History Characters / HiveMind2016

* HatedByAll: Thirteen years as a JerkAss who can't be punished because his telepathy is that important to the Hive can do this to a person. It's clear that none of the other telepaths like him, and many members of his unit can't stand him either.

* JerkAss: He takes out his anger at his flaky telepathy on his team. It is strongly implied that he was stabbed by a member of his own team. [[spoiler:Becomes much more so when he declares war on Amber over her role in Olivia's reset and her usage of the Light Angel codename.]]

FirstPersonPerspective narrator and protagonist. She has no idea what she'll be good at or what use the Hive will find for her as she goes into Lottery, only to discover that she is an (exceptionally rare) full telepath.

* CaneFu: Forge picks up that the ebony cane that Wilder uses is clearly designed to be a weapon in addition to its use as a support.
* RespectedByTheRespected: Wilder's status as a living legend is cemented when Adika unhesitatingly lets him take command of Amber's defense in a crisis, where he had previously refused to hand it off to anyone else including his own deputies or Claire's final strike team leader even if that meant letting someone else take charge of a crucial strike.

A member of Amber's strike team. [[spoiler:Gets kicked out of the unit for repeated failures and goes full wild bee, planning to kill Adika and Amber.]]

Initial candidate for Amber’s liaison team leader. Fired just before the unit went operational due to FantasticRacism against telepaths. [[spoiler:Venus, in Jupiter’s group of saboteurs.]]

Amber's father. He was raised on Level 14, but ended up on Level 27, working on breeding Comfort Cats. [[spoiler:He was a duty child of Claire's oldest child, given up for adoption.]]

Amber’s younger brother by five years; he goes to teen level just after Amber’s Lottery. [[spoiler:A borderline telepath, possibly due to being Claire's great-grandson.]]

The Hive's Gold Commander, in charge of the defense of the Hive against both internal and external enemies. [[spoiler:Married to Ambassador Paula, younger sibling of Elliott, as of ''Adversary'']]

Head of Hive Politics, a Level 1 Senior Ambassador. He is the oldest of six Duty Children, and was an avid surfer on Teen Level. [[spoiler:Head of the Council of Gaia, the secret council that runs the Hive.]]

A legendary Strike Team leader from Claire's unit, and [[spoiler:Amber and Gregas's great-grandfather]]. Despite being in his nineties and walking with a cane, he is still considered a deadly combatant.

Admiral Tregarth's wife, who came in as driftwood from a French-speaking Hive's Sea Farm. She acts as a general troubleshooter for the Sea Farm, as well as working on the ships sometimes to help out. [[spoiler:Formerly known as Celandine, the woman that Morton kidnapped and tried to force to love him.]]

* StalkerWithoutACrush: He followed everyone in his corridor back to their home levels so he could tell where they were from.

* Jerkass: What he comes across as in Lucas's recollections of him prior to his abandonment of his family and subsequent reset. Mention is made of him pointedly grumbling about language details cluttering up his imprint and how primitive the Hive's electrical items are, not because he was actually bothered by those things but just as a way of emphasizing his inherent superiority as someone the Hive found valuable enough to pay to bring in from another Hive.

* Determinator: Despite her traumatic injury, having her claustrophobia triggered, and being afraid of nosies, she gives permission for her mind to be read so the security unit can hurry up and find the person who is setting traps before more people get hurt, and she unhesitatingly puts herself on the line to help the investigation even while personally struggling with the loss of her dream of being a sea captain. [[spoiler: This foreshadows her lottery result as a future Sea Farm Admiral, since such a vital post would have to go to someone who is not just intelligent and loyal but brave and resilient enough to handle it.]]

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Amber has a fear of heights, and a fear of nosies. She also has a fear of Outside, especially the ‘truesun’, [[spoiler:until the implant from Genex is removed]]. She, of course, has to deal with all of those.

* DeadGuyJunior: She decides to have a pair of embryos from her late husband implanted, and to have his children before marrying Adika.

* HasAType: In the discussion about teen games, Lucas realizes that she is irresistably attracted to dominant, risk-taking men. Her teen level boyfriend was so involved with teen games that she reached Colonel in two of them, she was married to a member of Keith's strike team within two months of her Lottery, and after her husband's death, her BelligerentSexualTension with Adika starts up almost immediately after he arrives at Hive Futura.

* TraumaButton: Buzz is deeply traumatized by having Franklin suddenly appear in front of her.

* RupturedAppendix: Amber at first thought he'd been stabbed. He feels it's part of the reason he didn't end up as a strike team leader, as he was recovering when Adika made the decision.

!Other members of Amber's team
[[folder:Fran]]
Initial candidate for Amber’s liaison team leader. Fired just before the unit went operational due to FantasticRacism against telepaths. [[spoiler:Venus, in Jupiter’s group of saboteurs.]]

* FaceHeelTurn: Was tasked by Jupiter with [[spoiler:stabbing Amber.]]
* FalseFriend: Tries to run a telepath’s liaison team while hating telepaths.
* NiceToTheWaiter: The 'Rude to the Waiter' version. Fran tells Amber not to bother being nice to a mere Level 57 Law Enforcement Office Cleaner (Hannah).
* TheResenter: Was bypassed for Sapphire’s liaison team, and spent the next twenty-five years building up a dislike of telepaths.

[[folder:Sofia]]
A Level 1 Mural Painter that Amber invites into the unit, partly to liven the place up but mostly so she can resume her relationship with Matias.

* EccentricArtist: Hates having people watch her paint, and threatens to throw paint at them until they leave. Even the telepath.
* HighSchoolSweethearts: Dated Matias on Teen Level, and thought they'd be separated after Lottery. Amber finds out and convinces Sofia to come join the unit, and Matias and Sofia resume their relationship shortly thereafter.

[[folder:Emili]]
Lucas's deputy. In a relationship with Rothan. Notably, only imprinted as a deputy tactical commander as Lottery did not feel she could handle the strain of being a lead tactical commander full-time.

* MissionControl: When Lucas isn't available or is out with Amber's team, Emili takes over as tactical commander.

[[folder:Kareem]]
A member of the tactical team. Twenty-five years ago, he was a Tactical Commander when he called a strike wrong. Seventeen people died, and he was unable to continue as a commander.

* MyGreatestFailure: Not the failed strike that killed seventeen people - quitting as tactical leader afterwards, and handing the job over to somebody who wasn't as good. He estimates that hundreds of people died because of that.

[[folder:Gideon]]
A member of the tactical team. He's seventy years old, and initially started in Claire's unit. Father of two of Claire's duty children. He was brought back to give long-term perspective to the team.

* CoolOldGuy: Gives good advice to Amber and Lucas, and the rest of the team.

[[folder:Beckett]]
A Lottery-mate of Lucas, and formerly on Keith's tactical team with him. The best pattern analyst in the Hive. Moves to Amber's team after Keith fires him to hurt Lucas. Likely autistic, and has a Comfort Cat (named [=CeeCee=]) to help keep his anxieties in check.

* HollywoodAutism: Subverted. While he is never formally labeled as autistic, his symptoms and abilities are much more in line with reality. He has focus issues, strong objections to people breaking rules, sensory-processing issues, and strong aversion to change.
* SensoryOverload: He has a sensory-processing disorder, causing all sensory inputs to be much stronger. When Amber reads his mind while finding him, she hears a loud thumping noise; when she reads Lucas's mind in the same location, she finds it's a quietly-dripping water tap. He normally wears special headphones and glasses when outside controlled areas.

!Other telepaths
[[folder:Morton]]
The oldest active telepath, approximately 40 years older than Amber.

* TheAtoner: After what happened to Celandine, he became focused on propriety and not abusing the authority he has as a telepath. He takes this to extremes, disdaining Sapphire for her informal relationships.
* UnrequitedLoveLastsForever: He still mourns Celandine, forty years after her death.

[[folder:Sapphire]]
A telepath known for working hard and playing hard. She is twenty-five years older than Amber.

* HasAType: Her strike team members are all tall, blond, blue-eyed, fair-skinned men with determined chins. Rumor is that about half of the strike team dyes their hair.
* ReallyGetsAround: Strongly implied that she has had several lovers among her strike team. She clears echoes through "physical love", so this may be necessary for her mental health.
* TheStoic: Unclear how much of this is her actual personality and how much is her trying to not expose herself before another telepath, but she shows no emotions when she talks to Amber.

[[folder:Mira]]
A well-loved telepath, 17 years older than Amber. She has Down Syndrome or a similar disorder, which causes physical and mental limitations.

* FlowersOfFemininity: Her unit is filled with flowers, and when Amber sees her she's wearing a flower-print dress, standing next to a vase of flowers, with the wall behind her covered in flower images.
* HandicappedBadass: A significant genetic disorder that causes both physical and mental issues, but she’s also one of the Hive’s few telepaths, and is deeply loved by her team. Morton holds her up as an example Amber should emulate, as opposed to Sapphire or Keith. When we meet her, she is full of self-confidence and joy.
* HappilyMarried: She remarries Geo, her teen-level boyfriend, every Valentine, and is clearly totally in love with him.
* HighSchoolSweethearts: Geo was her boyfriend on teen level, and they've been together ever since.

[[folder:Keith]]
The youngest active telepath other than Amber. He is thirteen years older than Amber. His telepathy tends to flake out unpredictably, putting his team in danger.

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Couldn’t wait for Amber to leave for teen level so he could have her room.

Head of Hive Politics, a Level 1 Senior Ambassador. He is the oldest of six Duty Children, and was an avid surfer on Teen Level.

Lucas's father, who abandoned him at age 6. Shortly afterwards, he and a woman who is not Lucas's mother were both reset and lowered to Level 63. He was told afterwards that he had a head injury that caused memory loss and loss of his imprint, and to take medication to help him with his memory. The medication is actually a drug that removes whatever element of his personality made him do what caused him to be reset; in the process, he became a much nicer person and is a loving parent to his other five duty children.

!Antagonists
'''This section contains unmarked spoilers for all books!'''

[[folder:Telepath]]
!!Elden
An agent from Hive Genex, sent to imprint Amber to request a transfer as soon as she completes Lottery.

!!!Provides examples of:
* AirVentPassageway: Uses the air vents and structural pillars to get around the Hive secretly.
* DespairEventHorizon: When he realizes that Amber has broken free of his control. His imprints are already dangerously large, and the realization breaks his mind.
* DistinguishingMark: Has a birthmark on his left cheek, which was where the genetic compatibility mark Hive Genex implants in children was removed so as not to give away that he was a spy.
* TrapMaster: Sets several traps for Amber and her team, using a three-year-old girl (also named Amber) as bait for the first one.
* WouldHurtAChild: Unsafely imprints Amber at age three, and uses another three-year-old girl as bait to trap Amber after she grows up.

[[folder:Defender]]
!!Mars
Real name Martin. A pyromaniac from Jupiter's group of saboteurs. His job is setting a massive fire in Purple Zone, but he also burns the Security Unit that Fran had worked in, almost killing Lucas and Rothan, and killing the daughter of a member of Sapphire's strike team.

The Hive's Gold Commander, in charge of the defense of the Hive against both internal and external enemies.

* PintsizedPowerhouse: She's tiny, a head smaller than Amber, and imprinted as leader of the Hive's military.

* YoungAndInCharge: Promoted to Gold Commander at age 21 after Ryne retired and Ryne's chosen successor melted down under the stress, as did the only other person imprinted as Gold Commander.

! The Sea Farm

The Sea Farm is a separate installation from the main Hive; all Hives are required by treaty to maintain a Sea Farm with certain population numbers. It's almost entirely self-sufficient, and most people there don't go through Lottery, instead learning through apprenticeships.

!!Tropes applying to the Sea Farm as a whole:
* BornUnderTheSail: While the Sea Farm is about much more than fishing - it's intended to be entirely self-sufficient, with mining, farming, and herding - its culture is centered around the sea, with the leader bearing the title Admiral.
* CrazyPrepared: It's not widely known among the people there, but this is the whole purpose of the Sea Farms. They're meant to be places that can survive if the Hives collapse, so they keep alive knowledge of how to do things without all the Hive's technology.

[[folder:Admiral Tregarth]]
The leader of the Sea Farm. He's a bulky, sun-worn man in his 60s with a bushy grey beard, worried about the murders, the upcoming census, and whether the Hive will find him a successor in time.
----

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He's devoted to the Sea Farm and its people, and willing to do whatever he needs to find the murderer in their midst.
* SeadogBeard: A distinct contrast from the normally clean-shaven Hive citizens.

[[folder:Tressa]]
Admiral Tregarth's wife, who came in as driftwood from a French-speaking Hive's Sea Farm. She acts as a general troubleshooter for the Sea Farm, as well as working on the ships sometimes to help out. [[spoiler:Formerly known as Celandine, the woman that Morton kidnapped and tried to force to love him.]]

* TheGhost: She's only available by voice communication until the end because she's out on a fishing boat. [[spoiler:She wanted to be away from Amber to make sure that Amber didn't see her past.]]
* TheLostLenore: [[spoiler:For Morton. He believes Celandine is dead, and that it's his fault; he has become TheAtoner in response.]]
* MeaningfulRename: [[spoiler:When she came back from the Hive, Celandine took the name Tressa, meaning 'third', to indicate that this is the third part of her life.]]

[[folder:Juniper]]
A young woman whose hand was mangled in an accident; Perran put her arm in a switched-off machine as a Halloween joke because he knew the machine was off, only to find that the switch had been tampered with.

* ArtificialLimbs: She has an artificial hand to replace the one that had to be amputated.
* CareerEndingInjury: Her dreams of being a sea captain are destroyed by the loss of her hand.
* {{Claustrophobia}}: She grew up on the Sea Farm, and being in the Hive makes her feel closed-in and trapped.
* YoungAndInCharge: [[spoiler:She ends up imprinted as Sea Farm Admiral, Tregarth's long-awaited successor, and takes over as his deputy at the end of the book.]]

[[folder:Cador]]
The head of Sea Farm Security, and down on himself because his team can't solve the ongoing crimes. He's overimpulsive and jumps to conclusions, causing problems.

* LoweredRecruitingStandards: When the head of Sea Farm Security was killed, the best available candidate in the next Lottery was imprinted for the job, despite not being the ideal candidate.

[[folder:Perran]]
A young man who caused Juniper's accident, not knowing the safeties had been disengaged.

* TheAtoner: He realizes he can never make up for what he's taken away from Juniper, and goes out as 'driftwood' so that they can both rebuild.

[[folder:Treeve]]
A technician responsible for repairing the Sea Farm's drones. His murder with a hammer triggers Amber's unit going out to the Sea Farm.

* AssholeVictim: He wasn't liked very much, so when he's murdered, he's only missed because of his technical skills.
* EvilNerd: The best tech at the Sea Farm, but nobody liked him because he tended to say cruel things for fun. [[spoiler:He started setting traps for revenge.]]
* JustJokingJustification: The sort of person who'll say borderline-nasty things, then claim that they're being taken too seriously when people get offended.

[[folder:Massen]]
A friend of Treeve's who used to work with him until he was caught stealing.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Even more of an asshole than Treeve, and killed because he knew too much.]]

* SecretLegacy: [[spoiler:She's Claire's great-granddaughter.]]

* SecretLegacy: [[spoiler:He's Claire's grandson, and apparently carries her telepathic genes, but they don't express in him for whatever reason.]]

* SecretLegacy: [[spoiler: Claire's great-grandson, and a borderline telepath.]]

! The Sea Farm

The Sea Farm is a separate installation from the main Hive; all Hives are required by treaty to maintain a Sea Farm with certain population numbers. It's almost entirely self-sufficient, and most people there don't go through Lottery, instead learning through apprenticeships.

* TheBully: He picks on teens who came from lower levels, teases Casper, tells people's secrets, breaks into Amber's room, glues Forge into the ventilation system, and tries to scare people during the power outage.