Ella Malikova

**Ella Malikova** is a member of the House of Knives. She is the daughter of Mikhail Malikov, the younger cousin of Nik Malikov and Erik Malikov, and the niece of Zakary Malikov.

## Personality

Sarcasm runs in the family, and Ella didn't miss out on it. She is often playful and keeps her cool in situations that would render other people useless. Despite her extreme hacker skills and ability to kill unblinkingly when necessary, Ella's videos to her friend Zoe show that she can also very much be a bouncy teenage girl. Despite her tough-as-nails exterior and occasionally vicious pragmatism, Ella's actions toward AIDAN at the end of the series demonstrate that she does actually possess a slightly idealistic soft side.

## Appearance

Ella is described as having long, straight black hair with sharp bangs, fair skin and green "razorblade" eyes. After suffering from the lysergia plague at the age of 13, she ended up paralyzed from the waist down, she is only able to move the upper part of her body. Due to her lungs being compromised, she has to wear an oxygen mask at all times. Even still, she is graceful and skilled using her computer's keyboard.

## Plot

In *Gemina*, Ella works with Nik Malikov and Hanna Donnelly to rid Heimdall Jump Station of BeiTech Industries goons. She is motivated by revenge, as the House of Knives (Ella's father included) were the first casualties of the attempted takeover. After killing the BeiTech Beta Squad by flushing them out an airlock as they try to capture Hanna, Ella uses her hacking skills to thwart Falk and his crew. Keeping an eye on the cameras in the jump station, Ella is able to advise Nik and Hanna about incoming enemies. Throughout, Ella find herself dogged by the BeiTech decker, Tracy "Mantis" Lé, but repeatedly outsmarts and outmaneuvers her rival. She is attacked by a lanima but kills it using a pistol her father gave her for her recent 15th birthday. Despite being high from the slime that gets on her skin (and her partial paralysis), Ella leaves the entertainment center and arrives to the action just in time to be of invaluable assistance in the one-on-one against Falk. She bears her friend Zoe's pet fish Mr. Biggles II the whole time, who miraculously lives through the entire *Illuminae* series.

In the parallel universe where Hanna dies during the fight with Kali and Nik survives, Ella is killed during the fight with Falk. In the universe where Nik dies and Hanna survives, Ella is not killed but rather escapes on the Mao with the rest of the survivors before the secondary drone fleet sent by BeiTech destroys *Heimdall*.

During *Obsidio*, Ella helps compile the case against BeiTech Industries with Ezra, Nik, and AIDAN. She has a cryptic conversation with AIDAN before it executes 'population control' and is shut down, in which the AI tells her that soon the Mao will need knives ('sharp ones'). Once Ella is contacted by Kady during Ben Garver's mutiny, she recalls that conversation and reboots AIDAN despite her reticence in dealing with it. Ultimately, AIDAN helps the crew from the Hypatia stay in control of the Mao, and after it promises it will not kill without express direction from the captain of the Mao, Acting Captain Winifred McCall decides not to shut it down again.

Ella works closely with Kady and AIDAN to prepare for the battle of Kerenza IV. While they are preparing, Isaac Grant upgrades the makeshift medical solutions that the med crew of the Mao have been using to help maintain Ella's health, since her high-tech chair had to be left on *Heimdall*. With Grant's help, Ella is able to return to near full capacity. She is responsible for writing the script that seizes control of the BeiTech weapons, preventing mass destruction of the tiny, inexperienced fighter fleet from the *Mao*.

At the end of *Obsidio*, Ella is under the legal guardianship of Isaac Grant. Although it is unclear if Ella knew that AIDAN would jump to the Churchill to save Kady and end the battle, it is revealed that she stored a tiny kernel of AIDAN, preventing it from dying completely, because 'everyone deserves a second chance'.

## Skills & Abilities

* **Hacking:** After she was rendered unable to walk, she was restricted to her computer, which she named Anansi, after the Akan god of spiders and mischief. She got exceptionally good at hacking, helping the House of Knives with it.
* **Mixed media:** Ella's friend, Zoe, got Ella to stitch together a compilation some of Jackson Merrick's personnel announcements. This was so that Zoe could listen to them as she went to sleep.