Main Characters of The Infinitium, a Who’s Who, in Order of Appearance

This page is exactly what it looks like, a Who’s Who of the Infinitium, listed in the order you meet them.

Why? Because this story has the kind of cast where someone might appear as a terrifying authority figure, a helpful cosmic employee, a suspiciously chatty voice, or a door, and you’ll later find yourself thinking, “Hang on, have I met you before?” which is both a fair question and, inconveniently, part of the point.

So consider this your gentle companion guide. Not spoilers exactly, more like name tags at a metaphysical workplace conference. Helpful, slightly awkward, and likely to fall off at the worst possible moment.

A small warning, some of these “characters” are people, some are entities, some are concepts, and at least one is arguably a system with a personality problem. You’ll understand when you get there.

For fun, I’ve also noted my first-choice actor for each role if Hollywood comes knocking, and because it’s a handy shortcut for getting the character’s vibe in your head instantly.

BOOK 1

You, the Reader

In most books, “the reader” is a harmless little ghost who turns pages and judges everyone quietly from a safe distance.

Not here. In The Infinitium you’re an actual character, because the whole thing starts reacting the moment you show up. Reading isn’t passive in this place, it’s you walking up to the door and touching the handle. So when the book says “you”, it doesn’t mean “humanity” or “people generally.” It means you, specifically, the version of you who picked this book up instead of something sensible like a cookbook or a thriller with a nice predictable murder. APHREND is Management’s label for a reader who has become mildly dangerous. It’s what they stamp on your file when you stop just enjoying the story and start recognising yourself in it, which is deeply inconvenient for everyone who enjoys your compliance.It’s not a heroic title. It’s paperwork for: “This one’s starting to notice things.”

Actor of choice: Daisy May Cooper

Horatio Hurn

Senior Harmonic Compliance Overseer, The Infinitium Orientation and Induction Bureau

Horatio Hurn is the sort of man who can make the word “welcome” sound like a disciplinary meeting.

He is immaculately presented, painfully polite, and so confident in procedure that reality itself tends to straighten its tie when he enters the room. If rules had a favourite employee, it would be Horatio, and if rules had a sense of humour, they’d have fired him years ago.

His job is simple on paper, bring you through Orientation, ensure you’re correctly inducted, confirm you’ve understood nothing, and stamp whatever needs stamping until you feel officially processed. In practice, he’s the velvet glove on Management’s iron fist, smiling warmly while making absolutely sure you stay within the lines.

He’s serious in the way a clipboard is serious, and cheeky in the way a man can be when he knows you can’t complain to anyone who matters.

Actor of choice: Toby Jones

David Alan King

Soul Guide Level Two, Least Unsuitable Field Operative, The Infinitium

David Alan King is the sort of Soul Guide who arrives with the correct lanyard, the wrong paperwork, and an expression that suggests he intends to be helpful regardless of what Management thinks “helpful” means. Officially, he is a Level Two, which indicates modest authority and minimal responsibility. In practice, it means he has just enough clearance to escort you through certain doors, point at important things, and accidentally cause significant administrative distress while doing so. He speaks with the disarming warmth of someone offering directions, while gently steering you toward the realisation that you are no longer technically alive, and that the universe has been keeping notes. He is earnest, inconveniently perceptive, and prone to treating metaphysical revelations with the same tone one might use to explain a parking fine. Most notably, he does not behave like a reassuring adult. This is not a flaw, it is a consistent policy choice. If you are looking for a calm, fully qualified guide with a laminated handbook and a sensible plan, you will be disappointed. If you are looking for the truth, a door, and someone willing to ignore protocol long enough to get you through it, then unfortunately, he may be exactly what you’ve been given.

Actor of choice: Tom Hiddleston

Mrs Frances Blythe

Personal Assistant to Mr Hurn

Mrs Frances Blythe is grumpy in the precise way a badger is grumpy when it has just lost a staring contest with a hedgehog and refuses to acknowledge the outcome.

She has the permanent expression of someone who is halfway through a migraine and halfway through your personnel file, and both are going badly. If Mr Hurn is the velvet glove of Compliance, Mrs Blythe is the stapler, heavy, efficient, and wielded with quiet menace.

Her sneer is prize-winning. It says, “I know exactly what you’re up to,” and then, rather confusingly, it makes absolutely no attempt to stop you, because she secretly enjoys typing the incident reports afterwards. In Courier New, of course.

Monospaced smugness.

She runs the Induction Bureau the way a lighthouse runs a coastline, unmoving, unavoidable, and only technically there to help.

Actor of choice: Kathy Burke

Alma Ferryman

Customs and Exorcise, Booth 12,182

Alma Ferryman is the sort of person who could dismantle your entire existence with a warm smile and you’d thank her for the opportunity.

You’ll find her behind Customs and Exorcise Booth 12,182, an island of calm in the middle of the Infinitium’s endless administrative tide. She has one of those open, friendly faces that makes you feel instantly seen and inexplicably guilty, like a primary-school teacher who already knows you were the one who drew something inappropriate in the margin and is choosing kindness purely for sport.

Her competence is immaculate. Her uniform is crisp. Her movements are polished and reassuring. Everything about her says, “You are safe here,” right up until you realise she is also the person who will politely process, log, and unpack the deepest parts of you without ever raising her voice.

Alma doesn’t intimidate, she doesn’t need to. Her warmth is the weapon. She’s the kind of soothing authority that could talk you into cooperating with anything, even the bits involving metaphorical gloves.

In short, Alma Ferryman is wonderful.

Which is precisely why she’s dangerous.

Actor of choice: Olivia Coleman