Highmore

Highmore, once an islander of Iberia, bears the weight of deep tragedy and transformation. As a child, she watched her family fall victim to the cruelties of the Inquisition, who falsely accused her parents of collaborating with the Church of the Deep. Her father was taken away, never to return, and her mother, traumatized beyond recovery, became mute before succumbing to despair. The villagers, who instigated this by spreading malicious rumors, ultimately became the object of her resentment. Her disdain for the land-dwellers, having sown her hatred early in life, only deepened as she experienced betrayal, isolation, and false judgment.

Her own fate nearly mirrored her parents'—the villagers, in their fear and ignorance, accused Highmore of bringing famine upon the island and sought to burn her at the stake. But as the flames of their hatred rose, salvation came in the form of Cicero, a Bishop of the Deep, who wiped out the villagers and saved her. Cicero's act of mercy and the equality he espoused in his connection to the Seaborn deeply influenced Highmore. To her, the Seaborn were serene, beautiful, like a night sky filled with stars, and she voluntarily joined their collective, the Many. Yet, this decision nearly consumed her. The Seaborn’s hivemind, which seeks to assimilate those it touches, almost turned her into a monstrous Sea Terror, a process that was halted only by Mizuki’s intervention.

Mizuki, possessing cells of the Firstborn, initiated a slow metamorphosis within Highmore, pulling her back from the brink of losing her humanity entirely. Under his and Tulip's guidance, Highmore was brought to Rhodes Island for further study. Upon her arrival, she caused immediate fear and concern among the personnel due to the obvious Seaborn traits she carried, including the proliferating Seaborn tissue on her arms and weapon. Her presence alone unsettled the operators, to the point that even the Abyssal Hunters, normally fierce and determined, had to be calmed. Only Amiya’s assurance and the guarantee of her unique condition allowed the staff to even proceed with her treatment.

As a field operator at Rhodes Island, Highmore carries out missions, mostly centered in Iberia, her homeland. She has gradually adapted to the human way of living, but the Seaborn’s mark remains on her—both physically and mentally. The tissue on her arms and weapon appears alien, a sign of her connection to the Seaborn, a topic that the Rhodes Island doctors struggled to understand. Though she now stands among humans, her past remains a constant shadow. The moment of her first contact with the Seaborn, which she remembers as serene and awe-inspiring, left an indelible mark on her view of the world.

Internally, Highmore is a contradiction. She outwardly presents a calm and collected facade, but deep within, the scars of her parents’ fate, the betrayal of the townsfolk, and her near-transformation into a Sea Terror weigh heavily. She directs her anger not towards individuals but towards the weaknesses of humanity—their fear, ignorance, and frailty. Highmore struggles with her own shame and guilt, having once been powerless to protect those she loved, and continues to seek meaning in her existence, driven by her experiences with the Seaborn and their vision of equality.

Her field work often feels like part of a greater, incomprehensible design. On a return mission to Rhodes Island, she realized that the paths of all operators—including her own—seemed like constellations, lines and points connecting individuals in a grand, living map. This vision, a reminder of her connection to both humanity and the Seaborn, left her contemplative about her place in the world and what future awaits her.

Despite everything, Highmore remains a being caught between two worlds: one human, flawed yet hopeful, and the other, Seaborn, equal yet alien.