Second Variety characters

Appears from the start

An American officer stationed in the devastated remains of Earth after years of war between the United Nations and the Soviet bloc. He is sent across the battlefield under a flag of truce after the enemy asks for a direct conference. Although the self-replicating machines on his side normally recognize his identification tab, he knows their behavior is becoming less predictable.

First appears in chapter 3

A silent, thin boy whom Hendricks encounters among the ruins on his way toward the Soviet lines. He carries a worn toy bear and says that he has been living alone since his family died. Hendricks allows him to follow despite the danger.

First appears in chapter 4

A young Soviet soldier and one of the few people Hendricks finds near the enemy command bunker. Armed and intensely watchful, she reacts to his arrival as though almost any unfamiliar figure might be lethal.

First appears in chapter 4

A Soviet soldier sheltering in the damaged underground command post. He helps explain why the request for a truce was sent and shares his comrades' fear that the machines outside can imitate targets the remaining humans will hesitate to destroy.

First appears in chapter 4

A Soviet soldier in the bunker with Tasso and Klaus. Exhausted by the machines' attacks and distrustful of Hendricks, he is caught in a group where every person has reason to doubt the others.

First appears in chapter 7

The commander of the American Moon base, heard by radio when Hendricks tries to warn the remaining UN forces. His distant command is the refuge Hendricks hopes the machines have not yet reached.