#x. intro

NAME: Gideon Townsend AGE: 38 OCCUPATION: Traveler with CHQS Zone 1 STATUS: Deceased

BIO

Gideon had a relatively innocuous upbringing. He wasn’t top of his class by mere talent alone. No, he was the sort to work day and night to earn his merit, to earn any position he’d set his eyes on. He was tireless.

When it came to working with CHQS, he pursued a role as a Traveler, the acclaim coming with being one appealing to him. Title was always important but he felt that having worked as hard as he did, he earned his. 

He would take researches between Zones, as per his Traveler’s mandate, but independently, would travel to Z3 more than Z2, favoring the place that looked better. 

Of course, when one achieves their goal at such a young age, there’s a restlessness that settles in. A need to continually prove himself as capable. 

–

Perhaps that’s why an unnamed benefactor saw potential in him – in the ceaseless drive to succeed. It was how they enlisted him in his smuggling between Zones, paying him handsomely to do so. It was convenient to have a Traveler who’d help fulfill jobs, help keep things moving along when there was overlap in schedules. It wasn’t a constant thing but it was enough. 

Gideon was the perfect person for the job as someone who was hyper-focused on success and rank, as well as reward, and would do just about anything to preserve his reputation at the same time.

By all accounts, he was the model employee: polite to all the right people, strictly by the book (when it counted anyway), never a hair out of place.

Smuggling was just another challenge, another means to an end. Another way to rise in rank and in reputation with someone who was on track to heading up the very Zone.

–

The only other person who knew about his involvement, was a fellow Traveler –– someone who’d come up with him in training, someone he considered a friend and confidant. Someone who ultimately betrayed him. for a greater cause.

This Traveler had long since been sympathetic to the plight of Z2, having known people Hiked from Z0, and having seen firsthand the state of Z2. They were no savior, by any means, but they believed that they could affect change, somehow. 

Gideon didn’t know it, but they were already helping a Z1 Doctor smuggle unauthorized Z1 medical supplies to Z2. So when Gideon mentioned the fact that Z2 was the zone to make a profit in, to get rich fast (exploiting those who were desperate for something as basic as just clean water), this person knew that the Gideon who’d entered CHQS had warped into something so many in Z1 had become. Calloused.

–

For a while, they kept up the ruse of friendship until just over a year and a half ago when they thought they saw Gideon in a Z2 marketplace, laughing with a woman selling flowers. When they realized it was Gideon’s Doppelgänger, things fell into place.

It was clear Quinn knew something was off by the way he and his people trailed Gideon. When this other Traveler approached, offering to help with the Castel’s plans, knowing they wouldn’t succeed without inside help, Quinn and his siblings agreed, though not without prolonged debate and weighing of their options.

– 

Six months ago, Gideon went further out in Amhaven, to make a deal with some Raiders. Little did he knew what was waiting for him on the outskirts of the city. The betrayal of one: the switching out of supplies that would’ve otherwise kept him healthy in Z2. The ambush of three: cutting him off from his means of transport, letting the symptoms associated with distance from CHQS in the wrong Zone creep up on him. 

The last thing Gideon saw before his ultimate death was his own reflection, looking down at him with contempt. 

–

QUICK FACTS

Gideon always played by the rules. No one but the person who approached him and his Traveler connection know he didn’t. 

Gideon was respectful, dutiful, put together and seemingly a stickler for protocol. He followed everything to a tee, always (or seemed to). He was definitely someone who worked late, seeming to focus all his energies on his job. 

He wore suits and generally very nice Z1 attire in his day-to-day at CHQS.

His parents had died several years ago, and he had no siblings. 

He was quite good at card games and found the old-fashioned-ness of them amusing.

BIO

car accident tw / child death tw

Kieran was born in Amstelland to a previously nomadic family who settled into their new lives in a beautiful city.

She grew up a curious child, and though her parents weren’t terribly old when she was born, with a sister 15 years her senior, they weren’t exactly spring chickens either. She was a handful, constantly asking questions, constantly seeking out knowledge.

Kieran was never disobedient for the sake of it, but for the sake of discovery, of learning something new and pushing the limits wherever she could. She was always fascinated by the why of what people did, rather than the how. The reason behind the action. The driving forces behind anything.

As she grew older, it was clear that she had an aptitude for learning and discovery, and these interests and drive had her on an accelerated course of study. She was grateful her sister took center stage, so that she could be more or less free to live her own life, without any expectation.

–

She was 19 when an unplanned pregnancy put her plans to travel to Austria, where her family was from, on hold. But as was the Zone 3 motto – everything had a silver lining and her son James was hers.

Being a single mother wasn’t something that had been in the books but her family helped and she continued on her career path, getting a job at CHQS where she began as a junior researcher, starting with a focus on Zone 3.

Between being a mother and a demanding job, Kieran fell into a pattern of work and home life, her own interests beyond the two put on hold.

She was 25 when her entire world was upended. There was a car accident, a moment of distraction on the part of another driver, that left Kieran in the hospital with all the best care, and her six year old son, six feet under.

Things like this rarely happened in Amstelland. But, at least there was always a silver lining, or so people kept telling her. Grief was alright, but being stuck in it was not. The end of life was a reason to celebrate what was, not mourn what would never be. People kept telling her that her silver lining was that she was alive! That there were new signs and regulations set up where the accident had occurred –- so it would never happen to anyone else again. Everything has a silver lining.

She resisted the thought until she resented it. Until she couldn’t help but look around Amstelland and question what she saw there. It wasn’t natural to move on so easily. To find happiness where there was none. But in a place where her son’s death was met with a party to celebrate his young life, rather than a funeral to mourn it...she didn’t think she could say anything, she was trapped in a world that didn’t want her to vocalize her grief beyond the allotted time they deemed appropriate.

So she swallowed it when she was expected to and for two years did her best to get back into the swing of things, clawing her way back to a sense of normalcy. Needing desperately to feel normal again.

–

She began to do research across Zones, collecting data and studies to help those at Zone 3′s CHQS gain a better understanding of the other Zones. Travel helped her more than she thought possible and she’d spend extended periods of time in other Zones conducting her research. Normal eventually came to her, though it took time. 

As the years have gone by, Kieran has returned to herself, rising to become one of Zone 3′s head researchers. She semi-resents the fact that her older sister casts a long shadow and knows that people think her job and any opportunities she’s had are a result of her sister’s position, rather than her own merit.

This pushes her to work harder to show that she can contribute more, not just because of who her sister is.

It’s been almost 20 years since she started with CHQS. Kieran believes in her work, and believes that by understanding other Zones, everyone will be safer and better equipped to go survive during their travels.

HEADCANONS

Always carries a small notebook and pen on her person to scribble notes, observations and reminders she forgets to look at.

She’s an early riser and subsists on coffee and muffins.

She believes there are other Zones out there and has only recently begun to compile additional data to support that theory. Previously, she was working more towards the study of each Zone but after years of conducting said research, she’s interested in a change.

Fascinated by experts in other Zones and often takes time to interview them on seemingly unrelated topics to Zone study but believes everything is tied together.

Wants to travel to Zone 0 for study but knows that would never be allowed.

Food between Zone never ceases to amaze her, and she’s found favorites from each she enjoys when she travels to them. Music between Zones also fascinates her, and how it affects people differently, along with the similarities between the Zones’ genres.

She’s got a tattoo of her son’s birthday on her ribcage. She doesn’t talk about him with anyone, but she still dreams of him, still sometimes wakes with tears in her eyes. Time does heal, however slowly, but the past twelve years since his death have taken her on a journey she wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Despite being very analytical, which can sometimes maker her seem distant, she has a deep sense of compassion, it just takes a while for her to feel comfortable enough to show it.

BIO

tw: death, illness 

Aeryn was born in Zone 0′s Colorado. 

The United States, and the world, really, were in a state of disarray and chaos, a slow descent into hopelessness and desolation. 

Both her parents died when she was eight, after getting sick which was darkly ironic considering they were both doctors, and she was left in the care of her aunt Isla who worked for CHQS, also as a physician. 

It was clear that the next step was to take Aeryn away from Zone 0 and somewhere safe, like Zone 1.

She hiked there the same year her parents died, before the world could get any worse while they were there and she was officially a hiker in Zone 1.

The years went by and she posed as a Local, her aunt being the only person she could really speak to about anything that happened and despite the adjustment, she was grateful to have Aunt Isla by her side. 

Eventually, she’d start college, diving headfirst into medicine, following in the footsteps of her parents and aunt. She wanted to make the world, whichever world she was in, a better place and thought that medicine might be a way to do it.

When she was officially a doctor, and hired by CHQS she realized that the organization in Zone 1 had the ability to help so many more people than they were. She learned about the other zones in her training and while Zone 3 seemed able to take care of itself well enough, Zone 2 felt like an echo of Zone 0. A place in desperate need of help.

The fact that Zone 1 had so many resources, so many ways to help and yet did nothing beyond the bare minimum boggled Aeryn’s mind.

Eventually, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She didn’t think she’d change a system overnight, but anything she could do was better than sitting idle. So on various trips to Zone 2, under the guise of providing basic medical help for those in need in Amhaven, she began to treat people with more than the prescribed Zone 2 methods. She’d use Zone 1 tech to give people a better shot at recovery, aided by a traveler who shared the same mindset she did. 

It’s not a great system, and she knows there’s a lot of risk involved but she saw how Zone 1 let Zone 0 collapse when they had the ability to help, and if this is something she can do to make a slight difference, she will. 

HEADCANONS

Aeryn has photographs of her parents she keeps hidden, knowing that anything from Zone 0 is technically prohibited in Zone 1. She also knows it’s impossible and dangerous, but there’s still a part of her that wants to travel back to Zone 0, to see what’s left of her home. 

After an incident on one of her first trips to Zone 2, when she was almost killed, Aeryn took it upon herself to start training in self-defense. She is proficient with a knife and carries one on her whenever she’s traveling. She hates guns and will only ever use one if completely necessary. Aeryn is, by no means, top-fighter material, but she’s scrappy enough to get by and will bite you if necessary.

She speaks English, Spanish and Dutch, which has always been very useful in her practice.

CONNECTIONS

ZONE 1 CHILDHOOD FRIENDS: People who believed her to be a Local growing up. This is a bit self explanatory –– just childhood friends, people who made her feel welcomed when she moved to New Amstel.

ZONE 0 FRIENDS: A childhood friend who hiked here too. From Colorado or from somewhere else (Tbh we can make it work). They lost contact when she and her aunt traveled to Zone 1 but now they’re meeting again years later. 

ZONE 1 TRAVELER: Someone who shares similar beliefs about the disparity between zones. Who believes in helping Zone 2 residents and who helps her between the zones on her travels. They’ve known each other for a while and trust each other implicitly.

CHQS COLLEAGUES: Self explanatory, from any department really!

BIO

Quinn Castel grew up a street rat in Zone 2. He and his “adopted” sister and brother learned to get by on sheer will and street-smarts.

With a near photography memory, he found himself a quick-study at most things, which helped him learn how to scrap, steal and survive.

He was always a bit of the mastermind of their antics – orchestrating ways in which they could not just survive but also thrive. In a dog-eat-dog world, he learned to be vicious in fights, knowing that it was kill or be killed. He learned to think harder and faster than all those around him. How to look at the details while never losing sight of the bigger picture.

Eventually, more people wanted to follow him – they saw he was capable, calculating and cut-throat enough to make it in their desolate world and in Amhaven specifically.

He became the leader of a group of Raiders that were known throughout their city to be ruthless and shrewd. They weren’t reckless but they knew how to take power but, more importantly, how to keep it. They controlled several main waterways in Amhaven, gaining wealth by charging a high tax to get through. They also began to control one of the city’s main water supplies.

It was good but it wasn’t enough.

There was more out there, Quinn knew this, and he began searching for ways to do more. To be more. Surely there was more for them than a decaying city?

This thought plagued him until, 3 years ago, he came across someone he knew...attacking the very same person. It was his first encounter with a doppelgänger. It was a small thread, the first of many that he pulled at. And when he kept pulling, the truth unraveled itself.

There was more. There were people who could come and go. Who kept them there despite having more to offer. To help. And they refused. So Quinn made up his mind that the only thing left to do was to take it.

How was the question that was answered just over a year and a half ago when Quinn spotted his own doppelgänger. Gideon Townsend. A traveler from Zone 1. An answer and a key wrapped up in one person.

It took a year of careful study, of eagle-eyed observation and espionage for Quinn to pick the right moment to strike. To enact a plan none but his siblings knew about.

He took care of Gideon Townsend, assuming his identity as a Zone 1 Traveler and embarking on a mission to lift his people out of the mud and mire.

Quinn is currently impersonating Gideon Townsend at CHQS and all of his Zone 2 associates/followers, believe him to be dead save his siblings. Down to the scars and tattoos Gideon had, Quinn is fully embodying the traveler as if his life depends on it. Which it does. 

It’s a risky endeavor, but one that will be worth it if they can get the technology and knowledge of how to move between Zones and, more importantly, the opportunity to take what has been withheld from them: the opportunity for me. The chance to get away from a dying world.

CONNECTIONS

These will definitely expand once I think about them more but here are a few thoughts:

QUINN SIBLINGS – they’re not blood related but they are the people he trusts most in the world. They were all orphans on the street of Amhaven when they met, children without homes or families so they made their own. They are the only people who know about Quinn still being alive, and his doppelgänger being the one who is dead.