Dr. Casper Darling

Biography

Early career

Casper Darling began working for the Federal Bureau of Control in 1995. During this time, he was promoted to the title of Head of Research, succeeding his predecessor, Dr. Theodore Ash, Jr. Darling was made a member of Director Zachariah Trench's personal management team, and became a close ally of Trench. As Head of Research, Darling led research of a variety of paranatural topics, including Objects of Power, Altered World Events, and the Astral Plane.

Later in his career, on the suggestion of Head of Communications Alberto Tommasi, Darling created a series of introductory videos on these paranatural topics, which were distributed throughout the Oldest House.

Ordinary AWE and Dylan Faden

In 2002, the Federal Bureau of Control received reports of an Altered World Event in the town of Ordinary (see AWE-24). Trench and Darling led Bureau agents to investigate. In Ordinary, they discovered that the entire adult population of the town had disappeared, with only children remaining. Two of these children, the siblings Jesse and Dylan Faden, led the Bureau agents to a Slide Projector Object of Power in the town's dump. The agents discovered that the Slide Projector had the ability to create "doorways" to other dimensions through the slide images inside of it. The Bureau quickly took possession of the Slide Projector, also kidnapping Dylan Faden in the process. Jesse Faden escaped, burning all but one of the slides, which was also taken by the Bureau. The entire Ordinary dump site was subsequently moved to the Oldest House for study.

After being brought to the Oldest House, Dylan Faden was placed under Darling's supervision, who determined him to be a powerful parautilitarian with abilities comparable to those of former Director Broderick Northmoor. Due to his huge potential, Dylan was enlisted in Trench's Prime Candidate program as Prime Candidate 6, or "P6," and groomed to become the next Director. In spite of showing much initial promise, however, Dylan became increasingly unpredictable over time. In a particular incident, Dylan accidentally but violently killed FBC Agent Roberts with his paranatural powers.

Hedron discovery

After the recovery of the Slide Projector Object of Power and the unburnt slide, Darling and Trench orchestrated several expeditions into the only remaining dimension accessible, dubbed Slidescape-36. Slidescape-36 quickly proved to be heavily influenced by resonance, bearing "deep wave marks," and interfering with the radio and sonar equipment possessed by the Bureau. Due to some of this resonance being extremely dangerous, many of the expeditions were met with casualties. In spite of this, Darling and Trench pressed on with the expeditions, and eventually located the entity believed to be the source of the resonance in the dimension: a massive, polyhedron-shaped living organism which Darling named "Hedron."

Personality

Casper Darling is an eccentric, awkward, and generally lighthearted man who presents paranatural topics with an aura of joy and curiosity. He is extremely intelligent, and possesses an in-depth understanding of the paranatural, as well as a scientist's craving to understand the unknown. As the Hiss invasion approached, he became more paranoid, erratic, and melancholy, fearing for the future under the threat of the Hiss. Darling's ultimate compulsion appears to have been the pursuit of knowledge and understanding, leading to his willingness to leave reality altogether to explore the unknown.