NyxMaren

It's not really calling them by a different name, but Tobias Jericho (a billionaire with a chip on his shoulder) insists on calling them by their last name, "Saeed."

To the residents of their new home city, Ayo's heroics, "mysterious" silence, and mastery of bridging tech make them "the Wizard of Cahokia," which their friend/instacart driver Clyde thinks is too long for a proper superhero name.

He instead proposes "Ace," for Ayo's flawless maneuvering.

Ayo collects nicknames, all granted to them by others. Their habit of tinkering, even in childhood (with legos) earned them "Little Architect" from the adults in camp, and "Tinkerton" from their crush Dromak (a tradition Jamil now carries on).

Over time, yeah. There's a lot of spoiler-y things wrapped in how she does, so the vague "yeah, it gets better eventually" will have to do for now

At the current point in the WIP, Cassandra's illness is one of two reasons the trio can't go investigate the haunted house until tomorrow (the other being Ayo's illness and some very specific and stern instructions from their doctor, from that chapter-long diatribe I mentioned).

Specifically, it works kind of like radiation sickness, where it starts out almost entirely negligible, but builds up invisibly until her exposure level hits a breaking point. Then, she's wracked with chills, nausea, and sensory disruption. It can completely incapacitate her if she's not careful.

She's also coming off a long string of W's in her career as a spy, so she has an inflated view of her own capabilities, especially compared to the other two leads. The problem is, she's been given oracular insight that, when she uses it (which she doesn't yet know how to control), makes her sick.

Jamil's very competitive, but he also takes his continued career as a soccer player very seriously, so he makes sure to stay well within the acceptable limits.

Cassandra is in a very unusual position: she's acquired abilities that come at a cost, and has not quite figured out what the deal is yet.

Jamil and Cassandra each contrast this in different ways. Jamil, being a sports darling with a lasting leg injury from childhood, is in a similar boat with regard to knowing and pushing his limits, but he's a lot better about listening to his friends and teammates about it.

It's not often that Ayo gets their own assessments wrong. The one time they flub it in the book, it's because of a wrinkle they couldn't possibly have anticipated ahead of time. This leads to their doctor spending almost an entire chapter chewing them out for their remarkably thorough noncompliance.

Ayo understands their physical limits uncomfortably well, which is good because messing that up with their condition could just straight up kill them. However, it also means that they're very good at going right up to that line. Most people would call it a "death wish." Ayo calls it "making do."

Ayo's no theologian, but if you really, really drilled them on it, they'd say something to the effect of Hollowers being an invasive species, which is pretty accurate. Wherever they started, Hollowers were perfectly natural and normal, but now they're somewhere else, and they can do a LOT of damage.

(also if you're wondering why I didn't use the word "Allah" in this thread, it's because I find that using that word in English-language discussions serves to unfairly exoticize and other practitioners of one of the world's largest religions)

To be clear, this isn't "Ayo is only good because they're religious." It's that Ayo's kindness is filtered through their faith and vice-versa, each affecting the other and being affected in turn.

It's this belief in a universal, ultimately good God that gives Ayo the strength to believe that even the most monstrous person can become better. Not because there is a purpose for all things, not because God loves all things equally, but because there is God in all things.

They see all people, all the world, as God's creation, and in doing so seek to understand and illuminate the darker corners, the places others refuse to look. No part of the world, no matter how strange or disquieting, is outside of God's domain.

The most common way this occurs is that someone will refer to the eldritch horrors called "Hollowers" by their more colloquial name, "Demon Gods," and Ayo will, without fail, interrupt the thought with the phrase "God is greater." But this is far from the only way their faith colors their life.

Ayo is a devout Muslim, and though they don't often voice it, they see the world of HOMEBOUND through that lens. Visibly, they wear hijab, so everyone knows and understands that they're religious, and yet every time they say something that underscores that fact, the other characters are surprised.

They eventually learn some lessons about how they're treating themself and achieve a healthier attitude towards life, which does improve their quality of life. More effective medical treatment is kind of impossible at this point, but this isn't nothing.

So...that's how Ayo handles being sick. They'd say they don't let it stop them, but in truth they have a tendency to ignore their own well-being. They're so focused on helping others that they neglect themself, and this puts their ailing body under more strain than would be necessary.

It was only thanks to Ayo's nosy neighbor and a timely visit from their doctor that help arrived in time.

Here, they went *underground*, alone, rescued a prisoner, and stopped the ritual. Except the prisoner, desperate and hungry, turned on them, and Ayo nearly died.

Not because the prisoner was a threat (she was), but because Ayo couldn't breathe well enough to keep themself safe.

Then, when they confirmed that Intel, they packed their things and left a day before their bedrest was up, heading about fifty miles out of town to a no-phones-allowed resort where shit was about to go down.

So, rather than report this to the relevant authorities (who do exist but are...well they're their own rabbit hole and we're too deep in this one), they (A) abused a technicality in their medical instructions to stay put twice as long as they were supposed to, just to gather intel.

To leave the abstract and use an example from HOMEBOUND, after being assigned bedrest by their doctor so their lungs could recover from a misadventure involving an apartment on fire, Ayo discovered a plot to, very basically, pull an eldritch monster (a "Hollower") across the Veil Between Worlds.

They do their best to follow doctor's orders, as doing so is often a matter of life and death for them, but if it's ever a question of their health or another's, they'll prioritize other people every time.

Needless to say, that puts a lot of stress on Ayo's loved ones and especially their doctor, but that's not the question we're here to answer.

As far as Ayo is concerned, this is the hand they've been dealt, and they'll play it as best they can. Their first goal in all things is helping others.

If someone's in trouble, Ayo's body decides to help before their mind can catch up. As you can imagine, being the sort of person who automatically, say, ventures into burning buildings to look for survivors isn't exactly great when you're also someone whose lungs are at less than 50% on a good day.

The first thing Ayo needed to learn was patience, a skill they have since mastered with regard to their illness. The problem is that they have not mastered it with regard to others in distress.

Ayo's friend Jamil once referred to their behavior as "autopilot heroics," and that's pretty accurate.

So their options are transplant, just kinda deal, or physical therapy (which, you might note, is not easy to do when it comes to lungs, but there is some benefit). With transplants being risky and unlikely, and doing nothing out of the question, Ayo (yes, Ayo, not their parents) opted for PT.