[POI] Theodore "Theo" Ashford [14 y/o] [Male; He/Him] Appearance: Theo's skinny but has some muscle, making him a great climber who can squeeze into tight spaces without a problem. His skin is a light brown, sandy tone, and his black hair's his black hair just kinda flops around. His look never changes: white tee over a black long-sleeve, black jeans, and beat-up black-and-white sneakers. He always has his backpack slung loosely over one shoulder, stuffed with the basics for urban exploration; flashlight, notebook, pens, snacks, and whatever odd trinkets he's picked up along the way. Personality: Theo is endlessly curious and driven by a need to explore and understand the hidden parts of Parallax. He's friendly and talkative, quick to strike up conversations and genuinely interested in people and places. He's observant in his own way, noticing details others might overlook, but he has a tendency to act on impulse when something catches his interest. He doesn't always consider the consequences before sneaking into restricted areas or poking around where he shouldn't, but it's not that he's dim, he just gets tunnel vision when he's focused on something. He's stubborn once he sets his mind on a goal and has a hard time letting mysteries go unsolved. Despite occasionally getting in over his head, he's resourceful and quick to adapt when things go sideways. Likes: Urban exploring, mapping out abandoned places, collecting weird trinkets and oddities, late-night adventures, figuring out puzzles and mysteries, the thrill of sneaking into restricted areas, street food from Town Square, sketching layouts and details in his notebook, stray cats, discovering places no one else knows about.
Dislikes: Being told where he can't go, sitting still for too long, people who don't take him seriously, authority figures who won't explain things, boring routines, being kept in the dark about important stuff, dead ends in his investigations, losing his notebook Backstory: Theo grew up in Parallax with his dad, a maintenance worker who's always been busy with long shifts all over the city. With his dad gone most of the time, Theo learned to entertain himself early on, which quickly turned into a fascination with the parts of Parallax most people ignored, the abandoned buildings, the restricted zones, the forgotten corners. He started urban exploring around age eleven, documenting everything he found in his notebooks. Over time, he got better at finding ways into places he shouldn't be, and his collection of "evidence" of weird occurrences around the city grew. He never thought much of it until the incident at the research facility changed everything. Other: Theo caught Silver Stars's attention after he was found unconscious near an abandoned research facility on the outskirts of Parallax, a location that shouldn't be accessible to civilians and that he has no memory of visiting. When he woke up in the hospital, he had vivid, detailed knowledge of the facility's layout and kept insisting he'd seen "people made of oil and spines" inside. Medical scans showed no physical injuries, but he's experienced persistent nightmares since the incident. He's been under Silver Stars surveillance for a few weeks now. They're monitoring him to determine if he accidentally stumbled into a gateway, had a Moonstruck encounter that's escalating, or if he has latent abilities beginning to surface. Theo knows someone's watching him but doesn't fully understand who or why, he just knows something bigger is going on, and he's determined to figure it out. He still lives with his dad, who remains oblivious to both Theo's explorations and the attention he's attracted. Theo continues his urban exploring, though he's recently been drawn to Outlook Park at dusk, claiming the air there "feels different." He's started noticing patterns around the city that don't quite add up, and his nightmares have been getting more vivid and detailed. (There is a design inside of this project, but gave up on it cause it's pointless lol.) Music: I Want Things To Be Beautiful by Devi McCallion
