Personnel // fiction
The armor gets the chalk stars. These people keep it standing.
Role: dispatch
Routes every ping, logs every transmission, and coined half the glossary. First to hear the armor's voice; still the only one who can tell its moods by radio static. Ends night shifts: “quiet night — armor's got it.”
Role: maintenance
Harbor mechanic who built the Gantry around the armor rather than asking questions. Performs the maintenance rites, wins arguments about stand-downs, and claims she can hear a bad actuator from three blocks away.
Role: morale
Left the first chalk star after the canal rescue and never stopped. Follows beacon routes, counts stars on the suit (300+), rides the shoulder plate like a crow's nest. The armor kneels for Pip. Everyone's seen it.
Role: liaison
The official who decided “unaffiliated volunteer asset” was the right paperwork. Asked once who's inside the helmet; filed “intent unknown, conduct exemplary”; never asked again. Runs interference with the press.