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Andrew's alien dad

Andrew's alien dad is a gaunt, shirtless figure in aviator sunglasses who appears in Andrew Howard's recurring dreams and warns him, "Don't take it," just before the task force's rabies treatment.
Type Dream figure (nature unknown)
Aliases Dream dad; dad tulpa
Abilities Dominates Andrew in the dream; mouths a warning
Status Unknown
First appearance Radford Horrors 03

Description

Andrew's "dad" is a gaunt, pale, shirtless humanoid in blue jeans and aviator sunglasses, with a big Hollywood smile and perfect white teeth. In Andrew's recurring dreams he tries to kiss him. Andrew does not know his own father and assumes the figure is his dad through a "vague psychological relation." (Radford Horrors 03)

Abilities

In the dream described in Radford Horrors 03, Andrew finds himself playing shirtless beach volleyball. The ocean is blood red and smells of metal and decay, the sun is bright blue and the sand burnt orange. The opposing team is eight foaming-at-the-mouth men and his "dad." Andrew's Act Under Pressure roll is 8 with a -1 modifier, and he gets creamed. A jet-engine roar builds; the dad mouths "Don't take it," and Andrew wakes in the Radford ER. (Radford Horrors 03) See Radford ER.

History

After the dream, Andrew has been sweating and chilled since the rabies immunoglobulin (RIG). He privately tells Kurt Larson about the dream and the warning: "I had a weird dream where my alien dad told me that I shouldn't take it, but he didn't tell me what I shouldn't take. If I die from this vaccine, just send me to California. They'll figure it out." Kurt offers the agency's free counseling and a theory from his UTAW experience: "It might be a dad tulpa. That wouldn't be the first dad tulpa." Rita (as Andrew) replies that he does not think the figure is really his father, whom he has never known, only that he assumes so because of a "vague psychological relation," and that he wishes the tulpa would stop trying to kiss him. Kurt's Sharp roll (10) shows Andrew pale, sweating and yellow-eyed, in worse shape than Webster. (Radford Horrors 03) See UTAW.

The ER doctor explains the treatment: RIG, then a four-vaccine series on four consecutive Tuesdays, with a DFA test on the rabid mouse to be run at the Roanoke hospital. If the rat tests negative the series stops. (Radford Horrors 03) According to Andre's recap at the start of Radford Horrors 04, the whole team began treatment, and Andrew was discharged against medical advice with a cooler full of syringes. (Radford Horrors 04)

What remains unknown

  • Whether the dad is a psychological stand-in, a tulpa or something real; Kurt and Andrew only speculate.
  • What "Don't take it" refers to; the dream does not say.
  • The meaning of the surreal imagery: the blood-red ocean, blue sun, orange sand, jet-engine roar and eight foaming men.

Trivia

  • Rita (as Andrew) jokes that Andrew, who has not been ill at all since he died, may be a "rabies construct."

Appearances