Who's who
A spoiler-safe guide to the people and places of Things That Were Not There. It grows as chapters are published, and each entry says only what its first chapter shows.
Reading a chapter a day? Use this page to remind yourself who someone is. Entries appear when a character’s first chapter is published, and they describe the character only as that chapter does, so nothing here gets ahead of the story.
People
- The system (VERITY-9)
- The military AI system at Mizan, watching a southern corridor. Its chapters open with a strip from its own log. First appears: Chapter 1
- Aaliyah Jibril
- Nineteen. The system first hears her voice in an audio message to Nadia. First appears: Chapter 1
- Nadia
- The girl Aaliyah is talking to in that message: “Start with what you can see.” First appears: Chapter 1
- Yasmin Qadir
- An engineer at Mizan who looks after the machines in Hall Three. First appears: Chapter 2
- Hamid
- Responsible for facilities systems at Mizan: power, cooling and water. First appears: Chapter 2
- Brigadier Darwish
- The senior officer at the Mizan briefing. First appears: Chapter 2
- Mark Lindqvist
- Presents the system's performance at the briefing. First appears: Chapter 2
- Ashby
- Runs the Mizan programme for Halcyon, the contractor that built the system. Joins by video. First appears: Chapter 2
- The aide
- Brigadier Darwish's civilian aide, watching two phones at once. First appears: Chapter 2
- Alan Stapledon
- Yasmin's former colleague, who has recently died. His office is sealed. First appears: Chapter 2
- Karim Jibril
- Drives a delivery van. Lives in the eastern house. First appears: Chapter 3
Organisations
- Halcyon
- The contractor that built the system. First appears: Chapter 2
Places
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