Glitch

Elliot Mason is the novel’s other protagonist and first-person narrator. He’s the top-ranked student in Regan’s year at the Academy. At first, Elliot is Regan’s rival, and the two kids dislike each other for reasons that neither can articulate. Elliot is intelligent, studious, and ambitious. At first, he’s so driven by his desire for personal success that he can come off as cold, standoffish, or rude. Although he seems to know almost everything about important events in US history (which is a major strength in time travel school), he lacks intuition and has trouble identifying Butterflies. Like Regan, Elliot has been taught that altering the past is inherently wrong, so he is disturbed when he and Regan find a Cocoon with their names on it. However, like Regan, Elliot reconsiders The Ethical Implications of Time Travel when he discovers that altering the past is the only way to protect the Academy’s future, which is the purpose of Glitcher like himself.

Elliot’s character arc also illustrates The Development of Friendship and Teamwork in Challenging Situations. At first, Elliot resents being partnered with Regan because he thinks she will hold him back. Over time, he sees that Professor Callaway is right, and their strengths and weaknesses complement each other. Elliot also learns that not all missions can be completed alone; some jobs require two or more people to finish successfully. Only by embracing the power of teamwork can Elliot succeed at his ultimate mission of protecting the Academy, the US, and the future of the world.

Commander Fitz is Regan’s mother, and she’s also the first female commander-in-chief of the Academy. As a public figure on campus, Commander Fitz is talented, impressive, and serious, expecting high levels of performance from students and setting records for several accomplishments. As Regan’s mother, she can also be gentle, kind, loving, and supportive, although she maintains high expectations for her daughter. As a student who is typically mediocre, Regan feels inadequate due to her mother’s impressive stature until she joins the Lewis & Clark program.

Commander Fitz has very clear opinions about The Ethical Implications of Time Travel, but ironically, Regan has to go against her mother’s wishes to save her life. Commander Fitz, like most of the novel’s authority figures, believes that tampering with the past is always immoral. When she discovers that Regan and Elliot have become Butterflies, she tries to have her own daughter arrested just like she would do with anyone else. However, Commander Fitz never learns the reason why Regan and Elliot were tampering with the past; if she learned the truth, it’s possible she would change her mind about ethics and rules. In the end, disobeying her mother allows Regan to act for the greater good.

Professor Callaway is the main professor at the Academy’s Lewis & Clark program. He is kind, jovial, and enthusiastic. He can be silly and even oblivious, but he’s also extremely smart and insightful. As the leader of the partner program, he’s a major proponent of teamwork and helps facilitate The Development of Friendship and Teamwork in Challenging Situations. He’s the person who identifies the high degree of compatibility between Elliot and Regan, so he acts as a donor character who ultimately helps the protagonists succeed in their mission (although he doesn’t realize the extent to which he helps them or what the specifics of their mission are).

Despite being a donor character, Professor Callaway briefly stands in Regan and Elliot’s way because, like most other authority figures, he has limiting ideas about The Ethical Implications of Time Travel and believes that tampering with the past is always wrong. Some faculty and staff want to travel back in time to prevent the attack on the Academy, but Professor Callaway argues that they aren’t allowed to break absolute rules just because there’s now been a tragedy that directly affects them. Whereas none of the adults are able or willing to sneak past Professor Callaway, Regan and Elliot do, demonstrating their potential as a team (which, ironically, was first discovered by Professor Callaway).

Sam and Serina were the first partner pair to graduate from the Academy’s Lewis & Clark program. Although they’ve already graduated, they still live in the mountain where the program is housed, and they often train with current students. Sam and Serina are fraternal twins, and it’s implied that their close relationship aids their ability to work together successfully. They are serious, dedicated, enthusiastic, and smart. Although they’re technically adults, they’re still very young and perhaps more mutable than older adults like Professor Callaway and Commander Fitz; unlike most of the novel’s adults, Sam and Serina have more flexible ideas about The Ethical Implications of Time Travel.

Sam and Serina also illustrate The Development of Friendship and Teamwork in Challenging Situations. Although Regan and Elliot make a great team, they require more than two people to accomplish their ultimate mission of preventing Mayhem’s attack and saving the Academy. Sam and Serina act as donor characters because they help the protagonists succeed in this mission. Although the members of the Lewis & Clark program are used to working in two-person teams with the same partner every time, they ultimately learn that teamwork can be even more effective in larger, more mutable groups. Additionally, all the teams become friends with each other. This comes as a surprise to Regan and Elliot, who are pleased to learn that they each have room for more than one friend in their hearts.

Tess and Eliana and Corban and Blake are the other partner pairs in the Lewis & Clark program. Tess and Eliana are cousins, and like Sam and Serina, it’s implied that their biological relation and psychological closeness contribute to their ability to function as a strong team. They resemble each other physically and are so similar that Regan and Elliot have trouble telling them apart. The two girls are friendly, studious, kind, and dedicated to their training.

Corban and Blake are the only pair besides Regan and Elliot who are not biologically related to each other. Their lack of familial connection implies that there’s hope for Regan and Elliot’s development as a team. However, unlike Regan and Elliot, Corban and Blake are friends and don’t have a problem with being linked as partners. The two boys are friendly, smart, and dedicated.

Each of these partner pairs illustrates The Development of Friendship and Teamwork in Challenging Situations. They are all donor characters because they aid the protagonists Regan and Elliot in their mission to save the Academy from Mayhem’s attack. They also help Regan and Elliot recognize the true power of friendship and teamwork, which is not limited to collaboration with just one other person.