Ethan Harvey

Ethan Harvey was born into a family divided by ideology. His father, Crosby Crew Harvey, was a staunch member of the Church Faithful to the Maker, while his mother, Anita Selby Harvey, harbored growing sympathies for the resistance movement known as the Solstice Syndicate. For much of Ethan’s childhood, these opposing beliefs simmered under the surface, manifesting in hushed arguments and cold silences that filled the home. His older sister, Beverly Vinnie Harvey, became his anchor. Just a few years apart in age, they shared a bond built on whispered conversations in the dark, a mix of sibling rivalry and steadfast love that neither distance nor ideology could fully break.

By the time Ethan was around nine or ten, the ideological rift between his parents became impossible to ignore. Anita began smuggling Others out of Camp Hope, risking everything to act on her convictions. Eventually, after one final, heated argument, Crosby reported her to the Church. Anita fled Camp Hope before she could be arrested, vanishing from her children’s lives. Ethan, just seventeen at the time, never truly recovered. The trauma of watching his family break apart left a wound that would shape his relationships for years to come. Though he and Beverly remained with their father, the voice of their absent mother lingered in their thoughts, casting doubt on the rigid teachings of the Church.

Ethan's sense of safety had always been fragile, and it became even more so when, at age fourteen or fifteen, he made a decision that would haunt him for life. His mentor, Travis Nicholas Forest, a beloved Cog Scouts leader and a surrogate father figure, had taken him under his wing, nurturing his passion for engineering and teaching him to see the post-apocalyptic world not as a graveyard, but as a puzzle waiting to be solved. But one night, Ethan accidentally overheard Travis helping a young Tuner, Blaire Dina Spaulding, conceal her powers. Paralyzed by fear and deeply indoctrinated by Church teachings, Ethan reported what he heard.

The consequences were immediate. Blaire was taken by the Doctors as a research subject, and Travis was jailed for harboring an Other. Though he was eventually released and disappeared, Ethan never saw him again. At the time, he justified the decision with the fear of contagion and the Church’s doctrine. But as years passed, and especially as Beverly became more critical of the Church's purity rhetoric—calling it a veil for discrimination—Ethan began to wonder if he had made a terrible mistake.

As he entered his late teens, Ethan began his formal apprenticeship with the Engineers. It was during this period that he experienced his first romance—Constance Rosalin Savage. Constance’s father was an Engineer secretly passing schematics to the rival camp Dark Syde in a plot to dismantle the Church’s power structure. Ethan, now deeply fearful of association with any subversive element, reported what he had discovered. Constance’s father fled before he could be tried, and though Ethan had acted to protect himself, Constance never forgave him. Their relationship, already rocky, ended in bitter mutual betrayal.

The apprenticeship was not without other challenges. On one project, Ethan was tasked with constructing a rover for the safe extraction of zombie samples. A miscalculation led to a catastrophic failure, frying expensive and rare components. Determined to meet the deadline, Ethan replaced the parts using his own savings, taking a significant financial hit but avoiding total disgrace.

Despite setbacks, his work eventually spoke for itself. At the ages of 23, Ethan was promoted to Rank 2 Engineer, a position that gave him a team of assistants and expanded responsibilities. Unfortunately, promotion came with its own enemies. Hammond Karsyn Dudley, a socially ambitious assistant who had wanted the position for himself, began undermining Ethan at every turn, spreading rumors and rallying others against him. More quietly resentful was Makayla Thea Aerterbury, another assistant who, despite her clear competence, believed Ethan’s awkward demeanor made him unfit to lead. Ethan respected her skills and tried to keep the peace, focusing more on calming the storm created by Hammond.

His professional life was also marked by a rivalry that was actually constructive—Grant Velasco, a fellow apprentice during his training years. Their competitive back-and-forth pushed both to greater heights, and while they often tried to outdo each other, a genuine respect formed between them. They still occasionally compare their achievements, a ritual rooted more in camaraderie than competition.

Not all Ethan’s suffering came from politics and betrayal. In his late twenties, he contracted a severe illness—likely from contaminated water during a salvage operation. The infection brought him close to death and left him with a deepened vigilance when it came to his environment. He spent long, fevered days reflecting on past choices and what kind of man he was becoming.

Around this time, his grandfather, Daryl Jett Crisp, a senior member of the Engineers and his mother’s father, gave Ethan a treasured personal gift: an old engineering kit, worn but deeply valuable. The gesture meant the world to Ethan—recognition, belief, and a torch passed down. He treasures the kit beyond anything else.

With time, Ethan’s outward loyalty to the Church has begun to fray. While he remains polite with his father, their interactions are strained. His sister Beverly, now a Doctor working toward a cure, has grown increasingly vocal about her disillusionment, and Ethan finds himself agreeing with her more often than not. He still wonders what became of his mother. He still grieves for Travis. And though he’s not a leader by nature—more inclined to follow and survive—there’s a growing storm inside him. One that questions, quietly and painfully, whether obedience is the same as doing what’s right.