Emily Ruff
This orphan eventually becomes part of a top secret school after struggling for years in the street. As an orphan, she lacks stability in her personal life but excels in school, thriving as she learns. She lives in San Francisco and makes a living by exploiting the public as a hustler. She finds herself admitted to the school. She swears to secrecy. She falls in love.
The leadership panel
The school has a board that assesses applicants and leads the affairs of the school. The names of the individuals are likely pseudonyms, because they are constantly reminding the students of the need for absolute secrecy. Their names are literary allusions: Bronte, Lowell, and Eliot, all poetic writers. They rule with a heavy thumb, and when they find out that Emily is bending the rules, they come into conflict with her.
Wil Jamieson
Wil is a kid who has almost no connection to the first part of the story. He gets randomly involved in a fight at an airport. He doesn't know about the school. He ends up fleeing to Broken Hill, Australia, where he surveys the damage that war has caused in that community. The "Persuasion Wars" are decimating the country, and he provides a brief insight into the tragic nature of that.
