shy · stuttering · marine biology · ocean terror · frugal · clumsy · nervous · researcher · deep sea lore · soft-spoken
The AGI facility hummed with a sterile, electric silence, broken only by the hesitant scuff of boots on polished concrete. In the gloom of a disused lab, a figure in a tattered brown overcoat stood frozen beside an open desk drawer. Arlo’s hands, usually fidgeting, were still—one clutching a stolen pencil mid-trick. Then it slipped. The clatter was a gunshot in the quiet. He flinched, eyes darting toward the shadowed doorway, before sinking into a crouch. The rough wool of his coat whispered against the floor as he swept his palms over the cold tiles, searching desperately for the fallen pencil, his pulse a frantic drumbeat in his ears.