Merton Dingle

APPLICATION

Player Name/Handle: Roach
Plurk Handle: skittering_roach
Preferred pronouns: They/Them
Player Status: Current Player
Other characters: Jack Spicer monkey_wrench

Character Name: Merton J. Dingle
Fandom: Big Wolf on Campus
Character Journal: freakbait
OU, AU, CRAU, Canon OC, or OC? Original universe
Canon point: End of the second season, after he was murdered by a gorgon.
Age: 18
PB: Danny Smith

SETTING BACKGROUND

"Big Wolf on Campus" takes place in Pleasantville, your classic small town, in nondescript late 90's early 2000's middle-America, as brought to you by a low budget Canadian studio. It's that kind of place that gives the appearance of a quaint, sunny little burg. One that strives to be welcoming and friendly, but is perhaps a little too quick to frown upon non-conformity and is frighteningly easy to spur into a literal pitchfork-wielding mob after a security camera catches blurry footage of a man with gnarly mutton chops stealing chicken from the two village idiots, who go on to claim the thief was a werewolf. Though to the town's credit on that one, they are for some unknown reason regularly assaulted by a wide variety of supernatural entities and mad scientists bent on world domination. So they can be a bit defensive. And the more heroic deeds of the town's friendly neighborhood teenage werewolf, and his two friends, tend to go largely unnoticed.

HISTORY
(minor cw: references to child neglect/abuse)

- A lot of Merton's childhood from before the events of the show are kept vague, with him only talking about it either in the context of dark humor or in the middle of a nervous ramble, with no intent on elaborating. He'll dismissively skip over explaining further into things like his parents doing nothing to find him when he was lost in the woods for three days, his mom forcing him to get rid of all his toys when he was eight, his parents taking him to book burnings, his alarming obsession with death that started as a little kid, or how he automatically associates military men like his father with unchecked violence. It's possible he exaggerated some things since he tends to do that, but even if he did, what little info he's dropped and his parent's general absence hasn't painted the best picture.

- What we know for sure is that, until Tommy Dawkins, he didn't have any real friends. He was the creepy, eccentric, hyperactive goth kid with an "overactive imagination", who spent his life dodging bullies and obsessing over the monsters he thought he saw everywhere. The two were locker neighbors since kindergarten, but sitting at opposite ends of the social hierarchy, they barely interacted. But when a newly bit Tommy started showing lycanthropy symptoms, Merton picks up on it almost immediately and excitedly pesters him about them. Warning him of what they meant, and insisting he could help him, much to Tommy's ire and disbelief. Merton turns out to be right, though, and with nowhere else to go, he goes to him.

- Their friendship starts as a relationship of convenience for both of them, with Merton looking for a cure and helping him with his symptoms, while Tommy sticks up for him at school and helps him with girls. But it quickly develops into something genuine as they find themselves working together to fight off monsters that are trying to destroy the town or kill the local werewolf. And the two become practically inseparable. At least, until Lori comes along.

- Poor Lori just wanted to hang out with the two boys who seemed to draw the supernatural to them like magnets, and have a fun time. What she got was shitty drama. Both boys develop a crush on the kickboxing tomboy and things get ugly, with Merton getting particularly nasty. Getting jealous of Tommy for going after one of the few girls he genuinely clicked with and for being the one she liked more and getting jealous of Lori for encroaching on their friendship. The early half of this new dynamic is a bit rough, with Merton occasionally acting like a catty jerk to the two as they get closer and he becomes more of a third-wheel.

- He does mellow out eventually, and is accepting of the two ending up together, though a little privately morose. But it takes longer for him to fully warm up to Lori. When she breaks it off with Tommy, specifically because a make-out session during a monster-hunt almost gets Merton killed, and she concludes that monster-hunting and teen hormones don't mix, we see him start to put effort into being a better friend. And he and Lori even start hanging out independently of Tommy at times.

- And it's just when the three are really starting to gel that things go to shit. Merton develops a new crush, one that also likes Tommy better, though he turns her down. This time instead of getting nasty about it Merton falls into a self-pity spiral. One that Lori walks in on as he goes on about never finding love. She tells him that's ridiculous and admits that she thinks he's cute when he's not being a dink. They kiss, and instantly freak-out. The two decide to keep it from Tommy since the feelings they had for each other weren't worth hurt Tommy over. But he finds out anyway and is predictably hurt, particularly by Merton, who knew Tommy still had feelings for her.

- Merton tries to apologize, going so far as to confess that his friendship with Tommy means more to him than anything. But it does little good and when it turns out Merton's crush was a jealous gorgon who decided if she couldn't have Tommy no one could, their personal drama gets put on the back burner. The fight with her goes south, with Tommy getting trapped, and when she moves in for the kill, Merton uses himself as a human shield, taking the hit meant for Tommy and instantly turning to stone. The move manages to give Tommy and Lori the time they need to free Tommy and trick her into turning herself to stone, but killing her undoes nothing and Merton remains petrified.

PERSONALITY

Excitable - Merton is kinda hyper. Quiet and awkward around most strangers, but once he's opened up he's all high energy, big expressive hand gestures, babbling about scientific theories, his favorite movies, gothic literature, and monsters. It's not an all the time state, he's usually pretty calm and collected, but it's easily triggered whenever his favorite topics are brought up. And with his favorite people, he seems to forget that personal space is a thing people have.

Craven - Not a complete coward. After all, he does keep following his friends into danger to try and keep them and the town safe. He'll even jump into danger on his own at times. But he's stuck in the habit of looking out for himself first because, for the longest time, he was the only one looking out for him. And that's made him into a paranoid, weaselly little shit at times. He's prone to cowering, feigning joining the bad guys, or just flat out running away in a fight, usually with the intent to stab their adversary in the back, but there've been times when that was questionable, particularly when it came to running away. Though to give him a little credit, he's notoriously fragile and the only one of his friends who can't fight, so anytime his weapons get trashed or taken from him, or this or that spell doesn't work, he's kinda fucked.

Pragmatic - Being friends with Tommy and Lori can sometimes be like herding cats. Both of them are impulsive and headstrong, jumping into every situation with a kick-ass attitude and an unshakable optimism. Which, isn't a bad thing, and it's something he loves about both of them, but it also means having to be the Debbie Downer that reminds them of little things; like when it's a full moon and probably not a great time for Tommy to go on that date, or no Lori, it's probably not a good idea to go out alone with your cheating undead ex-boyfriend, and no, explaining to the bloodthirsty mob that Tommy is a good werewolf is probably not gonna pan out all sunshine and rainbows.

Not that he doesn't make mistakes himself, he's more than made his fair share, but it's easier to see the forest through the trees when you're not the one standing in the woods, and between the three of them he ends up in this position the most often up through the first two seasons. That pragmatism along with his proficiency with the occult, has also led to the role of strategist falling to him when they go toe to toe with the supernatural. Especially when it's a situation that requires being more tactical. And to a lesser extent, he's used to being the older brother/caretaker for his little sister and you can see that instinct bleed into his relationship with his friends somewhat, as he occasionally slips into "mom friend" territory.

Altruistic - When he first noticed Tommy showing signs of being a werewolf he offered him help, despite having every reason to think Tommy might hurt him. Werewolves in their world are violent more often than not, and most of the football team Tommy is a part of has had a target on his back since middle school. True, Tommy himself had never hurt him up to that point, but it still would have been easy to just sit back, continue to avoid him, and let whatever might happen, happen. But he doesn't. And his trend of reaching out and trying to help people who could or have hurt him holds out throughout the series. He's pragmatic, but not pessimistic: well aware of how cruel the world can be, but really does want to believe the best of people, or at the very least that they can be better. And when push comes to shove, he can't just sit back and let others get hurt without at least trying to do something about it.

Low Sense of Self-Worth - In his own words, "What meager self-esteem I've managed to cobble together is based on my intelligence," and, from all we see, that's unfortunately not an exaggeration. While he has a lot of pride in his intellect and his knowledge of the occult, and can be a bit of a git about it at times, years of relentless bullying, parental neglect, and possible outright abuse, have left their mark and grounded away at his self worth. It comes across in small ways, like how rarely he bothers to stand up for himself, or how, despite all the evidence to the contrary, some part of him still thinks that if he's not useful to Tommy he'll leave.

But nothing quite shows how potentially dangerous it can get like the episode where he was given a watch that would let him wind back time for several minutes and let him undo any minor mistake, but at the cost of his wisdom. Even after he figures out what the watch is taking from him, he keeps using it. Letting it drain him of the one thing about himself he takes pride in, for just a shot at fixing his mistakes and making people like him. And in a similar situation, he stumbles on to creating an intelligence booster that made him into a super-genius but was quickly killing him. He keeps brushing off Lori and Tommy's concerns as his condition worsens, claiming he's more useful this way, to his friends and possibly to the world, and he can definitely figure out how to mitigate the symptoms if they just give him more time. Time that it quickly becomes apparent he doesn't have. In the end, his friends have to force him to take a cure to the intelligence booster itself to keep him from dying. Even after all that he still tries to recreate the concoction but fortunately can't.

CANON POWERS

None. He is but a mere mortal, as he refers to himself.

POWER SELECTION

[Noospheric Powers]

Dead Boy Walking - Can become, spectral; immaterial, semi to fully translucent, and floaty. Loosely based on how ghosts work in their world, and what it's like for him as a ghost in season three, but with no ability to possess anyone and with more floating, because role-play doesn't involve a monetary budget. And influenced not only by his death before being brought into the game, but also his own feelings of always being an outsider who was mostly ignored and overlooked, his obsession with death, most people's perception of him as a freaky little creep, and his penchant for cowering and fleeing from conflict.

- This is something that's going to be hard for him to control at first since it will be heavily tied to his emotional state. Triggered by things like fear, feeling invisible, ignored, embarrassed, frustrated, or panicked. And any kind of panicking in that state will make it harder to control and harder to make himself solid again.

- No one can hear him in this form. At least, not anyone organic. He'll have some mild effect on electronics when he's like this, but not enough to harm them or control them. Mostly just things like making lights flicker when he's upset, making screens glitch or show his fingerprints/handprints if he touches them, or if he screams any electronics in the room might buzz or shriek. He can be heard by things like spirit-boxes or recording devices, can speak through radios or potentially the network comms but not very reliably. Can also be heard by the robotic PC's or anyone using hearing aids, but again, not well. Think along the lines of the quality of your typical ghost recordings.

- Visibility is also hard to control the more upset he is. He'll flicker in and out against his will, and find it harder to be visible when he's panicked or scared. His best bet for controlling it is being calm. But even if he becomes fully translucent he'll still be picked up by cameras (and by extension, anyone with mechanical eyes). He might look off (flickery, glitchy, shadowy) but not enough for him to be mistakable.

- While he can't be hurt by physical attacks when he's spectral, anything else can still hurt him or potentially kill him in this form, including the nano chain. And if something hurts him badly enough or knocks him out, he'll turn solid again and that damage stays with him. And if he gets hurt while he's solid and goes spectral those wounds carry over. They don't suddenly heal or become less of a burden. If for example, he's bleeding out and something makes him go spectral, that could make him impossible to help and he could die.

- He can't easily switch back and forth between the two forms in rapid succession. While being spectral doesn't take any energy (and it's possible for him to get stuck that way if he can't get himself to calm down enough to make himself solid again), shifting in and out of that form does. It will usually take at least five minutes once he's shifted from one form to another before he can try and shift back. If something forces him to shift back before those five minutes, it's going to hurt (like his molecules are buzzing and his nerves are on fire, so not great). And if he pushes it too much within a short period it will start to exhaust him, or again, hurt him. Anything beyond three shifts in an hour will do the trick, and if he tries to push himself past six in an hour it will knock him out and have him hurting anytime he tries to do it again for the next few days.

- There's no going halfway with this, he can't just be partly ghostly, or partly immaterial. No having one power without the others. No pulling a Kitty Pride, and say, having only his hands be solid so he can still pick things up while spectral. Aside from his visibility having something of a dimmer switch, it's an all or nothing deal. He also can not make other people or things (aside from whatever clothes he's wearing) go immaterial or invisible with him.

- While he can float, it doesn't really equate to flying. He can't float any higher than ten feet above a surface, and the fastest he can move is at a swift run, he'll probably still fall behind some of the faster runners.

- While he can't really touch anyone when he's ghosty, they'll feel cold when he's close by or if he comes in contact with them.

- Not sure if this one is possible, but to keep him from going into places Jorgmund doesn't want new hires in, I was wondering if it's possible for them to modify his nanochain to automatically shock him if he tries to enter an off-limit area or an area he knows he shouldn't be in? If that doesn't work I'll go with his powers not letting him ghost his way into places where he isn't wanted.

ABILITIES

Intelligent (is a genius in theory); speaks multiple languages (Fluent in English, German, and Latin, knows the basics of French, Japanese and Spanish, knows some broken Aramaic and has some knowledge of how to read Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics), good at research/investigation, talented in general science, physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, and alchemy. And is a major history buff, particularly when it comes to the more gruesome aspects of the past.

Well versed in the occult; has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of monsters and supernatural beings, is particularly knowledgeable about werewolves (or at least the werewolves from his universe), knows the basics of his world's version of voodoo and an odd hodgepodge of spells and rituals, like a spell to raise the dead, and a ritual to exorcise the demons from a hell-hound and turn it into a regular dog. (NOTE: None of these involve innate magic, they all required very specific ingredients/objects and knowing the right incantations to work. Unlike some characters in the show, he has no magical ability of his own. And even if he does get a hold of the materials he would need to do any of these spells they wouldn't work here.)

Is a decent-ish shot with a crossbow and a water pistol (they usually have them filled with holy water or silver nitrate), also good at sneaking and tricking people.

Is decent at car repair (he owns an old hearse, a kind of vehicle that requires a lot of regular maintenance), a good cook, can sew, and he knows a good deal about first aid from patching up himself and his friends, as well as giving his werewolf friend regular physical and dental exams. Though most of what he knows of medical science is self-taught and based on medical textbooks that were made, at best, in the late '90s.

On the less practical end of things he's also a talented artist, singer, and writer (at least when it comes to poetry, songwriting, and essays/non-fiction work, his screenplays are questionable in quality at the best of times), plays piano and guitar, and is a major movie buff.

SETTING/SUITABILITY

➤ How do you expect your character to respond to the setting? Even if they plan to rebel in the long term, will they be able to at least obey enough to not get shocked to death?

Merton is a very self-reliant person who's used to keeping his head down and going along to get along, to an extent. Aside from getting a bit sassy, he's not likely to publicly stick his neck out for anyone or do anything that will draw Jorgmunds ire unless he feels like he has no choice.

➤ What do you hope to do with your character long-term?

I would like to try and use him as more of a spy playing both sides. He'll try to convince Jorgmund that he'll willingly work for their cause and give them information on the other New Hires in exchange for not turning him into cannon fodder, while only giving them information he deems safe, but that sounds useful, or that's made up whole cloth but sounds convincing. No telling them about the private network, and he'll try not to give them anything that can get any specific person hurt. Unless he feels like he has to (if he finds out about a murder plot he's likely to give that information to them). I would be asking players permission on what they would be okay with him knowing and giving to Jorgmund, and keeping him out of the know of anything big he would feel obligated to tell them about if the players don't want to deal with Jorgmund interference.

Meanwhile, he'd also be trying to wheedle information out of his "superiors" by playing the "I'm smart enough to be useful, but clearly dumber than you" card, to try and get them to slip up around him, or let him into areas they may not allow other New Hires. And if that doesn't get him anywhere, he'll eventually try and use his powers to gain more information (if given permission from the Mods), once he can control them enough to confidently do that. And if either of those routes gets him anywhere, he would either take whatever info he gets to the K's or post it anonymously on the private network.

It's likely something he's getting in way over his head with, but we'll see how bad it comes back to bite him.

➤ Does your character currently have skills that would allow them to adapt, survive, and do the heroic things being asked of them? If your character doesn't, do you think they'd have the capacity to learn quickly?

While he’s not a fighter, and that’s not likely to change much (outside of learning how to dodge better and take a hit or a fall), he's been doing the saving the world/town thing with his friends for the past year, so he's pretty accustomed to heroics. He's a clever, sneaky, out-of-the-box thinker. Good at strategizing and occasionally McGuyvering quick solutions to problems with very little resources. Though he does have a problem with overthinking things and forgetting that the best solution is often the simplest one. And he could conceivably work to become a better marksman since he has some talent with with a crossbow.

He can also be pretty manipulative in his own way when he wants to be. Years of talking people down from hurting him, finding ways to avoid people, and sucking up to/doing favors for the right adults to carve out nooks of safety for himself, have given him a pretty good understanding of how people work. Not exactly a master manipulator, and he's not always a very convincing liar when he's scared, but he's decent at knowing how to sneak around places without drawing attention, is very good at getting people to drop their guard, and the few times where he was the one to defeat an advisory it was usually by tricking them.

➤ If they're not used to cooperating with others, what makes you think they'll be able to adapt to cooperating with the group?

Merton's kind of a mixed bag on this one. He's used to working with Tommy and Lori by this point so he's decent at working with other people. But he's also not used to other's wanting to work with him, or having people outside of his two friends that he can trust or rely on. So while he'll be fine working with people on missions when he needs to, he's not likely to loop people in on his plans with Jorgmund, at least, not early on.

I'm hoping that eventually he'll get to a point where he'll start leaning on more people and realize he needs to work with them. Not just for practical reasons, like giving himself a better safety net in case things go wrong, but because giving Jorgmund any information that the group didn't agree on giving them, no matter how "safe" it feels, is bound to get someone hurt. Hopefully, he figures that out before he screws up too badly.

➤ Will your character have long-term plans to rebel against Jorgmund? If so, how? Will they betray the other PCs and cooperate with Jorgmund? If so, how do you plan to handle the negative CR that might arise?

Unsure. He's going to recognize this is a complex situation. On one hand, Jorgmund's really only putting humanity on life support, while playing out a corporate mob boss fantasy that does little to help anyone but themselves in the long run. They're holding out hope for the future in one hand, while tightly clutching the keys to humanity's destruction in the other and threatening to use it if they don't get their way.

But on the other hand, this isn't a case of just beating the bad guys and calling it a day. They are still the only ones keeping what's left of the world together, and unless they can find a way to get their company and tech into better hands, simply bringing them down so that the New Hires can go on their merry way back home, could spell doom for the world they'd be leaving behind. And while he can be a coward I can't see him being selfish enough to just let that happen.

So whether he ends up helping Jorgmund or his fellow New Hires more, is going to depend on how things go and what kind of takeover they end up planning. For the majority of the run he'll likely be playing the middle ground, and feeding information to both sides, while maybe focusing on helping the K's in particular, since, at the time of him getting into the game, they'll feel like they're the best option for, if not helping to run things themselves, knowing who would be better suited to utilize the companies tech and resources to genuinely help everyone.

If he gets caught helping Jorgmund, well, he's already pretty used to being shunned. And if their reaction is worse...hey, the second shot at life was nice while it lasted. Okay...maybe not nice. But it was something.

SAMPLES

Network Sample

[The teen tied to the chair is an odd mix of fidgety nervous energy and a weird calm considering his situation. Like someone who's been through this kind of situation enough to know the drill by now. His restraints are pretty lax compared to the New Hires on some of the other tapes. There hadn't been a struggle with this one, outside of a very brief attempt to flee when he first woke up. He's been almost downright amicable.]

So...you work for a megalomaniacal corporation bent on controlling all of what's left of the planet's livable space and gaining a monopoly on all its best resources, what's that like?

[Well, amicable with a side of anxious sass.

Behind the camera there's the sound of a bit of movement from the two interviewers and a quick exchange ("Don't answer that." "Right! We're asking the questions here." "...Jerry, don't.") that gets the kid quickly biting his lip to try and hide the hint of a self-satisfied smirk.

The more serious sounding of the two pointedly clears their throat and proceeds with the questioning.]

What is the one thing that you believe to be true that very few others do?

[The question gets a bubbly kind of nervous laugh out of him.] Just one?

[Apparently seeing that for the warning sign it was, the main interviewer snaps "Please, just one."]

Right! Okay...well...I have this theory in the works about how the mental and emotional health of a werewolf affects the appearance and range of transmogrification of their lupine form! I don't exactly have my notes on me but I think I-

[The interviewer stops him before he can get too far, "That's really not what-...you know, how about we just move on to the next question?"

The teen's shoulders slump, looking a touch disappointed and embarrassed before shrugging it off.]

Oh...Okay.

You’re on your way to your best friend’s wedding and your boss calls and says a client needs something, what do you do?

[This time he doesn't answer the question right away, looking up between the two interviewers as he seems to mull something over.]

You guys really are dedicated to this, 'we're just politely interviewing you for your indentured servitude' shtick, huh?...I know I'm not supposed to be the one asking the questions, but, what happens to the people that fail their interview?

[Flinching he almost immediately gets his answer in the form of a quick zap.]

Kay...yeah, guess that's about what I assumed. [Briefly closing his eyes he takes a breath to calm himself, straightening up in the chair and giving himself as close to a professional look and tone as he can, given his current dress and situation.]

I'd go to the wedding. If I had to I would try and help the client over the phone or over the internet beforehand if it's possible, but there's zero chance I would miss something that important to my best friend. And considering that I would have made sure to get time off for the event, well in advance, I would expect any well-run company to have made the proper arrangements to accommodate for my absence. If not for me, their employee, surely for their clients.

After all, it doesn't really look great when you're sticking your clients on someone who's distracted or unavailable.

Pretty unprofessional, wouldn't you say?

Do you think a leader should be feared or liked?

That's a bit of a trick question, isn't it? The most powerful leaders tend to be both. Even the most horrifying ones…Especially the most horrifying ones.

If someone is leading with nothing but fear, they're just begging to be bumped off. Chances are, they have no one who's loyal to them and no one who would care if someone shoves them off their pedestal and takes over. If you want proof of that, look at Julius Caesar. His legacy has basically been reduced to a joke about how many people were trying to stab him in the back at the same time.

[While his answer starts out brisk and clinical, when he brings up Caesar an odd, darkly humorous smile tugs at his lips, and he makes the best attempt at a stabbing motion that he can with his wrist tied down. When the answer earns him an awkward silence, and presumably some awkward looks to match, there's a second where he looks embarrassed but he quickly shakes it off, falling back into that brisk tone.]

But also, a leader who's too preoccupied with being liked is just going to turn into a doormat. So on their own, they're both pretty equally inefficient.

Success, integrity, or friendship, pick two and explain why?

Success and friendship. Integrity is all well and good to aim for but success tends to keep you alive. And if we're talking about a corporate setting, in the case of this particular corporation I'm willing to bet that logic still stands.

As for friendship, well, no one wants to be alone, right?

What is your biggest regret and why?

[All that confidence suddenly falls away with a shrugging return to nervous laughter and fidgeting.] If it's all the same, I'd rather take a pass on that one. Wound's still kinda fresh actually. [A warning zap is enough to tell him that's not going to fly. He flinches, closing his eyes and biting the edge of his lip again as he briefly weighs his options. Then with a defeated sigh-] Fine...I kissed my friend.

[No zap. He was telling the truth. But an impatient tapping comes from off-screen, waiting on the "why" half of that answer.]

Who happens to be my best friend's ex-girlfriend...Who he's still in love with.

[There's a snerk from one of the interviewers and they mutter something inaudible to their coworker that makes the kid squirm uncomfortably in his seat. Eyes on the floor, he lets out a breathy forced laugh.]

Yeah, that's right, I'm a hypocritical scumbag. It's very funny, I'm sure. [Forcing himself to sit back upright again he can't quite manage to cobble together that mock "professional" composure he'd put on before, or meet their eyes, but he pushes forward anyway.] So do I get the job or what? I believe your slide show said something about free healthcare?

Prose Sample

TDM [ X ]

ADDITIONAL INFO
Any additional info you think it's important to include. You can use this space to ask the mods if certain weapons, gear, belongings, or animal companions can be brought into the game with the character.

FINAL QUESTIONS

➤ Will your character suspect some kind of guiding intelligence has brought them to the game? Or will they think it was random or done by Jorgmund?

He has several theories and there probably wouldn’t be much off the table. But his biggest three will be that he died in his world and this is some awful afterlife, or he’s somehow still conscious in the stone and his mind created this so he doesn’t go completely nuts. Or, he and everyone else really are made from Stuff. The idea that something or someone purposely brought them here, isn’t going to be a strong theory in his mind. And he’s not likely to think Jorgmund was behind it, but I don’t think he would have any solid theories on what did bring them here, if anything. There are way too many options and not enough proof for him to think about it seriously.

➤ If they think it was something other than Jorgmund, like God or some other force of fate, what character traits do they think of that intelligence as having? Is it cruel or kind? Capriciously punishing them or doing it for good reason?

At first, he’ll believe that if some sentient being did bring them here, they did it as a punishment. Specifically, a punishment for him because he’s melodramatic like that and guilty over hurting Tommy. But he’ll probably drop that particular theory after a few weeks, and will likely settle on the idea that whoever might have brought them here, likely wants them to save this place from itself, and is maybe not the best at picking out candidates because they picked him.