Name: Alex Denman
Age: 26
Species: Human
Sex: Male
Hair: Cropped, dark-brown.
Eyes: Green.
Weight: 153 lbs.
Height: 5'11"
Weapon: Unless circumstances subvert the possibility, Alex regularly carries with him a pistol of some sort, though the amount of firearm ammunition he possesses usually limits its effectiveness. When he runs out of ammunition, Alex will fall back on the use of a
shortsword he carries in his bag of belongings.
Equipment: Alex has various items and trinkets he has collected from multiple realities, all stashed away in a
long bag slung over his back. Some of the contents include: preserve food, flashlight with spare batteries, a can opener, US currency from multiple realities, one to three extra clips of ammunition for the pistol being used at present, a lighter, and a
shortsword. Some extra items are carried from time to time, such as magazines, jewelry that is sold for cash, or other miscellaneous items of interest. He tends to carry a mainspring wind-up wristwatch with him at all times, because of its ability to survive the dimensional shifts and not be rendered useless.
Strengths: Spending three years shifting from reality to reality changes a person. In Alex's case, he has honed some of his skills, as well as developed new ones. The young man can fight very well with ranged and melee weapons, and he is not too shabby in unarmed combat either. He is quite athletic, is skilled in pickpocketing, hiding, sneaking, and shadowing. Navigation in a variety of terrains and environments is not difficult for Alex, as he has confronted dozens of worlds where the artificial navigation systems modern humans rely on are entirely nonexistent. Having spent years on the bottom rung of societies from virtually every dimension has given him insight into the working of the human mind, as well as criminal elements and street knowledge. If all else fails when it comes to making a buck, the young man is also quite skilled at playing his trusty harmonica and panhandling.
Weakness: Alex is utterly human. He has no armor, and only possesses weapons that are not special in any way aside from the fact that they do not originate from the world he currently is in. He can die just like another person, though he has developed a slightly greater resistance to pain and injury due to his experiences with death over the past few years. His reality shifting ability activates exactly every 2 days, 1 hour, 46 minutes, and 2 seconds, creating a plethora of limitations to his existence. Till the next shift, he can still be killed, tortured, injured, captured, starved, drowned, beaten, or experience anything unimaginable that is unpleasant.
A slight peculiarity due to his dimensional shifting is Alex's compulsive need to press his fingers against flat surfaces. Though this doesn't really constitute a weakness, it is something that could tip off his identity to those who already know of him. Because of quirks surrounding the sudden shift in the fifth dimension from one reality to the next, Alex is unable to have any long-lasting electronic equipment with him. With each shift, electromagnetic disturbances disrupt the wiring and structure of such devices, rendering them entire drained and nonfunctional. This leaves Alex in a situation where he cannot rely on modern (or even advanced) technology for long periods of time, though his aptitude with them is still present.
Skills/Magic: Dimensional Shift/Reality Jump/Timeline Switch- Not so much a skill but rather a forced event, the dimensional shift which forces Alex from reality to reality works on principles similar to those contained in Superspace Theory. At best, the roughest understanding of this phenomenon would follow as such: space is comprised of three dimensions (height, width, and depth) and time is comprised of two dimensions (duration and potential). Each space-time reality is composed of four dimensions, three being spatial and one being temporal (duration). However, all realities are connected via a second temporal dimension (potential), which allows for travel from one timeline (and henceforth one reality) to another. The shock living beings would experience from being moved from one reality to another by a fifth-dimensional object would be akin to the taking of a two-dimensional living being and moving it via the third dimension.
The force that shifts Alex from one part of the fifth dimension to another is entirely unknown to him and all those who have witnessed it. On one half, he wishes to understand the enigma for what it is and use it to get home, yet he remains somewhat content with the mystery for what it is. Some mechanics surrounding his shifting from one reality to the next seem to transcend Superspace Theory. Any physical injuries sustained in one dimension will be healed upon jumping to another. Should Alex die in one reality, the cyclic shifting occurs regardless, and he will be revived (with injuries healed) when he arrives to the new reality. Strangely enough, any belongings Alex has with him will be transported with him, though he has never successfully taken another living being with him to another reality. Another strange side-effect of dimensional shifting is the compulsive behavior Alex possesses: the urge to press his fingers against flat surfaces. Why such things occur are unknown, but for some reason seemingly beyond any comprehension to both Alex and physics itself they happen regardless.
A less bizarre, yet more practical side-effect of dimensional shifting is the impairing of electrical devices from one dimensional shift to another. Should Alex hold in his possession an electronic device during a dimensional shift, the object will be drained of energy and rendered utterly useless upon arrival to the next reality. The object's wiring is fried, and all power sources drained to their minimum, leaving Alex to find new electrical gadgets as the first order of business upon arrival to a new modern reality.
Appearance: With his medium height and weight, along with an athletic build, Alex regularly catches attention for a number of reasons. He is no ordinary young man, judging from the worn-out sneakers on his feet, the thick, baggy jeans with small holes and tears, a thick brown jacket that looks like it has been unwashed for days, a wool beanie with various designs covering his head, and a pair of dark black sunglasses that completely mask his eye sockets. His facial hair appears to have been untended for quite some time, leaving the gentleman looking very rugged and scraggly. Every now and then, he is seen pressing his fingers slightly against flat surfaces, a discontent expression on his face matching the seemingly compulsive motion. Along with this behavior, he is regularly seen glancing at his watch, albeit if he has one on him. A slight bulge is present at his waistline, indicating the location of his pistol. He is regularly seen with a long bag that carries his various belongings, brought with him from various dimensions. Despite the fact that he is naturally an attractive-looking individual, the test of time and the rigors of dimensional travel have worn down whatever visual appeal he once retained.
Personality: Experiencing the different possible realities that exist has drastically changed Alex's original personality, giving him a rugged, if not pessimistic view of the world. Despite knowledge of the potential of never returning home and being forced to shift from reality to reality for eternity, the young man still finds the internal motivation to continue living. Knowing it is better to stay away from all the action, Alex keeps to himself unless the attention is brought to him forcefully. When his identity comes into question, the vagabond has found ways to play off the typical false persona of a homeless man for most, if not all, modern societies where other homeless exist. At heart, the young man is interested in different worlds and the people inside of them, so he is regularly tempted to make empathic connections with the people he meets with each shift. Unfortunately, the fact that he will not remain in that universe for long creates distance between Alex and other people, sometimes causing him to become depressed, paranoid, or hysterical.
Fortunately, the young dimensional drifter keeps himself out of trouble long enough to slip in and out of realities without anybody really noticing. A strange facet of his dimensional shifting is the development of an obsessive compulsive disorder: Alex feels the urge to press his fingers against flat surfaces, and it is unknown why or how this is connected to his shifting. This compulsive behavior is a minor annoyance to Alex, as he regularly performs it against his will. Alex is a generally-pleasant person to speak with, if you can at least withstand the minor body odor and his rugged appearance. He speaks in a calm tone in every situation, never raising his voice even in response to violence (unless he is the one inciting the violence), as if he is positive of the fact that no long-lasting injury can befall him. Because of this calmness, the young man has developed a reluctant curiosity that motivates him to at least explore a new reality and understand the major differences between it and previous worlds he has visited.
Despite his calmness and curiosity Alex has kept himself away from the average person in any given reality, creating an ever-present longing for companionship. Every once in a while, he will speak with random strangers, seem completely interested in everything about them, and share with them the vast knowledge he has collected from his experiences. Unfortunately, not many entertain, let alone comprehend, the reality of interdimensional travel, and as such Alex is forced to keep that part about himself secret unless he wants to visit the asylum again.
Biography: If the universe is a mysterious place, the multiverse must be truly bizarre. Whether it was God, fate, karma, or just coincidence, Alex is a person whom was given the ability (or curse) to hop between the dimensions of space, time, and the fabric parting whole realities. However, he had humble beginnings, and would have been no more different from you and I had he not befell the fate of being a transdimensional drifter. Born and raised in Redmond, Oregon, Alex was the second child of Douglas and Melissa Denman. Having spent most of his youth in the middle class, Alex lived a relatively normal life in terms of modern American society. His childhood and adolescence was not that unique, and upon graduation from high school he moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon. There, he entered Klamath Community College, and spent the next few years of his life working towards a Bachelor's Degree in Business and Management.
The year after graduating, Alex began working in Klamath Falls for various marketing and sales companies. His life was quite standard, and he even had enough of an income to begin making down payments on his own house by the end of the summer. However, on an unremarkable day in late Fall, his entire life was turned upside down. In the early morning of November 15th, Alex awoke to find himself in a bed that was not his own. Bewilderment and confusion pervaded, and with further investigation Alex discovered that he had woken up in a different house. But stepping outside proved that to be false, as the house appeared identical to his own. Searching the residence, he discovered pictures of people he did not recognize, and there was furniture that he had never seen before.
Utterly mind-boggled, the young man did not know what to think, and became more distraught when he couldn't find his car. Walking on foot, Alex went to his sister's house and decided to look for answers to his ever-growing number of questions. When his sister opened the door, an expression of shock and terror instantly covered her face. The young man was oblivious to this, and asked his sister what had happened to his home and where all his stuff went. She invited him inside, pale-faced and hands shaking violently. Alex asked his sister what was wrong, and she managed to explain to him in a stutter-ridden voice that he had been dead for over a year now. Thinking this was all some sort of giant ruse, Alex became upset with the way the joke was going.
Through a series of interesting conversations, Alex's sister eventually convinced him that he had actually died two years ago, leaving the bachelor more confused at what exactly was going on. The world no longer made sense to Alex Denman, and through this delirium he decided it was best to spend a few days at his sister's home and uphold his low profile. A day had passed, and in that day the young man went about learning how he had died as well as how the world around him had changed because of it. His perceptions of his "real" life for the past two years were beginning to fade under the mist of depression and the inability to cope with this new reality. The following day was full of apathy, with Alex attempting to hold a positive mood and continue his de-fragmentation of the new reality at present. In the middle of the night the young man lie on the bed, restless and full of questions that he attempted to answer in any way possible. At approximately 5 AM, his thoughts were interrupted as he felt an obscure but terrifying sensation rapidly growing.
Suddenly, the world around him changed, drastically. He was no longer in the guest bedroom, but on the floor of a teenager's bedroom. Shocked and dazed, the young man stood up, noticing a teenage boy fast sleep on a bed. Alex exited the house without waking any of the new residents up, and found himself in a different-looking neighborhood. Dressed in nothing more than the clothing he was wearing, he could find no other route to pursue than to seek help of any sort. Little did he realize, that in the next 2 days the same event occurred. The world around him shifted once again, and he awoke to find himself in a different place than that which he thought was reality. This event occurred over and over again, rapidly driving Alex to the brink of insanity. He sought psychological help, only to be placed in an asylum that would shift into something else in the next cycle.
With each new shift, Alex realized the world changed in drastic ways. At first, events that occurred in the previous world did not occur in the new one. As the changes became more drastic, people he knew changed drastically while some ceased to exist, and strangers he never knew even took the form of family members and friends. It became more and more difficult for Alex to find food and a place to sleep, so he resorted to homelessness and even went to the extreme of robbing people for cash. Then, whole cities changed with new shifts, and sometimes cultures too. The sudden changes could no longer be taken in by Alex, and in desperation to make the cycles cease he stepped in front of a moving semi-truck. As quickly as the sting of death came to the young man, just as quickly came the sudden burst of light and new life.
Thinking he had entered the afterlife, Alex only had to take a few steps to realize he had just shifted once again. Multiple suicide attempts only affirmed the fact that he could not die, and that somehow he would be revived and sent to another world. Apathy pervaded him, and many days he would merely sit around and starve himself to death in submission, only to be revived once again and awaken in a new reality. In time, he began to build the fortitude to survive, and eventually began to make something of this new existence. Systematically creating patterns of behavior to allow him to experience each new reality fully, Alex discovered the pattern of each shift. Every 2 days, 1 hour, 26 minutes and 2 seconds, he would be shifted to a new reality.
With the new-found knowledge of the specific cyclic pattern of his reality shifts, Alex formulated plans for dealing with people in other realities. He would stay low profile, mind his own business, take what he needed, deal with appropriate threats, all the while waiting out the two days, one hour, forty-six minutes and two seconds till the next jump. Over the next three years, Alex spent every waking moment finding ways to survive, honing whatever knowledge and abilities he had to make his situation more accommodating. Despite his encounters with worlds were John F. Kennedy was never shot, or aliens invading planet Earth, or even realities where the colonization of the New World didn't occur and so on, Alex never could fully grasp the idea behind his dimensional shifts. He could not wrap his head around the idea of multiverses, nor could he find anyone with even the faintest explanation (or imagination) behind his predicament. Revealing his identity as an interdimensional drifter would label him a nutcase, which brought along with it the ramifications of spending a few nights in a padded room till he shifted to a new reality (and without his gear).
Despite all this, Alex found various methods of survival, depending on the reality he would shift to. Sometimes he would rob for money; but he would have to spend all the currency before shifting, lest he travel to a world where that money would easily be noticed as a "fake" or just wouldn't be accepted. Of course, the young man found ways to make ends meet: he would collect various trinkets, currencies, and items from different realities and carry them in his bag, hoping they would be of some use to the people in the next reality over. Over the course of three years, Alex encountered various worlds (sometimes with alien physics), forces (including magic), and people (and sometimes alien beings) that he did not fully understand, nor did he always try to. Despite this, he constantly seeks for a way back home, hoping even such a concept is feasible.
10-17-2009, 12:47 PM
