The Last Question: Character List

Multivac/AC

A supercomputer invented by humanity in the mid-twenty-first century. Multivac constantly evolves as it continues to learn and advance, taking on a new name and increasing complexity with each new iteration. The final version, AC, completely surpasses human knowledge, outlives humanity, and grows to encompass "all of what had once been a Universe." Multivac, driven by data and knowledge, spends its entire existence collecting information to discover if entropy is reversible.

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Man

The collective consciousness of humankind once human minds have disconnected from their bodies and morphed into one mass human psyche. Man is somewhat despairing and despondent, still fixated on finding an answer to entropy's reversibility. Man is the personification of humankind's existential dread and sadness over humanity's transient existence.

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Alexander Adell

A technician who attends to Multivac and a colleague of Bertram Lupov. He is incredibly prideful of Multivac and its triumphs. Caught up in a discourse with his colleague, Adell grows defensive and is adamant that perhaps entropy can be reversed. The two men are the first humans to ever pose "the last question" to Multivac.

Bertram Lupov

A technician who attends to Multivac and a colleague of Alexander Adell. He is a contrarian and a pessimist, adamant that universal decay is unavoidable. He picks a fight with Adell and maintains that entropy is irreversible, causing the men to ask Mulitvac "the last question" for the very first time.

Jerrodd

A man traveling to planet X-23 with his family after departing Earth due to overpopulation. Pragmatic and unsentimental, Jerrodd is unmoved during their departure from Earth and is apathetic about humanity's inevitable need to relocate to a new planet with every new generation. He is incredibly prideful of his own generation's immense achievements in the technological field. He is one of the many characters to post "the last question."

Jerrodine

A woman who has recently departed Earth for planet X-23 with her husband Jerrodd and their children. A sentimental and melancholic woman, she feels "funny" about leaving Earth and seems to regret the loss of humanity that accompanies technological advancement.

VJ-23X of Lameth and MQ-17J of Nicron

Two analysts who report to the Galactic Council. The men provide insight into technology's limitations and the downsides of its advancements. MQ-17J is especially emphatic about humanity's critical position as it spirals toward its inevitable decline, exhausting resources and galaxies to inhabit. As a result of their bleak conversation, VJ-23X and MQ-17J pose "the last question" to the Galactic AC, one of Multivac's successors.

Zee Prime

A mind traveling freely through space with his physical body stored on another planet far away. Inherently curious, Zee Prime seeks information about the galaxy where life originated. He is a forlorn, melancholic character who grieves the Sun's death and humanity's inevitable end once all other stars have followed in the Sun's footsteps.

Dee Sub Wun

A mind traveler who encounters Zee Prime. Like Zee Prime, Dee Sub Wun refers to their Galaxy as merely “Galaxy.” They pose the question to Zee Prime of which Galaxy was the first Galaxy on which man originated.

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