The wound

His mother prays for him every night. He knows because he asked her once and she told him without judgment. He is eighteen and in love with his crew and afraid that if he’s honest with his mother about who he is, she will stop praying. He suspects she would also stop loving him. He is wrong about that. He hasn’t found out yet.

The longing

To be seen as a full person by his crew, not just the youngest, not just the heavy. To find a way to tell his mother the truth that doesn’t break her. To live past twenty-five.

Skills

Five years of formal Wing Chun (his father insisted), two years of pit-ring fighting, a year of crew combat work. He shoots adequately but prefers his hands. He’s faster than he looks and substantially smarter than people assume. He reads at an adult level in Cantonese, struggles with English, and has been quietly studying with Jin’s help.

Relationships within the crew

• With Jin — closest friendship. They share a room. They are each other’s brothers in the way that people who didn’t have brothers grow into.
• With Min — she’s his broker and she watches out for him. He’d take a knife for her without thinking. She would prefer he not.
• With Faan — mentor. Faan teaches him to drive boats and to read the city.
• With Nadia — complicated. He has a crush on her that she’s gently helping him grow out of.
• With Dr. Kwan — she patches him up after every job. They’ve talked about his mother, once, late at night, after a job that almost killed him.

Series arc

The crisis that brings Bo’s mother and his crew into the same room is the engine of his arc. He’ll get hurt — badly, not fatally — in the second arc of the series, and the question of how much modification is too much will be one he has to answer in real time. The crew rule that they come back together will be tested specifically through him.