Jerusalem dedicates himself to fighting the corruption and abuse of power of two successive United States presidents; he and his assistants strive to keep their world from turning more dystopian than it already is.
Channon begins the series as one of the strippers at a strip club in the Angels 8 district of the city, which is invaded by Spider Jerusalem during the Transient Riots.
Inspired when Spider quells the riots by broadcasting a live bulletin about it directly to the rest of the City via a local feedsite, Channon (who turns out to be a journalism student stripping to pay for school) quits the club and is hired by The Word editor Mitchell Royce to be Spider's assistant, a job originally consisting primarily of making sure her boss is supplied with enough brain-enhancing drugs and alcohol to be an effective journalist.
She rejoined Spider and his new assistant, Yelena, early in their fight to prevent the election of President Gary Callahan, aka "The Smiler", taking on the role of bodyguard.
In this new role, Channon is depicted as physically more powerful and imposing than before, regularly fighting off multiple assailants and taking point when strategy is required.
Whilst both are now journalists in their own right, Channon refuses to do weekly journalism after her experiences with Spider, focusing instead on books (at the end of the series she has a three-book contract).
Physically, Yelena is quite short (it is never told how tall, but she is portrayed as a half a head shorter than Spider Jerusalem and a full head shorter than Channon Yarrow), with shoulder-length brunette hair and is usually seen in baggy black t-shirts and suits (primarily to obscure her short stature and modest bust—particularly when compared to Channon).
About a week after she's hired, she is interviewed by a major broadcaster, and she describes herself as 24 years of age, born and raised in what is presumed to be a high-class section of the City (Old Heath Road), fluent in seven languages, and a recent business school graduate.
Channon rejoins Spider and Yelena early in their fight to prevent the election of President Gary Callahan, aka "The Smiler", taking on the role of bodyguard.
After Yelena revealed she'd written a crucial column under his name while he was incapacitated for four days, Spider responded, to her surprise, by kissing her on the forehead, followed by the words "Thank you", and a warm smile.
After Spider became involved in political journalism and released a reportage book called Shot in the Face, his popularity reached its peak.
Royce is a chain smoker, often seen with an entire pack of cigarettes lit in his mouth at once, typically as a response to Spider's demands or lateness of his column.