Helga Stein was a German psychologist. She served aboard the William Howells, and studied the people of the town of Kussara. She was initially frustrated by their habit of basing their decisions on what they believed their gods were telling them. Stein was initially as skeptical as of Ramon Castillo's proposal that the Kussarans were not conscious beings. He asked her to define "consciousness" for the rest of the group, which she obliged. As the conversation continued, Helga was won over.