Felix Andrade, 44, cartographer who specializes in maps of places that do not exist. His clients include novelists, game designers, and one government agency that has never explained its needs. He designs the maps before the places are described, arguing that geography precedes culture. He has been commissioned to map seven finished fantasy worlds and disagrees with the resulting books in four cases. He does not say so publicly.

Dr. Amara Diallo, 36, neuroscientist whose research focuses on sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucination. She has experienced sleep paralysis herself 300+ times since adolescence and takes detailed notes immediately upon waking. She is careful to maintain the distinction between her phenomenological experience and her scientific data, but the distinction has become harder to maintain over time. She suspects her research is being shaped by what she hopes to find.