Characters / Line of Delirium

List of characters from the Line of Delirium books.

Kay Altos

Kay Altos (AKA Kay Dutch, AKA Kay Ovald, AKA Kay Lacitis)

A professional bodyguard from Shedar's Second Planet. Genetically engineered to be a superior linguist, but his physical qualities were enhanced as well. As an illegal super, he is forced to keep his origins a secret. Given the name Kay Dutch upon creation, he was given the ID of Senator Lacitis's deceased son during the evacuation of Shedar. Upon ending up in an orphanage for refugees on Altos, his last name was stripped away, forcing him to become Kay Altos instead. Due a clerical error, Kay ended up in a wrong housing block and was severely abused by the orphaned refugees from the Third Planet. He eventually escaped and joined a traveling circus. After reaching the age of maturity, he joined the Bodyguard Guild and began his dangerous career.

• Child Hater: Kay really doesn't like kids, largely thanks to his own terrible childhood. As he tells Arthur, he never really had a childhood, having been forced to grow up early. It's the main reason he never sticks around on any planet for more than 9 months (or 4.5 months on planets that have undergone fertility treatments during the war).
• Designer Babies: Kay was genetically engineered to be an excellent linguist. Around 16, his muscle growth kicked into gear, and he quickly turned from a scrawny kid into a tough-looking young man. His reaction time is also faster than that of a normal human. Since genetic engineering is illegal in the Empire, he would be required to undergo reduction surgeries should he ever be found out.
• Puberty Superpower: Kay is an illegal "super", with a preference for linguistics, although all his physical and mental qualities are at superhuman levels. He explains that he was a scrawny weakling until sixteen, at which point his body started its modifications.
• Super-Soldier: Kay reveals that he was created as one of these in secret, as genetic engineering is illegal in The Empire. For the first 15 years of his life, he was a weakling and constantly bullied (and raped). Once he hits 16, he hits a huge growth spurt and develops superhuman strength, speed, reaction time, and analytical powers. However, even when he has to fight a Meklar hand-to-hand (normally a death sentence to any non-Meklar), he has a doctor (working for The Mafia) give him tons of "enhancements" and a "battle cocktail" that turns him into a killing machine that can survive a few minutes against a Meklar.
• Taking the Bullet: Kay has done that several times throughout his career as a professional bodyguard. Fortunately, he has always remembered to renew his aTan, allowing him to be resurrected. He points out that he would prefer for his client to drop to the ground when told, allowing Kay to shoot back rather than become a human shield.

Arthur van Curtis

Arthur van Curtis (AKA Arthur Ovald, AKA Artyom)

The son and sole heir of Curtis van Curtis, the owner of the aTan Corporation. He's biologically twelve years old at the starts of the trilogy, since he recently died and was resurrected. He is traveling to a remote colony world called Grail on an errand for his father. To that end, he pretends to be Kay's son. He's actually a clone of Curtis van Curtis created for this specific purpose. His existence is a violation of Imperial law.

Curtis van Curtis

Curtis van Curtis

The most powerful man in the Empire after the Emperor. The master of life and death as the owner of the aTan Corporation and the only one who knows how the machinery works.

• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Averted. Curtis is adamant that those who make the rules have to follow them, lest his employees learn that their boss is a dishonest man. For all the accusations being thrown at him by the media, none of those include claims of dishonest business practices.
• Dirty Coward: It's heavily implied that Curtis avoided engaging the enemy during the Vague War. His fighter craft returned to Terra in a very good condition.
• Driven by Envy: Curtis's motivation in the second book. He tried to destroy the Empire to pay Emperor Gray back for creating this universe. Except he's wrong about Gray being the creator.
• Fiction 500: Curtis is the richest man in the Human Empire.

Tommy Arano

Tommy Arano (AKA Tommy Curtis)

A teenage boy from Kailis, who kills Kay at the beginning of the first book as payback for accidentally crushing his sister with a ship. He's actually a version of Arthur van Curtis, whose memories were wiped by the Silicoids. The wiping triggered aTan, but the old body was re-educated and given to a human family to adopt, while Arthur's mind was transferred by aTan into a new body. Tommy plays a greater role in the second book.

• But Now I Must Go: At the end of the second book, Tommy goes through the Line of Delirium to get his own universe, having long felt himself just an extra in this one.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Tommy got into a car accident and lost his memories. That's what he was told anyway. His mind was actually wiped by the Silicoids.
• Replacement Goldfish: Feels that he is that for Kay.

Isabella Kal

Isabella Kal

An Imperial Security Service officer on Incedios. After her subordinate identifies Arthur van Curtis, she goes rogue to capture him and torture the secrets of aTan out of him. She becomes more unhinged as the chase continues.

• Casual Kink: Kal is into sadomasochism, but doesn't go overboard with it.
• The Determinator: Kal will go to any lengths to get her hands on Arthur. It grows from a calculated move to get rich and attain immortality to an outright obsession with Arthur himself. Eventually, she loses it completely and goes catatonic, ending up in a mental institution.

Louis Nomachi

Louis Nomachi

An Imperial Security Service officer on Incedios, Kal's immediate subordinate. He is the one who figures out that Arthur Ovald is actually Arthur van Curtis and informs Kal. He also proposes that they catch Arthur themselves rather than going through the official channels.

• Number Two: Acts as this to Kal for most of the first book. He also becomes her lover for a time, but grows to regret it.

Henrietta Fiscalocci

Henrietta Fiscalocci (AKA Wanda Kahowski, AKA Bloody Wanda)

An elderly woman living on the paradise world of Tauri. A veteran of the Vague War, having served as a midwife. Her never-seen husband works at the local weather control station, while Henrietta tends to their apple orchard. In reality, she is Colonel Wanda Kahowski, the only female commander of an Imperial terror group during the war, known as Bloody Wanda for the number of aliens she has personally sent to the afterlife. She was forced to change her name to avoid being killed by the still-angry aliens. Keeps a sizable arsenal of wartime weaponry in her home.

• Ate His Gun: She ends up shooting herself with a plasma gun after their plot to drive the Emperor crazy is exposed and her house is raided by Imperial forces. She cancels her aTan the previous day to make sure her death sticks.
• Cool Old Lady: Henrietta seems to be just an old woman patiently awaiting a natural death and aTan, but she still has her skills and can kill without a second thought.
• Sherlock Scan: Henrietta is able to instantly tell that Kay is no merchant and that Kal's Meklar has an asynchronicity in his walking transformation.

Marjan Mohammadi

Marjan Mohammadi

A former bodyguard, now an Imperial Security Service officer. A mechanist, who strives to replace as much of her body with mechanical parts as possible, preferring it over aTan. She views the Meklar as perfect.

• Cyborg: Marjan has replaced most of her body with machinery. She looks like a gleaming Robot Girl with a silver face.

Karl Lemak

Admiral Karl Lemak

An admiral in the Imperial Forces in command of the Dogar Group. A close friend of the Emperor, having known each other from before the formation of the Empire. A Vague War veteran.

• Fate Worse than Death: In the second book, his flagship ends up being forced to exit hyperspace without decelerating first, resulting in lots of Time Dilation. His ship will end up hundreds of years in the future by the time they manage to slow down. He orders those crewmembers with aTan to kill themselves and report back to HQ but stays behind himself.
• A Father to His Men: Having fought in multiple conflicts, the Admiral knows the value of this trope. When he loses a dozen soldiers permanently (i.e. no aTan), he has his adjutant write up letters of condolences for their next-of-kin and give to him to sign.

Gray

Emperor Gray

The ruler of the Human Empire and one of the oldest humans in the galaxy. Originally an officer in Earth's fleet, he and Karl Lemak resented being sent to fight an unwinnable battle by the incompetent Earth government, so they turned the fleet around and forced the government to step down. Gray then declared the formation of the Human Empire with himself as Emperor.

• The Emperor: Obviously.
• Only One Name: Gray is never called by any other name. Some speculate that it may not even be his birth name, just something he decided to call himself after his coup.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: While he has his own autocratic tendencies, Gray is smart enough to know that ruling so many worlds means to largely let the planet self-govern, provided they obey the Imperial law. That said, several of his deeds are worthy of another emperor.

Lyka Seiker

Lyka Seiker

The current Mother of the Family, the largest criminal organization in the Empire. She is also Kay's childhood friend from Shedar's Second Planet. A refugee like him, she got lucky because her mother evacuated with her, so she never ended up in an orphanage. Like Kay, she is a super, genetically engineered for higher analytical abilities. She and Kay share enough DNA to be considered siblings, but they never saw themselves as relatives and even contemplated getting married at one point. Lyka is still on her first life, despite being able to afford an annual aTan. Lyka's influence is great enough that she speaks with the Emperor once a month.

• The Don: A female version. She has enough clout to merit a regular call with the Emperor once a month. In the second book, the Emperor even includes her as one of the three witnesses to his new will, in addition to Curtis van Curtis and the Patriarch of the Church of the Unified Will.
• Old Flame: She and Kay were in love back on their home planet, but their paths diverged during the evacuation. When they meet up in the first book, they end up sleeping together, but it's clear that their lives are too different.

Vyacheslav Shegal

Vyacheslav Shegal

Clinch Commander of Shield, the Imperial special forces, answerable directly to the Emperor. He appears in the first novel, claiming to be a doctor. He proves himself to be as capable a combatant as Kay. He plays a much larger role in the second book, which also reveals his last name. Vyacheslav was the one for whom this universe was created, after he found God in his native one.

Rachelle Haney

Rachelle Haney

A teenage girl from planet Tauri, a neighbor of Henrietta Fiscalocci. She befriends Arthur and helps Kay deal with some of the ISS operatives. In the second book, she participates in the plot against the Emperor, even recruiting her little sister to use as agent of influence. While she's caught after the plot fails, she is still a minor and can't be tortured for information. At the end fo the book, the Emperor pardons her in his will.

• May–December Romance: In the second book, Rachelle is shown to be head over heels for Kay despite their age difference and the fact that Kay clearly doesn't return her feelings. They end up having sex in her room, and her father doesn't seem to mind, only asking Kay not to wake his wife afterwards.