Gerry Mandering owns The Martial Arts Center where Ai Kee! is located.

Mandering grew up in Des Moines, had a newspaper route as a boy, and was picked on by neighborhood bullies. He decided he would never be picked on again. He mentors troubled youth in an after-school program called Kickstarting Life.

Mandering is romantically involved with the mother of one of his charges, although he thinks no one knows.

We first meet Gerry in Book 1 of The Human-Hybrid Project, Shattered by Glass.

Daniel Kim is only sixteen.

Skinny, he tries to mimic the success of those at The Martial Arts Center but always bumbles the moves. Gregarious, he laughs off his faults and jumps in to try again.

Daniel is in Wajeha Nayef's class at Bay City High, and Garik Shayk recognizes him from there, but they don't really know one another.

Daniel works as The Martial Arts Center’s janitor to help out his family. His father was injured in Afghanistan and his mother is a cashier at Fasst Market. You might think that Daniel would be resentful that he is forced to work and give his paycheck to his family, but he is so excited to be at The Martial Arts Center that he would show up for free and not care.

Daniel is the fun little brother everyone loves but wants to fob off on someone else. His antics wear on those around him.

We first meet Daniel in Book 1 of The Human-Hybrid Project, Shattered by Glass.

A self-proclaimed vegan, Flo works at The Martial Arts Center for Ai Kee! She is petite, keeps her hair bristly short, and wears dangling earrings when off the floor.

Gerry Mandering is her boss, and she knows of Mandering’s involvement with the mother of one of his charity program's children, but she also knows it could cause trouble for Ai Kee! if it becomes public knowledge. The public school system provides partial funding in exchange for the afterschool program, and without that money, things might go belly up.

She is known as "Vegan Flo" among the attendees at Ai Kee! and is known to say that she never touches anything that touches animals. She likes to joke, "I never touch meat because it's not neat." She has no trouble with lycra, that and lime green (or any other eye-popping color reminiscent of 1970). 

Flo is an individual who marches to her own beat, and she can't understand (or doesn't care) that other people don't hear her drummer and, frankly, don't want to.

We first meet Flo in Book 1 of The Human-Hybrid Project, Shattered by Glass.

Jung Il-woo still follows the traditional Korean method of writing his surname first and his given name last. A tall man with long arms and short black hair, he sports a pretty face and is cleanly shaven, often seen in a black tee, tan chinos, and sneakers.

Although of Korean ancestry, Il-woo is Canadian and in the U.S. on a work visa. He has yet to find a job and lives under the fear of deportation.

A construction worker at a building project Il-woo walks by daily calls him “slant-eyes” and Il-woo fantasizes about a karate chop to the man’s neck. Il-woo regrets coming to America and wants to find a way out, but he doesn’t want to be forced to return to Canada in defeat.

Il-woo regularly meets with Shin So Min at Kerre's Dive for drinks. So Min is slightly older than Il-woo (and often mistaken for his mother), and she has an ulterior motive for befriending the disgruntled Canadian. She always pays for his drinks.

We first meet Il-woo in Book 1 of The Human-Hybrid Project, Shattered by Glass.