Carlos (the scientist)

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<span style="font-family:courier; color:#93002d;">TO:</span> carlos@compass.net <span style="font-family:courier; color:#93002d;">CC:</span> firstname.lastname@compass.net <span style="font-family:courier; color:#93002d;">BCC:</span> firstname.lastname@compass.net, firstname.lastname@compass.net <span style="font-family:courier; color:#93002d;">FROM:</span> firstname.lastname@compass.net <span style="font-family:courier; color:#93002d;">DATE/TIME:</span> Day Twelve, Night. 63:19PM <span style="font-family:courier; color:#93002d;">SUBJECT:</span> (no subject) <span style="font-family:courier; color:#93002d;">MESSAGE:</span> No message.

<span style="font-family:courier; color:#93002d;">CONTACT:</span> carlos@compass.net <span style="font-family:courier; color:#93002d;">MESSAGE:</span> <span style="font-family:courier; color:#000000;">text</span>

Carlos (the Scientist) Welcome to Night Vale

player.
NAME/HANDLE: Jean
PERSONAL JOURNAL: vendingmachine
ARE YOU 16 OR OVER?: yes
CONTACT: aim = vendingmachinedd, plurk = cakejustice
OTHER CHARACTERS: America imthehero


character.
CHARACTER NAME: Carlos (the Scientist)
SERIES: The canon, the podcasts, the character page
CANON POINT: After First Date (episode 27)
AGE: unknown, but probably early or mid-30's.
APPEARANCE: A male model who threw on a labcoat

Carlos is described as having "dark and delicate skin", a strong jaw, teeth like a military cemetery, and thick black hair with a "dignified but premature touch of grey at the temples." Of course, the only descriptions we get of Carlos are from the infatuated Cecil, (who usually prefaces Carlos' name with the words "perfect" or "beautiful") so we should take the intense level of description with a grain of salt. It's lightly implied, though, that Cecil is not the only one fascinated by Carlos apparent "beauty" and that the whole town also think he's pretty hot (to the point where the barber who gives Carlos a haircut is run out of town for "daring to take away Carlos' beautiful hair"). So it could be that he really is just really ridiculously good-looking.

PREVIOUS GAME HISTORY: n/a

PERSONALITY:

Carlos, first and foremost, is a scientist. To the point where that is what the citizens of Night Vale know him as, and his last name is completely unknown. Because everyone in Night Vale knows who you mean when you say "Carlos the Scientist." He doesn't seem to be bothered by this, either.

As a scientist, he intends to research Night Vale's oddities, be it the space-time portal that randomly opens up, or the rumors of an underground city with murderous intent, he's usually at some scene of disturbance another, observing and taking note. It's never actually stated what kind of scientist he is, but we can presume he's more along the lines of a paranormal investigator, and mostly studies paranormal phenomena, considering why he's in Night Vale to begin with. It could be interpreted that since he's repeatedly stated he's a scientist, he has to have SOME kind of actual scientific background, perhaps as a geologist/geophysicist, considering that Night Vale is filled with supernatural geological occurrences like the fact that the town is apparently always undergoing extreme seismic activity on par with intense earthquakes, but it's never actually felt by anyone within the town.

Carlos is Pretty Average, aside from his looks. Unlike the rest of Night Vale, he is fairly well-adjusted, but that is also is 99% likely because he is not from Night Vale. He arrived there approximately June 15th 2012, with the reason that Night Vale "is by far the most scientifically interesting community in the US" and that he has "come to study just what is going on around here." Which leads to say that Night Vale has quite the reputation of it's paranormal and strange activity, at least enough of one for Carlos to have heard of it from wherever he's from.

From the first episode on, Carlos has tried to warn the citizens of the dangers that Night Vale poses to them, be it through it's naturally occurring phenomenons, or it's events, usually mandated by the City Council, who themselves are extremely shady characters. His first day, he already had reported the extreme seismic activity, the fact the sun was setting at the wrong time, and the fact that there is a house that just doesn't exist. Oh, and that the Night Vale Community Radio station is extremely dangerous, and should be evacuated immediately. However, since "police officials" have determined scientists to be comedians, no one really takes Carlos too seriously on these warnings.

For his first few months in Night Vale, Carlos completely throws himself into his work. Night Vale is in fact, the most scientifically interesting place in the United States, but it also seems to be the most horrifying. Everything seems to be like a ticking time-bomb, and all the data and research he's done either is ignored, or goes unnoticed. He's concerned and worried for Night Vale's citizens, but he's realizing there's very little he can do with the events and choices that are made. Like, for instance, the City Council voting to remove a large lead door that is labeled: "DANGER! PLUTONIUM! DO NOT OPEN DOOR; RISK OF DEATH" under the reasoning that someone could get lead poisoning from said door. The fact that he was thought of as the only dissenting vote against taking the door down really is a mind-boggling realization for him.

It takes five months since being in Night Vale for Carlos to realize that using the radio station might be a good thing. He knows that it's popular and frequently heard, and so he visits once again, despite having months earlier run from it under the impression it could explode or collapse at any moment. But, months later, it still stands. The same goes for Night Vale, which seemed to close to it's own apocalypse when he had first taken to studying it. He's still scared for Night Vale, though, but with it is also a form of pity. He doesn't know if the citizens here are willfully oblivious to these disasters, or just accustomed to things like an omnipotent glowing cloud, able to rain down dead animal corpses.

Three months later, he has his first personal encounter the strangeness of Night Vale. The issue of time still not aligning itself with the rest of the world had been something that had been troubling Carlos for a while now, and he decides to open up a clock to see if the solution might be in there. Instead, he finds... nothing. There's nothing inside the clocks, no gears or power source. At some point during his time in Night Vale, Cecil became a person he could rely on listening to him. Maybe because he's the only person he knows will actually listen to him, or at least act like it. Whether or not Carlos has actually listened to Cecil's radio broadcasts remains unknown (most likely not), he still calls the other up when he discovers that there is nothing in the clocks but a grey substance, and winds up leaving three voicemails. It's during the time he is leaving the voicemails that he gets a visit from the mysterious Man In The Tan Jacket, and proceeds to forget even making a second call.

A trait Carlos and Cecil share is their dedication to telling the truth, while they both go about it in different ways. Cecil uses his radio show to try and communicate information and the news of Night Vale, however skewed and censored it might be due to forces he can't control. But he's as investigative as he can be, by either sending out interns to do the research for him, or by investigating himself, such as with the Subway and the portal that appears in his studio during The Sandstorm. Carlos tries to do the same sort of thing, by telling Cecil to report on certain topics or question his audience on the radio show, and also by trying to reach the mayor and police force's phones to report his scientific findings. What Carlos doesn't seem to realize yet, is that the mayor and police force are just as skewed by the corruption that infects any figure of authority in Night Vale, and that talking to them will be met with either laughter or stony silence, and both ending with him being kicked out of their respective offices. Unlike Carlos, Cecil already knows that taking things too far will result in inescapable dangers, most likely by the government agents from a vague, yet menacing agency.

'Distracted' is one word that could be used to describe Carlos. 'Oblivious to social cues' is a couple of similar words that could also be used. Whether it's the fact he's so focused and worried about the science of Night Vale that causes him to ignore Cecil's rather obvious crush on him, or that he's doing so intentionally, it could go either way. After his phone calls to Cecil, the two meet for coffee, as Carlos tries to explain his concern about the clocks and why he needs the numbers for the mayor and police. Cecil seemed to think that this was a date, and probably was quite clear about that, but Carlos doesn't acknowledge it as that. It isn't until a full year passes in Night Vale that he picks up on Cecil's interest in him.

If there's one thing that can be said about Carlos, it's that he's brave. One would have to be, to stay in Night Vale as long as he has with the knowledge of how dangerous the town is. Nervous and fearful of Night Vale's dangers? Definitely. But he doesn't just cower in his lab the whole time either.

There are instances where he tries to warn the people of Night Vale, of which go ignored. But then there are some things in Night Vale that are feared, and shouldn't be. Basic things, like pens and books and wheat and wheat byproducts. When a citizen, Teddy Williams, had finally organized a militia to attack the supposed underground city under lane five of the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex, Carlos finally took a stand. Rather than let the ridiculous activities of Teddy continue, Carlos insists that he is going to "get to the bottom of this" and goes down into the dark space that is the pin retrieval area. And, as he had already hypothesized, the underground city that everyone had been so up in arms about, was not as big a threat as earlier thought. Literally. It's small. It's a miniature city, with it's highest spires not going much taller than his knee. And while he might not have thought there was an actually functioning small city under the Bowling Alley to begin with, his point was still made that the city was harmless.

Or so he thought.

While (unlike Cecil on occasion) he doesn't intentionally put himself in harms way if he has probable belief that something is dangerous, this was an instance of things actually being a lot more dangerous than previously expected. For once, Carlos underestimated Night Vale, and it almost killed him. The citizens of the small underground city attacked him, and nearly killed him. Think Gulliver's Travels, but with a lot more miniature knives, explosives, and projectiles. He was rescued, and lives, but not without a rather large change in his personal philosophies.

Night Vale, as he knows it, is not what it seems. "I used to think it was setting at the wrong time, but then I realized that time doesn’t work in Night Vale, and that none of the clocks are real. Sometimes things seem so strange, or malevolent, and then you find that, underneath, it was something else altogether, something pure, and innocent."

Which is to say, that while some things remain unexplained, and his science cannot help him understand it, it doesn't mean it's as much of a threat as he thought it might have been before. This is a much different view from how he reacted to Night Vale on his first day; with panic, nervousness and fear, he had thought that everyone was in immediate danger. But now he realizes that the things that occur are just how life is for the people here. Maybe the clock tower really is invisible and teleporting. Who's to say it isn't? If it isn't hurting anyone, does it really matter?

In a way, Carlos has given up on fully understanding. He knows now that he can't keep trying to understand it in the same way he was before, or he'll lose his mind, or even his life. That doesn't mean he's not going to try and help the people here to understand, or to try save the town when it really needs it. But there are just some things that are unexplained, and will stay that way.

ABILITIES: None.

POSSESSIONS: Just the clothes on his back, his labcoat (and a few useless things in his pockets like a bobby pin, a paper clip, and a pen), and a defunct cellphone.


samples.
JOURNAL ENTRY SAMPLE:

Uh. Hello, whoever's listening. If anyone's even listening. I know this will sound strange, but I don't know how I arrived here. I can't seem to remember... anything from the time between right now, and ten AM, July 16th. Usually the memory lapses only last for a few minutes or so... It's so cold. It can't be winter here, can it?

Anyway. If anyone has any information, or just... anything helpful, please call me back at- wait. I don't know how you'd- is there a phone number on this thing? It's a pocketwatch, I don't even know how I'm using this to call anyone. Maybe just... My name's Carlos. I'll be at the Glenn Dining Hall for the next few hours. Please meet me there.

Thank you.

---

Here is another example of some dialogue.

THIRD-PERSON SAMPLE: Already in game.