Jes
Jes was born into the RedClads, raised in the shadow of the Spire where order, loyalty, and silence were woven into daily life. She grew up alongside her younger sister, Sable, the only person who ever saw past Jes' sharp edges and restless defiance. Their home in RedClad housing was small but disciplined, shaped by rules that left little room for questions.
Her parents were devoted, even by RedClad standards. But devotion can be blind. In Jes’ 13th year, something shifted—quietly at first, then all at once. The official story was simple: they took their own lives. No explanation. No investigation. Just another sealed record in a system that doesn’t invite scrutiny.
Jes never fully believed it.
What she does remember is the silence that followed. The way people stopped meeting her eyes, like she and Sable were a disappointment. The way Sable held tighter to what little they had left, while Jes began to pull away. Grief didn’t settle in her—it sharpened into something else. Doubt. Anger. A need to step outside the narrow lines drawn for her. Or so she thought.
At sixteen, Jes invoked a clause in the RedClad Code and left.
The Scavengers offered something the Spire couldn't: movement, noise, unpredictability—and distraction, or at least the illusion of it. Jes took to it quickly, learning to survive in the spaces between the order of the Spire and chaos inside of her. But she carried the Spire with her, whether she wanted to or not. Its rules. Its ghosts. Its unanswered questions. And its assignments.
Somewhere far above it all, the Spire still stands, watching, and waiting—reminding Jes of a truth she has spent months trying escape.
