description has been established — height, build, and age are unspecified. His tie, once a marker of professional standing, becomes his only available bandage after the guard's beating.

Personality

"This has all been a bunch of bullshit, and I'm just about ready to get out of here and have that guard executed by firing squad."

Kynon is deeply, performatively class-conscious. He treats service workers as obstacles, ignores subordinates mid-conversation, and extends contempt to the prisoners around him on the basis of what they represent rather than anything they have done. His sense of self is inseparable from his corporate standing: the moment his name tag is gone, he experiences not just physical danger but an identity crisis he cannot fully name.

Denial as survival strategy. Kynon's first instinct upon seeing guards is relief — he believes explanation will restore his standing. He adjusts his suit and attempts to speak without permission. Only after his second beating does partial recognition begin, when it starts to dawn on him that the people in control have no regard for his life.

Technical knowledge as identity anchor. When stripped of his corporate status, Kynon clings to professional expertise. He identifies the suborbital craft by model (Lightning8000 by Novaris Dynamics, a ySteel subsidiary) and critiques the pilot's skill. He recognizes the lost rock drill as a valuable model. His engineering knowledge remains his only stable reference point.

Fear overrides contempt — barely. Terrified of the Living Caves and unable to face them alone, Kynon approaches Teeva Jakoby for partnership despite his earlier hostility. He resists the impulse consciously before exhaustion and fear force the concession.

Dissociation under extreme danger. Kynon survives hours in the caves by mentally withdrawing — daydreaming rather than confronting the mortal danger. He and Teeva do not speak the entire time. His pride remains intact on the surface even as his internal coherence frays.

Background

Background not yet established beyond his current professional role. He has operated on worlds like Lukyr Arix before — he understands the importance of corporate affiliation for safety, he knows procedure calls for leaving the planet to replace a lost tag, and he describes Arix's conditions as something he recognises rather than discovers. The nature of his wealth, his history with ySteel, and his life before the story are not established.

Relationships

Story Arc

Chapter 1 — The Name Tag

Kynon arrives on Lukyr Arix and proceeds directly to a ySteel factory at Arix Theta-7 for a machine inspection. He clears an obstruction (a dropped wrench) but loses his name tag inside the machine. A guard finds him without identification, beats him with an electric baton, and imprisons him in an underground rock chamber with roughly twenty other detainees. He refuses help from the one-armed woman, learns he cannot leave without triggering his cuffs, observes the bleak prison economy (mandatory disassembly labor, piped sludge food, chip-based rationing), and eventually accepts water from her cup after hours of thirst. The chapter ends with Kynon unsettled by her continued goodwill toward him.

Chapter 2 — The Caves

Guards arrive. Kynon attempts to explain his situation, expecting his status to protect him; the one-armed woman reacts with visible alarm. He receives another severe beating and loses consciousness. Upon waking, he and approximately twenty prisoners are transported via Yedyr-powered suborbital craft from The Wasp south through a violent storm to the Living Caves — a deadly kyrant mine infested with Kyrantex Kindynoda, intelligent bacteria that kill workers through even minor suit breaches.

Prisoners are issued protective gear and sent into the cave network with the promise of 100 chips to whoever recovers a lost handheld rock drill. On the rocky outcrop at the entrance, Kynon witnesses a prisoner murdered by his partner over an unspecified disagreement — the victim dies instantly from a minor blade graze due to bacterial exposure. Terrified and unable to return to the sealed ship, Kynon reluctantly approaches the one-armed woman. She agrees to search together.

They enter the caves using digital navigation markers. After hours of searching — during which Kynon endures by dissociating — their time-to-return alarm sounds. On the way back, their navigation markers vanish. The chapter ends with them lost underground.

Chapter 3 — The Darkness

Kynon and Teeva Jakoby (the one-armed woman, who introduces herself by name) spend hours searching for markers or an exit without success. Hunger forces Kynon to activate his suit's emergency intravenous nutrition system — a painful process he endures while Teeva watches with concern. When she suggests they should know each other, Kynon responds with hostility, insisting their relationship is fixed by social hierarchy — engineers and workers cannot be friends. Teeva quietly contradicts him, telling him she does not hate him.

Kynon wakes later, takes both their lights, and tries to abandon Teeva. He discovers an underground lake and encounters glowing creatures that chase him back to where Teeva still waits. Terrified and lost, he apologizes. They resume searching together, creating physical pebble markers to map explored tunnels. Teeva deduces that the digital markers were deliberately deleted and realizes they can navigate by following increasing Kyrantex Kindynoda concentration toward an exit.

The method works: they emerge 300 meters below their entry point, directly into the main mining pit. With oxygen running low and bacteria concentration a hundred times higher, they signal a passing resource transport. After weighing their options, they choose to be dropped at the surface rather than taken to a city that would identify them as prisoners.

Chapter 4 — The March

The transport pilot lands them on Arix's surface, warning that bacteria are in the suit's seams and there is no sunlight to sterilize them. Teeva asks for directions to the nearest ySteel prep outpost for suit cleansing; the pilot estimates 30km east. Their situation is dire: contaminated suits, no way to remove them until reaching a cleansing room, a 6-7 hour trek, and oxygen lasting perhaps 7 hours. Kynon introduces himself by name as they begin walking, then walks ahead to avoid further discussion. Teeva smiles but does not reply.

At 34% oxygen, they approach a canyon with a strange green river flowing through it — the liquid has lower viscosity than water and strikes Kynon as wrong. Teeva descends despite his hesitation; when he follows carelessly, he triggers a rockslide that carries them both closer to the river and injures his shoulder.

Something in the canyon induces paranoid murderous thoughts in both of them. Teeva accuses Kynon of having been sent to kill her. Kynon flees and arms himself with a sharp pebble. He then undergoes a perceptual shift, recognizing that their behavior is out of character and that they have no real grounds to suspect each other. He notices that a large rock blocks the source of the effect and calls to Teeva to get behind it. She refuses at first — convinced it is a trap — but eventually joins him, returning to herself and horrified by what came over her. They deduce the canyon's radiation river is the cause. With no safe way forward, they run in opposite directions — diagonally away from each other and up the canyon walls — to prevent harming one another under the radiation's influence.

Kynon reaches flat ground, collapses, and is found by Teeva minutes later. He acknowledges that his earlier hostility toward her was far worse than anything the radiation induced. He tells her that he is beginning to understand she is not as bad as he had thought. Teeva smiles reluctantly, noticing the caveat.

Chapter 5 — The Factory

Oxygen critically low (28% for Teeva Jakoby, 32% for Kynon), they follow the radiation river canyon searching for a crossing. Teeva asks how Kynon ended up imprisoned. He explains: he lost his name tag, and without it ySteel assumed he was trespassing and sent him directly to the caves. Teeva is shocked that even professionals are treated no better; Kynon acknowledges it as a facade that collapsed far faster than he would have imagined. Kynon asks about her story; she declines to share it yet. He accepts her boundary.

Kynon asks about the absence of animals and plants. Teeva explains that everything that naturally lived on Arix is dead — victims of industry. Oxygen drops through 23%, 17%, 11%, and 5%. They spot an abandoned factory near a mountain. Teeva's oxygen reaches zero and she collapses. Kynon carries her to the factory, finds a decontamination chamber, processes her suit, then breaks her visor with a thrown brick to let in atmospheric oxygen. She wakes with severe memory loss from anoxia and only gradually recovers her recollections.

After both decontaminate, they debate next steps. Kynon insists that if he can reach someone who can validate his identity he can recover everything. Teeva warns him that the disappearance of their navigation markers was likely deliberate — someone who put him in the caves does not want him returning to talk. Kynon accepts the logic but still believes he can reach the right people. Teeva proposes fleeing to worker cities a 7-day march away; Kynon refuses, insisting they will find another way. They agree to detour to the ySteel prep outpost (adding 2 days) for intact suits and supplies.

While Kynon charges his suit, Teeva explores the factory. She finds an atmospheric traveler in good condition in the hangar, a factory floor with running machines, a dozen human skeletons with knives sticking out of them, and a large glowing kyrant rock — likely the radiation source that killed the workers and polluted the river. They decide to investigate the traveler and leave quickly.

Chapter 6 — The Skies of Arix

Kynon inspects the atmospheric traveler and determines it was prepared for flight approximately 100 years ago but never used. The engines have been dangerously modified to allow vertical thrust for shorter takeoffs. Despite calling it a death trap, Kynon accepts Teeva's reasoning: a 2-hour flight exposes them to fewer danger sources for far less time than a 7-day surface march.

More significantly, Teeva warns that the rest of Arix is worse than the Living Caves — not because of environmental hazards but because of people. Kynon recalls her mention of someone she is in trouble with (Helzo Alcantar) and accepts her judgment. They skip the ySteel prep outpost entirely and fly directly toward the worker cities. Kynon successfully pilots the craft through a terrifying takeoff, the modified engines providing just enough downward thrust.

Within minutes, they encounter a massive supercell storm — continuous red lightning, tornadoes, and debris including pipes and building roofs over 100 meters. The storm is still forming and expanding, intercepting their flight path. Teeva passes out from g-forces. Structural integrity warnings begin blaring.

Kynon decides to climb rather than fly under or around the storm. From 3000 to 7000 meters, the century-old craft breaks apart incrementally. At 7000 meters they break through into a temporary calm pocket within the storm. Kynon attempts to wait for the pocket to shift toward the storm's edge, flying circles inside it. But the storm keeps expanding, the pocket is engulfed again, and the engines fail completely. Kynon states aloud that there is nothing he can do. Seconds later, the storm ejects them sideways, but something massive — probably factory debris — strikes the craft and sends it spinning out of control. Kynon pulls the ejection lever.

Chapter 7 — The Traveling Stars

The ejection system works. Both seats eject with explosive jolts. Kynon's parachute activates and stabilizes; Teeva's also deploys (she is still unconscious). He lands safely but painfully. Seeing the storm depart, he is overcome with relief at his good fortune.

Teeva wakes shortly after with no serious injuries. Neither knows their location — they are in featureless wasteland. Kynon calculates they were airborne for 26 minutes but their position relative to the worker city is uncertain, potentially anywhere from a few hours to over two weeks on foot.

Teeva teaches Kynon to navigate by transport craft: tens of thousands of craft fly fixed routes above Arix, visible as colored lights. By identifying ySteel's private route (a straight line of yellow lights) and nearby vertical roundabouts, Teeva determines they are approximately 3 hours from the worker city.

While Teeva navigates, Kynon examines the ground: metallic sand in reds, greens, and grays with rusty scrap underneath — likely an ancient landfill weathered over centuries. Kynon is surprised to encounter ySteel's transport route. Teeva reveals that ySteel controls roughly 60% of all industry on Arix, holds over half the seats of the governor's board, and has other board representatives in its pocket. Kynon is shocked — he thought they only made steel. Teeva explains how the corporation drowned in money, branched into every market, and ultimately came to make the laws. Kynon admits he never engaged with those structures: he did his job and they paid him.

From atop a metallic dune, they sight the worker city. As they walk, Kynon reflects on how much more accustomed to Teeva he has grown and how unexpectedly functional their dynamic has become, then immediately registers anxiety at the prospect of separating. The needle in his chest becomes more psychologically present as the city approaches. Kynon tells Teeva he has been warned worker cities are dangerous; she corrects his expectations — they are communities of good people in difficult circumstances and are safe unless someone disturbs the community or actively upholds the oppression of others. Kynon expresses doubt he can navigate those norms; Teeva assures him it is not as difficult a concept as he fears, and offers to do the talking.

Chapter 8 — The Blind Man

Kynon and Teeva Jakoby approach the storm-damaged worker city. Hundreds of people move through disarrayed tents. Kynon notices a luxury spaceship from Lukyr Zora parked at the edge. Permanent buildings include a food dispensary, hospital, and dormitories well beyond capacity. They separate: Kynon will have his suit needle removed at the hospital, Teeva will talk to people.

Navigating alone, Kynon struggles to find the hospital despite having spotted it from outside and feels constantly watched. An older man calls him by first name — everyone in the city seems to know his name — and removes the needle successfully. Kynon receives fresh clothes.

Stepping outside expecting Teeva, Kynon instead finds her sitting with a disheveled man some distance away. While he waits, Cellan Mirev — a journalist from Lukyr Zora investigating working conditions — approaches and offers Kynon a ride home in exchange for appearing on his show. Kynon recognizes this as his way off the planet but decides he cannot abandon Teeva. He asks whether he can bring someone else; Cellan readily agrees.

Teeva finishes her conversation and approaches. On hearing about the journalist's offer, she is skeptical — journalists have come and gone every few years without improving conditions. When Kynon tells her the journalist will take him home, she looks away. She acknowledges she does not blame him for wanting to leave, but argues he could help far more effectively by staying.

Kynon tells her he has arranged for her to come too — an offer he delivers with unintentional pride. Teeva sighs softly and responds that she almost thought he had understood. She points to the man she had been speaking with — Petir Cayedn, who is blind — and explains that Kynon's thinking has merely extended upward to include her without expanding outward to include everyone else. Petir was an engineer like Kynon; he went blind ten years ago through no fault of his own and cannot return to his profession as Kynon can.

Teeva then reveals that she killed her superiors, and asks Kynon where that places her in his hierarchy. She tells him that she is no better than Petir, that Kynon is no better than Petir, and that until he understands this he cannot help anyone. Kynon protests that he is helping; Teeva responds that if he still does not understand, she has failed him, and that his leaving means he will have to work it out alone. When Kynon asks whether she would rather stay than leave with him, she acknowledges that she did come to enjoy his company near the end — but that does not change what she has been trying to do for years; she does not believe she deserves to leave until conditions are better for everyone, and she does not believe he does either.

Kynon feels himself getting angry. He tells himself and her that if anyone has earned the right to leave, it is both of them. When he looks back at her she meets him with the same endless kindness he has come to know — and has started to feel sick of. He storms off, deciding she is not worth continuing to speak to. It is a feeling he has known all his life, but this time it feels false, untrustworthy.

Walking to the ship, the difficulty of navigating gives him time to reconsider, which he was hoping to avoid. He feels judged by almost everyone he passes. Teeva's words will not leave him alone; her conviction, he thinks, must have been strong to make her abandon him like that — then catches himself: he wonders whether she is really the one abandoning him.

Kynon boards the ship and asks to leave immediately. Before boarding he hesitates, looking at the crowd gathered near the traveler; they seem to watch him almost expectantly. He finds no familiar face and boards. Laura Mirev, Cellan's wife and the pilot, welcomes him and asks whether his companion will be joining them. He feels a sting in his chest, turns away, and tells her quietly that they are not coming.

Still staring out the window as the engines start, he thinks he sees a woman with one arm watching him with a sad expression — but on second glance she is gone.

Epilogue. Ascending from Arix, Kynon sees the world below: imposing factories and hollow cavities where continents had once been. He is glad to be away from all that.

Back on Lukyr Prime in the following days, he appears on Cellan's show and tells the world the truth about Arix. The applause is thundering, deafening — but then nothing happens. The world simply keeps turning. Kynon returns to his regular comforts, trying to enjoy them while knowing how quickly they could disappear. None of it feels the same. Teeva's words stay with him, and every time he sees a crowd, he counts their arms.

Open Questions

Sources

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