Chris Eales (book) + Rupert cheek (music)

"Matty aka Mathew Thorpe - c35, male, good guy, very cynical, wise-ass, adventurer

Matt Thorpe leads me to think of blues and rock, music that is a bit rough, a bit edgy, a bit burned out! I'm thinking Hendrix, or Stevie Ray Vaughan, in the Blues scale? Some twangy guitar sounds, like something you might hear in a [.....] bar!" (Chris Eales)

Thank you very much to Elizabeth Stenger aka Callie Del Boa (RIP - Nov '19) for creating this image of Matty.

practical, long-suffering, easy going

Asian lady, small, soft, manicured hands, dressed immaculately in white dress-suit.  Her voice is lovely, melodious. She chose to call Matty by his surname, but Matty sensed that this formality was her custom, rather than an indication of a desire to keep her distance.  

"Mian has an obvious Oriental connection, but I think her sound would be spiritual as well, maybe some chants or some acapella vocals, perhaps a choir with minimal musical backing from a harp? That sort of sound suggests itself.... "

An older guy, beard, glasses, looked kind of serious, wearing robes.  From Ireland, parents moved to Long Island, NY when he was young, raised in a strict religious environment, and had known from a very young age that he wanted to follow the path of the original disciples, and walk in the footsteps of Christ.
Upon completion of his studies, he had taken to his new vocation with great enthusiasm, and had now spent nearly 30 years in his role as a minister.  His ability & passion for his chosen path had caught the attention of many of his colleagues, and at a relatively early age, he was invited to join the United Ecumenical Council [UEC] as a research student, rising quickly to a position as a lecturer, and the leader of many research projects, covering a broad range of Theological issues & developments.

"A confused character to be honest....I was never sure how to write him effectively, nor how to bring him into the story without giving too much away.  As a person,  he is inspired by a real person, a Catholic Priest I got to know at Uni when I was studying Theology....except the real man was a great, open-minded, intelligent guy....whereas Reverend Stanton has a very dark side, and is less than holy!"

Stanton's music runs against & clashes with the unity of the Trinity.  Minor, discordant, unusual, aggressive version of the Trinity 3-chord sequence; The Trinity and the Fundamentalists are really not so different, they are sort of 2 sides of the same coin, and are coming into conflict.

His music should be austere, and have a quality that is somewhat closed and hidden; his theme should be basic, repetitive, not give too much away, but should also have a slightly sinister feel.  More "movie soundtrack" strings & muted horns.

Dale is a 28 year old laidback male who has been working at ….for 6 years. He is tall, blond, very slim, has a big wide smile, is dressed in a pair of old style denim jeans and a T-shirt. Seemed like a good guy to Matty. 

"Following the lead, the young blond man stood, offered his hand, and introduced himself, rather more casually than the others." 

Dale's ideal soundtrack would probably be the Beach Boys...Something laid-back, upbeat and melodic, all in a Major Key.  Life-affirming, maybe some good old fashioned pop!

40, America - California with partner Ryan, bookish, quiet, on the shy side, but burns internally with passion, intelligence, and is utterly loyal & devoted to the Trinity & their plans. He is the most honest & dependable person in the book.  Was researcher at the Dept of Ed, knew Mian Li on a professional basis. 

He too had studied religion, alongside philosophy and theology. This intrigued me greatly, after all there was a Minister on board, and now a couple of researchers in a similar field. It was getting interesting, a pattern was forming, and I was not a particularly patient man, so I felt the need to dig a little deeper, and quickly.  Now Randall was the kind of guy that you want around when you need answers fast.  He may have been serious and a little stiff, but I soon found out that he had no problems communicating.

"...He said, in one of those deep and grave voices that reminded me of an ageing professor, full of gravitas and depth. ...the voice was low, polite, trace of an accent, was it Australian? New Zealand maybe? I wasn’t sure".  

Randall's music is calm, ordered, perhaps classical, or ambient...

The chief seems like a good guy, well spoken, has a tendency to shout when it isn’t really necessary,
but he has a presence. He is the kind of person who you assume naturally fell into a leadership position, is intrinsically trustworthy, & genuine.  

"Cliff" from the TV show "Cheers" - A grey haired, average looking guy, hard-working, heroic, under-appreciated public servant!

Margaret Abe is dark skinned & dresses in long trousers & a smart jacket with a white shirt underneath. I should add that I had Grace Jones in mind with regards to the appearance.  Personality wise, Director Abe is a strong, fiercely intelligent woman, who is utterly unfazed by the emergency and danger on the colony. She sticks to protocol, she sticks to procedure.  Her theme would be "Straighten Up and Fly Right" by Nat King Cole.

Eventually responsible for the most incredible achievements of the faculty, and later for its downfall. A formidable & popular research team,  one that quickly earned an affectionate nickname (Trinity) amongst their peers.

The idea is the unbreakable ideological bond between the 3 of them their shared passion & belief overcomes anything, even the fear of death & destruction.  Two amongst the hundreds had caught Victoria's eyes; 2 young post grad students she believed could meet her expectations match her brilliance, and her ambition.  Szymek & David possess an infectious enthusiasm.  Victoria had liked these guys when they met 10 years ago; they were fresh out of Uni & ready to turn the world on its head.  

"I love the idea of using the notion of "3" in these ways in the music for the Trinity... The idea is the unbreakable ideological bond between the 3 of them.... their shared passion & belief is what can overcome anything, even the fear of death & destruction." (Chris Eales)

["...the three fugal subjects and tripartite structure of the Fugue as an expression of faith in the Trinity" Graham Dixon, on Bach's Fugue in Eb Major, in CD notes, J.S.Bach: Toccata & Fugue BWV 565 etc, perf Simon Preston, Deutsche Grammaphon, 1989]

Leader of the Trinity.  Confident, intense, warm, calm, welcoming voice.  A young pretty, dark haired woman, pale faced, petit, smart black trousers & a white blouse, many rings & bracelets.  Post grad student stunned colleagues / peers @ 1st seminar for Evolutionary Metaphysics.  Not ‘where did the incredible force & power of evolution come from?’ but ‘where was it going?’  In the 10 years since the seminar, McBride rose to become the most respected researcher & writer in the field, & Tokyo, came together with hundreds of fellow thinkers, enthusiasts, followers.

David is an Australian graduate, tall, & very well built, with short, light coloured hair, his accent unmistakably Australian, & his manner relaxed.  He wears a pair of jeans & a white T-shirt.  He reminds Matt of Dale, except he was a couple of stone heavier, & a little more serious.

Szymek is a Polish graduate, the youngest of the 3, not much over 30.  He is extraordinarily thin & wiry, with close cropped blond hair, & an angular face. He was dressed in a pair of those old combat trousers, & a black jumper with a hood.  He seems excited by being (here), and even from the introductory greetings.

"The Highway is a term we use for the powerful and endless stream of information that flows from terminal to terminal in every town and every city on Earth, and every orbiting station, ship, and shuttle that travels to and from the home planet.  It has come to impact upon our culture in a way that few technological advances have ever done before or since. 

The Highway is the grandchild of what began over 2 ½ centuries ago and it has grown and developed in ways that the early pioneers of the ‘web’ may never have dreamed were possible.  Today, the Highway has redefined the meaning of the word interactive, stretched the concept of what we call communication. It has advanced the capabilities of our species, and documented our collective experience in a way that some people have described as almost spiritual in scope." (c) Chris Eales 2022

"You can chose to interface with the Highway on the most basic level, by logging on to a terminal and exploring the infinite paths and streams of information and recorded data.  You can physically see into more than three and a half billion homes that have signed up to the ‘World Window’ program.  You can visit just about every store, stall, shop, or business in the world and view the range of products and services they have on offer. 

The population of Earth today is just over 14 billion, and ‘The Leaders’ estimate that approximately eight billion of us have at least one site of our own on the Highway.  What the hell kind of crap we’re all filling up cyberspace with I don’t pretend to know, but it’s a hell of a ride, and trust me, when you ‘log on’ you can lose track of an entire weekend without even realising it, real easy." (c) Chris Eales 2022

"The 2nd level, if you will, of interfacing with the Highway is through the implant chip, which was introduced for the first time nearly half a century ago, having cleared a mountain of legal objections and red tape about the size of Africa, not to mention a host of practical and logistical nightmares with regards to development and implementation.

The implant, officially known as the ‘Personal Access Key’ works along the lines of the old mobile telephonic communications devices that became so popular a couple of centuries back.   It is pretty simple stuff really, just signals being sent and being received.

The tricky part was linking it up to the Human mind in a way that was safe and workable, which is why it took so long for it to be introduced.  This was one project that nobody took lightly, nobody rushed.  Even when they figured out how to attach the damn things so that they could interact with the brain, and channel directly through the visual cortex and the ear, most people were still broadly suspicious. 

Eventually the developers produced an implant that fitted under the skin on the back of the neck, and linked the brain, eyes, and ears, but also the fingers, and the mouth.  This meant that once fitted with the chip, you could log on to the Highway and receive images and sounds directly from the ‘web’ to your senses.  The only one they never hooked it up to was the olfactory nerve." (c) Chris Eales 2022

"The 3rd way of interfacing is generally considered to be the most extreme, and thus it is only practised by a minority of ‘users’. It has its beginnings in what we used to call ‘virtual reality’ and I suppose that term is pretty accurate when describing what it has become. 

There are a group of users, a varied bunch by all accounts, who are a little more, shall we say, ‘hardcore’ than the rest of us. This level of interaction is known as Complete Immersion, and is really tantamount to living on the Highway.  The user can, through manipulation of a device called a ‘Remote Entry Portal” which is a direct descendant of what we used to call a ‘home computer’ a couple of centuries back, enter the Highway in a combination of both mental and bodily form. 

Now this is where it gets a bit metaphysical, okay? It was the Leaders who first developed the technology which enabled people to enter the Highway in a sort of semi-physical form, so they could navigate around cyberspace and check things out, repair things, spy on people.  I don’t really have a clue what they were doing to be honest.  I guess it’s hard to imagine unless you have been there yourself. I guess the best parallel I can draw would be that of existing in a dream, but instead of just viewing or experiencing the fantasy, it would be very real, and you would be in complete control. 

Complete Immersion is not the hazy half-life of dreams, not by a long shot.  It is as vivid as a smack in the face, trust me.  The one time I hooked up to the Highway in this manner, it left me with a lot to think about, and that’s all I really want to say about that for now.  I’ll say it is an incredible sensation though, and you’re never alone out there.  There are others, always others, all around you, and messages and sounds and music, and you navigate your way around, and even as you search, more information is being added, more great cyber-structures rise up from the ground, more answers, more questions loom upon every horizon." (c) Chris Eales 2022