This page provides information and commentary specifically about the novel Twenty Questions and CONTAINS SPOILERS. Read with caution.
For broader, spoiler-free information about Cislunar and its major institutions, see the World Guide for Across the Line. Each Across the Line novel scholia page provides a more detailed description of the other three protagonists: Arcady Lorencz (Hopscotch), Tegeus Droit (Red Rover), Axton (Twenty Questions), and Michael Aronson (Catch).
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Dramatis Personae: Axton • Tegeus Droit • Arcady Lorencz • Michael Aronson • Arlin • Domenico Lament • Tasya Shrike • The Children
Miscellanea: Far’s Story •
Axton: M / 36 / Very short, “prison-cut” dark hair and pale gray eyes. Short, slight of build, and thin to the point of malnourishment. A former prisoner of Hellsgate, where he was dubbed “Ratsie” for being “crazy as a shithouse rat,” Axton was recently released and is struggling to adapt himself to freedom again. He’s bright and a competent medical examiner and alienist.
Although I didn’t plan it that way, Axton became something of a pivotal character in this series; maybe it’s because although the other three main characters were familiar to me — modified characters from past games — Axton is completely original, and therefore had more secrets to reveal during writing. He’s a character who grew up with secrets, whose life was shaped by secrets, and whose survival may depend on keeping one particular secret. As something of a reaction to all these secrets, he personally hates to lie and tries very hard to tell the truth, although it’s usually a partial truth, or a very carefully worded truth. If you happen to catch him in a lie, let me know — I did my best to make sure that none of my revisions have invalidated any of his statements, but sometimes writers are too close to the text to see their errors.
Axton’s managed to disassociate or work through much of his past trauma, although his intellectual understanding of why he feels certain ways or does certain things doesn’t always help him resist those emotions or change those behaviors. I think we’ve all been there, right? He isn’t psychologically well, and both he and we know that a few of his relationships, especially with Tegeus Droit, aren’t the wisest life choices he could make. But he’s learned to protect himself by forging bonds with others, rather than fighting them, and that decision ultimately serves him well. In the end, he is the one who sets the parameters of his relationship with Tegeus, even though he’s content to allow Tegeus to act like the dominant partner.
Were Axton’s parents, as members of the Banishat, wrong about how to “create” a sentinel in the womb? No … see Far’s story.
Is Axton really a coward? He’s averse to physical confrontation, but he’ll engage in it if he has to, and certainly to defend others. He just has a toxic belief that bravery is demonstrated through swagger and the willingness to fight — a belief unconsciously shared by Arcady Lorencz and Tegeus Droit. His reputation as “yellow” (link goes to origin of term) is strong in the criminal underworld to which he has links, though, and is generally accepted on the streets. Oh, yeah, I threw out a lot of names of people Axton knows among the lower class, but none are particularly important to the larger Child’s Play plot.
And what of Axton’s real name? As of this novel, it’s legally Axton Payne, as he’s been set down as the child of Cecily Payne. It would be Axton Lament, were he to be recognized as the child of Audrey Lament, as well. But neither feels comfortable to him; in his head, he’s just Axton.
Tegeus Droit: M / 43 / Long blond hair often pulled back in a ponytail, green eyes. Michael Aronson’s cousin — his father was brother to Michael’s father. Sovereign Domenico Lament granted him sanctuary within the city boundaries, and now he works for the Dockside Watch.
We see both the nastier and the kinder sides of Tegeus here as Axton forces him to think about what he’s doing, what he wants, and why. Tegeus has already been rethinking his relationship with the group since Red Rover forced him to accept that his hell was killing family and friend. Thus, in the end, much as he did with Arcady and Michael, Tegeus surrenders to his desire for companionship and belonging, giving it precedence over his inclination to bully and humiliate. Although he jokes about it, he really does privately replace being “Yzyrchye’s Hound” with being “Payne’s Hound” — maybe not the healthiest psychological choice for him, either, but at least Axton is a more compassionate and caring “master” for him to serve and obey.
Captain Arcady Lorencz, Sentinel: F / mid-30s / Short hair, often self-cut and therefore ragged, usually dyed in garish red, orange, and yellow. Wears the uniform of the Cislunar Watch with a Dockside Division badge while on-duty. Wears utilitarian, well-worn, often second-hand trousers, shirts, and sweaters off-duty. Always wears a Vigilance silver sentinel’s pin.
We know that since the events in Red Rover, Arcady has confided with Axton some her hopes and fears about her upcoming wedding to Elliot, and Axton has been helping reassure her and make her more aware of why she thinks and acts the way she does. She respects him for that. However, Arcady’s a straightforward woman, and she appreciates straightforward people like her partner Tegeus … so Axton’s secrets are starting to annoy her.
Michael Aronson, Nobilis, Sentinel: M / late 30s / Long black hair and brown eyes. Tegeus Droit’s cousin — his father was brother to Tegeus’ father. Michael dresses well, lives a comfortable upper-class life, and serves on the Cislunar Vigilance’s board of directors. He’s fostering Kay and Angie from Hopscotch and become the legal guardian of the five children they rescued. He’s also uneasily reconciled with Tegeus, has an amiable relationship with fellow sentinel Arcady Lorencz, and more or less adopted Axton as his personal project.
Unlike Tegeus, Michael isn’t aware that Axton first ingratiated himself as a form of protection. Michael sees himself as the benevolant patron who plucked a bright, if socially inept, ex-prisoner out of the sewers and is working hard to transform him into a respectable citizen. It’s not that Michael is stupid; he just has a touch of hero syndrome, a generous heart, and a tendency to look for the best in everyone (except his cousin, who burned him too often when they were children). He sincerely appreciates that Axton is always there when he needs him, ready to offer assistance, advice, and encouragement … and he needs a lot of that now that he’s responsible for the well-being of seven young children.
Arlin: A courtier in Audrey Lament’s court who became Axton’s guardian — and monitor — when Axton was orphaned. We met “Arlin the Knave” briefly in Hopscotch, when Arcady and Tegeus braced him for information. He’ll show up again in Catch. Arlin’s a bit of a tragic character, really; a man who was trying to do the right thing and had his life ruined for it.
Domenico Lament: Current sovereign of Cislunar, although his sister was sovereign before him and he took the throne after her death. He is also Axton’s half-brother, and it was his blow that killed Axton’s mother. Family is difficult. Domenico and Axton haven’t seen each other in almost 30 years, but neither of them have forgotten about each other. Although we don’t learn it until Catch, Domenico’s wife is dead, his mother is still alive, and he has two children, a son and a daughter.
Lt. Tasya Shrike, Lament’s Guard, Sentinel: Tasya first appears to arrest Axton, is present later during the trial, and gets sent with Arcady Lorencz to toss Magister Carel’s house. Although I didn’t write that last scene, I imagine those two women hit it off pretty quickly — they are both sharp and irreverent, but committed to civil service. They probably get together for beers whenever their schedules align. Shrike is an old friend of Michael Aronson’s, as the novel signals with her use of his first name, and we’ll see her again in Catch.
The Children: Michael Aronson’s wards are the young sentinels Jack Alloway (12), Holly Francis (13), Finn Kenzie (14), Caro Liseaux (14), Kate Mockery (13). Axton has regular meetings with them — counseling checkups, mostly, although he also allows them to look for Cardinal Croix across the Line during his sessions if they have nothing to say and want to go explore.
There’s also Milka Nevenek (12), not a sentinel, who seems to have become a communicant of Far. She is not one of Michael Aronson’s wards, but a ward of the state attending a Vigilance boarding school in the expectation that she’ll eventually manifest. In addition, Angie (9) and Kay (7) are Michael Aronson’s foster children.
Far’s Story: Far’s Story isn’t really intended to be a chapter of Twenty Questions, but since it answers a question or two that arises in Twenty Questions, I thought it was best placed at the end of the novel. It also gives a little insight into the conversations Axton, the children, and Far periodically held in the asylum.