Paula Rydell is an antagonist whose presence in the clean sector and connection to Digitech provides a mundane, yet powerful, motive for the high stakes corporate conspiracy that drives the plot.
Paula Rydell’s persona is that of an insider within the corrupt corporate structure:
Corporate Position: She is identified as Edge’s colleague/boss at Digitech.
Initial Appearance: She is noted to initially appear sympathetic. This suggests she is adept at concealing her true intentions and maintains a trustworthy, approachable facade to those around her, including her subordinates like Edge.
Colleague Dynamic: She is part of the small circle of Digitech executives and staff, including David Cooper, Bob Jenkins, and Martin Smith. Her involvement in the investigation and her position put her in close contact with the flow of sensitive corporate information.
Paula’s ultimate character is defined by her cynical, self serving ambition:
Motive: Corporate Greed: Her deepest motivation is entirely financial. Her objective is simply to increase her wealth through the splitting of Digitech shares. This motive contrasts sharply with the high concept science fiction elements (psychic powers, mutations) that surround the murders, making her the embodiment of classic, base corporate greed found in neo-noir narratives.
Ruthlessness (Inferred): Since she is implicated in a conspiracy involving multiple murders to gain company shares, she is, by necessity, ruthless and manipulative. She is willing to allow a complex and violent plot to unfold, with innocent people (like the murdered board members) suffering, purely for her financial gain.
Paula’s primary challenge is the successful execution and concealment of her conspiracy:
Managing the Conspiracy: She must manage the high risk plot to eliminate the other board members and ensure that the remaining shares fall to her.
Deflecting Suspicion: She must ensure that the blame for the psychic based murders remains fixed on the radios and the initial suspect, Ramone Moon, diverting any attention from her own role as an unmutated “Worlder” driven by financial motives.
The Exposure: Her greatest challenge is the risk of exposure. The core mystery of the novel relies on the protagonist, Edge, uncovering the fact that the conspiracy’s motive is far more “mundane” than psychic warfare, it is her simple, corporate greed.
