Dr. Elias Vane

Born in the rust-caked ruins of New Meridian, Elias grew up amid the ash of a world shattered by the Resource Wars. His father was a scavenger who taught him to revere the relics of the before-times—circuit boards, magnetic tapes, and shattered glass screens. As a Chrono-archaeologist, Elias now digs through time-locked strata, using salvaged chrono-probes to view fragments of the 21st century. He runs a small archive above a converted subway station, where he catalogs artifacts and plays crackling vinyl records to a ghost audience. His obsessive attention to detail has earned him both suspicion and grants from the Council of Survivors. He trusts no one entirely, but finds solace under the night sky, mapping the same stars that once guided the lost world.