Exit Party Characters

A woman released from prison after eighteen years who drifts through a collapsing United States, works surveillance, and later reinvents herself in Paris as an art collector. She is haunted by guilt over a contract she took on her cousin, loves and loses Felix, and values the painting Swan Dive as her only link to an unimaginably distant life.

Arc: She moves from prison to a series of jobs and dangerous travels, marries Bill Soriano, later marries Eddie Kalisa, and after Eddie's death is drawn back into the mystery of Swan Dive and her former roommate Gloria. In the end she dies in Nico's apartment and, in a vision, dives into the painting's ocean with Eddie.

• Gloria — former roommate in Los Angeles
• Kareem Fayed (party host) — party host and acquaintance
• Felix Washington — first husband and lover
• Bill Soriano — second husband
• Eddie Kalisa — late wife
• Nico Li — friend and acquaintance from Ohio and Paris
• Sebastian — thief of Swan Dive and son of her former roommate
• Ibari Waker — alternate and double in another world
• Anton Waxer — cousin she paid to have killed
• Pilar — housekeeper and companion
• Saraya de Santos — stranger at Kareem's party

A physicist and Service agent from a world with an authoritarian State, she is also Gloria's double and Kareem's wife. After a teleportation experiment, she becomes stranded in another world, spends years trying to understand it and return to her children, and is remembered as one of the Lost Travelers.

Arc: She reveals herself as Service to Ibari, promises to protect her children, and disappears in the UCLA experiment. She later appears in Paris as Gloria's double, cares for Gloria's son Sebastian, and helps Ari after the explosion.

• Kareem Fayed (Nico's husband) — husband in her original world
• Gloria — double
• Ibari Waker — closest friend and fellow Service agent
• Saraya de Santos — colleague who disappeared with her
• Marlowe Li — child
• Samir Li — child
• Sebastian — boy she helps raise
• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — friend and acquaintance
• Alberto Vasquez — Service superior

He hosts the party where Ari and Gloria meet, after California's secession and the lifting of the curfew. He encounters doubles of Saraya and Gloria/Nico, then confronts his own double and agrees to raise his double's children, Marlowe and Samir.

Arc: He crosses into a different room or world, meets his genetic double, takes on fatherhood, and builds a quiet life. He dies years later with his daughter Marlowe by his side and is remembered as a ghost and a friend.

• Gloria — friend and former coworker
• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — party guest and Gloria's roommate
• Saraya de Santos — friend from work
• James — friend
• Bruno — friend
• Ibari Waker — friend and guide
• Nico Li — stranger wearing Gloria's face
• Kareem Fayed (Nico's husband) — genetic double
• Marlowe Li — daughter he raises
• Samir Li — son he raises

A high-ranking Internal Security Service detective in an authoritarian State and Ari's double in another world. She has wanted to be a spy since childhood, lives under cover as an urban planning professor, and is deeply conflicted about her complicity.

Arc: She rises in Service, discovers her broken glasses create facial recognition anomalies, befriends Nico, and is ordered to surveil Nico's children. She later smuggles the other Kareem out of a camp, gives him a Service phone full of secrets, and is arrested on the beach after crossing the burn zone fence.

• Nico Li — closest friend
• Kareem Fayed (party host) — friend
• Kareem Fayed (Nico's husband) — interrogator and ally
• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — alternate and double
• Anton Waxer — cousin
• David Grissom — colleague and blackmail target
• Alberto Vasquez — boss
• Marlowe Li — child she asked Kareem to father
• Samir Li — child she asked Kareem to father
• Haruki — boss
• Aman — arresting officer

Nico and Kareem's daughter, raised by the party-host Kareem after her parents disappear. She becomes a lecturer on transport, suffers PTSD and insomnia after a controlling marriage, and returns to Los Angeles when her father is dying.

Arc: She leaves her husband Hugo, travels to her dying father, sees a healthy double of him at night, and wakes to find him dead. She later searches for the ghost Kareem Fayed in the burn zone and watches a recording of her father's story.

• Kareem Fayed (party host) — father who raised her
• Nico Li — mother
• Samir Li — brother
• Hugo — ex-husband
• Ibari Waker — family friend
• Violet — friend

Nico and Kareem's son, raised by the party-host Kareem. He works on surface development on Proxima Centauri B and lives on the moon in Colony One.

Arc: He returns to Earth for his dying father, chases an intruder who looks like Kareem Fayed, and sits with Marlowe on the porch as they agree to each tell what they saw. He loses his job and stays because of what he saw.

• Kareem Fayed (party host) — father
• Nico Li — mother
• Marlowe Li — sister
• Mo — husband
• Ibari Waker — long-time Service contact

Ari's former roommate in Los Angeles and Sebastian's mother, she is pregnant by Kareem when she leaves California. She survives a bombing, moves to Paris, sells Swan Dive to Ari, and is Nico's double.

Arc: She goes from fearful partygoer and thief of Swan Dive to a reclusive mother in Vincennes, haunted by the past. She reluctantly lets Sebastian stay, warns him about Ari, and remains vague about Kareem's disappearance.

• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — former roommate
• Kareem Fayed (party host) — father of her child
• Sebastian — son
• Nico Li — double
• Saraya de Santos — stranger at the party

Gloria's son and a boarding-school student in Normandy who becomes fixated on recovering his father's painting, Swan Dive. He researches Ari Soriano for years, cultivates Eddie Kalisa at the opera, and eventually steals the painting from Ari.

Arc: He steals Swan Dive, brings it to Gloria, then helps Ari after she is mugged and takes her to Nico's apartment, where she dies. He gives the painting to Nico as a birthday present and plans to dispose of Ari's body.

• Gloria — mother
• Nico Li — guardian and friend
• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — theft target
• Eddie Kalisa — target and acquaintance
• Kareem Fayed (party host) — father
• Marie-Eve — girlfriend
• Cole — friend
• Obie — friend and criminal contact
• Aurélie — friend

A former professional ballet dancer who becomes Ari's motel neighbor, business partner, and first husband. In another timeline he is a principal dancer on a farewell tour watched by Ibari and Nico.

Arc: He runs guns with Ari, flees with her, and is killed in Greece after cheating the Company in Maryland. His ghost appears to Ari in Paris.

• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — first husband and lover
• Drew — friend
• Cali — friend
• Gopher — contact
• Bill Soriano — acquaintance
• Chris Jasper — bar acquaintance

Ari's late wife, a pianist who teaches at a Paris conservatory and mentors at-risk youth. She dies after surgery complications.

Arc: She meets Sebastian at the opera, tells him about her life, and dies; Ari continues to grieve her, paying for her opera seat and keeping her oxfords.

• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — wife
• Esme Léon-Kalisa — daughter
• Sebastian — acquaintance
• Nico Li — friend

Ari's second husband, a wealthy and sketchy man who transports people to new identities. He proposes a partnership and marriage to Ari after Felix's death.

Arc: He marries Ari, travels with her, and later appears as a ghost in Nico's apartment. He argues with Ari in a tunnel and runs back as she goes forward.

• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — second wife
• Pilar — cousin and employee
• Felix Washington — acquaintance
• Chris Jasper — bar acquaintance

Nico's husband in the State world, a secretive revolutionary and scientist who runs illegal teleportation experiments. After the UCLA experiment he is doubled and interrogated.

Arc: He steps onto the platform after Nico and arrives beside another version of himself; he is held in Camp Five, later tells Ibari about the alternate world, and eventually leaves his children to devote himself to the Resistance.

• Nico Li — wife
• Marlowe Li — child
• Samir Li — child
• Ibari Waker — interrogator
• Kareem Fayed (party host) — genetic double
• Saraya de Santos — colleague
• Len — colleague

Nico's colleague who disappears with her in the botched teleportation experiment and is remembered as one of the Lost Travelers. A double of her appears at Kareem's party, disoriented and frightened.

Arc: She steps onto the platform, vanishes, and is later seen broken in a psych ward in Los Angeles. Her double slips away from the party.

• Nico Li — colleague
• Kareem Fayed (party host) — friend from work
• Ibari Waker — acquaintance
• Kareem Fayed (Nico's husband) — colleague

Kareem's roommate and a party guest who is afraid of Saraya. He later investigates Kareem's disappearance with Bruno and questions Ari and Gloria.

Arc: He insists the two Sarayas are a mistake, then helps search for Kareem. He trades stories with Ari on the phone and describes the party as a door between worlds before the line goes dead.

• Kareem Fayed (party host) — roommate and friend
• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — party acquaintance and lover
• Bruno — partner
• Saraya de Santos — afraid of her
• Gloria — questions her

James's partner in investigating Kareem's disappearance. He questions Ari and Gloria and takes notes.

Arc: He helps search for Kareem but finds no answers.

• James — partner
• Kareem Fayed (party host) — missing person
• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — questions her
• Gloria — questions her

Ari's employer in Ohio, who runs a surveillance operation for Cincinnati United out of a former RE/MAX office. He hires Ari to watch Nico because he suspects her of meeting the Pittsburgh militia.

Arc: His operation shrinks, and he eventually leaves town. He is possibly Ari's only friend.

• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — employee
• Felix Washington — friend and contact
• Nico Li — his cousin's wife
• Cincinnati United — organization

Ari's housekeeper, assistant, French tutor, and manager of her life for about twelve years. She is also Soriano's cousin.

Arc: She helps Ari investigate Sebastian, drives Soriano and Ari, and promises to keep her job and help Ari after the hospital.

• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — employer and companion
• Bill Soriano — cousin and employer

Ari's cousin, like a sibling, whom she paid to have killed after he became anxious about a transaction and demanded more money. The attempt failed, and he survived in Italy. In another timeline he is Ibari's cousin, who visits with twins and leaves reflective tape.

Arc: He survives Ari's contract, and Ari later wishes she had told him he was free instead. In Ibari's world he meets her for dinner and writes a note about the exhaustion of pretending under authoritarianism.

• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — cousin
• Ibari Waker — cousin
• his wife and twin daughters — family

A lonely post office clerk who approved any passport application Ari gave him. He was a kind-of friend and transactional contact.

Arc: He helps Ari's passport business.

• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — friend and paid contact

Ari's true friend and paid accomplice in the passport business. She was deported and helped back into the country by Ari.

Arc: She later gets Ari involved in a human-trafficking project with Russian organized crime.

• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — friend and accomplice

A Service man who interviews Ibari for promotion and later becomes her case partner. He was once a painter and describes an orderly Service career.

Arc: He is accused by Latika of involvement in the exit visa crime; Ibari blackmails him with a recording, and he is later arrested. Kareem uses his name to escape Camp Five.

• Ibari Waker — colleague and blackmail target
• Latika — accuser
• Evie — wife
• Alberto Vasquez — boss

Ibari's boss at Service, a career official and master interrogator. He assigns her to investigate Nico's disappearance and the doubled Kareem Fayeds.

Arc: He orders Ibari to surveil Nico's children as bait, recuses her from the foreign Kareem, and later tells her Grissom was arrested. He says someone is out of his hands now.

• Ibari Waker — employee
• Nico Li — case subject
• Kareem Fayed (Nico's husband) — detainee
• David Grissom — colleague

A confidential informant interviewed by Ibari at a hair salon. She accuses her ex-husband of running a counterfeit exit visa operation and names about thirty associates.

Arc: Under pressure she gives Ibari the name David Grissom, which he calls a setup. Ibari uses a recording from her salon to blackmail Grissom.

• Ibari Waker — interrogator
• David Grissom — accused
• her ex-husband — target

The painter of Swan Dive and Olivia on Yellow Sofa. In 1960 New York, he paints Olivia's portrait and begins an ocean painting with a diver's feet disappearing.

Arc: He dies of a heroin overdose in 1960; his paintings become central to Ari, Ibari, and Sebastian.

• Olivia Collins — fellow painter and rival
• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — owner of Swan Dive
• Ibari Waker — owner of Olivia on Yellow Sofa

A painter and Lucas's professional rival and sometime companion. She models for his portrait and is the subject of Olivia on Yellow Sofa.

Arc: She leaves Lucas's studio without saying goodbye; her portrait later hangs in Ibari's hallway.

• Lucas Alkaitis — fellow painter and rival

Felix's friend in Phoenix who helps him and Ari settle in Staplestown. He is married to Cali.

Arc: He and Cali are later murdered; photos of their bodies appear on Felix's phone.

• Felix Washington — friend
• Cali — wife
• Ari Soriano (Ari Waker) — acquaintance

Drew's wife in Staplestown, who says she and Drew never leave each other's side.

Arc: She and Drew are murdered; photos of her body appear on Felix's phone.

• Drew — husband
• Felix Washington — friend

Felix's contact who brings weapons in by sea. He sends a child with a folded note reading RUN.

Arc: He does not appear directly; his note forces Ari and Felix to flee.

• Felix Washington — contact

Ibari's boss at Service headquarters, an exhausted bureaucrat in his midforties. He grants Ibari the right of incineration and envies her retirement.

Arc: He receives Ibari's resignation and watches her destroy her devices.

• Ibari Waker — employee

Samir's husband, who is on a business trip to Indonesia when Kareem is dying. He offers calm and affection during a difficult time.

Arc: He supports Samir by holographic call during the family crisis.

• Samir Li — husband

Marlowe's husband, who berates her for humiliating him at a faculty party and accuses her of social ineptitude. He gaslights and controls her.

Arc: Marlowe tells him he does nothing for her, files for divorce five days later, and later realizes he made her doubt herself.

• Marlowe Li — ex-husband

Marlowe's only remaining friend, known since kindergarten. She once says Marlowe's life is relatively easy because she is successful and makes money.

Arc: Marlowe avoids leaning on her after that.

• Marlowe Li — friend

The control board operator during the teleportation experiment. He cries when Nico and Saraya vanish and tells Kareem he can still go.

Arc: He witnesses the failed experiment and checks the settings afterward.

• Nico Li — colleague
• Saraya de Santos — colleague
• Kareem Fayed (Nico's husband) — colleague

The officer who approaches Ibari on the beach and says, 'You are under arrest.'

Arc: He arrests Ibari after she crosses the burn zone fence.

• Ibari Waker — arresting officer

Eddie Kalisa's grown daughter, named in Eddie's obituary.

Arc: She is mentioned after Eddie's death as her surviving daughter.

• Eddie Kalisa — mother

Sebastian's girlfriend who works at the same grocery store and lives in a former equestrian center in the Vincennes forest.

Arc: She dates Sebastian during his time in Paris before he steals Swan Dive.

• Sebastian — girlfriend

Sebastian's friend in the village, dating Cole. Sebastian steals a hundred-euro bill from her fallen handbag.

Arc: She encourages Sebastian to recover his father's painting and is unknowingly stolen from by him.

• Sebastian — friend
• Cole — boyfriend
• Obie — friend

Sebastian's friend who describes Ari as intimidating, like a panther at the zoo. He is dating Aurélie.

Arc: He remains part of Sebastian's school circle as Sebastian plans the theft.

• Sebastian — friend
• Aurélie — girlfriend

Sebastian's friend who says Ari is tightly wound and later moves into the criminal underworld. Sebastian plans to call him to dispose of Ari's body.

Arc: He slips into his father's underworld and becomes a contact Sebastian fears owing a favor.

• Sebastian — friend and criminal contact
• local gangsters — associated