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character info.
A BRIEF HISTORY.
» I.
Alan Barrie was born to perfectly ordinary parents in a birthing clinic in Cecil, Maryland. He lived an uneventful childhood and adolescence, and graduated from high school without incident.
He moved to New York for college, pursuing a degree in medicine on a scholarship. He spent his first years of tertiary education learning the basics of nursing and biotech. As far as his professors were concerned, he did well in his classes - his opinions and insights were nothing spectacular, but what he lacked in that aspect he made up for with the steadiest hands and calmest outlook in his whole batch.
In his junior year, while considering switching from nursing to biotech engineering, Alan met Nora Fursch.
They were like fire and gasoline, and in the scant months since they've met, their relationship escalated from dating to moving in together. Their relationship, like all spitfire relationships do, came to an expedited end when Nora got pregnant (they both agreed to keep the baby). At twenty-five years old, with only two years left until he finishes his degree in nursing, Alan became a father to Marya Barrie (F, 5.7lbs). This newfound joy, however, didn't last long - Nora was a casualty of a three-car pileup shortly after being released from the hospital.
» II.
Now a single father, Alan struggled with parenting his daughter while pursuing his education. It was during this period in his life that he met Karla Anderstrom, an ethics professor who crashed her car into a signpost on same campus that Alan was attending. Alan, having witnessed the accident in its entirety, had pulled her out of the wreckage, saving her life — to which Karla had cussed him out, claiming that she was trying to kill herself.
Alan gave his statement to the police officers who responded to the accident report
» III.
service in the dome
» IV.
karla and the incident
» V.
the present mess
» Personality.
Alan is, if forced into a brief profile, four things: kind, careful, pragmatic, and loyal.
Because of his upbringing in a tight-knit community, he had grown up being taught that kindness towards others is a given, not a privilege. He's the kind of person who would take a day out of his week to help the sick, or to walk someone across the street even if they were perfectly capable to. He rarely has anything terrible to say about anyone because he sincerely believes that there is a kindness in everybody, and when he does have anything untoward in mind about anyone, he tends to keep it to himself. Alan was always a gentle person; being raised by two loving parents had only nurtured this trait and brought it forward.
This very same aspect of his character is why he chose to go into the medical field - this desire and inclination to help people however he can. For Alan, becoming a nurse seemed like the most rewarding path to take, and if things had panned out in his favor, this would have proved true for him.
Alan is also a careful man. Growing up with a modest background meant that there was precious little in terms of luxury; wastefulness wasn't welcome, and wastefulness is curtailed by caution. He'd taken this mindset with him as he grew up and moved out to New York, and was forced to He cares for everyone and everything as though life depends on it, and it is often the case. As far as Alan's concerned, every little thing matters, and so nothing should be taken lightly.
His kind and careful nature, on the other hand, is tempered by some measure of pragmatism. Specifically, he's very much conflict-avoidant, and would do a lot to not have to directly confront people or situations if he can help it. He doesn't act unless he has all the data he can possible have in front of him, which makes him seem very cautious (he is) and insensitive (he isn't) in his refusal to do something he feels might risk hurting people. He truly believes that if something hurts others, then it cannot be wholly good.
Alan's the kind of man who would sooner burn his own hand than get out of the way of a fire, if it meant ten people won't burn their hands if he stays in place. This is his mentality: if one sacrifice means the relief of ten, or a hundred, then the sacrifice is worth it. This thinking is pretty much the biggest reason for why he can stomach working with Gloriana II and the Dome, and all the dark knowledge that came with the work he's been given within the organisation.
Ultimately, these three traits come together to make Alan one hell of a loyal person, once he's been engaged and involved with. He's predisposed to caring for other people, and his kindness is tempered by a driving desire to always know the full measure of goings-on - he's not one to make snap judgments on anyone, which means that once he's committed himself to being a friend, he's for keeps.
He'll go the distance for the people he cares about because he trusts completely, and his trust comes from having weighed everything he knows about the person, good and bad. He's very slow to trust, in part because he's been betrayed so greatly (first by Gloriana II, and then by humanity in general), and in part also because he's cautious by nature, but when that's gotten past of, Alan would kill and die for you - which is what he does after Karla was murdered by fellow agents.
To sum up: Alan is kind, which makes him careful, and his carefulness results in a cautiousness that keeps him grounded but slow to trust. But when he trusts, he's one very loyal friend, and one who's pretty much ride or die, no looking back. These traits make him impossible to work with, at times, because he's always looking out for the "what if" and "we don't know"s of every situation, but he does so out of concern for everyone's safety.
And he takes safety really seriously; he will stop at nothing to save a life, especially one that's placed in his hand. And while his opinions may seem like straddling the fence way too many times to be reasonable, he does so because he hates to see people get hurt, and especially when they get hurt because of his actions.
This is the kind of person Alan is.
» Relationships.
NORA FURSCH, the first love —
MARYA BARRIE, the beloved —
KARLA ANDERSTROM, the heartbreak —
GLORIANA II, the conniver —
SEOJUN CHA, the attack dog —
CARTER DAVIES, the infatuation —
PAUL ANDERSTROM, the brother —